Line #19 Main/SecondSeasonDownfall


1	->''Nail your second season and you’re almost certainly going to remain on the air for years to come. Flub your second season, like ''Series/Unreal2015'' did, and you’re in trouble. Fall somewhere in the middle and you might get renewed but fail to convince your viewers to emotionally invest at the level a great serialized story requires."''
2	-->-- '''Emily St. James''', [[https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/8/1/17588472/second-seasons-disappointing-curse "Why the era of Peak TV is the era of the disappointing second season."]]
3
4	The vast majority of television shows don't make it very far. {{Networks}} order dozens of new series every year, launch the most promising ones in the fall... and almost immediately begin cancelling ones that don't live up to expectations, replacing them with the [[MidseasonReplacement shows that didn't make the first string of launches]], in the hope of eventually getting a schedule of hits. The network model simply isn't generous to shows that don't get off to a healthy start.
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6	But for all the dozens of shows that fail in their first year, there are a few that survive this initial culling, complete their first season, and are renewed for a second. Smooth sailing from now on, right?
7
8	Well... not always. Sometimes [[ItWillNeverCatchOn nobody expected the show to make it]], and so [[SeriesFauxnale the writers and producers pulled out all the stops in the first year]], [[PostScriptSeason leaving nothing to work with for the next season]]. Sometimes a show with a novel concept inspires [[FollowTheLeader imitators]] that either pull off the gimmick more skillfully, or are so [[DuelingShows ubiquitious]] that [[CondemnedByHistory viewers become bored]] with both the original and the knockoffs. Sometimes ExecutiveMeddling is to blame, especially if the second season coincides with a change in network leadership. Sometimes there's no clear cause at all; the show simply ran out of steam, and SeasonalRot kicked in early. And perhaps most common of all, maybe the network just didn't want to commit to two more seasons of the show. Yes, two more seasons. Very, very few American broadcast network shows are canceled after their third season because a show usually needs about 4 seasons' worth of episodes in order to be viable for [[UsefulNotes/{{Syndication}} off-network syndication]], which for producers is often where the real money is. So, if a network looks like it might be thinking about canceling a show after its third season, the studio that produces that show will usually offer the network some sort of incentive to keep it on the air for long enough to reach syndication; as a result, when network programming executives decide whether or not to renew second-season shows, they often do so based on whether they can see having that show on their schedules for another 2 seasons.
9
10	In any case, there are a lot of shows that successfully make it through a first season, only to fall victim to a SophomoreSlump and get canceled by the end of a disappointing second season. In the end, these shows are ShortRunners.
11
12	Emily St. James, writing for ''Vox'', has [[https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/8/1/17588472/second-seasons-disappointing-curse gone into depth]] on this trope, referring to the second season as a make-or-break point for a TV drama. She argues that this has become especially common for the sort of big, high-concept premises that make up many "prestige" shows in the 2010s, which lend themselves well to great first seasons but are [[ToughActToFollow difficult to follow up]] in the second season, the point where "a TV premise becomes a TV show" and they need to [[WorldBuilding expand the world and supporting characters]] rather than just rely on the basic premise to pull in viewers. Shows that fail to do so will inevitably be remembered as having only been good for one season, even if they manage to get renewed afterwards.
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14	Note: This only applies to shows that end after their second season. If the show is believed to have declined in quality during the second season, but nevertheless continues for a third season or beyond, that would be a case of SophomoreSlump (if the show improves with its third season), or JumpingTheShark (if despite a third and/or additional seasons, the show does not improve in quality over the second). If quality varies during different seasons, you're dealing with SeasonalRot.
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16	Compare JumpingTheShark and contrast GrowingTheBeard. Contrast LongRunners.
17	----
18	!!Examples:
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20	[[foldercontrol]]
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22	[[folder:Animation]]
23	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' has a first season bearing arguably some of the greatest pieces of Creator/{{Marvel\|Comics}}-adapted animation. In contrast, the second season suffers from having more filler than the first, especially after Creator/JephLoeb and Creator/ManOfActionStudios came on as executive producer and creative consultants, respectively. They created so much filler, that subplots the original writers set up earlier went unresolved and/or unexplored by the time the show ended. Their run also saw most of the Avengers get pushed OutOfFocus, and {{Out of Character Moment}}s become more frequent. Plus, the animation in this season sometimes seems cheaper, and the awesome theme song permanently got ditched in favor of recaps of old episodes and a promo for the ''[[Film/TheAvengers2012 Avengers]]'' movie. The show's low ratings among the target demographic, at least compared to the PeripheryDemographic, prevented the green-lighting of a third season.
24	* ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'' was pulled from ABC after its first season, then made a ChannelHop to Fox for its second. However, this season only lasted three months and proved to be the show's last.
25	* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibleHulk1996'' was a dark cartoon -- its protagonist was a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, always on the run, attacked from all sides by hero and villain alike. The Hulk is alone. This trope comes along in season 2, and the earlier introduced character of [[DistaffCounterpart She-Hulk]] is now in ''every'' episode, making it far more LighterAndSofter. Hulk wasn't even an outcast. This sudden shift in the series' tone led to a swift cancellation.
26	* ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' was heavily retooled due to ExecutiveMeddling in its second season, which ended up being its last.
27	* ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'', though this was more due to [[ScrewedByTheNetwork the simultaneous cancellation of all of ABC's then-current lineup in favor of Disney programming (as they had just acquired ABC)]] than the actual quality of the writing. It has been observed that was an increase in comedy episodes, but the season also delivered a well-received StoryArc.
28	* The most prominent reason why ''WesternAnimation/WhateverHappenedToRobotJones'' never lasted long was because Cartoon Network aired the episode premieres of the second season at 10:30 p.m. and the only other reruns being on Sunday at 4 p.m., which led to the show being ScrewedByTheNetwork.
29	* ''WesternAnimation/SheepInTheBigCity'' was never particularly successful to begin with, its absurdist humor not understood by most of the viewers, and being aired particularly late on [[Main/FridayNightDeathSlot Friday nights]] meaning it had a pretty shaky first season. Cartoon Network, rather than bumping Sheep to an earlier time slot for a better chance of success, INSTEAD banished the show to the even WORSE timeslot of Sunday evenings, when nobody was really watching TV. Just when it seemed like Sheep was getting axed and thus becoming a Main/OneSeasonWonder, outcry from the most diehard of fans meant a last-minute announcement of a second season... which was aired in the SAME Sunday evening slot, resulting in similarly dismal ratings, before eventually being moved to even LATER on Sundays, just before Creator/AdultSwim came on (when the target demographic would usually be going to sleep), thus killing any chance Sheep had of getting another season.
30	* The second season of ''WesternAnimation/TheTwistedTalesOfFelixTheCat'' took a budget cut in the animation, attempted to take the series into a more script driven and less weird direction with more emphasis on the [[WesternAnimation/FelixTheCatJoeOriolo Joe Oriolo era of the Felix the Cat series]], and the change was not for the better—the ratings for it tanked even harder than the first seasons underperformance. It only lasted eight episodes before [[CutShort the show was cancelled altogether]]. Even the production team [[CreatorBacklash considered the second season a complete disaster.]]
31	* ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes''' second season experienced a decline in both animation quality (due to a production change from UsefulNotes/ToonBoom to UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash) and writing quality (producing some of the fanbase's most hated episodes and poorly handling its characters, especially [[BadassDecay Heloise]] and [[EnsembleDarkhorse Saffi]]). There was also [[ScrewedByTheNetwork the lack of promotion]] by its international distributor, Creator/DisneyXD, taking its toll, which ultimately killed the show despite announcements for a third season.
32	* When ''WesternAnimation/TheMrMenShow'' first aired, it won many viewers and was one of the best shows Cartoon Network had during its dork age in the late 2000s. But by the second season, despite having better animation, fans thought the show lacked the same impact of its first season thanks to Chorion trying to change it (this ultimately became karma for the company, as they shut down a few years later). Cartoon Network hardly advertising the show didn't help, leading it not to get renewed for a third season. The changes include:
33	** Miss Calamity being absent due to Chorion's dislike of the character. This resulted in more focus on Mr. Bump, Quiet and Fussy, turning off a lot of fans due to them suffering a lot in the season (though mainly with Mr. Bump and Quiet).
34	** Mr. Persnickety/Pernickety being renamed and recolored like his book counterpart because Chorion didn't like his original self. Not only did fans feel like the simpler name was a form of dumbing down, but they made him more one note, being a complete control freak instead of the gentleman he had been before.
35	** The new characters introduced in the season. Some fans don't like how they were different from the books. But the main issue everybody agrees on is that they hardly used them as fans expected they would be used in many scenarios. Miss Giggles and Miss Magic were the only ones added onto the site a week after the show ended.
36	** The second season didn't show off new character dynamics for either existing or the new characters. What makes the first season special to most fans is how the creators experiment with how the characters play off each other. In the second, the sketches repeat the same relationships, so fans felt a bit put off that the staff hadn't tried new relationships with characters that hardly interact in the first season. Mixing this with both Miss Calamity's removal AND the new season characters getting hardly any screentime makes it a bit hard to swallow the changes.
37	** Mr. Rude's fart sounds changed from silly cartoony honks to more realistic sounds, which turned off some fans on how gross it became, not helped by how there are considerably more jokes centered around it.
38	** The number of shorts was reduced to only four (one always a minute long, usually used for in-universe commercials and adverts), which only padded out some sketches for longer than expected, eating up time that could've been used for another sketch. Some countries only got three sketches, meaning they lost out on a longer show. The only episodes that retained at least five segments were "Airplanes", "Sun and Moon" and "Sand and Surf".
39	** The narrator being used more for every opening sketch. While this is a nice tribute to ''Series/LittleBritain'' and trying to use that character more like in the original, some fans felt like the sketches had been dumbed down.
40	** The changing schedule on Cartoon Network. When the first season started, a brand new episode would air at 9 in the morning and repeat again in 1:30 in the afternoon. But in the second season, they pushed it to 11:30 and only aired it once. It felt like Cartoon Network wasn't giving the show a chance compare to its first season. This was around the same time some shows like ''Foster's Home'', ''Ed, Edd 'n Eddy'' and ''Transfomers Animated'' were ending.
41	* Similar to ''The Mr. Men Show'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Olivia}}'' (owned by Chorion at the time with some of the staff who worked on the same show), suffered some changes that fans disliked that likely caused the show to be canceled. With Olivia and Ian going through VocalEvolution, Julian being DemotedToExtra, Daisy [[TookALevelInJerkass taking a a level in jerkass]], the addition of songs (especially the one Olivia sings OnceAnEpisode) and the O gadget, plus the switch from a realistic tone to DenserAndWackier from the show, people were unhappy with the changes.
42	* ''WesternAnimation/HarveyBeaks'' had a relatively successful first season on Nickelodeon, before getting hit HARD with Main/ScrewedByTheNetwork in the second. Less-than-stellar viewership of the "Steampunks" two-parter as well as the other early second season episodes meant the show getting banished to Nicktoons, cancelled shortly thereafter, and burned off its remaining episodes there.
43	* An InUniverse example in the ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' episode, "[[Recap/RockosModernLifeS3E10WackyDelly Wacky Delly]]"; Ralph Bighead ends production on ''JustForFun/MeetTheFatheads'' to create his artistic masterpiece. However, his network contract states that he has to make one more show, so to get it over with, he hires Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt to make a pilot for the new show, hoping their inexperience will cancel his contract. Thanks in part to Heffer and Filburt's creative differences, the pilot for ''Wacky Delly'' is a poorly-drawn and poorly-edited mess. Unfortunately for Ralph, his plan backfires, as both the network executives and general public love it. Ralph's attempts to sabotage ''Wacky Delly'', such as having one episode show a jar of mayonnaise for ten minutes and another episode consisting of overexposed film only make the show even more popular. After a brief speech from Rocko on how he should make ''Wacky Delly'' better instead of trying to sabotage it, Ralph takes over writing the show, which gets it cancelled. Ten years later, Ralph is seen in the desert after completing his masterpiece. A yokel walks up to him and asks him if he's seen ''Wacky Delly''.
44	-->'''Yokel''': The first season, that is. Before that new guy ruined it!
45	* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsResistance'' Season 2 is considered to be weaker compared to Season 1. While Season 1 [[ForegoneConclusion slowly built up]] to the events of ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', many feel that Season 2 doesn't carry the momentum, with the characters no longer having a tangent end goal and not being allowed to further connect with the films due to the writers not knowing how [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants the Sequel Trilogy]] was going to end. As such, fans pin Season 2's weaker writing on the films rather than through any fault of the show's staff. WordOfGod says that a PostScriptSeason 3 that would've connected with the sequels again was considered if the show was a success, but combined with the aforementioned TroubledProduction, [[ScrewedByTheNetwork a late Sunday night timeslot on the dying Disney XD block]] while also being released in the midst of Disney's transition to streaming, [[BrokenBase being widely dismissed by the general fanbase]] for being a [[LowerDeckEpisode Force-less]], [[LighterAndSofter more children-oriented]] [[AnimationAgeGhetto cartoon]] set during the divisive Sequel Trilogy era, and being overshadowed by the revival of the more widely acclaimed ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', it hardly stood a chance.
46	* The first season of the anime adaptation of ''Manga/ThePromisedNeverland'' was one of the Winter 2019 anime season's big breakout hits, carried by its memorable FirstEpisodeTwist and its unique focus on young children in a Shōnen/horror hybrid. The second season, on the other hand, burned a lot of fans by being a heavily CompressedAdaptation (adapting 144 chapters into 11 episodes; by comparison, Season 1 took 12 episodes to go through 37 chapters) that AdaptedOut both fan-favorite characters and story arcs, culminating in an alternate ending widely viewed as inferior even to the already divisive ending of the manga.
47	* ''WebAnimation/{{Genlock}}'': Season 2 is widely regarded by fans as a ''massive'' step down, thanks to the show downplaying the slick mecha action and character moments (widely regarded as some of the best parts of the series) in favor of half-baked political drama, having various characters [[TookALevelInJerkass take several levels in jerkass]], [[DroppedABridgeOnHim dropping bridges on]] characters like [[spoiler:Kazu]] and fan-favorite [[spoiler:Cammie]] for shock value, and its unrelentingly bleak tone. Much of the problem likely came as a result of the ChannelHop from Rooster Teeth selling the property to HBO Max, as well as the replacement of a substantial chunk of the staff for the first season with people who didn't value or understand what made Season 1 worthwhile.
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50	[[folder:Live-Action Comedy]]
51	* ''Series/AngryBirdsOnTheRun'': Season 2 was much more poorly received than Season 1, due to the massively lowered stakes (e.g. being able to order food from a restaurant despite previously being unable to communicate with humans, and no threat of being replaced), as well as getting LostInMediasRes between the seasons.
52	* ''Series/AfterMASH'' was cancelled in the middle of its second season.
53	* ''Series/BPositive'' had an unusual premise mixing ScrewballComedy with MedicalDrama: recently divorced Drew needs a kidney transplant and finds a donor in his party girl childhood friend Gina, who he reconnected with by chance. The first season ended with the two going in for surgery. After it got renewed for a second season, show creator Marco Pennette (who based it on his own kidney transplant experience) stepped aside, and to try to maintain interest post-transplant, executive producer Creator/ChuckLorre switched Drew and Gina from a LikeBrotherAndSister vibe to a WillTheyOrWontThey situation, and had Gina suddenly inherit a multi-million dollar fortune. Fans had a TheyChangedItNowItSucks reaction, the already marginal ratings slipped a bit, and Creator/{{CBS}} decided against a third season.
54	* ''Series/BreakingIn'' had a well-received but extremely short (only seven episodes) first season. Viewing numbers were low but enough fans caused a loud-enough ruckus for Fox to un-cancel it for a second season. Unfortunately, the second season dropped the [[EnsembleDarkhorse two of more intriguing characters]], brought in [[ReplacementScrappy two hated replacement characters]], had to write out the primary love interest (her actress had been cast in ''Series/{{House}}'' after the original cancellation), changed the concept from a weekly heist show to office comedy, and neutered the MagnificentBastard into an ineffectual afterthought. The show couldn't even finish its miraculous second season.
55	* ''Car 54, Where are You?'' went directly up against the second half of ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' (Sundays at 8:30) in both of its two seasons.
56	* CBS originally aired ''The Good Guys'', Bob Denver's first series following ''Series/GilligansIsland'', on Wednesdays during the 1968-1969 season. The fall of 1969 saw the series moved to the FridayNightDeathSlot against ''Series/TheBradyBunch''[[labelnote:†]](ironically, that show also happened to be Creator/SherwoodSchwartz's first post-''Gilligan's Island'' project as well)[[/labelnote]], and ''The Good Guys'' disappeared in January 1970.
57	* ''Series/KevinCanWait'': Between the first season and the second season, executives decided to fire Erinn Hayes, kill off her character, and turn the show into a ''Series/TheKingOfQueens'' ripoff. Fans of the first season were livid and the show got cancelled after the second season.
58	* ''Series/TheMonkees'' was highly appreciated during its first season, providing the FakeBand with three hits and two #1 albums by the season's end. In the second season, the timeslot (Monday at 7:30) stayed the same but its competition became ''Series/{{Gunsmoke}}'', and the series' cancellation at the season's end caused the group to go downhill.
59	* ''Room For Two'', an ABC mid-season replacement in 1992, overperformed in its short first season, ending as one of the top 20 shows on network television. Its second season saw its ratings plummet, though.
60	* ''Series/TheRopers'', a spin-off of ''Series/ThreesCompany'', did great as a six-episode tryout on Tuesday nights following its parent show. But [[ScrewedByTheNetwork once it was moved to Saturday nights]] for Season 2, the ratings fell and the show limped through the year.
61	* ''Series/TimeGentlemenPlease'', Al Murray's sitcom, got a second season, and was so poorly received that neither full series was released on DVD until 2009.
62	* ''Series/ImAlanPartridge'' (Series 2) killed the series until it was revived a decade later. The second went overboard on the sitcommy elements, particularly Alan's Ukrainian girlfriend Sonja, and whilst the first one could have you feeling sorry for Alan, the second made him wholly self-centered and unlikeable. The travel tavern in the first series was a much better setting than the caravan, because it allowed Alan to interact with more characters. The second series is certainly watchable, just a step down.
63	* ''Series/SledgeHammer'' is an interesting case. It looked as though the show wouldn't survive its first season, so the final episode ended with a nuclear explosion with the cast at ground zero. The ratings were surprisingly up for that episode, so a second season was approved by the network (with the season premiere claiming all future episodes take place five years before the nuke, despite obvious continuity issues that created). However, for the second season, the budget was cut (most shows get a budget increase with a second season), meaning the episodes looked cheaper, and fewer episodes entirely were produced. Even more damaging, ABC put the show up against ratings juggernaut ''Series/TheCosbyShow''. The second season would be its last.
64	* On Creator/DisneyChannel, ''Series/PhilOfTheFuture'', ''Series/CoryInTheHouse'', ''Series/SonnyWithAChance'', ''Series/JonasLA'', ''Series/ImInTheBand'', ''Series/CrashAndBernstein'', ''Series/MightyMed'', ''Series/IDidntDoIt'', and ''Series/BestFriendsWhenever'' all got the boot after their second seasons.
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67	[[folder:Live-Action Drama]]
68	* ''Bracken's World'' had so bad a first season (1969-1970) that NBC had to change it significantly. Nothing helped -- not even with the addition of Creator/LeslieNielsen -- and by the end of 1970 the series was history.
69	* ''Series/BuckRogersInTheTwentyFifthCentury'' went off the rails when the second season had the series premise changed to a retread of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' with Wilma Deering suffering major {{Chickification}}.
70	* Creator/{{CBS}}' [[ShootTheMoney expensive]] PrimeTimeSoap ''Series/CentralParkWest'' was heavily {{retool}}ed after an under-performing Season 1, missing half the original cast. The retooling only alienated the show's dwindling fanbase, and it was canned at the end of Season 2.
71	* ''Series/DarkAngel'' spent its first season as a fairly gritty and down-to-earth PostCyberPunk series where the villains were criminals and corrupt authority figures. Thanks in part to the 9/11 attacks taking place between the seasons, portraying the government as evil fell out of fashion and had to be toned down. The second season abandoned that for a [[MonsterOfTheWeek Genetically Engineered Creature Of The Week]] formula and an ongoing plotline involving an AncientConspiracy and the heroine being the ChosenOne. It did not go over well, and the series was cancelled, with its slot taken by...''{{Series/Firefly}}'', which didn't even survive its first season.
72	* ''Series/DirtySexyMoney'' was seen as a sharp and fun dark comedy of a rich family with critics loving its shots at the "nighttime soap" genre and sharp writing. Its first season was cut short by the 2007 Writer's Strike and by the time it ended, ABC decided to hold the show for the following fall. When it returned, it was under new showrunners who decided to play the satire totally straight, losing the humor amid nonsensical plots and bad character turns. The show was then axed for good after just 13 episodes.
73	* Creator/JossWhedon's ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' survived its first season but was cancelled at the end of its second. Fans love to argue over whether or not Creator/{{Fox}} really felt the show deserved a second season, or were just trying to avoid a repeat of the [[ScrewedByTheNetwork situation]] with ''{{Series/Firefly}}''.
74	* ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel%27s_Fire Gabriel's Fire]]'' (1990) was a serious drama starring Creator/JamesEarlJones as a former police officer, wrongly convicted of murder, who becomes a private detective after his release from prison. In its first season, it won three Emmys (Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Jones), Outstanding Supporting Actress (Madge Sinclair), and Outstanding Guest Actor (David Opatoshu)) and an NAACP Image Award. Going into its second season, the show was [[ReTool re-tooled]] into a LighterAndSofter {{Dramedy}}, adding Richard Crenna as Jones's white partner, and changed the name to ''Pros and Cons.'' The new version was cancelled after 12 episodes.
75	* ''Series/HumanTarget'' was on the ratings borderline even in its first season, but that season had a solid reputation for its strong action sequences and compelling characterization. With a somewhat surprising renewal for season two came a boatload of ExecutiveMeddling, the introduction of new female characters who ultimately contributed little and took focus off the original trio of Chance, Winston and Guerrero, the firing of composer Bear [=McCreary=] in favor of Tim Jones, whose compositions were considered ill-fitting and hollow, and the elimination of any ongoing storylines from the first season. Fans were not impressed and left the series in droves, while casual viewers sensed that the show was most likely being used to fill space until the premiere of ''Series/TheXFactor'' and also stayed away. Thus, the show was eliminated along with the rest of Fox's drama underperformers from this season (excepting ''Series/{{Fringe}}'') in May 2011.
76	* ''Series/JoanOfArcadia'', thanks to heavy ExecutiveMeddling to make it more marketable to teens, eliminating the premise of Joan rescuing lives and helping her father solve crimes, and centering it around high school drama.
77	* ''Series/KamenRiderAmazons'': The show's second season is widely-considered by most to be the side-project's death knell. The first season was lauded as an intriguing take on ''Kamen Rider'' as a whole, emphasizing a DarkerAndEdgier setting and the GrayAndGrayMorality that stems from the [[TragicMonster tragic circumstances of the Amazon monsters]]. The second season aimed to do this by taking all of these aspects too far. Chihiro [[FlatCharacter isn't seen as intriguing enough to carry the show on his own]]; defined by a nebulous TragicBackstory and a BattleCouple dynamic with {{Squick}}y implications.[[note]]Chihiro has accelerated growth, yet he's technically underage while said LoveInterest is a [[OurZombiesAreDifferent reanimated]] EmotionlessGirl.[[/note]] Established favorites ''do'' return to carry the story, but only in a tangential way. [[spoiler: The vendetta between the show's two primary Riders isn't settled (with one of them heavily-battered by TheWorfEffect ''after'' getting an upgrade), none of the [[BigBad series' over-arcing villains]] are ever meaningfully confronted (in fact they spend the whole show gloating or [[KickTheDog being cruel]]), no outstanding narrative change is enacted by either side despite the numerous [[DiabolusExMachina grim twists employed]], the one event that ''could'' have led to something[[note]]Chihiro's attempted siege on 4C[[/note]] ends before it can begin with the heroes just leaving and the ending [[YankTheDogsChain sees Chihiro murdered VIA jump-cut]] to set up a SequelHook]]. People were getting progressively fed-up while Season 2 was airing, but [[NoEnding the lack of any definitive conclusion to the tragic events at-hand]] made people question [[AllForNothing what, if anything, even happened]]. When ''[[TheMovie Last Judgement]]'' was announced, fans weren't hyped but ''[[TooBleakStoppedCaring mad the senseless tragedy was still going]]''. Said movie came out to pittering reviews and ''Amazons'' has since silently faded away into the ether.
78	* ''Series/{{Popular}}'' had a strong enough start as a straight drama. The second season became... well, definitely not an AffectionateParody, but more like a ClicheStorm of everything that was on Creator/TheWB. One episode even went so far as to unleash a torrent of standard sweeps period stunts, in what ended as an inversion of the ''Series/SheSpies'' case downward.
79	* ''Series/SheSpies'' started off as a successful AffectionateParody of the whole Spy Fiction genre (it originally had a production team consisting of veterans of ''Moonlighting,'' and made similar use of Fourth Wall abuse). In the second season, the production company changed (to the company that produced ''Baywatch,'') and the show underwent a massive retooling (the only things that remained were the three lead actresses and the general BoxedCrook premise.) The tone shifted from light-hearted parody to straight drama, and it became a lukewarm retread of ''Series/CharliesAngels'', quickly losing its audience and any chance for a third season.
80	* ''Series/{{Smash}}'' was already a victim of deteriorating ratings (the term "Hate Watching" was popularized by this show) during its first season. Creator/{{NBC}} fired creator Theresa Rebeck, replaced her with the show runner from ''Series/GossipGirl'', and heavily {{retool}}ed the cast, ditching most of the more infamous [[TheScrappy scrappies]]. However, the network also stranded it on Tuesdays in between cycles of ''Series/TheVoice'', where its lead-in was the incredibly weak rookie comedy ''Series/TheNewNormal''. ''Smash'' predictably collapsed further in the ratings, and continued to be unliked by critics, but without the same level of cultural awareness from the first season (when it aired behind ''The Voice''). NBC eventually banished it to Saturdays partway through its second season to quietly dispose of what was once believed to be their future franchise drama.
81	* Although the first season of ''Series/Space1999'' faced some criticism for the [[ArtisticLicensePhysics physical improbability of its setup]], it was still well-received for the most part and often compared to ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''. The second season, on the other hand, was an entirely different story, seen by many as one of the most egregious examples of this trope in sci-fi. For its second half, the series was {{retool}}ed into a LighterAndSofter action series with ''much'' less cerebral plots and several characters removed [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome without explanation]]. These changes went over very poorly with the established fandom and even some of the cast members (especially Creator/MartinLandau) and the series was swiftly cancelled soon after.
82	* The second season of ''Series/TopOfTheLake'' got much more negative fan and critic reactions due to ShootTheShaggyDog issues. [[spoiler:(The two main suspicious deaths were probably suicide, a lot is left vague, and the HateSink villain pulls off his last-minute-reveal real evil scheme, does a VillainExitStageLeft, and gets away scot free with the proceeds.)]] Campion and Moss were also accused of exploiting and insulting actual Asian-Australian sex workers, after it was reported that they had interviewed them about personal details of their lives and the series then rarely rose above AsianHookerStereotype cliches.
83	* ''Series/Touch2012'' is similar to previous Fox series ''Dollhouse'' in that it only got two half-length seasons of 13 episodes each, with one first-season episode not even airing during the regular season (it was aired as a bonus in September 2012, six weeks before the intended second-season premiere). Weak ratings for the bonus episode were probably the reason why Fox chose instead to postpone the premiere for nearly four months until it could take over the FridayNightDeathSlot following the ending of ''Series/{{Fringe}},'' and the new season's ratings were as poor as those of ''Fringe'' - a huge shocker, considering it had the strongest debut of Fox's four freshman series of 2011-12. Unlike ''Fringe,'' however, ''Touch'' sadly didn't have the benefit of a large and devoted fanbase to keep it alive, even with the DarkerAndEdgier, more MythArc-oriented turn the second season took.
84	* ''Series/TwinPeaks''. Creator/DavidLynch explicitly stated that he never wanted to bring the Laura Palmer story to a close, preferring to use it as a frame for the sub-plots and span it over several seasons, but Creator/{{ABC}} [[ExecutiveMeddling didn't think the audience would stick around]]. As a result, her killer was revealed halfway through Season 2 and the show became nothing ''but'' sub-plots. Lynch justifiably backed mostly out of its production to continue with his film career, directing only a few episodes with others directed by filmmakers of various skill levels.
85	* Most diehard fans of ''Series/WarOfTheWorlds1988'' tend to hold the opinion that the changes from the first to second season (which included the deaths of several major and supporting characters - including the villains of the first season, the world flipping over TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture and most of the first-season plot threads dropped in favor of standalone episodes) caused the show's death.
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89	* ''Series/TheWubbulousWorldOfDrSeuss'' had a good first season, but underwent a drastic shift in the second season to try to compete with ''Series/BearInTheBigBlueHouse''. This change resulted in multiple flanderizations- for example, the Cat in the Hat became more of a host rather than TheTrickster who likes to push the stories along (as well as being recast with a new puppeteer). Unsurprisingly, the attempt to compete with Bear failed and the show was cancelled.
90	* ''[[Music/FrankSinatra The Frank Sinatra Show]]'' was a musical variety show broadcast on Creator/{{CBS}} for two seasons from 1950 to 1952. While the first season did well on Saturdays at 9 against ''Your Show of Shows'' on Creator/{{NBC}}, the second one faltered on Tuesdays at 8 against ''Texaco Star Theater'' (Milton Berle's show) on NBC and the surprise hit ''Life is Worth Living'' on Creator/DuMont, which debuted in mid-season. The show's popularity was also hurt by the scandals surrounding Sinatra's affair with Ava Gardner and his musical career being at a low point commercially and artistically (his late Creator/{{Columbia\|Records}}-era output being notorious for gimmicky novelty tunes). [[note]](The name was reused for an unusual variety/drama format which aired on Creator/{{ABC}} for one season in 1957-58; that one failed due to Sinatra attempting to tape ''eleven shows in fifteen days'' (he hated rehearsing), which showed in his performances and earned him a critical mauling.)[[/note]]
91	* ''The Pat Sajak Show'' was an attempt by CBS to challenge Johnny Carson that put the host of ''Series/WheelOfFortune'' through massive changes while in late night. It didn't help, and Sajak was yanked off near the end of Season Two.
92	* The American version of ''That Was the Week That Was'' was hit hard with this in its second season, especially because it conflicted with the 1964 Presidential election, and until the election was over it was shown only on a monthly basis. By the time it went back to a weekly program, most of its viewers had switched to its competition, ''Series/PetticoatJunction'' and ''Peyton Place''.
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Context Main / SecondSeasonDownfall