History AudienceAlienatingEra / LiveActionTV

** The genre went through another around 2008 when ''Series/DealOrNoDeal'' became a smash hit. As with ''Millionaire'', copycats abounded and the original's format wore thin, which the producers tried to cover up with gimmick after gimmick. There were also a myriad of terrible, poorly-planned shows in syndication, such as ''Series/{{Temptation|2007}}'' and ''Series/MervGriffinsCrosswords''; the fallout was so severe that Creator/GameShowNetwork started airing televised poker and reality shows in an attempt to catch up with those then-hot markets. The game show field seems to have finally reversed as of 2016 onward, thanks to a popular block on Creator/{{ABC}} consisting of revamped versions of ''Series/ToTellTheTruth'', ''[[Series/{{Pyramid}} The $100,000 Pyramid]]'', ''Series/PressYourLuck'', and ''Series/MatchGame'' that are mostly back-to-basics and have been reasonably well-received.

** It started to get a little tired in Creator/BobBarker's last few seasons: increasing senior moments from Bob, sudden insurgence of idiotic contestants, a butt-ugly set (it was recolored in a pink and blue motif for Bob's last seasons), and backstage drama that led to many [[LovelyAssistant models]] being fired and TheAnnouncer Rod Roddy no longer appearing on-camera (which Creator/{{Fremantle|Media}} notoriously tried to [[LyingCreator cover up]]). Rod's faltering health and subsequent death in 2003 led to a myriad of fill-ins, most of whom were perceived as subpar (the nadir being Daniel Rosen, who was extremely sloppy and unenthusiastic on-air; after members of fan forum golden-road.net voiced their disapproval, he also supposedly retaliated by {{astro turf}}ing said forum with sockpuppet accounts praising him). Rod's successor Rich Fields was also seen by many as a BrokenBase, as much of the fanbase had been pushing for Randy West instead.

[[SeasonalRot And then Seasons 9 and 10 happened.]] The [[ArcVillain traditional villains]] of the series ([[BigBadEnsemble all of them]]) are largely [[SortingAlgorithmOfEvil set aside]] to make room for a [[GreaterScopeVillain new super enemy]], a race of [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascended]] PowersThatBe who [[EmotionEater feed]] on the [[GodNeedsPrayersBadly worship of their followers]]. The new technologies [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum become much more inscrutable]] and have a [[MagicFromTechnology Magic From Technology]] vibe to them, particularly in terms of aesthetics - technowizards are everywhere and SG-1 has to try to track down the one and only Merlin-sorry, "[[InconsistentSpelling Myrddin]]"-in order to stave off the overwhelming assault of their [[StoryBreakerPower nigh-omnipotent new opponents]], who are cheating their way around their own [[GodsHandsAreTied divine rules]], and their massive superweapons. It was [[{{Narm}} all a bit silly in a self-serious kind of way]], and before it was done the show had not just [[JumpedTheShark jumped the shark]] but done so on rocket skis, and the popularity and ratings declined sharply.

* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', most of Season 4, due to the main StoryArc being "[[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext Lana's ancestor is a French witch with Kung Fu powers who is now back for revenge]]", and heavy involvement of magic stones and artifacts. Season 9 is another flavor of AudienceAlienatingEra, being UsefulNotes/{{the Dark Age|of Comic Books}} of Smallville, [[spoiler:Chloe becoming a {{Manipulative B|astard}}itch and [[StrangledByTheRedString hooking up with Oliver]]]]. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And Clark's new costume is widely panned.]]

** Creator/ChrisChibnall's seasons (2018-22) are considered by many fans to have been an overall failure. Creator/JodieWhittaker's status as the first-ever female Doctor in the main continuity created a lot of initial interest and goodwill (apart from a small faction of overtly misogynistic right-wing fans who were largely despised by everyone else), but her first season was criticised for too many relatively low-stakes stories, a lack of memorable guest characters, too little character development for the companions, and a frequently-passive Doctor who seemed to dislike taking overt moral positions and [[KarmaHoudini let too many villains escape consequences]]. The second season tried to win back the fans with more returning villains and more consequences, but further alienated them due to major mythology developments that were generally unpopular (such as [[DroppedABridgeOnHim unceremoniously]] killing off all the Time Lords ''again'' after the Moffat era had resurrected them, and massively retconning the Doctor's origin and relationship with the Time Lords in a way that some fans viewed as undermining the character's essential nature and philosophy). The third season, "Flux", was again criticised for laying waste to the entire setting for relatively little return, and failing to wrap up its arcs in a satisfying way. The period saw a serious decline in viewership for the show, and a notable reduction in public profile, merchandise production, and Expanded Universe material. It also disappointed many fans by hinting at a same-sex romance between the Doctor and her long-serving companion Yasmin, but hurriedly wrapping it up with what was, to many critics, a worn-out "the Doctor won't commit to short-lived humans for [[MayflyDecemberRomance fear of being hurt]]" resolution that retrod ground that had already been exhaustively covered since 2005.

** Creator/ChrisChibnall's seasons (2018-22) are considered by many fans to have been an overall failure. Creator/JodieWhittaker's status as the first-ever female Doctor in the main continuity created a lot of initial interest and goodwill (apart from a small faction of overtly misogynistic right-wing fans who were largely despised by everyone else), but her first season was criticised for too many relatively low-stakes stories, a lack of memorable guest characters, too little character development for the companions, and a frequently-passive Doctor who seemed to dislike taking overt moral positions and [[KarmaHoudini let too many villains escape consequences]]. The second season tried to win back the fans with more returning villains and more consequences, but further alienated them due to major mythology developments that were generally unpopular (such as [[DroppedABridgeOnHim unceremoniously]] killing off all the Time Lords ''again'' after the Moffat era had resurrected them, and massively retconning the Doctor's origin and relationship with the Time Lords in a way that some fans viewed as undermining the character's essential nature and philosophy). The third season, "Flux", was again criticised for laying waste to the entire setting for relatively little return, and failing to wrap up its arcs in a satisfying way. The period saw a serious decline in viewership for the show, and a notable reduction in public profile, merchandise production, and Expanded Universe material. It also disappointed many fans by hinting at a same-sex romance between the Doctor and her long-serving companion Yasmine, but hurriedly wrapping it up with what was, to many critics, a worn-out "the Doctor won't commit to short-lived humans for [[MayflyDecemberRomance fear of being hurt]]" resolution that retrod ground that had already been exhaustively covered since 2005.

** Creator/ChrisChibnall's seasons (2018-22) are considered by many fans to have been an overall failure. Creator/JodieWhittaker's status as the first-ever female Doctor in the main continuity created a lot of initial interest and goodwill (apart from a small faction of overtly misogynistic right-wing fans who were largely despised by everyone else), but her first season was criticised for too many relatively low-stakes stories, a lack of memorable guest characters, too little character development for the companions, and a frequently-passive Doctor who seemed to dislike taking overt moral positions and [[KarmaHoudini let too many villains escape consequences]]. The second season tried to win back the fans with more returning villains and more consequences, but further alienated them due to major mythology developments that were generally unpopular (such as killing off all the Time Lords ''again'' after the Moffat era had resurrected them, and massively retconning the Doctor's origin and relationship with the Time Lords in a way that some fans viewed as undermining the character's essential nature and philosophy). The third season, "Flux", was again criticised for laying waste to the entire setting for relatively little return, and failing to wrap up its arcs in a satisfying way. The period saw a serious decline in viewership for the show, and a notable reduction in public profile, merchandise production, and Expanded Universe material. It also disappointed many fans by hinting at a same-sex romance between the Doctor and her long-serving companion Yasmine, but hurriedly wrapping it up with what was, to many critics, a worn-out "the Doctor won't commit to short-lived humans for [[MayflyDecemberRomance fear of being hurt]]" resolution that retrod ground that had already been exhaustively covered since 2005.

* While ''Series/DoctorWho'' fans are a notoriously divided bunch, with factions that take umbrage at any period of the show's history, Seasons 22-24 marked an irrecoverably massive exodus of viewership. Producer Creator/JohnNathanTurner's insistence on using new writers brought success in the early '80s, but here the practice's shortcomings overcame its benefits. Script editor Creator/EricSaward's affinity for DarkerAndEdgier content resulted in the show seeing its highest levels of violence and cynicism, leading to widespread complaints of TooBleakStoppedCaring. The BBC consequently tried cancelling the show before putting it on hiatus, and the result was Season 23's ''The Trial of a Time Lord'', a season-wide arc which tried to address fan complaints but was regarded as padded-out and gimmicky. Season 24 further attempted to amend things with a LighterAndSofter approach, only to be seen as a swerve to the opposite extreme. While Seasons 25 and 26 moved to a more Byronic direction and are widely regarded as a creative renaissance, by that point the damage had been done, and the show was unceremoniously cancelled at the end of 1989.

* The final two seasons of ''Series/SpinCity'' really signified how much the series had [[SeasonalRot declined in quality]] when compared to the first four seasons. The beginning of the end could be pointed to as far back as Season 4, when Creator/HeatherLocklear joined the cast as [[TheScrappy Caitlin Moore]]. Locklear's arrival messed with the chemistry a bit, and it never felt entirely right that Caitlin was made to be Mike's new love interest [[DisposableLoveInterest over]] Nikki. Caitlin as a character was [[HumorDissonance not funny]] and too much of a [[AlphaBitch bitchy]] DramaQueen. By the end of Season 4, Creator/MichaelJFox left the show and semi-retired from acting because of the symptoms of his Parkinson's disease [[RealLifeWritesThePlot worsening]]. Even though Mike was the main character [[note]](Mike Flaherty was charming, charismatic, and energetic and brought a lot of heart to the show)[[/note]], ''Spin City'' was, at its core, an ensemble show. But once Creator/CharlieSheen came in as Fox's replacement, it [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks became less]] about politics and more about relationships and how much of a [[ChickMagnet playboy]] [[SpotlightStealingSquad Sheen]] was. At the same time that Fox left the show, series creator and head writer Creator/BillLawrence also departed the series. Before this, ''Spin City'' was a very well-written series where the comic timing and the jokes intercepted very well, some of the humor was intelligent, and some of it was {{Slapstick}} humor. With Sheen [[ContrastingReplacementCharacter now on board]], the show's [[PacingProblems pacing]] and energy became decidedly slower. To add insult to injury, production moved from UsefulNotes/NewYork to UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, and [[CaliforniaDoubling it was obvious]]. Plus, Creator/ConnieBritton (Nikki), Victoria Dillard (Janelle), and Alexander Chaplin (James) [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome departed]] along with Fox.

** The franchise's approach to musical scoring from 1990 (around the beginning of ''The Next Generation''[='s=] fourth season) until the end of ''Enterprise'' in 2005 was its own isolated Audience-Alienating Era. This began when executive producer Rick Berman fired composer Ron Jones (who most notably, wrote the music for the famous [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E26S4E1TheBestOfBothWorlds "The Best of Both Worlds" cliffhanger]]) for writing music that Berman thought was too "flamboyant" and distracting from the acting and writing. So, for about the next 13 years, all ''Star Trek'' TV music was that bland wallpaper of generic chords. The problem was the "music" was reduced to being "tension strings" between commercials, and a "swell in suspense" right before a commercial.

** Seasons 34-39 can be viewed as this with the exception of ''David vs. Goliath'' thanks to fans believing that the show has become too much about twists with many of those twists ended screwing over fan favorites such as Malcolm, Cirie, Devon, Jamal, Janet, and a lot of members from the original Malolo tribe out of the game.[[note]](Malcolm has to deal with the Mana/Nuku tribal council in which he could not prepare in advance, Cirie has to deal with [[FanNickname advantagegeddon]], Devon has to deal with the fire-making final four twist, many members from the original Malolo tribe were voted out simply because they didn't have the numbers since the first tribal swap, Jamal losing his vote for taking a note hanging from a tree even when most players would taken that note regardless, and Janet had her Idol nullified thanks to Dean who got an Idol nullifier through a ''freaking coin toss'')[[/note]]. Then, come to Season 38 where the entire post-merge would have been entirely different without the twist as the final juror and the actual winner of the season were people that were voted out pre-merge but ended up coming back to the game. It is not uncommon for many fans to fear that this show is becoming like ''Series/BigBrother''. Not to mention the cast for ''Game Changers'', ''Ghost Island'', and ''Island of the Idols'' has been constantly criticized thanks to the first season having {{questionable casting}} choices]], the second season not having a lot of people making big moves and playing to win, and the third season having the infamous Dan Spilo incident and the way a lot of players handled the incident was not very well-received. Let's just leave the last one at that.

* ''Series/LateNight With Creator/ConanOBrien'' got into this after Creator/AndyRichter left in 2000.

[[SeasonalRot And then Seasons 9 and 10 happened.]] The [[ArcVillain traditional villains]] of the series ([[BigBadEnsemble all of them]]) are largely [[SortingAlgorithmOfEvil set aside]] to make room for a [[GreaterScopeVillain new super enemy]], a race of [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascended]] PowersThatBe who [[EmotionEater feed]] on the [[GodNeedsPrayersBadly worship of their followers]]. The new technologies [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum become much more inscrutable]] and have a [[MagicFromTechnology Magic From Technology]] vibe to them, particularly in terms of aesthetics - technowizards are everywhere and SG-1 has to try to track down the one and only Merlin-sorry, "[[SpellMyNameWithAnS Myrddin]]"-in order to stave off the overwhelming assault of their [[StoryBreakerPower nigh-omnipotent new opponents]], who are cheating their way around their own [[GodsHandsAreTied divine rules]], and their massive superweapons. It was [[{{Narm}} all a bit silly in a self-serious kind of way]], and before it was done the show had not just [[JumpedTheShark jumped the shark]] but done so on rocket skis, and the popularity and ratings declined sharply.

** Seasons 34-39 can be viewed as this with the exception of ''David vs. Goliath'' thanks to fans believing that the show has become too much about twists with many of those twists ended screwing over fan favorites such as Malcolm, Cirie, Devon, Jamal, Janet, and a lot of members from the original Malolo tribe out of the game.[[note]](Malcolm has to deal with the Mana/Nuku tribal council in which he could not prepare in advance, Cirie has to deal with [[FanNickname advantagegeddon]], Devon has to deal with the fire-making final four twist, many members from the original Malolo tribe were voted out simply because they didn't have the numbers since the first tribal swap, Jamal losing his vote for taking a note hanging from a tree even when most players would taken that note regardless, and Janet had her Idol nullified thanks to Dean who got an Idol nullifier through a ''freaking coin toss'')[[/note]]. Then, come to Season 38 where the entire post-merge would have been entirely different without the twist as the final juror and the actual winner of the season were people that were voted out pre-merge but ended up coming back to the game. It is not uncommon for many fans to fear that this show is becoming like ''Series/BigBrother''. Not to mention the cast for ''Game Changers'', ''Ghost Island'', and ''Island of the Idols'' has been constantly criticized thanks to the first season having [[WTHCastingAgency questionable casting choices]], the second season not having a lot of people making big moves and playing to win, and the third season having the infamous Dan Spilo incident and the way a lot of players handled the incident was not very well-received. Let's just leave the last one at that.

** Season 6 (1980-81): The first season after Creator/LorneMichaels left the show and the entire cast was replaced (including the last of the original cast). Lorne wanted Creator/AlFranken to take over as producer, but Creator/{{NBC}} president Fred Silverman refused because of the "A Limo for a Lame-O" segment Franken did on ''Weekend Update'' mocking Silverman's mismanagement of the network (Silverman was relatively humorless). Silverman instead chose Jean Doumanian, an associate producer who had helped book the show's musical talent, to produce ''SNL'', and she proved extremely inept at the task. Many of the sketches were extremely crass, and critics wrote scathingly of the show's decline in quality. Dick Ebersol took over as producer late in the season (only one episode was made that season after he was hired before a writer's strike ended it) and stayed on for another four years. Creator/EddieMurphy and Creator/JoePiscopo were the only Doumanian cast members to make it into the following season, and the entire season helped lead to Silverman's career taking a nose-dive after success in the TheSeventies. This got an honorable mention in ''Literature/WhatWereTheyThinkingThe100DumbestEventsInTelevisionHistory'', which took several shots at Silverman.

** Season 4 is sometimes mentioned as an Audience-Alienating Era, given the awkward [[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction Initiative]] storyline, the introduction of the [[TheScrappy widely unpopular]] Riley as Buffy's [[OnTheRebound rebound love interest]], and above all the episode [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E5BeerBad "Beer Bad"]] about [[{{Anvilicious}} a beer that turns people into primitive savages]], although at least that episode has the excuse of being a failed grab at government money. On the other hand, this season also produced the Emmy-nominated episode [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E10Hush "Hush"]], regarded as one of the show's best and scariest.

** ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' fell into this with the infamous Season 3, when Creator/GeneRoddenberry stepped away from the show and allowed producer Fred Freiberger and script editor Arthur Singer, neither of whom knew anything about the series, to take over. In retrospect, the season isn't regarded as ''too'' bad in comparison to some of the weaker seasons of the latter shows, so much as it features a lot of average, forgettable stories while being dragged down by [[Recap/StarTrekS3E1SpocksBrain two]] [[Recap/StarTrekS3E20TheWayToEden episodes]] regarded as SoBadItsGood, and [[Recap/StarTrekS3E4AndTheChildrenShallLead one]] regarded as just being terrible.