Unforeseen Consequences

I was thinking about the TV shows I like lately. I like to think that I only like good TV shows, so I’m going to put forth a very presumptuous conclusion based on these thoughts:

Good TV shows peak within their first two seasons.

I took the union of all the sets I’ve named when people ask me what TV shows I like, and found that they all fell into two categories:

1. The Bright Star: the show burns with the brilliance of four lesser shows combined, powered by a genius concept, focused writing, a perfect cast, and unwavering vision. This has the unfortunate side effect that the shows burns itself out in the first season, having achieved its brilliance by packing everything that can possibly be done with the concept into 22 jaw-dropping episodes that somehow only get better as the season goes on. The rest of the seasons consist of the show staggering along, a shadow of its former self, as the writers try to wring every last drop of money out of the tired old beast. This kind of show is, more often than not, a drama. Of the shows I like, these were the Bright Stars: The OC, Veronica Mars, Gossip Girl, Heroes, Green Wing.
2. The Wobbly Pony: the show stumbles and wavers in its first season, as it struggles to find what works and its cast develops rapport among themselves and with the writers. The second season has solved all these issues, and sometimes even comes with a reworking of the concept (usually not, though). The second season is the product of a well-oiled machine, firing on all cylinders, purring like a cat. The concept is not as powerful as it is for Bright Stars, but Wobbly Ponies make up for it with flawless execution. The rest of the show’s run consists of either passably good execution, making for decent entertainment, or an unwatchable mess as the shows tries too hard to recreate its former glory and ends up faceplanting. This is typical of comedies. The rest of the shows I like were Wobbly Ponies: Scrubs, Chuck, Arrested Development, Bones, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Better Off Ted, My Boys.

There are a couple of other shows I like and watch regularly — Community and Cougar Town, for instance — that have only produced one season so far, so I can’t tell which category they’ll be in.

So what useful conclusion can we draw from this rule that I made up?

If you are making a TV show that is any good, you should quit after two seasons, recognizing that the show will never be better than it already has been. If you are a high-concept show where your entire first season consists of a single extremely tight and self-contained plot (Heroes, Veronica Mars), you should consider quitting after one season.

Yes, this means we’d miss out on a fair bit of potentially good television (Veronica Mars season 2, Scrubs season 3), but it also means we’d miss out on the heinous garbage that comes as a result of good shows severely outstaying their welcome (Scrubs season 6, Heroes season 4), so I think it would be a net positive.

I’d like to see a show try this. Arguably, Freaks and Geeks did (not of its own volition, but still), and look at what happened to it: it’s remembered as a cult classic that reached heights few other TV shows did. If it had kept going, I can’t imagine it would have stayed good, and would have somewhat tarnished its image. But I’d still like to see the creator of a show state, before it even begins, “We are going to make one season of TV, and it will be the best season of TV you’ve ever seen, and then it will be over. No more.”

I understand why this is difficult, though — once you complete the first season, the success has gone to your head, and all you can think about is keeping the momentum going. You may think you still have good ideas left (even though you probably don’t have anything that can top your first season). I would like to see a creator who recognizes this and actively works against it.