History Main / LaterInstallmentWeirdness

* A mild example is the last seasons of ''Series/MacGyver'': while it remained a show about a ScienceHero (and the TropeNamer for MacGyvering), situations where he had to use his skills included defusing a ScoobyDooHoax regarding Bigfoot, a TimeTravel OrWasItADream episode where he went back to the Middle Ages and had to adventure alongside Merlin, an adventure that took place ''in the afterlife''...

* ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGhostCoastToCoast'' changed greatly when it moved to the newly created AdultSwim. The show's humor became a lot more random, there was a lot more swearing, {{Vomit Indiscretion Shot}}s started to appear, and one episode (Idlewild South) even had Zorak and Moltar smoking weed on camera. The show had already started to go in this direction with episodes like Warren and King Dead, but the transition to Adult Swim was when they committed to it.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGhostCoastToCoast'' changed greatly when it moved to the newly created AdultSwim. The show's humor became a lot more random, there was a lot more swearing, VomitIndiscretionShots started to appear, and one episode (Idlewild South) even had Zorak and Moltar smoking weed on camera. The show had already started to go in this direction with episodes like Warren and King Dead, but the transition to Adult Swim was when they committed to it.

EarlyInstallmentWeirdness is a case in which a LongRunner's earlier episodes or seasons differ significantly, mainly due to the series' experimenting with different factors until it manages to find its voice and tone, and stabilize to the point where it becomes the kind of series its known and love for.

* ''Series/HappyDays''. While fans often believe of Fonzie's JumpingTheShark moment, from the fifth season, as the start of the show's decline, the overall big blow came during season eight, when Richie and Ralph left the series; Fonzie was elevated to lead character, and the focus was now shifted over to [[OfficialCouple Joanie (Richie's sister) and Chachi]].

* ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'' saw a number of major differences in its last two season, especially the final season. Many of the show's major characters were written off for various different reasons; Drew, Mimi, and Mr. Wick are now working for an entirely different company (Mr. Wick in particular is now a janitor and tries working his way back up to the top of the corporate ladder); the show goes through three different new theme songs; the show switched from a multi-camera StudioAudience format to a single-camera LaughTrack format, which also resulted in ChaosArchitecture with the sets; and plots became a tad absurd, such as Mimi's house being burned down to force her into moving in with Drew.

* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy''. After the series was UnCancelled, the show's format suddenly shifted from being perpetual summer vacation, to having the cul-de-sac kids in school; also, between the {{Flanderization}} of almost all of the characters, and the lack of enthusiam from the cast and crew, the last two seasons miss the spark of the original four seasons that made the show such a popular hit.

* After the second season, JohnKricfalusi was fired from ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' for not meeting episode deadlines. Nickelodeon created its own animation studio (Games Animation), and Bob Camp took over as showrunner. Ren went from a JerkWithAHeartOfGold to a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk, and Stimpy went from merely TheDitz to TooDumbToLive. The Games staff even made an episode parodying the creation of the show and the change in staff ("Reverend Jack").
* The ''WesternAnimation/RoadRunner'' cartoons are generally considered the oddball of Creator/ChuckJones's work. Soon after Warner Brothers closed their animation studio, they subcontracted new cartoons including Road Runner titles, mostly directed by Rudy Larriva, which were sluggish, ill-timed, unfunny hack jobs only vaguely resembling the originals.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'', being the thirteenth console platform game in the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' series, is the first game since ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' where Princess Peach is not a DamselInDistress but rather a playable character (the ones to rescue instead are the Sprixie Princesses); the game also promotes to playable Rosalina and Captain Toad, who were non-playable in previous games and still in need of Mario's help despite not being kidnapped. In terms of gameplay, the game borrows the style of ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'' for which the first objective in most levels is not about collecting Stars but simply meeting the goal line (stars are still required to access the boss levels, as well as some of the regular levels; this is a trait that ''3D Land'' didn't have because its levels had Star Medals instead).

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' has a few oddities in relation to previous games in the series. Link starts with six hearts instead of three, his dash motion is regulated by a stamina meter, the dungeons have all their own entrance cutscenes, lack compasses (the maps retain their properties) and boss keys (replaced instead with special objects that have to be assembled correctly into the boss gates). It's also the only ''Zelda'' game since the NES and SNES games where certain bosses are fought more than once, and one of the only ones along with ''The Adventure of Link'' and ''Majora's Mask'' where the Boomerang doesn't exist as an item (the Beetle serves its function instead). The exploration of the overworld's areas are more puzzle-based, as in the dungeons, and the saving process is relied on Bird Statues rather than a pause menu feature. Since the game still plays functionally like the others in the series, it's still far from an OddballInTheSeries.

* The final Literature/HarryPotter book is the only one that doesn't mainly take place on Hogwarts, instead having the protagonists travel around Britain for most of the plot. This is a big departure in setting and formula compared to the previous books.
* The last book of Literature/SherlockHolmes stories (which were previously always written in first person from Watson's POV) feature two stories narrated by Sherlock Holmes himself (though still presented as his memoirs), one that was basically a play, and one in third-person narration.

* The RoadRunner cartoons are generally considered the [[IncrediblyLamePun acme]] of ChuckJones's work. Soon after Warner Brothers closed their animation studio, they subcontracted new cartoons including Road Runner titles, mostly directed by Rudy Larriva, which were sluggish, ill-timed, unfunny hack jobs only vaguely resembling the originals.

However, this kind of thing can happen to a LongRunner again after a certain amount of time. A number of factors could be at play here: the tone of a series may steer off course, taking a turn towards CerebusSyndrome, or perhaps DenserAndWackier; it could also stem from a loss of some of the original key creative people, and an addition of new writers and producers; it could also be the result of a series aging, and the writing staff not knowing what to do with the show anymore as just about every possible scenario and situation has already been done.

Note that this is [[TropesAreTools not inherently a bad thing]]. Sometimes the new direction can help breathe fresh life into a series that was growing stale. Other times, however, it can lead to cases of TheyChangedItNowItSucks if people don't appreciate the shift in style. Compare JumpingTheShark, where a single moment in a series' run is considered the show's turn for the worse.

However, this kind of thing can happen to a LongRunner again after a certain amount of time. When this happens, viewers, and sometimes critics alike, are left scratching their heads at the turn of events. Is this the same show they've watched for so long? What happened? A number of factors could be at play here: the tone of a series may steer off course, taking a turn towards CerebusSyndrome, or perhaps DenserAndWackier; it could also stem from a loss of some of the original key creative people, and an addition of new writers and producers; it could also be the result of a series suffering from age, and the writing staff not even knowing what to do with the show anymore as just about every possible scenario and situation has already been done.

Note that this is [[TropesAreTools not inherently a bad thing]]. Sometimes the new direction can help breathe fresh life into a series that was growing stale. Other times, however, it can lead to cases of TheyChangedItNowItSucks if people don't appreciate the change in style. Compare JumpingTheShark, where a single moment in a series' run is considered the show's turn for the worse.

Note that this is [[TropesAreTools not inherently a bad thing]]. Sometimes the new direction can help breathe fresh new life into a series that was growing stale. Other times, however, it can lead to cases of TheyChangedItNowItSucks if people don't appreciate the change in style. Compare JumpingTheShark, where a single moment in a series' run is considered the show's turn for the worse.

While this can be subjective like SeasonalRot, Later Installment Weirdness is a point in the work's run that is more universally panned by both fans and critics (see also CriticalDissonance). Compare JumpingTheShark, where a single moment in a series' run is considered the show's turn for the worse.

* ''Film/HomeAlone''. Both ''Home Alone 4'' and ''Home Alone 5'' differ significantly from the first three, starting with the fact that both are TV movies that were made without John Hughes' involvement. 4 recasts the original characters with different actors and {{Retcon}}s a lot of the family's original dynamics (the parents are divorced, Kevin's older siblings are closer to his own age), Harry is replaced with Marv's girlfriend, while Marv looks and acts like Harry. 5 was made well after the series was considered finished, and involves an entirely different cast of characters (much like 3, but John Hughes wrote and produced that one).

* The later ''WesternAnimation/{{Droopy}}'' cartoons made after Creator/TexAvery left MGM can be a bit jarring, as they are done in LimitedAnimation with neither the Wolf nor Butch/Spike as antagonists, the madcap slapstick humor is severely scaled back, and worst of all, Droopy's face is no longer "droopy".

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* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': After its movie, the creator, Stephen Hillenburg, retired as supervising director and Paul Tibbitt took over. In addition, most of the show's original writing staff left to work on other cartoons. The new writing staff had little to no experience with the charcters, and as a result, the entire main cast was Flanderized to ridiculous extremes. The animation also switched to 3D computer coloring as opposed to digital ink-and-paint.

* ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'' is far more focused on story and has loads of cutscenes and dialogues. The game is more linear than its predecessors and has even less exploration than ''Fusion''. The gameplay includes unusual melee combat and quick time events. Also you no longer need to shoot on doors to open them. It's rather telling when the previous OddballInTheSeries ''Metroid Prime: Hunters'' looks more like a Metroid game than this one. For those reasons the game is by far the most polarizaring entries in the fandom.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'', being the thirteenth console platform game in the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' series, is the first game since ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' where Princess Peach is not a DamselInDistress but rather a playable character (the ones to rescue instead are the Sprixie Princesses). The game also promotes to playable Rosalina and Captain Toad, who were non-playable in previous games and still in need of Mario's help despite not being kidnapped.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' has a few oddities in relation to previous games in the series. Link starts with six hearts instead of three, his dash motion is regulated by a stamina meter, the dungeons have all their own entrance cutscenes, lack compasses (the maps retain their properties) and boss keys (replaced instead with special objects that have to be assembled correctly into the boss gates). It's also the only ''Zelda'' game since the NES and SNES games where certain bosses are fought more than once, and one of the only ones along with ''The Adventure of Link'' and ''Majora's Mask'' where the Boomerang doesn't exist as an item (the Beetle serves its function instead). The exploration of the overworld's areas are more puzzle-based, as in the dungeons, and the saving process is relied on Bird Statues rather than a pause menu feature. Since the game still plays functionally like the others in the series, it's still far from an OddballInTheSeries.
* In ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona'', you need to face your shadow in order to gain usage of your Persona, right? Actually, that feature debuted in ''{{VideoGame/Persona4}}''.
** Social links aren't much older, either. They first appeared in ''{{VideoGame/Persona3}}''.

* The final season of ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'', which not only gave the Planeteers new outfits and designs, but also replaced its OpeningNarration with a ThemeTuneRap.

* The later WesternAnimation/{{Droopy}} cartoons made after Creator/TexAvery left MGM can be a bit jarring, as they are done in LimitedAnimation with neither the Wolf nor Butch/Spike as antagonists, the madcap slapstick humor is severely scaled back, and worst of all, Droopy's face is no longer "droopy".

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'' gives Link access to all items from Ravio's shop, rather than the dungeons.

* ''Series/StargateSG1'', where the primary enemies the Goa'uld were diminished in threat by the end of the eighth season, and the ninth season opened establishing a new BigBad in the Ori. In addition there were several cast changes as Richard Dean Anderson left the show and only came back in sporadic guest appearances. The show's last few seasons happened to follow the endings of several other beloved sci-fi shows, and the show imported actors from those shows, most notably Ben Browder and Claudia Black from ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' and Jewel Staite from ''Series/{{Firefly}}''. As such, the show was suddenly rife with heaps of HeyItsThatGuy.