Do shows have to run for a certain amount of time in order to qualify for this trope? For example, I don't think it would be very controversial to say that the 2003 Battlestar Galactica started to dip in it's third season, but seeing as how it only ran for four seasons I'm not sure if it's in the spirit of the trope.
I know this is only my opinion but That 70s Show had seasonal rot way before Eric and Kelso left the show. It started when Eric and Donna had sex and the show went from a nostalgic show about teen life in the 70s (the gang go to a disco, the boys get caught up in the "Star Wars" craze) to being a show about horny boys and the girls they fantasize/pursue/sleep with. The show's setting was from 1976-1979 yet the show lasted eight years, meaning that they had to stretch out the years over several seasons which seemed ridiculous as the cast got older and could no longer play teenagers. After the gang graduated high school, the characters were given very little to do plotwise.
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Well, if you feel that way, you could throw in the point where that happened on the show.
Crazyrabbits
Been doing some sorting and organizing - chopped out the following examples, because they need more explanation and/or are stealth whining about the whole show.
- There are quite a few viewers who believe that Dick Sargent completely ruined Bewitched when he became The Other Darrin.
- Awkward.: Set in during season 4, as series creator Lauren Iungerich left the show.
- Nearly every fan of Deadwood agrees that the show suffered of Seasonal Rot before its cancellation, but the Fandom is divided over if this started in the second or third seasons.
- Double the Fist was originally displayed as a reality TV show where the main characters antics towards an episodic goal were reported on by Steve. Series Two, while good in its own right, got a lot of hate for instead choosing to have a complex plot sprawling the entire season.
- Downton Abbey. While the first season is universally adored, it's a huge point of contention between fans whether the second season is an example of this or actually an improvement. (Depending on whether you prefer the more low-key, slower-paced plots of Season 1 or dramatic Season 2 stories). The first half of the third season was very well-received, before they killed off fan-favourite Sybil, turning a lot of fans off the show. Season 4 has definitely taken a downward turn with increasingly melodramatic soap-opera plots like Matthew being killed in a car accident, Anna's horrific rape and Edith's pregnancy.
- The last two seasons of The Drew Carey Show changed so much that the show was nearly unrecognizable.
Downton Abbey was still popular even after the third season. The fans that complain of seasonal rot are a Vocal Minority anyway. Fans were very pleased with some of the storylines: Edith's character development, Carson and Mrs. Hugh's wedding, Violet's past love affair with a Russian nobleman, etc. The show still had high ratings and when it ended, many were sad to see it go.
Nearly every single season of Supernatural is on the page. This is a bit misuse because seasons 3-5 are generally well liked (althought not without its complains).
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The Dream Soldier
This is from the YMMV page for Grey's Anatomy:
Most fans agree that the show hit this by Season 6 at the latest, and some will tell you it set in as early as Season 4. The situation did eventually rectify itself, and most fans think very highly of Seasons 7 and 8. The next two seasons, however, are more divisive in this regard, and how good they were is subjective. 11 is drawing more favorable comparisons to early seasons but is still divisive.
Deleted the following commented-out line between the Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise examples that was causing the Star Trek: Enterprise example to display in violation of Example Indentation in Trope Lists.
%%*** A sizable number of fans think Seasonal Rot set in around Season 4 or 5.
Edited by Arivne