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| 4 | |
| 5 | [[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sophomoreslump.png]]]] |
| 6 | |
| 7 | ->''"Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine."'' |
| 8 | -->-- '''[[Literature/TheFourGospels John 2:10]]''', Literature/TheBible |
| 9 | |
| 10 | After a stellar first installment/season, a series has a second installment/season that either feels suspiciously like the last or just isn't as good. Tends to be more prevalent in dramas than comedies. A specific form of SeasonalRot, though perhaps not always ''bad'' so much as just [[ToughActToFollow underwhelming when compared to what came before]]. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | Sophomore Slump concerns shows that make it past an awful second season and into a decent or fantastic third season. If the show doesn't survive the second season, it's a SecondSeasonDownfall. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | This happens in music with depressing regularity as well. Usually, it's because after the first album (which usually has a couple of years of development under its belt and plenty of trial and error from live concerts to help the band determine what does or doesn't work), the record company wants a second album produced within a year. The second album is therefore very likely to consist mainly of the songs that were cut from the first album because they were considered inferior. Combine this with the fact that most bands popular enough to get a second album will also be constantly on tour and one can see why this happens. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | This term as used in sports refers to players who become breakout stars during their rookie seasons, only to follow up with underwhelming second years, whether because of injury, changes within the team, heightened expectations and publicity leading to faltering on-field performance, etc. Some of them are able to figure out how to get back on track for their third years and beyond, while others end up skidding for a few years and then disappear, with varying levels of infamy based on how highly touted they were before or during their freshmen seasons. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | A related term, used in computing, is the "second system effect." Freed from the tight schedule and budgetary demands of the first system, the programmers attempt to "correct" everything that "went wrong" the first time, usually with disastrous effects. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | This may happen when your first season is widely considered a ToughActToFollow, but it's not a rule. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | Compare OddballInTheSeries, {{Sequelitis}}, and SeasonalRot. Could cause a BrokenBase if another portion of the fandom disagree with the opinion that the work is going through a Sophomore Slump. If it's inverted, see GrowingTheBeard, SurprisinglyImprovedSequel or EvenBetterSequel. If it's a longer-running series that's consistently good, then bad, then good again, then bad again, then repeat, see the StarTrekMovieCurse. If there really ''are'' [[RuleOfThree only three installments]], it's basically MiddleChildSyndrome for installments/series. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Has nothing to do with what comes after the [[WeightWoe freshman fifteen]]. |
| 25 | ---- |
| 26 | !!Examples: |
| 27 | |
| 28 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 29 | |
| 30 | [[folder:Anime]] |
| 31 | * ''Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries'' if one counts Kanto/Orange Islands as the first series and Johto as the second. The Johto arc was more or less a total rehash of the first, except with even more {{Filler}} and SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Pokémon on Ash's team that just didn't live up in power, personality, or appeal to the ones he PutOnABus after the Orange Islands. Of course, the Orange Islands arc itself has its own problems as well and is frequently accused of being a filler arc, so regardless of which is the sophomore the trope applies, with the recovery occuring either during the last third of Johto (if the slump was the Orange Islands) or some point in the [[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesRubyAndSapphire Hoenn saga]] (if the slump was Johto.) |
| 32 | * ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' is infamous for its DistantFinale, and in part due to a KudzuPlot that left a lot of threads dangling. Also, having one of the most famous {{Big Bad}}s in ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' history be defeated by [[spoiler:{{talking|TheMonsterToDeath}}]] left a bad taste in many fan's mouths. |
| 33 | * The first half of ''Anime/CodeGeass'' R2 was a rehash of many elements of season 1, going so far as to have Lelouch reuse plots in suspiciously similar circumstances. It was purposely done this way [[ExecutiveMeddling to appeal to the new audiences in R2's new time slot]]. Fans such prefer R1 and the second half of R2 to it by a wide margin. |
| 34 | * ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' has the second season, generally considered to be weaker than the first due to it rehashing the same "protagonists fight a [[StateSec paramilitary force]] controlled by the BigBad" plot done [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam twice]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing before]]. This caused the 2008/2009 season to be remembered as "the time Creator/{{Sunrise}} blew it all" on the seasonal plan since it aired alongside ''R2'' above. |
| 35 | * Despite a significant AnimationBump, "Second Stage" of ''Manga/InitialD'' isn't deemed to be on par with "First Stage" due to its shorter length and having less narrative charm. That the plot in this Stage focused less on protagonist Takumi Fujiwara and his budding street racing skills against various opponents, while putting more screen-time to rival Team Emperor's conquest of the Gunma Prefecture, the InternalReveal and fallout of [[spoiler:Takumi's girlfriend Natsuki Mogi's EnjoKosai habits]], as well as a sub-plot involving Itsuki Takeuchi's friendship with Kazumi Akiyama, may explain the slump. |
| 36 | * ''Anime/PsychoPass'' Season 2 was derided for being mediocre and rushed with a boring storyline which is a rehash from Season 1 storyline and new characters which the viewers don't care much, particularly with the new Inspector, Mika Shimotsuki. Season 3 managed to fix some of the damages such as new characters that made the viewers care while it reworked with Mika's personality and an interesting storyline. |
| 37 | [[/folder]] |
| 38 | |
| 39 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 40 | * DirectToVideo sequels to films in the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon: |
| 41 | ** ''WesternAnimation/CinderellaIIDreamsComeTrue'' received a rather harsh reaction, due partly to its poor animation and lack of a central plot. Its shortcomings seem even more heinous when considering that [[MiddleChildSyndrome it became sandwiched in-between]] [[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} a movie that saved Disney from bankruptcy]], and [[WesternAnimation/CinderellaIIIATwistInTime one of Disney's best-reviewed direct-to-video sequels]]. ''Dreams Come True'' was conceived as-is because it is a FailedPilotEpisode Disney tried to falsely advertise as a proper sequel, while both other films were produced as proper feature-length works. |
| 42 | ** ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'', while often regarded as better than a lot of Disney's other direct-to-video sequels, is considered the worst of the Aladdin films, with [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} the original]] being a modern classic and ''WesternAnimation/AladdinAndTheKingOfThieves'' being one of the most well-regarded of the sequels. |
| 43 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'' tends to be regarded as the weakest entry in that series. Somewhat like ''The Return of Jafar'' it's actually considered to be decent (or even fairly good) in its own right, but has the bad luck of being sandwiched between [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 the original]], one of Disney's all-time classics, and ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingOneAndAHalf'', which is seen as one of the more memorable and unique Disney sequels. |
| 44 | * Creator/{{Pixar}}: |
| 45 | ** ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'' was their second film and while it's well-liked, it tends to be forgotten. The fact that it's sandwiched between their spectacular debut ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'' and the [[EvenBetterSequel very much not a sophomore slump]] ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'' doesn't help; indeed, it's the only one of Pixar's first seven films not to have spawned a franchise. |
| 46 | ** ''WesternAnimation/Cars1'' was, upon its release, considered the weakest film they had ever put out, which still meant it had a fairly warm reception. ''WesternAnimation/Cars2'', a Mater-centric spy flick, became the first Pixar film to have a critical and audience response that was downright bad, and is still considered the company's worst film. ''WesternAnimation/Cars3'', which stuck much closer to the first film's tone, was much more appreciated. |
| 47 | * The four ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' DirectToVideo movies suffered this. The first one, ''Bender’s Big Score'', [[FirstInstallmentWins is very well-regarded]]. The second one, ''The Beast With a Billion Backs'', tends to get the worst reception because of the fact that the antagonist Yivo was EasilyForgiven for [[spoiler:using tentacles to unwittingly mate with ''everyone'' in the universe]]. The final two get more varied reception, but are both generally seen as better than ''The Beast With a Billion Backs''. |
| 48 | [[/folder]] |
| 49 | |
| 50 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 51 | * Creator/KevinSmith's much-loved first film, ''Film/{{Clerks}}'', was followed up by the much-maligned ''Film/{{Mallrats}}'', considered one of the weakest entries in his View-Askewniverse series by many fans. |
| 52 | * ''[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom The Temple of Doom]]'' was this in the original ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' trilogy, with some fans finding it less memorable than ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', not having the fun or heart of ''[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade The Last Crusade]]'' and just being generally mean-spirited, squicky and not in style with the other films. |
| 53 | * ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'': |
| 54 | ** While ''Film/IronMan2'' was relatively successful with audiences and critics, many felt it was not as exciting as the first or third films, and is regarded as the weakest entry in the ''Iron Man'' trilogy by the majority of viewers. It's also widely considered one of, if not the weakest entries in the entire franchise. |
| 55 | ** Phase Two is seen as the weakest part of the Infinity Saga -- lacking the fun and novelty of the Phase One films and the emotional highs of the Phase Three films, and criticized for falling victim to SupermanStaysOutOfGotham -- the actors' contracts in the fledgling MCU meant they couldn't cross over with one another as much as they would later on -- and for every film's climax being a large-scale aerial battle in an attempt to recapture the thrill of ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', until ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' put a twist on it and then largely retired that routine. Of the Phase Two films, only ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'', and ''Film/AntMan1'' were universally well-received. Phase Two was also when the MCU started to face criticisms of favoring {{White Male Lead}}s, bland villains and too many jokes -- most of which were addressed in the Phase Three films. |
| 56 | ** ''Film/{{Thor}}'' was a well-received film that provided a BreakoutCharacter in Loki (which turned Creator/TomHiddleston into just as big a star as Creator/ChrisHemsworth). ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' was much more divisive -- with criticisms hurled at it for having a GenericDoomsdayVillain, too much focus on the human characters and some MoodWhiplash involved in the joking around. Much like the aforementioned ''Iron Man 2'', it's largely considered to be one of, if not the worst entry in the MCU. ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' is the best rated of the movies critically and, while it has a divisive reaction among fans (particularly for the aforementioned jokes), it has made much more of an impression on the public consciousness than the second. |
| 57 | ** ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' was considered the high point of Phase One and received glowing praise from both critics and comic book fans for successfully connecting already well-received films into one. ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', while not bad, is considered to be the weakest of the Infinity Saga Avengers movies due to the controversial development of multiple characters, ExecutiveMeddling, and generally not being able to get the same impact as the first movie. ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' is better received for having an excellent villain in Thanos and a good mix of action and humor although the first movie is seen as better. ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', despite ContinuityLockOut, is praised for being one of Marvel's best movies and a satisfying conclusion to the Infinity Saga, having even higher ratings and box office than the first movie. |
| 58 | ** For the MCU as a whole, the second movie ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk2008'' is one of the least popular thanks to [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the wild difference in tone and Edward Norton playing the titular character instead of Mark Ruffalo]], and many finding the film's plot to be simply unmemorable, not helping with how later installments in the MCU scarcely even acknowledge the film. It was also the lowest rated movie until the aforementioned ''Thor: The Dark World''. |
| 59 | * ''Film/MissionImpossibleII'' is the most reviled of the ''Film/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries'', while the [[Film/MissionImpossibleIII third]] was received better and each following movie was considered an improvement. |
| 60 | * ''Film/AShotInTheDark'' is actually a good movie, but aside from starring Creator/PeterSellers as Inspector Clouseau, being directed by Creator/BlakeEdwards and featuring music by Music/HenryMancini, it has very little in common with ''Film/ThePinkPanther1963''. However, people usually see it as where the series actually started GrowingTheBeard. |
| 61 | * ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'' for the Craig-era ''Film/JamesBond''. It suffered from the writers strike and didn't have the success of its predecessor, ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006'', mostly because [[TooBleakStoppedCaring of the grimmer tone]] and being [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks so different in style]] from other Bond films. The next installment, ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'', was much more critically acclaimed. |
| 62 | * ''Film/TheMazeRunner2014'' was a SleeperHit that was praised for being smarter and better made than a lot of other YA sci-fi dystopia films. Its second film, ''Film/MazeRunnerTheScorchTrials'', was viewed as a real step down - one critic even calling it "a typical middle movie" -- and especially for radically [[InNameOnly differing from the book]]. When the third film, ''Film/MazeRunnerTheDeathCure'', was released, although critics were lukewarm to it, audiences were a different story, calling it the best film of the series. |
| 63 | * Though ''Film/ScaryMovie 2'' isn't considered the worst film in that series, with nearly everyone agreeing to the fifth film to be ''far'' worse, it's still generally seen as inferior to the first and third films, with even creators the Wayans Brothers being on record as disliking it due to the rushed writing and filming process. |
| 64 | * ''Film/ExorcistIITheHeretic'' is seen as the worst film in the ''Exorcist'' series. The first film is considered an all-time classic, and the third an underrated cult hit, but the second suffers from a GenreShift away from horror as well as a generally bizarre and unintentionally funny storyline. Opinions on the two attempts at a prequel film (''Exorcist: The Beginning'' and ''Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist'') tend to vary, but very few consider them to actually be worse than the second film. |
| 65 | * While neither ''Film/XXx'' nor ''Film/XXXReturnOfXanderCage'' exactly got glowing reviews, they were both considered to be a lot of dumb fun, with the former film being an outright box-office hit and the latter doing well internationally. The film in-between then, however, ''Film/XXxStateOfTheUnion'', was a critical and commercial bomb that didn't even star Creator/VinDiesel. |
| 66 | * ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreetPart2FreddysRevenge'' is considered by some to be one of the worst films in the ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'' franchise, and [[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet3DreamWarriors the third film]] is almost universally considered an improvement, and one of the ''best'' films of the series, and [[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet4TheDreamMaster the fourth]] has plenty of fans too. The [[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet5TheDreamChild fifth]] and [[Film/FreddysDeadTheFinalNightmare sixth]] films are hated even worse than the second though. |
| 67 | * Related to ToughActToFollow, Rob Marshall directed the musical ''Film/{{Chicago}}'' - which received critical acclaim, a Best Picture Oscar and helped revive interest in modern musicals. His second musical film - ''Theatre/NineMusical'' - was met with lukewarm reactions and failed to make an impression on the general public. His third, ''Film/IntoTheWoods'', was much more successful. |
| 68 | * ''Film/TwoFastTwoFurious'' is the least popular installment of ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'' film series. It's also the only one without Creator/VinDiesel. |
| 69 | * ''Film/BadBoys1995'' was a well-received by audiences in spite of middling reviews. ''Film/BadBoysII'' was also financially successful, but got a heavily negative reaction from critics, while audiences were ambivalent at best. The years since have rehabilitated its reputation somewhat, albeit only to the extent where it's gone from being seen as a crappy sequel, to one that's decent, but not as good as the films either side of it, given [[Film/BadBoysForLife the third]] was widely considered a very SurprisinglyImprovedSequel. |
| 70 | * ''Film/BeneathThePlanetOfTheApes'' is widely considered a huge step down from a sci-fi classic, due to its cheap production, overly bleak and nihilistic feel (specially the DownerEnding), clunky political commentary, and the mutants feeling far too bizarre and off-the-wall even for this series. However, [[Film/EscapeFromThePlanetOftheapes the third one]] is widely considered an improvement. |
| 71 | * ''Film/MenInBlackII'' is generally considered the worst of the first three MIB movies, although not nearly as bad as [[Film/MenInBlackInternational the fourth]]. |
| 72 | * ''Film/NationalLampoonsEuropeanVacation'' failed to achieve the classic status of its predecessor, ''Film/NationalLampoonsVacation'', or its successor, ''Film/NationalLampoonsChristmasVacation''. |
| 73 | [[/folder]] |
| 74 | |
| 75 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 76 | * In the ''Literature/AnneOfGreenGables'' series, ''Anne of Avonlea'' tends to be considered the weakest book, being blander and more cutesy than the others, and having mainly been written because of public demand for a sequel. Unsurprisingly, its few adaptations tend to combine it with the more popular third book, ''Anne of the Island.'' |
| 77 | * ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'' is generally seen as the weakest of the bunch. It’s heavy on exposition and follows the same basic plot structure as the first one without adding too many new elements or characters. While it’s definitely an InnocuouslyImportantEpisode in setting up things like horcruxes and Voldemort’s backstory, it doesn’t pay off until much later which makes it come off as slightly boring. According to WordOfGod, she intended to include more {{Foreshadowing}} for later books as well as exposition about Voldemort's backstory, but her editor insisted she cut them (as she had yet to achieve her AuteurLicence). As a result, many fans have ItsTheSameNowItSucks reactions. It’s also regarded as the weakest of the films, though Daniel Radcliffe claims it's his personal favourite. |
| 78 | * ''Literature/{{Jam}}'' is seen as this compared to the author's other works. ''Literature/{{Mogworld}}'' was generally well received, though with some criticisms that it had many hallmarks of being someone's first novel, and both ''Literature/WillSaveTheGalaxyForFood'' and ''Literature/DifferentlyMorphous'' were spun off into successful series, each with there own small fandom. ''Jam'', by comparison, has been mostly forgotten about by Yahtzee's fans, and is generally the least well liked of his novels for several reasons, including the sluggish pacing, borderline RandomEventsPlot, and PinballProtagonist. |
| 79 | * ''Literature/PrinceCaspian'' is often viewed as the weakest of ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'', chiefly because of its slow pace, and secondly because it rehashes the plot structure of ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'' (an evil ruler has taken over Narnia, and the four Pevensie siblings are called upon to overthrow them, leading to a climactic battle), which the later books refreshingly avoid. |
| 80 | * ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' was kind of this way with ''Literature/FoolMoon''. It wasn't bad per se, it wasn't as good as ''Literature/{{Storm Front|DresdenFiles}}'', but the series certainly improves with ''Literature/GravePeril''. Opinions vary, though. |
| 81 | * ''Literature/SpySchool'': ''Spy Camp'', the second book, is often seen as doing less with the characters, setting, and worldbuilding than either the first book or ''Evil Spy School'' and ''Spy Ski School'', the two after it (both of which sometimes get seen as {{Even Better Sequel}}s to the first installment). |
| 82 | * Most of the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' fandom declares that ''[[Literature/WarriorCatsTheNewProphecy The New Prophecy]]'', the second arc, just isn't as good as the original series, though many admit that the writing quality, if not the story as well, improves at the third arc. |
| 83 | * While it was actually the third book by Creator/DrSeuss, ''The King's Stilts'' suffered from poor sales compared to ''Literature/The500HatsOfBartholomewCubbins'', his first book to obtain success with both critics and readers. |
| 84 | [[/folder]] |
| 85 | |
| 86 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 87 | * ''Series/DesperateHousewives'' had a decline in quality after season one. Some people say it returned to its premises in season three. |
| 88 | * The ''Series/DoctorWho'' revival: |
| 89 | ** The second series wasn't bad, but it was one of the most uneven. It gave us a few wonderful episodes like "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E3SchoolReunion School Reunion]]", and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E4TheGirlInTheFireplace The Girl in the Fireplace]]" but also had some of the show's bigger clunkers, like "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E10LoveAndMonsters Love & Monsters]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E11FearHer Fear Her]]". There was also a story arc that didn't give as great a reveal as other Series, and which many fans felt was there for Creator/RussellTDavies to set up his own show. Also despite many fans loving the Doctor/Rose romance, there is quite a group that felt it was becoming a RomanticPlotTumour, even those who liked Rose in the first Series felt she became unlikeable here. |
| 90 | ** The sixth series is this, being the second season of Creator/StevenMoffat's tenure as showrunner (with a new Doctor, new companion, and a lot of new people behind the scenes), after an outstanding first season. Again, some of the show's best ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E4TheDoctorsWife The Doctor's Wife]]", "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E10TheGirlWhoWaited The Girl Who Waited]]"), were alongside some of the show's biggest misfires ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E3TheCurseOfTheBlackSpot The Curse of the Black Spot]]", "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E8LetsKillHitler Let's Kill Hitler]]"). Additionally, many felt like Moffat was trying to do a little too much and the plot got tangled, and the characterization of River Song took a big hit. In a [[http://www.nerdist.com/2013/11/doctor-who-a-companions-companion-series-6/ season review]] from the Nerdist (one of ''Doctor Who'''s biggest cheerleaders), the writer even uses the term Sophomore Slump to describe it. |
| 91 | * ''Series/{{Elementary}}'''s second season was as enjoyable as the first as far as episodic plots are involved but was marred by ConflictBall-induced stupidity, Sherlock and Joan bickering rather than getting closer like fans wanted, and Mycroft's drawn-out plotline, and a somewhat unbelievable romantic subplot with Joan. Season three, thanks to Kitty's terrific character arc, and a saner dynamic between Joan and Sherlock was a return to form. |
| 92 | * ''Series/FridayNightLights'' had a number of implausible developments in its second season (including a murder perpetrated by two of the main characters) that did not fit at all with the realistic, muted tone of the show. The move to cable in the third season helped it to return to its previous feel. |
| 93 | * The second season of ''Series/GameOfThrones'' was, while still good, generally more uneven than the first season, since while the first book was mostly linear (with basically three main plotlines- the Wall, the East and Kings' Landing/related subplots) with a strong focus character (Ned Stark) and DrivingQuestion (why was Jon Arryn murdered?), the second book ''A Clash of Kings'' suddenly had an explosion in the number of plotlines which were increasingly divorced from each other, and many which were not TV-friendly, which led to the TV writers making deviations that didn't quite work (Jon, Robb and Dany's plotlines were big offenders). These problems were mostly solved in the third and fourth seasons, as splitting the third book ''A Storm of Swords'' allowed the show to breathe, the writers became more confident with reducing the number of plotlines per episode, and the quality of TV original material improved massively. |
| 94 | * The second season of ''Series/{{Lost}}'' has its strengths, most notably introducing fan-favourite characters like Desmond, Ben, and Mr. Eko, but also suffers from many stalls in the plot with little to no questions being answered. The writers apparently picked up on this, as although the third season had a rough start, the remainder of it really started kicking up the plot twists and actually started answering some major plot threads. It still has its detractors but is often agreed to at least be a step up from season 2. |
| 95 | * ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' has had numerous ups and downs over the years, but if one considers it in terms of eras rather than seasons, the "new cast" era of the sixth season definitely represents a sophomore slump. Gone was the entire cast from the first five years, gone was show-runner Creator/LorneMichaels, gone was the house band, heck, even the writers were mostly different. New producer Jean Doumanian, who had previously been responsible for booking musical guests, didn't know comedy at all, and the new cast was uneven, some very talented and some not so much, but unable to gel into a cohesive comedy unit like the first cast. Instead of Creator/DanAykroyd or Creator/BillMurray naturally rising to the top, Creator/CharlesRocket was forced into the "star" role and utterly failed to connect with audiences, while Creator/EddieMurphy was shoved into the background, not experiencing his break-out status until the following year. |
| 96 | * The second season of ''Series/TheWalkingDead2010'' is often considered its weakest due to a considerably slower pace and little plot development, with most of the episodes confined to Hershel's farm. Most people agree that Season 3 was a significant improvement. |
| 97 | * The second season of ''Series/OnceUponATime'' was considered a major step-down from the first, particularly in the second half, due to a sudden glut of new plotlines and characters reducing focus from the plotlines and characters the show already had. |
| 98 | * Many fans agree that season 2 of ''Series/{{Victorious}}'' saw a noticeable decline in quality, mainly due to the massive {{Flanderization}} of {{Ensemble Dark Horse}}s Cat (from a MoodSwinger CloudCuckooLander to TheDitz) and Jade (from a JerkWithAHeartOfGold NobleDemon to TheSociopath), the ShipSinking of Cat and Jade's popular OddFriendship, and the excessive CharacterFocus on Tori, when in season 1, each of the characters had their own [[ADayInTheLimelight Days In The Limelight]]. Season 3 [[BrokenBase broke the fanbase]] -- it's either funnier than ever, shows some nice development all around and doesn't just waste characters, or even worse to the point where the show has JumpedTheShark. |
| 99 | * ''Series/{{Homeland}}'''s second season tossed away the cat-and-mouse game between Carrie and Brody in the middle and made the latter as TheMole for the CIA at the former's urging along with some characters holding the IdiotBall. But at least, the season finale paid off with Abu Nazir's ThanatosGambit [[spoiler:by killing a majority of the CIA personnel with a bomb and pinning the blame on Brody]]. |
| 100 | * ''Series/OneTreeHill'' is a fine example of this trope. After a powerful first season, the second season gave us the undoing of Lucas and Nathan's close relationship, two [[TheScrappy Scrappies]] in the form of [[JerkAss Felix]] and [[{{Wangst}} Anna]], little to no progression with the Brucas or Leyton ships, Haley becoming a rock star for no reason and Keith (once again) allowing himself to be screwed over by his younger brother. If not for the introduction of [[UnpopularPopularCharacter Chris Keller]] and Brooke's CharacterDevelopment, most people would consider the season a complete write off. |
| 101 | * ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' opened with a strong enough first season, but its second is much more divisive. It chose to downplay the supernatural aspects of the sisters' lives -- featuring a RomanticPlotTumour involving Piper's love life and general bad quality of writing. It's regarded as the weakest of the Prue seasons. Seasons 3 and 4 are the most beloved of the show. Interestingly enough within the Paige seasons, Season 5 is the second of those and falls into this too -- with a LighterAndSofter tone and a reliance on standalone episodes, as well as making Phoebe TookALevelInJerkass. |
| 102 | * ''Series/{{Revenge}}'' was considered to have a stellar freshman season which was followed by a rather sub-par second season -- the biggest issue being the KudzuPlot that involved a GreaterScopeVillain, which not only took away the focus from Emily Thorne's quest for revenge on the Graysons but led to some rather blatant ArcFatigue that wore viewers down. It returned to form late in the season with a resurgence in quality, thanks to some well-timed Character Deaths and finishing TheManBehindTheMan in time for Season 3. The third season revitalised interest with a new ongoing mystery in its opening episode and great character drama which helped make the Myth Stall less blatant, and concluded with some excellent plot resolutions and a last-episode twist that ended it on a high note -- it is considered the second-best season by most. Season 4 created a BrokenBase due to its questionable execution but is generally regarded as superior to the sophomore season, which was the show's weakest point. |
| 103 | * ''Series/SleepyHollow'', after a popular first season, suffered from a rankings downturn during its second season that sidelined Ichabod and Abbie's relationship in favor of family drama and {{Base Breaking Character}}s. The series was still renewed for a third season, but the ending of ''that'' season [[spoiler:killing off Abbie]] caused many viewers to permanently abandon the show and it was canceled after the fourth season. |
| 104 | * ''Series/TrueDetective'' had a critically adored first season with its dark mystery and atmosphere, but the second season was widely considered to be weaker in comparison seemingly abandoning those very elements. After a three-year hiatus, Season 3 returned the show to form and earned renewed acclaim. |
| 105 | * ''Series/LastManStanding'' did well in the ratings in the first season, but the producers and writers decided to {{retool}} the show to help it stand out more against other sitcoms. They [[TheOtherDarrin recasted]] Kristin Baxter and amplified her GranolaGirl characteristics and [[SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome aged her son up]]. They also made her son's father Ryan a much more prominent character, changed him into a SoapboxSadie and went with an ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' political angle by contrasting the conservative Mike with Kristin and Ryan's ideals (the twist being that Mike's opinions generally tend to be more reasonable). The ratings managed to stay stable and warrant a third season but most of the changes were met with backlash by the show's fan base (aside from the introduction of EnsembleDarkHorse [[TokenBlackFriend Chuck]] [[TheGadfly Larabee]]). The writers began fixing it in the third season by giving Kristin some much-needed CharacterDevelopment to put her more in line with her season one characterization, reducing the number of appearances Ryan made and toning down the political aspects so they became more of an undercurrent to the character relationships. |
| 106 | * The second seasons of both ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' and ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' are generally regarded as their weakest. While neither show's first season is regarded as especially good, they're usually seen as at least SoOkayItsAverage, and their flaws are considered more forgivable considering the writing staff needed to find their feet. By contrast, the second seasons are considered regressions in quality and contain several episodes regarded as the bottom of the barrel for both shows ("Twisted" and "Threshold" for ''Voyager'', and "A Night in Sickbay" and "Precious Cargo" for ''Enterprise''). The second season of ''Voyager'' also suffers from the writers doubling down on StatusQuoIsGod, after the first season had shown more conflict between the Starfleet and Maquis crewmembers, and had the crew more willing to bend the rules to deal with their desperate situation. |
| 107 | * While the second season of ''Series/StrangerThings'' was still warmly received, a number of fans and critics saw it as meandering, awkwardly paced, lacking in real stakes, and too sprawling for its own good, with the episode [[Recap/StrangerThingsS2E7ChapterSevenTheLostSister "The Lost Sister"]] (which even the Duffer Brothers [[http://www.vulture.com/2017/11/the-duffer-brothers-recap-stranger-things-2-the-lost-sister.html described]] as a PoorlyDisguisedPilot for a SpinOff) coming in for particular criticism for breaking the show's pacing right on a {{cliffhanger}}. By contrast, the third season was an ActionizedSequel and more tightly focused on the main characters, and while fan consensus still [[FirstInstallmentWins ranks the first season as the best]], the third is regarded as more or less a return to form. |
| 108 | * While not bad, it's generally agreed that season 2 of ''Series/Daredevil2015'' is weaker than the first and the third one. The popular villain Wilson Fisk is DemotedToExtra and the second half focus on the divisive [[YellowPeril Hand organization]]. Season 3 is generally considered to be a return to form with Wilson Fisk as the main antagonist again as well as introducing Bullseye. |
| 109 | * The very first ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' series, ''Series/HimitsuSentaiGoranger'', is still the [[FirstInstallmentWins highest rated entry in the franchise even after several decades]] and with 84 episodes, is also the longest. The second entry, ''Series/JAKQDengekitai'' ran into problems from the get go, failed to get a foothold rating wise and eventually got cancelled, lasting only 35 episodes (the shortest run of all Sentai shows [[note]]''Series/HikoninSentaiAkibaranger'' is actually the shortest sentai show with 26 episodes but as an "unofficial series" it doesn't actually count as far as the main franchise is concerned.[[/note]]) |
| 110 | * The first season of ''Series/{{Broadchurch}}'' was universally acclaimed by critics and audiences alike. Season 2, while not exactly bad, contained the infamous trial plotline, which was criticized for being an extremely inaccurate portrayal of the British legal system, and taking time away from Alec and Ellie's partnership and the actual mystery, two of the biggest drawing points of the show and what made it so acclaimed. Season 3 introduced a completely new case that didn't feel like a rehash of the original one, brought Alec and Ellie's partnership back to the forefront, and dialed down on Season 2's TooBleakStoppedCaring tone. It was largely agreed to be a return to form for the show and was received far more warmly than the previous season. |
| 111 | * ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand'' is a curious example. Its second season produced was a prequel miniseries set six years before the first (created after lead actor Creator/AndyWhitfield needed to seek treatment for cancer). The show's canonical season season ''Vengeance'' saw two major recastings - Liam [=McIntyre=] having to take over from Andy Whitfield [[DiedDuringProduction after his passing]] and Cynthia Addai-Robinson replacing fan-favourite Creator/LesleyAnnBrandt as Naevia (and the latter soon became a huge ReplacementScrappy). In addition to this, the show suffered from changing the familiar setting of the ludus to the rebels now being on the run; not helped by a change in the writing team making it feel like a different show. The decision to undo Lucretia's death at the end of ''Blood & Sand'' was poorly received (and blatantly said to keep more familiar faces around to help with the aforementioned recastings), especially the resulting arc attempting to make the viewer sympathise with Lucretia over Illythia. The show ramped up the AnyoneCanDie nature seemingly for shock value, with eleven main characters dying across the season, and many bemoaning the wasted potential of some. That being said, the season is praised for incorporating the EnsembleDarkhorse Gannicus from the ''Gods of the Arena'' prequel into the main cast, as well as introducing many characters such as Nasir and Saxa who would become fan-favourites, Mira's well-received CharacterDevelopment into ActionGirl, and Craig Parker getting to shine with more screen time as the season's BigBad. The season was still critically acclaimed, meaning this was rather downplayed overall. |
| 112 | * ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'''s first season was a cultural phenomenon, becoming one of the most popular children's shows worldwide. Even though fans recognise it isn't of the best quality, it's still enjoyed for nostalgia's sake. The second season coincided with Creator/AustinStJohn, Creator/WalterEmanuelJones and Creator/ThuyTrang leaving over a pay dispute, resulting in laughably bad {{Fake Shemp}}ing with stock footage, body doubles and voiceovers that barely sound like them, until they introduced their replacements. This is also the season where Tommy Oliver went from being the SixthRanger to TheLeader, and becoming extremely overpowered and turning into the SpotlightStealingSquad. Season 3 would be a return to form, and is generally considered the best season from a writing point of view. |
| 113 | * The second season of ''Series/TopChef'' was, to put it lightly, not great. The majority of the problems came from the cheftestants being one of the most argumentive group of the early seasons, including accusations of cheating in front of the Judge's Table and the infamous head-shaving incident. The negative reception caused Bravo to cancel a potential reunion episode, but surprisingly, the show was renewed, and it still continues to this day. The one positive out of this season is the inclusion of Padma Lakshmi as the new host, which people agree to be an improved one over Katie Lee Joel. |
| 114 | [[/folder]] |
| 115 | |
| 116 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 117 | * Music/{{MGMT}} tried to avert this by following up the synth-heavy, well-received ''Music/OracularSpectacular'' with a [[NewSoundAlbum totally unexpected]] surf-rock inspired album, ''Congratulations''. However, this got slightly more mixed reception precisely because of this. |
| 118 | * ''Meat Is Murder'' by Music/TheSmiths is a famous example of this. It's [[FridgeBrilliance actually pretty good]] outside of the title track and contains a few of their best-known songs, but it received very mixed reviews when it was first released and is frequently regarded as their weakest album. |
| 119 | * Music/Starflyer59's second album, ''Gold'', is an interesting case. Fans initially disliked it enough that they would tell Jason Martin to his face that his new album was terrible. Then the fans started warming up to the album. Nowadays, the old-time fans are the ones most likely to cite ''Gold'' as Starflyer's best album ever. |
| 120 | * ''Razorblade Suitcase'' by Bush. A highly commercial {{grunge}} band cashing in on the state of popular music at the time probably shouldn't have chosen Music/SteveAlbini as a producer (a man who, given his history with unconventional acts, probably shouldn't have chosen Bush as a client). |
| 121 | * ''Don't Look Back'' by Music/{{Boston}}. For proof, look at their ''Greatest Hits'' album, which essentially contains half their first album, plus a handful of other songs. Then again, it ''does'' happen to be the [[ToughActToFollow second highest-selling debut album of all time]]. |
| 122 | * Music/{{Haim}} experienced this with their second album ''Something to Tell You'', which they admit they struggled to conceive songs for and most critics appraised as being SoOkItsAverage. They would WinBackTheCrowd with their widely acclaimed DarkerAndEdgier third album ''Women In Music, Part III''. |
| 123 | * ''Music/VanHalen II'', while not a bad album and has its share of classic songs, it's still essentially [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks a retread of their first album]], making it one of the band's more forgettable Diamond Dave-era releases. |
| 124 | * The concept of sophomore albums essentially being a slapdash retread of a debut album's concepts/styles gets lampshaded with the title of Music/TalkingHeads' sophomore album ''Music/MoreSongsAboutBuildingsAndFood.'' The album ''itself'' is a subversion; it's generally considered to be much better than [[Music/TalkingHeads77 their debut,]] in part due to dropping unsympathetic producer Tony Bongiovi (who [[ExecutiveMeddling persistently tried]] to push Talking Heads into becoming a pop band) in favor of the much more creatively-inclined Music/BrianEno. |
| 125 | * Interestingly, the original liner notes to Music/TheBeatles' second album ''Music/WithTheBeatles'' have the band's PR guy Tony Barrow not only openly admit that the album is a blatant attempt to recreate the formula of ''Music/PleasePleaseMe,'' he uses it as a selling point. Then again, when the band in question is ''The Beatles''... |
| 126 | * Music/{{U2}}'s second album ''October''. In their defense, the band had to hastily record many of the songs because a briefcase containing Bono's lyrics for the song was lost, forcing Bono to improvise lyrics for the album. |
| 127 | * Music/FranzFerdinand's second album, ''You Could Have It So Much Better'', while still quite good, is considered to be considerably worse than both their debut SelfTitledAlbum and their third album ''Tonight: Franz Ferdinand''. Most critics attribute this to the fact that they sort of rushed it (releasing it about eighteen months after their debut) in order to prove that they weren't just a flash in the pan, while they could take their sweet time on their debut and the third album (which was released nearly four years later and was something of a NewSoundAlbum). |
| 128 | * Music/{{Mogwai}}'s second album, ''Come On Die Young'' received lukewarm reviews upon release in opposition to the universally acclaimed ''Mogwai Young Team.'' |
| 129 | * Since ''Music/AppetiteForDestruction'' is the best-selling debut albums of all time, it's only natural Music/GunsNRoses would have a tough time following up. Their second release, bundling an old EP with some acoustic numbers, did not reach the popularity of their first album. Even the ''Music/UseYourIllusion'' albums were following a very tough act. |
| 130 | * Music/ManicStreetPreachers' second album ''Gold Against The Soul'' is largely regarded as an awkward album, as it is half commercial songs intended to appeal in America and half ones with intentionally controversial lyrics and somewhat abrasive melodies. |
| 131 | * Music/TheClash's ''Give 'Em Enough Rope''. The album is not bad, it just fails to deliver. This is because it contains a cover version of a well known song ("English Civil War", being American Civil War era song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" with updated lyrics), a song with the same riff as a previous single ("Guns On The Roof", the single in question being "Clash City Rockers"), and "Drug Stabbing Time", which may be the worst thing (lyrically) the band ever recorded. The "commercial" production touches of Sandy Pearlman (best known for his work with Music/BlueOysterCult) also pissed off a lot of punk purists. However, the album's variety did pave the way for ''Music/LondonCalling'', their most popular album. |
| 132 | * Music/PuddleOfMudd's ''Life on Display'', their second major label album was lambasted upon release. Part of the reason for this is that their previous album, the commercially successful ''Come Clean'', consisted of re-recorded versions of what they considered the strongest songs from their first two independent albums, so the material on that album was already what the band considered their best material. |
| 133 | * Music/GogolBordello's second album ''Multi Contra Kulti Vs. Irony'' has always seemed like somewhat of a rush job. Before it came out they released a single "When The Trickster Starts A Poking/Occurrence On The Border" which attracted some indie attention. Presumably, this was intended as a stop gap but they included both songs on the album anyway. A few of the other tracks on the album like "Let's Get Radical", "Punk Rock Paranada", "Through The Roof And Underground" and "Baro Foro" are also loved by fans, but the rest of it has the air of filler and failed experiments. The band rarely play anything from the album these days except "Baro Foro". |
| 134 | * Music/HootieAndTheBlowfish quickly exploded into mainstream superstars with the success of ''Cracked Rear View'', which was praised by critics for its roots rock approach during the waning days of the {{grunge}} boom and became the second best-selling debut album of all time. Their follow-up, ''Fairweather Johnson'', received [[SoOkayItsAverage middling reviews]] and quickly fell into obscurity. |
| 135 | * Music/NickLowe's above-quoted twin songs were inspired by how his previous band Brinsley Schwarz flamed out due to record label mismanagement. Amusingly enough, both the album with them (''Jesus of Cool'') and its successor (''Labour of Lust'') performed more or less equally: they both got acclaimed and spawned a hit single ("I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass" for the former, but only in the UK, and "Cruel to Be Kind" for the latter, in the UK, the USA, and Canada). |
| 136 | * Music/{{Chumbawamba}} attempted to follow up their smash-hit major label debut ''Tubthumping'' with ''WYSIWYG'', whose lead-off single ("She's Got All The Friends") was quite obviously an attempt to mimic the shouty-pop of "Tubthumping." No one cared, and Chumbawamba returned to their previous preference of independent releases. (These days, the group would rather pretend that the "Tubthumper" era never occurred.) |
| 137 | * Music/MilliVanilli actually attempted a second album, believe it or not. After their twin 'debut' releases ('All or Nothing' outside of the USA, and the far more commercial 'Girl You Know It's True' in the USA) hit it big, they immediately recorded a follow-up album ('Keep On Running') using the same gimmick -- middle-aged guys on vocals, dreadlock guys on the cover. Shortly after the title track was released as a single, however, the controversy erupted. The new album was retitled 'The Moment of Truth' and credited to The Real Milli Vanilli, showing the actual singers on the cover. In the end, the retooled album was somewhat of a success in Europe, as the group still held popularity there. America, unfortunately, hated the group at this point, and the album never saw a US release. (At least, not in its original form -- the vocals were later re-recorded by other singers, and the album was released under the band name Try 'n' B. This version bombed completely.) They even made an album of the two stars ''themselves singing'' under the name Rob and Fab. It didn't do so well. |
| 138 | * Music/GreenDay's ''Music/{{Insomniac}}'' (though their ''mainstream'' sophomore, as it's their fourth) was not as well received as ''Music/{{Dookie}}'', particularly for being DarkerAndEdgier. |
| 139 | * Music/TheVines got huge press for their debut album, ''Highly Evolved,'' which went platinum in their native Australia and gold in the UK and America. Follow-up ''Winning Days'' had songs written around the time ''Highly Evolved'' was recorded, that didn't make that album. Critics noticed, and while the album went gold in Australia, it fizzled out everywhere else. Not helped by the fact that the frontman, Craig Nicholls, had struggles with UsefulNotes/AspergersSyndrome that caught up with him during the promotion of the album, resulting in an assault charge. |
| 140 | * After breaking out with ''Smash'', Music/TheOffspring failed to deliver the same commercial success with ''Ixnay on the Hombre'', even though it was praised critically, some [[EvenBetterSequel actually considering it superior]] to the album prior. |
| 141 | * According to an article in the LA Times, Music/{{Drake}} [[http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2011/11/drake-takes-cautious-approach-to-stardom-.html tried hard to avoid this]] with his second studio album, ''Take Care'' (hence the title). It was successful, as ''Take Care'' is his most commercially successful album. |
| 142 | * Referenced by Music/FallOutBoy with their song "Sophomore Slump Or Comeback Of The Year". |
| 143 | * Music/PinkFloyd's first album, ''Music/ThePiperAtTheGatesOfDawn'', is often regarded as a masterpiece of psychedelic rock. However, their second album, ''Music/ASaucerfulOfSecrets'', was at the time generally dismissed as an inferior imitation at best, partially [[TheBandMinusTheFace due to the departure of]] Music/SydBarrett.[[note]]After the success of ''Music/TheDarkSideOfTheMoon'', ASOS was re-released as double album together with the first album and turned out to be more successful the second time around. While it's easy to tell that the band were struggling to cope without Barrett, the musical ideas that eventually made Pink Floyd great are clearly present.[[/note]] |
| 144 | * Music/JenniferLopez narrowly averted this with her second album, ''J.Lo.'' While the album and lead single "Love Don't Cost a Thing" started off strong, her follow up singles, "Play" and "I'm Real," both underperformed. It was only after her now-famous remix of "I'm Real" with Ja Rule that things got back on track. |
| 145 | * Music/TheJam's second album ''This is the Modern World'' is generally regarded as a rushed and very much inferior gap-filler between their pretty good debut ''In the City'' and the widely hailed classic third album ''All Mod Cons''. |
| 146 | * Music/DeepPurple Mark II(a) released two classic albums, ''Music/DeepPurpleInRock'' and ''[[Music/MachineHeadAlbum Machine Head]]''. Sandwiched between them is a little lost album called ''Fireball''[[note]]''Fireball'' actually charted higher than ''In Rock'' at the time, but posterity thinks otherwise[[/note]], which has a couple of great songs and a lot of failed ones that attempt to get out of the formula established by ''In Rock'' but end up nowhere. Interestingly, one of their greatest hits, "Strange Kind of Woman", was recorded during the same sessions but not included on the UK album (on the US or Japanese versions of the album, SKOW is included, making it somewhat stronger). |
| 147 | * Music/{{Suffocation}}'s ''Breeding the Spawn'', which is almost entirely down to [[TroubledProduction the production]] -- and hoo boy, is it a mess. The reason is that the band got a pittance from Roadrunner Records, who were too busy chasing mainstream success to [[ScrewedByTheNetwork give a crap about Suffo or any of their other death metal bands]]. As a result, not only could they not get down to Florida to do another session at Morrisound (where they recorded ''Effigy of the Forgotten''), they apparently didn't have enough money to get a half-decent production job. This led to other complaints, namely that [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks they failed to evolve in any meaningful way]] from ''Effigy'' (although either a really good ear or a listen to any of the re-records placed on later albums debunks this and reveals the album as being one of the most technically complex albums not only of their catalog, but in the genre as a whole). Mercifully, they came back with a vengeance on ''Pierced from Within'', which paired the complexity of its predecessor with far better production, courtesy of a return trip to Morrisound. |
| 148 | * Music/JasonAldean's second album, ''Relentless'', was his only one not to produce a Top 5 country hit (although "Johnny Cash" and "Laughed Until We Cried" both just missed, at #6). It's also his weakest-selling album to date. However, he bounced back nicely starting with the third album and ascended to A-lister. |
| 149 | * Jerrod Niemann had a strong start with his first major-label album, ''Judge Jerrod & the Hung Jury'', which produced a #1 hit in "Lover, Lover" and a Top 5 hit in "What Do You Want". His next album, ''Free the Music'', performed dismally — its lead single barely made Top 20, and the followup barely made Top ''40'', and the album only sold ''eight thousand'' copies. However, he seems to have bounced back quickly with the third album, ''High Noon'', whose lead single "Drink to That All Night" quickly became his second #1 in April 2014. Double-subverted in that the album's next single, "Donkey", became a CreatorKiller due to its crudely-written, DoubleEntendre lyrics. |
| 150 | * Rick Trevino, a minor country music singer in TheNineties. His self-titled first official album[[note]]he had a mostly Spanish-language album out before it, but no singles were released[[/note]] was certified gold and had two Top 5 hits ("She Can't Say I Didn't Cry" and "Doctor Time"). The next album (''Looking for the Light'') had three singles, but the only one that even made Top ''40'' was the poorly received novelty "Bobbie Ann Mason". The third album, ''Learning as You Go'', brought him back to form, with three straight Top 10 hits (the title track, followed by "Running Out of Reasons to Run" — his only #1 hit — and "I Only Get This Way with You") before the hits tapered off again. (However, he did win a Grammy in 1998 as part of the supergroup Los Super Seven.) |
| 151 | * Randy Houser. His first album had the fan favorite "Anything Goes" (his debut single) and a big Top 5 hit in "Boots On". But his second album was delayed repeatedly due to its singles underperforming, with the second single ("I'm All About It") not even making the final cut of the album. The album was released to little fanfare and nothing else from it went anywhere. He was prepared for a third album, but when its lead single ("In God's Time") went nowhere, he left the label. ''Then'' he signed to Stoney Creek Records, where he released ''How Country Feels''. The title track became his first-ever #1 hit in 2013, followed by a second #1 in "Runnin' Outta Moonlight" and additional Top 10 successes with "Goodnight Kiss" and "Like a Cowboy". |
| 152 | * Music/CatStevens' second album, ''New Masters'', fared so poorly that he wouldn't release his third album, ''Mona Bone Jakon'', until 1970 (although his musical absence was due to contracting tuberculosis and not the album's failure). Then again, ''New Masters'' has one of his most famous (and frequently CoveredUp) songs, "The First Cut Is the Deepest." |
| 153 | * ''Lionheart'' by Music/KateBush is generally considered inferior to both ''Music/TheKickInside'' earlier that year and ''Music/NeverForEver'' two years later. Even decades later, ''Lionheart'' is still one of her least acclaimed proper studio albums, next to ''The Red Shoes'', which was widely seen as a SellOut album at the time. |
| 154 | * [=SHeDAISY=]'s first album, ''The Whole [=SHeBANG=]'', was certified platinum and produced three straight Top 10 hits on the country charts. They followed it up with ''Knock on the Sky'', which underperformed and had only two singles, both of which barely made Top 30. Their third album, ''Sweet Right Here'', brought them back up to speed with gold sales and the hit singles "Passenger Seat", "Come Home Soon", and "Don't Worry 'Bout a Thing". The last of these mocks their sophomore slump twice with the lines "Ever knocked on the sky and had it fall on your head?" and "Ever found your last record in the bargain bin?" |
| 155 | * This doesn't just apply to albums -- singles can fall victim to this, too, as Music/TheByrds did this with "All I Really Want to Do," released between their two #1 hits, "Music/MrTambourineMan" and "Turn! Turn! Turn!" Beaten by Sonny and Cher's cover of the song, The Byrds' own version peaked at #40, just barely qualifying it as a hit. |
| 156 | * Canadian country music group Emerson Drive. Their self-titled American debut album[[note]]they had two albums in the late '90s under the name 12 Gauge, but neither one had a hit on it[[/note]], for Creator/DreamWorksRecords, produced two big hits in "I Should Be Sleeping" and "Fall into Me". ''What If?'' completely tanked stateside, with none of its singles doing anything on the U.S. country charts, although "Waitin' on Me" was a minor hit in Canada and Music/{{Lonestar}} later CoveredUp the album cut "You're Like Comin' Home" to Top 10 success in 2005. On top of that, [=DreamWorks=] Records closed in mid-2005. Two years later, they signed with the small independent Midas Records and released ''Countrified'', which brought the semi-hit "A Good Man" and their only American #1 hit to date, "Moments". Although their momentum dropped off again with the next album, they have continued to be successful in Canada. |
| 157 | * Jamie O'Neal got hit with this pretty hard. Her first album had back-to-back #1 hits with "There Is No Arizona" and "When I Think About Angels" (in fact, the former made her beat out Music/KeithUrban by ''one week'' to become the first Australian with a #1 country hit in the States). The lead single to her second album underperformed so badly that the album didn't even get ''released'', and she was dropped by the label. But her third album (and second released) got her additional hits with "Trying to Find Atlantis" and "Somebody's Hero", the latter her first Top 5 hit since her debut before her momentum dropped off again. |
| 158 | * While Jack Ingram had been independently releasing albums since 1995, his first to contain a hit was ''Live: Wherever You Are'', a mostly live album {{Book End|s}}ed by the studio tracks "Wherever You Are" and "Love You". The former was a huge hit, becoming the first #1 for the Big Machine label (which would later have phenomenal success with a young Pennsylvanian named Music/TaylorSwift). Ingram's ''second'' Big Machine album was a flop, led off by a country-rock cover of Hinder's "Lips of an Angel". His third album seemed to be headed for a flop too, but in 2009, he scored his second and final Top 10 hit with "Barefoot and Crazy". |
| 159 | * Like the Byrds, Music/DustySpringfield had two big hit singles early in her career, "I Only Want to Be with You" and "Wishin' and Hopin'," and a less memorable single between them, "Stay Awhile." |
| 160 | * Ash's first full-length album, ''1977'', was very well-received, containing such hits as ''Kung Fu'' and ''Girl From Mars''. (The preceding mini-album, ''Trailer'', was also well-received). Then came ''Nu-Clear Sounds'', the second full-length album, which nearly left them bankrupt. After a rethink, they came back with ''Free All Angels'' which contains such hits as ''Burn, Baby, Burn'' and ''Shining Light'' and is considered by many to be their masterpiece. |
| 161 | * Music/GiuseppeVerdi followed up the success of ''Oberto'' with his first (and penultimate) comedy, ''Un Giorno di Regno'', which was pulled after a single performance. In his defense, it had actually been written when he was suffering from CreatorBreakdown, having lost his wife and two infant children. |
| 162 | * After Music/GioachinoRossini established himself as a musician of both serious and comic operas, respectively, with ''Tancredi'' and ''L'italiana in Algeri'', he floundered in both genres with ''Aureliano in Palmira'', now rarely performed, and ''Il turco in Italia'', which has since been VindicatedByHistory. He continued to struggle with his operas until ''Theatre/TheBarberOfSeville'' in 1816. |
| 163 | * Though it peaked at #1 in ''Billboard'' and scored a #1 hit with "I'm a Believer," ''More of Music/TheMonkees'' was basically a slapdash effort of outtakes from the group's first album (with a few other songs, "Believer" included, thrown in) put together by label Colgems Records to promote the group while they were touring and [[Series/TheMonkees working on the TV show]]. The group were not aware that the record existed until after it was released, and their dissatisfaction with the album's cover and liner notes led them to fight for creative control on their next three albums. |
| 164 | * Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}} had this on both sides of the Atlantic with ''Music/TheRollingStonesNo2'' in Britain and ''12x5'' in the US. Though both albums are pretty good, they basically follow the format of their debut album, mostly comprising covers of songs over original material. |
| 165 | * Following the success of his first opera, ''Le villi'', Music/GiacomoPuccini suffered this with ''Edgar'', which remains one of his more obscure operas to this day. |
| 166 | * Music/KatyPerry's ''Prism'' fits this with its singles. "Roar" was a #1 smash hit, then the follow-up "Unconditionally" fizzled out pretty quickly after its debut. The third single, "Dark Horse", was an even bigger hit than "Roar". |
| 167 | * Music/{{Rihanna}}'s debut single "Pon De Replay" was a big #2 in 2005. Her follow up "If It's Lovin' That You Want" went nowhere, and then "S.O.S." (the lead single to her next album) became her first #1. |
| 168 | * Hamilton, Joe Frank, & Reynolds: Their self-titled debut (with "Don't Pull Your Love") hit #59, their follow-up only reached #191, and their third album, ''Fallin' in Love'' (featuring the #1 hit of the same name), reached #82. |
| 169 | * If you start with their commercial breakthrough ''As Cruel as School Children'', Gym Class Heroes fit, as their follow-up ''The Quilt'', although their highest charting album on the Billboard 200, didn't produce any hit singles, unlike its predecessor and successor. |
| 170 | * Before they recorded their self-titled album, Music/TheB52s wrote more than an LP's worth of songs, and deliberately saved songs for the followup to try to avoid this: In fact, only three new songs were written during the ''Wild Planet'' sessions, with the rest being songs that they'd been playing live since before the self-titled album came out. ''Wild Planet'' sold better than the debut and was critically well-received... Though the self-titled album is still generally more well-known due to featuring "Rock Lobster", a SignatureSong for the band. |
| 171 | * Music/TraceAdkins had a hugely successful debut album ''Dreamin' Out Loud''. His followups ''Big Time'' and ''More...'' sold far more poorly, with neither scoring a major hit. But he got back on track with ''Chrome'', ''Comin' On Strong'', and ''Songs About Me'', which were far more successful and notched some of his biggest hits such as "Chrome", "Hot Mama", "Songs About Me", and "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk". |
| 172 | * Kip Moore had this happen. His first album sold platinum, including the hits "Somethin' 'bout a Truck", "Beer Money", and "Hey Pretty Girl". The second was delayed nearly ''two years'' due to the originally intended lead singles "Young Love" and "Dirt Road" faring poorly -- and they didn't even make the final cut of the album! Once the album was finally released, its singles barely made Top 20. He got back on track with album number three, whose lead single "More Girls Like You" was a gold-certified Top 5 hit in 2017. |
| 173 | * The vocal female trio Wilson Phillips were very hot off their successful debut album in 1990, containing 3 number-ones, "Hold On", "Release Me" and "You're In Love", and were nominated for 4 Grammys including Best New Artist. But their second album ''Shadows and Light'' in 1992, was a very tough act to follow. In contrast to their debut album, this had a more personal and serious tone in their songs such as their estrangement from their fathers or child abuse. While the album did sell well, being certified Platinum, the singles didn't have much success as their previous ones, and none of them cracked the top 10. After the album's release, Chynna Phillips decided to go solo, and the trio disbanded. They eventually reunited in 2004 before breaking up again and then reuniting ''again'' in 2010. |
| 174 | * Most critics and fans agree that Music/KaceyMusgraves ''Pageant Material'' is not as good as ''Same Trailer Different Park''. Many fans speculate that this is because she is trying to please country radio by releasing the two weaker but more mainstream singles, resulting in the album not receive any Grammy nomination for the singles. ''Golden Hour'' rebounds spectacularly, resulting 4 Grammy wins for her in 2019. |
| 175 | * Music/{{Europe}}, if you discount their first two albums which only charted in their native Sweden, had a smash hit with their first internationally successful album ''The Final Countdown''. While its follow up, ''Out of This World'', sold decently, it wasn't on the same level either critically or commercially and was generally seen as a bunch of songs that didn't make the cut on ''Countdown''. The band then came back with a strong album, ''Prisoners in Paradise'' but unfortunately that was released just a week after a little album called ''Music/{{Nevermind|Album}}'', with predictable results, forcing the band to go an hiatus for a number of years. |
| 176 | * Music/{{Weezer}}'s second album ''Music/{{Pinkerton}}'' started as this trope. In wake of the upbeat and fun [[Music/WeezerTheBlueAlbum first album]], fans were expecting more of the same, only to be disappointed when the album turned out to be harsh, noisy, and downright sad at times. It was trashed by critics and sold much worse than ''The Blue Album'', forcing Weezer into hiatus as they would later return to poppier music with ''Music/WeezerTheGreenAlbum''. However, fans and critics [[VindicatedByHistory later realized how brilliant the album was years later, and it quickly became their most celebrated album]], which led to it subverting this trope and Weezer recording more emotional music again beginning with ''Music/MakeBelieve''. |
| 177 | * Arrested Development's debut album ''3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of...'' managed to overshadow a very good vintage of GangstaRap with their ConsciousHipHop, and won two Grammys. The group then went for a more experimental approach with their second album ''Zingalamaduni''. The album bombed hard, got mixed reviews and a poor audience response, and completely destroyed the momentum they built up with their first album. The band eventually broke up, and soon faded into obscurity. |
| 178 | * Naturally, Music/DuranDuran expressed concern with this while working on their second album. Ironically, ''Rio'' became one of their best efforts, scoring hits with both "Hungry Like the Wolf" and the title track. |
| 179 | * Music/RedHotChiliPeppers' fifth album, ''Music/BloodSugarSexMagik'', was their mainstream breakthrough thanks to the hit single "Under the Bridge" (and other songs like "Give It Away", "Suck My Kiss" and "Breaking the Girl"). Then their guitarist Music/JohnFrusciante left the band, and they struggled to find a replacement guitarist for two years before finally settling on Music/JanesAddiction guitarist Dave Navarro. Moreover, the lead singer Anthony Kiedis relapsed, which created additional delays. By the time their sixth album ''One Hot Minute'' came out, it had been nearly four years since the release of ''BSSM'', and it didn't perform nearly as well. |
| 180 | * Remo Drive's debut album ''Greatest Hits'' quickly became an overwhelming critical and commercial success that broke the band into the Alternative Rock scene. Then they fired long-time drummer Sam Mathys, [[OldShame effectively disowned their earlier material by deleting it all from their Bandcamp,]] and took their sound in a much poppier direction with their follow-up ''Natural, Everyday Degregation'' [[NewSoundAlbum which abandoned the emo punk rock sound that catapulted them into stardom]]. The album was a massive flop, was torn apart by critics, [[BrokenBase divided their fanbase]], and completely destroyed the upward momentum they built up with their first album. Their third album, while cited by critics as an improvement, released to little fanfare and received similar scorn from fans. |
| 181 | * I See Stars got hit with this with their second album, ''The End of the World Party.'' Their first album, ''3-D,'' blew up almost overnight during the Website/MySpace era thanks to them blending pop and metal in a unique way. Sumerian Records quickly signed them and were shaping to be the American version of Music/AskingAlexandria. However, ''The End of the World Party'' leaned too much on the pop side and alienated fans who liked the metal elements (partly due to harsh singer Zach Johnson leaving). As a result, I See Stars didn't blow up in popularity as much as other [=MySpace=] bands. I See Stars maintained a fanbase, but they were never able to recapture the popularity they had during the [=MySpace=] days. |
| 182 | [[/folder]] |
| 183 | |
| 184 | [[folder:Podcasts]] |
| 185 | * The subject of the podcast ''Podcast/SophomoreSlumps'', primarily about famously slumpy second albums, though the April Fool's 2021 episode was about a video game (''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass''). |
| 186 | * Episode two of ''Podcast/MysteryShow'' centers on a book written by Starlee's client that sold terribly and is almost impossible to find. Starlee mentions that this was her second book however, and that her first book did okay, even being written up in Magazine/PeopleMagazine. |
| 187 | [[/folder]] |
| 188 | |
| 189 | [[folder:Professional Wrestling]] |
| 190 | * The first ''Wrestling/WrestleMania'' was a sensation that helped usher in the Rock n Wrestling Era - complete with high profile appearances from Mr. T and Cyndi Lauper. The second event was regarded as a disappointment - thanks to the poor decision to broadcast it from three different arenas - and most of the matches being short and unmemorable. With the third ''Mania'', the event became the celebrated tradition it's now regarded as in the WWE. |
| 191 | * The second season of ''Wrestling/WWEToughEnough'' is regarded as the worst. The first was a success, but the training was viewed as a disappointment. It even underwent MemeticMutation for Al Snow constantly saying "these kids aren't ready" in all the confessionals. The finale was a debacle too - with the last minute decision to have two female winners instead of one male and one female. The third season was viewed as a little better - and produced more wrestlers who would make an impression in the business. |
| 192 | * The first season of Wrestling/{{NXT}} introduced Wrestling/DanielBryan to a WWE audience and produced many more future regulars such as Wrestling/WadeBarrett, Wrestling/DavidOtunga, Heath Slater and Skip Sheffield, nowadays better known as Wrestling/{{Ryback}} (albeit he had to be repackaged after an injury) - as well as the memorable [[Wrestling/TheNexus Nexus]] stable that the contestants formed. The second season was viewed as a step-down, especially with its disaster of a finale. Any of the contestants of that season, such as Husky Harris, the future Wrestling/BrayWyatt, didn't achieve success until years later or after being repackaged (and their time on NXT therefore ignored). The third all women's season wasn't necessarily seen as good, but still produced more prominent stars in the form of Wrestling/AJLee, Wrestling/{{Kaitlyn}} and Wrestling/{{Naomi|Wrestler}}. The fourth was seen as just forgettable at best, and the elongated fifth and final season before retool actually saw an improvement as time went on. |
| 193 | [[/folder]] |
| 194 | |
| 195 | [[folder:Sports]] |
| 196 | * In the UsefulNotes/EnglishPremierLeague this tends to manifest as "Second Season Syndrome," whereby a newly promoted team will excel in their first season, only to crash and burn (or at least do much poorer) in their second season after promotion. Examples include: |
| 197 | ** 1996/97 -- Middlesbrough, after finishing 12th and comfortably surviving in their first Premier League season, finished 19th and were relegated. This one was quite controversial, as the club only went down because they were deducted three points for failing to fulfill a fixture, though it would have been a much poorer second season regardless. |
| 198 | ** 2000/01 -- Bradford City had gotten into the top-flight for the first time in ''77 years'' for the previous season, and survived on the last day against all the odds by beating Liverpool. Unfortunately, promotion-winning coach Paul Jewell then left in an ultimately doomed attempt to revive the fortunes of local rivals Sheffield Wednesday, his assistant Chris Hutchings proved severely out of his depth and was sacked just a few months into the following campaign, and the club were relegated at the end of the season, sending them into a downward spiral that saw them relegated three times over the next six years. |
| 199 | ** 2001/02 -- Ipswich Town, in probably the TropeCodifier for Second Season Syndrome, finished third-bottom and were relegated (only even finishing that high due to a late run that ultimately wasn't enough) just one year after finishing in fifth place and qualifying for the UEFA Cup in their first season back in the Premier League. |
| 200 | ** 2003/04 -- Manchester City, having gotten promoted for the second time in three seasons (after they were immediately relegated back to Division One in 2001/02) and earned their joint-highest finish since the formation of the Premier League the previous season, struggled all season this time around, at one point going three months without a win in any competition. Though they actually stayed up, mostly because all of the bottom three teams had such awful seasons that there was barely even anything resembling a relegation battle this year. |
| 201 | ** 2005/06 -- West Bromwich Albion had the previous year became the first side to beat the "Curse of Christmas," a long-standing record of whichever side was bottom on Christmas Day going down. Unfortunately, all it ended up doing was postponing relegation by a year, and they just went down this season instead. |
| 202 | ** 2006/07 -- Wigan Athletic and West Ham United had both done well in the previous season, securing solid mid-table finishes (Wigan's still being the highest-ever for that club). In this particular case both clubs actually ''did'' manage to avoid relegation by winning on the last day... but it was highly controversial in West Ham's case, as the goal that meant the difference between survival and relegation for them (and by extension sent down Sheffield United) was scored by Carlos Tevez, who was playing for the club under an arrangement later ruled to be illegal. |
| 203 | ** 2007/08 -- Reading had finished a comfortable eighth in their first-ever top-flight season the previous year, but a combination of a horrible mid-season run and a late revival by Fulham saw Reading go down on the last day. |
| 204 | ** 2009/10 -- Hull City had a mild case of this; they'd only barely survived the previous year, ultimately staying up by virtue of good early-season form, but this time around they floundered all season and were relegated, only kept off bottom spot by a financially stricken Portsmouth side who also had a massive points deduction. |
| 205 | ** 2010/11 -- Birmingham City, after yo-yoing between the top two divisions in the previous decade, finally seemed to have established themselves the previous season with their highest finish since 1959. This season, despite winning the League Cup, they were relegated on the last day of the season -- albeit bad luck did play a part here, as they were relegated with a points total that would have seen them survive in all but four seasons since the Premier League moved to its 20-team format in 1995. |
| 206 | ** 2012/13 -- Queens Park Rangers survived in their first top-flight campaign in 15 years despite a late wobble the previous season, but this time around they recorded the worst start in Premier League history and finished bottom. |
| 207 | ** 2014/15 -- Hull City ''again''; the previous season they earned their highest-ever league finish and were FA Cup runners-up, but this time around they struggled a lot more and were relegated despite holding Manchester United on the last day, after other teams like Leicester, Aston Villa and Sunderland caught up on them. |
| 208 | ** 2018/19 -- Huddersfield Town, after doing better than expected in their first top-flight season in 46 years the previous season, flopped spectacularly this time around and were relegated off the back of a run that saw them win just 1 of their last ''25'' matches.[[note]](for those of you who aren't aware, a Premier League season is just 38 matches long)[[/note]] Oddly enough, this was an [[HistoryRepeats exact repeat]] of what happened the last time they were in the top-flight, having an impressive debut season only to finish bottom the next season (albeit that time they put up a ''much'' better fight). |
| 209 | ** 2020/21 — Sheffield United, who were widely expected to go straight back down when promoted in 2019 but chased European football for almost all the season, even continuing to do so after the season resumed following its COVID-19 related break, only to lose their last 3 matches of the season. They then gained just 2 points in their first 17 games of the new season, a new record for worst start, with most of their losses by a single goal (whilst they trailed 2-0 in just 5 minutes in their first game at home to Wolves, they lost by just one goal to 9 of the teams who would end the season in the top 11, out of the 10 they fought in this 17-game winless run). This meant they had too much work to do. Whilst they followed up their first win (in the new year) with one at old Trafford later that month, they angered fans by sacking manager Chris Wilder in March, even with their cause clearly lost at this stage, and placed last, even with a few good but meaningless wins. |
| 210 | ** 2021/22 - Leeds United, who sacked Marcelo Bielsa (their longest serving and most successful boss since David O'Leary 20 years earlier, and his longest association with a club side) in February 2022 with 12 games to go, after conceding 20 goals in a 5 game spell which left them just above the relegation zone (and teams below or around them them like Everton, Newcastle, Burnley and Watford improving, with games in hand to boot), and with the division's worst defensive record. They had established an acclaimed progressive style under the famous boss which got them back into the Premier League and with the best points total of any newly promoted team in 20 years, only to suffer a second season syndrome after being found out by managers playing a similar style (like Frank Lampard and Antonio Conte) and having several key players injured long term like Patrick Bamford, Kalvin Phillips and Liam Cooper -- albeit they actually ''did'' survive in the end, thanks to Burnley managing to lose their last match of the season despite looking well-placed to survive going into the final day. Though this ultimately just postponed the inevitable by a year, and they utterly crashed and burned in 2022/23, going down with an even lower points total than their notorious 2003/04 relegaiton season. |
| 211 | * Snooker has the much-vaunted "Crucible Curse": No first-time world champion in the modern era has ever successfully defended their title the following year. That's 20 world champions in 50 years, and counting. |
| 212 | * In 2002, their second season with Creator/TomBrady as their starting quarterback, the New England Patriots posted a 9-7 record and failed to reach the playoffs. This was the only time in 18 seasons that a Patriots team with Brady as the regular starter failed to win their division. The Patriots rebounded with back-to-back Super Bowl-winning seasons in 2003 and 2004. |
| 213 | * The Lakers won the NBA title five times in Magic Johnson's first nine years with them, including his first and third. In his second, they were upset in the first round by the Houston Rockets. |
| 214 | * In Patrick Ewing's four years playing basketball at Georgetown the only year they didn't make the NCAA title game was his sophomore year, in which they lost in the second round to Memphis. |
| 215 | [[/folder]] |
| 216 | |
| 217 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 218 | * ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons1stEdition'' had three major monster collection books: the Monster Manual, the Fiend Folio, and the Monster Manual 2, released in that order. Of the three, the Fiend Folio is largely regarded as the runt of the litter, due to the fact that a large number of its entries were drawn from short reader submissions in White Dwarf Magazine, and the original Monster Manual having mostly run through the "classic" monsters. This led to a lot of monsters regarded as either bland (xvarts, flinds, quaggoths, death dogs) or bizarre (flumphs, flail slails, sussuruses, achaierais), with descriptions that often left them undercooked. Though it wasn't without its concepts that proved durable enough to be revisited in future editions, such as gith, elemental princes, daemons, slaadi, and death knights, it also has probably the highest proportion of monsters that never appeared again, and it took a while to be reevaluated more positively. |
| 219 | [[/folder]] |
| 220 | |
| 221 | |
| 222 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 223 | * While the vast majority of the mainline ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' games were highly praised, ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'' is heavily criticised for its unsatisfying combat, and forgettable story. These days, Creator/{{Capcom}} has taken to pretending the second game never happened: ''3'' was a prequel; ''[[VideoGame/DevilMayCry4 4]]'' is set between the [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 first]] and second [[note]]though as of ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'', that has since been changed to take place after ''2''[[/note]]; the recap of [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry the series]] in ''5'' gave it a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance with no detail about what [[GaidenGame its story]] was (by comparison, even [[Anime/DevilMayCryTheAnimatedSeries the anime]] was referenced more extensively in and had more of an impact on the fifth game); and the characters frequently comment on having no memory of the second game when they appear in other media (such as ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe'' or ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3''), the only exception being Dante's {{guest|Fighter}} appearance in ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne]] [[UpdatedRerelease Maniax]]'' (based on his ''[=DMC2=]'' appearance, as it was the most recent release at the time of the game). Neither Creator/HidekiKamiya (the creator of ''DMC'') nor Team Little Devils (Kamiya's personal dev team for ''[=DMC1=]'') were involved with ''2'', the project instead going to a different team under the direction of Hideki Itsuno (director) and Tsuyoshi Tanaka (producer)--and the ''3142 Graphic Arts'' artbook [[https://www.reddit.com/r/DevilMayCry/comments/8tcvw0/reminder_that_dmc2_was_essentially_a_miracle/ revealed]] that Itsuno himself wasn't brought on board until there were only ''[[https://imgur.com/yd3bXLu six months]]'' left in the game's development period with little to show for it; the original director of the project [[UncreditedRole remains unknown]]. That being said, this same group of developers was responsible for [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel the third game]], which handily proceeded to WinBackTheCrowd (critically, at least; sales were hurt somewhat by consumer wariness due to the second game's poor reception). |
| 224 | * ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': |
| 225 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels'', the Japanese sequel to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'', was a NintendoHard MissionPackSequel of the first game that went unreleased outside of Japan until several years later. ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'', the US sequel, was well-received but also a DolledUpInstallment barely playing like other titles. ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'', however, was a worldwide success, providing several positive changes while still retaining the style of the first game. |
| 226 | ** The phenomenon repeated itself with the 3D ''Mario'' games. ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' was the most universally loved Mario game at the time before ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' took that title. ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'' was much more divisive, stripping away the franchise's most [[MascotMook iconic]] [[PowerUp features]] and adding [[ScrappyMechanic some polarizing gameplay elements]]. [[VindicatedByHistory While it has become more beloved with time]], it's still stuck between ''64'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'', both of which are near universally beloved games in the franchise, if not the entire platformer genre. |
| 227 | ** While ''VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon'' is the most [[BrokenBase divisive]] game in the series, it's generally agreed by even its defenders to be the weakest game in the trilogy for switching to a mission-based structure, its lack of portrait ghosts, and its LighterAndSofter art style and general atmosphere, all of which were addressed in ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion3''. |
| 228 | ** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'', while considered a ''good'' game in the ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series and is one of the darkest entries, is generally not as well-received as its acclaimed [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga predecessor]] or its [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory successor]]. Part of this has to do with the American version being ChristmasRushed, which explains why the difficulty in that version is higher than normal. For example, grinding is more of a necessity because the bosses' health are twice as high as they were in the Japanese and European releases, which have been {{nerf}}ed in those versions. It's telling that both ''Superstar Saga'' and ''Bowser's Inside Story'' got [[VideoGameRemake remakes]] for UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS with their own minion-based AnotherSideAnotherStory companion games, while ''Partners in Time'' is left out of that luxury. |
| 229 | ** ''VideoGame/VirtualBoyWarioLand'' is considered a very worthy entry in the ''VideoGame/WarioLand'' series, but having to deal with the graphics of the Platform/VirtualBoy on top of being pretty short means that even the few people who have played it don't consider it better than the preceding ''VideoGame/WarioLandSuperMarioLand3'' or the succeeding ''VideoGame/WarioLandII''. |
| 230 | * ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaWarriorWithin'' is considered by many to be an example of DarkerAndEdgier GoneHorriblyWrong. ''The Two Thrones'' goes so far as to {{retcon}} the Prince's behavior in that game into being a ''curse''. |
| 231 | * The second ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament'' game, ''Unreal Tournament 2003'' was such a disappointment that Epic gave out rebates to owners who traded it in for the much better ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament2004''. With ''Unreal II: The Awakening'', Epic outsourced it to a third-party developer, and ended up being so badly received that it was an outright FranchiseKiller for the single-player ''Unreal'' games. |
| 232 | * ''VideoGame/{{Dizzy}} II: Treasure Island Dizzy'' is rampantly the least popular of the series, due to the extraordinary FakeDifficulty of Dizzy spending the entire game as a OneHitPointWonder. |
| 233 | * On the NES, ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'' [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks gets heck]] for being [[OddballInTheSeries a radical departure]] from [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda the rest of the series]]. A reason was that the usual conventions and mechanics of the franchise weren't fully defined yet, hence why the developers had tried to expand the gameplay features. Though later games returned to more classical formats, it did leave a legacy (for example, it introduced elements to the ''Zelda'' games like magic, towns, Dark Link, and character names like [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Saria or Nabooru]]). |
| 234 | * ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest'' was criticized for opting for a different gameplay approach to that of the original game as well as implementing some of its mechanics in a way that displeased many players (such as the unskippable slowly-appearing monologue that appears when switching between day and night phases), but [[{{Metroidvania}} its gameplay style]] would later become the series's bellwether after ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' perfected the formula. |
| 235 | * ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters'': The Rugal/Orochi saga (''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters94 '94]]'' to ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters97 '97]]'', alongside the DreamMatchGame of ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters98 '98]]'') is often seen as the series' high point, with it introducing both its trademark characters and 3-on-3 format. The NESTS saga (''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters99 '99]]'' to ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2001 2001]]'') isn't looked at much fondly, what with its more gimmicky 4-on-4 and [[AssistCharacter Striker]] combat and the newcomers being far more hit-or-miss, not helped by the temporary ChannelHop to Eolith from Creator/{{SNK}}. ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2002 2002]]'''s status as the [[DreamMatchGame wrap-up party]] allowed for the return of both the original format and several {{Ensemble Dark Horse}}s from the prior saga (such as [[BigBad Rugal Bernstein]] and [[QuirkyMinibossSquad the Orochi Team]]), heralding the series getting relatively back on track, even if it continued to struggle with less compelling newcomers and the unpolished release of ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXII XII]]''. |
| 236 | * ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'': |
| 237 | ** ''VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus'' on the Platform/GameBoy suffered this due to some gameplay changes and a more linear progression. And until [[VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns its long-awaited remake]] (over two and a half decades since the original's release), it felt very dated visually. |
| 238 | ** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'' is considered a bit of a slump for the ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy''. While it's generally agreed to be a good game, the [[NintendoHard brutal difficulty]], key collection, and ammo system tend to draw ire. It's also criticized for having many of the same upgrades and weapons as the original, with the only really new upgrades being the Seeker Launcher, Screw Attack, and the Echo Visor. Another point of debate is the multiplayer mode. Most, if not all of these issues were fixed when the game was ported to the Wii as part of the ''Metroid Prime Trilogy''. |
| 239 | * ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyJusticeForAll'' didn't quite match up to [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney the first game]], mostly due to its widely despised third case[[note]]in the [[AmericansHateTingle West anyway]], as Turnabout Big Top is more popular among Japanese fans[[/note]], the new health system being rather punishing at times, and the lack of an overarching storyline to tie the game's cases together. Fortunately, the next game, ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations Trials and Tribulations]]'' got the series back on track, mostly thanks to having a better overall storyline. [[ZigZaggingTrope On the other hand]], ''Justice for All'' has Chapter 2-4, "Farewell, My Turnabout", widely considered to be [[Awesome/VideoGameLevels one of the best cases in the series]]. |
| 240 | * ''VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar'' turned off many fans, who felt that it sacrificed much of the complexity and freedom that made the original so enjoyable. ''[[VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution Human Revolution]]'' has been [[WinBackTheCrowd received significantly better]]. |
| 241 | * ''Franchise/MegaMan'': |
| 242 | ** ''VideoGame/MegaManII'' for the Game Boy was derided due to its easy level design, flawed soundtrack, and generally half-hearted feel. [[VideoGame/MegaManIII The]] [[VideoGame/MegaManIV following]] [[VideoGame/MegaManV three]] Game Boy entries, however, got successively better, to the point that ''V'' is often held in same regard as ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'' and ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'' by the fandom. |
| 243 | ** ''VideoGame/MegaManX2'' borders on being this. While certainly not a bad game overall, it added virtually nothing to the first game's gameplay, dropped its dark, stylish visuals in favor of a style more akin to the [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Classic]] series, and was just generally somewhat forgettable. ''VideoGame/MegaManX3'', while a ContestedSequel, made more of an effort to distinguish itself from the first game, and then ''VideoGame/MegaManX4'' ended up being a major return to form. |
| 244 | ** ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce 2'' was poorly received, probably due to discarding most of the first game's stellar themes. It also had much less nuanced Villains of the Week, going from sympathetic individuals possessed by manipulative beings in the first game to already evil villains who fuse with almost mindless BloodKnight entities in the second. The easily broken battle system probably didn't help either. The third game [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel was better-received]] but doesn't seem to have been enough to save the series. |
| 245 | * The second ''VideoGame/NancyDrew'' PC Game, ''Stay Tuned for Danger'', suffered from this, since Her Interactive was still working out the kinks. It had a rather frustrating InsurmountableWaistHeightFence (namely, you started off the game picking a lock with a credit card; later on, other doors, which are identical and in the same building absolutely '''have''' to be opened with keys), a pretty bad loophole (if you enter a certain room before picking up two necessary tools, you are unable to leave again to get them and Game Over), a final game that was so frustratingly difficult they had to release a patch to ease the frustration, a pretty clumsy overworld map (where you had to click on a location, listen to Nancy hail a cab, talk to the driver, then arrive, which is frustrating after several repetitions; the other early games all took place in one location, avoiding the problem). It's telling that thanks to TechnologyMarchesOn, the first two games were discontinued because of issues with newer sound and video cards. The first, ''Secrets Can Kill'' was later remastered and re-released in 2010, but there seems to be no indication they plan to do the same with ''Stay Tuned for Danger.'' |
| 246 | * Whereas ''VideoGame/Battlefield1942'' was both a commercial and critical hit, its immediate sequel, ''Battlefield Vietnam'' got unspectacular reviews and sank without a trace in the sale charts. Nowadays, most people forget that particular ''Battlefield'' game ever existed, and those that do remember it generally rank it as the worst game in the franchise. However, the series' third entry, ''Battlefield 2'' was a return to form, and an even bigger hit than the first game. |
| 247 | * Kaos Studios was formed out of the core developers for the "Desert Combat" mod of ''Battlefield 1942''. They went on to create ''VideoGame/FrontlinesFuelOfWar'', which was an extremely mediocre effort that didn't rise to any great heights, certainly not anything close to the love their Desert Combat mod inspired. |
| 248 | * ''VideoGame/Disgaea2CursedMemories'' is this in comparison to its beloved predecessor, ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness''. The characters and story of the first game are much more memorable and popular than the ClicheStorm that is the second game. At the very least, the gameplay in ''2'' is a step up from ''1''. |
| 249 | * ''Franchise/{{Drakengard}}'': |
| 250 | ** [[VideoGame/{{Drakengard}} The original]] was hit with this ''backwards''. In a lot of respects, ''Drakengard 2'' is a better game than ''1''; better gameplay, better graphics, much better music, and a less soul-crushing, totally idiosyncratic plot. But that's not what ([[ContestedSequel most]]) ''Drakengard'' fans wanted. The first game's director, Creator/YokoTaro, was not as heavily involved in the development of the second game (only serving as the cutscene director), leading it to have a fairly standard, idealistic JRPG plot as a result in stark contrast with the first game's CrapsackWorld setting and nihilistic tone. |
| 251 | ** Played straight with ''VideoGame/Drakengard3''. Yoko Taro was back in the director's chair and the game is filled with all his hallmarks, but general consensus is it didn't live up to the hype of ''1''. ''3'' being released after ''VideoGame/NieR'' didn't do the game many favors either, essentially meaning it had ''two'' [[ToughActToFollow Tough Acts to Follow]]. |
| 252 | * ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}} Episode II'' was hit with a bad case of TheyChangedItNowItSucks in addition to numerous technical issues that weren't present in the first game. So much so that many of the changes were reversed in ''Episode III'', [[TheOriginalDarrin including the voice acting]]. |
| 253 | * ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' is a generally very well regarded game, but it tends to be considered the most controversial among fans of the franchise, due to ditching quite a few well liked elements of the first game, such as the Affinity Chart (in the first game, it showed the relationships between various groups and [=NPCs=] as well as how they shift, in the second one, it is simply a skill tree), as well as having a plethora of {{Scrappy Mechanic}}s, like a gacha system to obtain new Blades and very uninformative tutorials. The third game of the main series, in comparison, fixed up a lot of the problems fans had with the previous games, both gameplay and story-wise (such as TamerAndChaster designs after the inpractical outfits of the second game), which made it far more warmly received by the fanbase. |
| 254 | * ''Franchise/DragonAge'' went through this with ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII''. While many consider it decent for reasons such as its excellent companions, it fell short of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' in almost every other way, with CutAndPasteEnvironments everywhere, tons of bugs and many of them {{game|BreakingBug}}-breaking, overly simplified gameplay, and an extremely small world to explore. Despite some porting issues and a few other complaints, ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' was widely hailed by critics and fans as an excellent return to form for the franchise, attempting to correct almost all of the problems mentioned above, in addition to taking ''numerous'' seemingly unimportant plot points and items from ''[[InnocuouslyImportantEpisode Dragon Age II]]'' and [[ChekhovsGun making them major plot elements]] in ''Inquisition''. |
| 255 | * ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' is likely the least popular game in [[Franchise/FinalFantasy the series]]. [[note]]Besides the now-defunct original version of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' and the mobile spin-off ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyAllTheBravest'', that is.[[/note]] At the time, it was one of the most experimental [[EasternRPG JRPGs]], with a very intricate leveling system as opposed to the original's "EXP = Level Up" model, and the plot was very intricate for an NES game, but it had many [[GameBreakingBug Game-Breaking Bugs]] (Ultima did nothing whatsoever, most infamously) and the leveling system was so badly implemented that many players wound up ordering their characters to attack each other to train them up. The game [[NoExportForYou didn't make its way out of Japan for years,]] which denied it even the NostalgiaFilter, and by the time it was released to other regions (thankfully fixing many of the game's faults in the process), [[OnceOriginalNowCommon nobody thought it especially innovative anymore]]. ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' is much more favourably looked upon for its world design, [[LighterAndSofter more upbeat story]], and for introducing the job system. The only knock generally held against it is its [[NintendoHard brutally unfair difficulty]]. |
| 256 | * While ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'' is generally considered a fantastic game, [[VideoGame/DarkSoulsII its sequel]] is very divisive among the fanbase and often thought to not be as good, having a number of issues the first game didn't with things such as level design, enemy placement, and boss fights. While the UpdatedRerelease ''Scholar of the First Sin'' fixed many of the issues, it also brought along some of its own and still left in many of the {{Scrappy Mechanic}}s of the original release. ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'', along with the series' SpiritualSuccessor ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'', are considered to be returns to form, bringing back what fans loved about the original ''Dark Souls'' and ironing out the issues of ''II''. It's notable that the head director of the series, Hidetaka Miyazaki, did not work on ''II'', which is thought to explain some of its problems. |
| 257 | * Many fans consider ''VideoGame/BioShock2'' to be the weakest game in [[VideoGame/BioShock the series]], as it stripped away [[VideoGame/BioShock1 the first game]]'s {{Deconstruction}} of the ButThouMust nature of video games, lacked any sort of narrative twist, and changed the genre from Horror to something more akin to a Tower Defense Game. Creator/IrrationalGames apparently agrees, because no reference was made to the events of the game in ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'''s DLC ''Burial at Sea'', which took place in Rapture and [[spoiler:set in motion the events of the first game]]. |
| 258 | * ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'' was very ambitious for an NES title, but it wasn't very well-designed and remained an OddballInTheSeries for years, with most of its new mechanics not being revisited until ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' six games later. The fact that [[NoExportForYou it never got a Western release]] didn't help its popularity. The games before and after were [[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight the original]] (which was even more primitive, but gets a mild pass for being the template for everything after), then [[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem a refined version of the original]] which was widely praised, and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar the next original game]] was generally seen as the high point of the Shouzou Kaga games (and, in several camps, a strong contender among the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series as a whole). [[VideoGameRemake Its remake]], ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'', did a lot to help its perception, though. |
| 259 | * ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight'' has an interesting example with its second released campaign, ''Plague of Shadows''. While it is regarded as a solid experience and the writing is generally well-liked, its main points of contention are the more erratic gameplay of its protagonist and the reuse of levels from the first campaign, ''Shovel of Hope''. While all four campaigns reuse the same locations, the ones that followed it, ''Specter of Torment'' and ''King of Cards'', changed the layouts of said levels entirely and introduced various new enemies and mechanics taking in mind the abilities of their protagonists, and are considered fresh new experiences better than the original campaign in a number of regards, making ''Plague of Shadows'' as generally the least liked campaign in terms of gameplay and level design. |
| 260 | * ''VideoGame/{{Darius}} II'' is generally regarded as the weakest game in the series, having even more unfair respawn penalties than the first game (First game? Revert back to your equipment's last major upgrades. ''Darius II''? Loses ''all of your upgrades.'') and obnoxiously large Silver Hawk sprites and hitboxes coupled with a nonsense difficulty curve. Its successor ''Darius Gaiden'' is often credited with fixing a lot of the flaws of the first two games by using only one screen and giving players access to powerful weapons sooner, as well as adding some fantastic innovations of its own like unique designs for every level, [[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome amazing visual effets]] that take full advantage of the game's hardware, and a wide variety of new bosses. |
| 261 | * ''VideoGame/KidIcarus1986'' is respected as a CultClassic for its NintendoHard difficulty, and ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' is also majorly agreed to be a fresh modernization that introduced many {{Iconic Sequel Character}}s such as [[{{Tsundere}} Viridi]], [[OddballDoppelganger Dark Pit]] and [[EvilIsHammy Hades]]. The game sandwiched in-between them, ''VideoGame/KidIcarusOfMythsAndMonsters'', largely fell under the radar despite its improvements, with a common criticism being that [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks it was way too similar to its predecessor]]. No wonder [[LateExportForYou it wasn't released in Japan until 2012]], led to a massive 21-year SequelGap between it and ''Uprising'', and the ''Kid Icarus'' representation in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' is taken entirely from the original game and ''Uprising'' only. |
| 262 | [[/folder]] |
| 263 | |
| 264 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 265 | * ''Webcomic/MSPaintAdventures'': ''Webcomic/BardQuest'' has the unfortunate problem of being sandwiched between the crude but enjoyable ''Webcomic/{{Jailbreak}}'' and the genre-busting ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth'', which was followed by the legendary ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''. It's the only comic where the {{Gamebook}} elements are fairly straightforward (also incidentally the only one that used the traditional MedievalFantasy backdrop). The comic was dropped fairly quickly, as all the paths end up as dead ends sooner or later. |
| 266 | [[/folder]] |
| 267 | |
| 268 | [[folder:Web Videos]] |
| 269 | * ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'' features an in-universe example with [[Recap/TheAngryVideoGameNerdPilots its pilot episode]], a negative review of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest''. The Nerd[[note]]Originally, this review was just James Rolfe speaking as himself, but he later retconned the video as being part of his AVGN persona[[/note]] starts off by remarking that while ''VideoGame/Castlevania1986'' and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse'' are excellent NES games, "the game designers obviously were not thinking straight" when they worked on ''Simon's Quest'', remarking on what he considers {{Scrappy Mechanic}}s unique to this game like a lengthy and unskippable transition between daytime and nighttime, hints from villagers that don't make sense or are outright [[TheComputerIsALyingBastard lies]], and [[FinalBoss Dracula]] being an unsatisfying AntiClimaxBoss with the right items. |
| 270 | * ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'': The first of the three "[[Franchise/DragonBall Goku]] vs. Franchise/{{Superman}}" fights was seen as a fitting conclusion to Season 1 for the high-scale titular UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny and climactic finish, and the third was similarly praised for showcasing how much the show had improved since then with an even more grandiose animation, the FriendlyRivalry displayed between Goku and Superman, and a post-fight analysis acknowledging the open-endedness of the question of who would win between them. The second, with its far smaller scope, [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks feeling akin to a rehash of the first]], and controversial ending analysis and character portayals that many viewed as insulting to both combatants, isn't liked nearly as much, [[CreatorBacklash even by Ben Singer]]. |
| 271 | * ''WebVideo/TwitchPlaysPokemon'': While the [[WebVideo/TwitchPlaysPokemonCrystal second]] ''[[WebVideo/TwitchPlaysPokemonCrystal run]]'' managed to more or less avert this, defying expectations [[note]]although it might still vaguely qualify due to being caught between the FirstInstallmentWins group and those who believe that [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness it didn't really hit its stride until the third run]][[/note]], ''Season'' 2 got hit with this hard, containing just five runs, two of which were more or less overlooked and one of which is largely considered a failed experiment in keeping things fresh (also plagued by mild {{squick}}iness for some due to the romhacks being used and some community drama). |
| 272 | * ''YouTubePoop: King Vs. Mama Luigi - The Epic Battle 3'' is widely considered to be superior to ''[=YouTube=] Poop: King Vs. Weegee - The Epic Battle'' due to its much longer runtime, better editing and stronger plot. Meanwhile, ''[=YouTube=] Poop: King Vs. Gay Luigi - The Epic Battle 2'' is widely considered to be the weakest entry in the trilogy due to the lack of epic fight scenes found in the other installments with Gay Luigi only having 20 seconds of screen time and being [[AntiClimaxBoss easily defeated with one attack]] after having fired a missile at Link. |
| 273 | [[/folder]] |
| 274 | |
| 275 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 276 | * ''[[WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Total Drama Action]]'' was not well-received by fans of the original series, mainly due to ''massive'' amounts of {{Flanderization}}. Most of the afflicted characters SnapBack in the third season and it seems like the writers are trying very hard to pretend none of it ever happened (to the point of creating continuity errors in later seasons). |
| 277 | * The Creator/GeneDeitch era of ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' is often considered the worst era by fans due to its massive {{Flanderization}} of the main characters (Jerry, in particular, [[TookALevelInJerkass took a huge level in jerkass]] and Tom became more of a ButtMonkey than he ever was), [[DerangedAnimation horrendous animation]], sound effects and music (though it did have the [[SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound nice addition of a beautiful closing fanfare when each short ended]]). The Creator/ChuckJones shorts are generally considered to be much better, though they still have their detractors. Despite this, the last two shorts "Buddies Thicker Than Water" and "Carmen Get It" are sometimes considered the shorts where Gene Deitch [[GrowingTheBeard finally nailed the Tom and Jerry formula]]. Only problem was that his era ended right after. |
| 278 | * "Book Two: Spirits" of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' received polarized reception from fans and critics due to its poor writing (the villain was seen as dull; the narrative was unfocused, with the Raava and Vaatu conflict quickly overshadowing and sidelining the entire "civil war" conflict; the continuation of the [[RomanticPlotTumor Korra/Mako/Asami love triangle]] wasn't welcomed) and animation (due to scheduling issues, the animation for the first half of the season was done by Creator/StudioPierrot, rather than the show's usual vendor Creator/StudioMir). Overall, it is generally agreed upon to be the weakest season of the show by even its most die-hard fans. The following two seasons were much better received, and many of Book 2's events would be [[SelfDeprecation made fun of]] in the final season (such as [[spoiler:Toph]] calling the Water Tribe Civil War "nonsense", or the simplistic, uncharismatic BigBad getting [[TakeThatScrappy hilariously lambasted]] in a recap episode by Varrick). |
| 279 | * ''WesternAnimation/DanVs'': Season 2 is disliked by a lot of fans for having less BlackComedy and focusing more on Elise. Season 3 is considered an improvement, but there are still some fans who dislike it. |
| 280 | * Creator/RankinBassProductions' second Christmas special, ''WesternAnimation/CricketOnTheHearth'', stands as the least-beloved of the four they produced during TheSixties, due to a nonsensical, MoodWhiplash-ridden script, and shoddy 2D visuals. It didn't even receive a home video release until after rights to R/B's earliest specials shifted from Family Home Entertainment to Golden Book Family Entertainment (later known as [=DreamWorks=] Classics). |
| 281 | * WesternAnimation/BugsBunny's second appearance, ''Elmer's Pet Rabbit'', is commonly regarded as one of the worst in the series, owing to Bugs' ''extreme'' {{Jerkass}} behavior, OffModel use of yellow-colored gloves, a voice that doesn't sound anywhere close to his iconic semi-Brooklyn accent, as well as the sloppy timing that Creator/ChuckJones' earlier efforts suffered from. This can't be chalked up to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness either, since Bugs had his iconic trickster personality and voice [[WesternAnimation/AWildHare in his first cartoon]]. |
| 282 | * The first Peanuts special is ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas'' and the third is ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheGreatPumpkinCharlieBrown'', both of which are holiday staples, while the second is the relatively obscure ''Charlie Brown's All Stars''. |
| 283 | [[/folder]] |
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