Shows that should have been better

[bigdaddy]

I'm currently watching Stargate Atlantis season 2. It's decent. The first and second season like they were somewhat planned out in season arcs. The characters really flow, the group works. I like Ford but he was kind of useless, however the way he left could have been a lot better. There is a great core, a great cast of characters that are fun to watch, a great set and just very sic-fi fun.

But then I remember the later seasons and how each gets worse and worse. The show could have been a stunning sci-fi opera and instead it was just a mess of old repeated storylines and races and crap.

So it got me thinking, what other shows should have been a lot better than they turned out?

 

[flandry84]

(shuffles feet)voyager..(clears throat)Voyager!

 

[MacLeod]

I'm currently watching Stargate Atlantis season 2. It's decent. The first and second season like they were somewhat planned out in season arcs. The characters really flow, the group works. I like Ford but he was kind of useless, however the way he left could have been a lot better. There is a great core, a great cast of characters that are fun to watch, a great set and just very sic-fi fun.

But then I remember the later seasons and how each gets worse and worse. The show could have been a stunning sci-fi opera and instead it was just a mess of old repeated storylines and races and crap.

So it got me thinking, what other shows should have been a lot better than they turned out?

I think SG:A started to lose it's way when it axed charcters like Weir and fan favourite Beckett (one they eventually brought back). Woolsey was an improvement over Carter. Over all it was a way to pass an hour or o. Same goes with VOY it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great it was just fairly average overall, yes it did have it's moments when it shone with the best of Trek.

 

[bigdaddy]

I

I think SG:A started to lose it's way when it axed charcters like Weir and fan favourite Beckett (one they eventually brought back). Woolsey was an improvement over Carter. Over all it was a way to pass an hour or o. Same goes with VOY it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great it was just fairly average overall, yes it did have it's moments when it shone with the best of Trek.

I'd argue it never fully had it's way, but yes, getting rid of Ford stupidly and Weird and Beckett for no reason, and the actress that played Weir was rightfully pissed, was the end of the show being decent.

However Voyager WAS bad. I'm sorry, but it's just bad. The storylines are bad, the stories are bad, the chapters are bad, the acting was bad. Of shows that should have killed off characters to revive it a little Voyager is on the top of that list.

Voyager wasn't a good idea. If it was a small fleet of ships being sent out to discover the Delta then fine, but it was one tiny ship and a mistake. It was a stupid idea from the start.

 

[RandyS]

Ron Moore's Galactica.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Stargate Universe had potential that didn't really start to appear until the end of season 2. It was a struggle to keep watching through to the end of season 1 because of the contrived interpersonal conflicts. The mysteries of the message in the CMB and whether the crew were revived successfully by Eli remain.

Crusade (the B5 spinoff) was stymied by network interference and killed off before it was ever broadcast. Moments of brilliance revealed that it might have outshone even B5 had it been nurtured.

 

[Aragorn]

Voyager was a show that flushed its premise down the toilet at the end of the pilot. The trifecta of Chakotay, Kim and Neelix basically sum the show up. I don't know why people tout Year of Hell among the greatest Star Trek episodes when the reset button completely negated it.

 

[Captain Shaw]

Have to say Downton abbey could have been a lot better.
I also like the web pilot of sanctuary a lot more than the series .
As for SGA I thought the way they got rid of Kolya was a waste of a good villain.

 

[cultcross]

I find it very annoying when a great premise is wasted on a show that doesn't do it justice. It's very hard to go back and do it right without being called derivative. 'Lost in space' is a difficult premise to pull off, and Voyager failed. Stargate tried it twice, neither all that successfully.

 

[Jedi_Master]

Two words: Falling Skies.

 

[Captain Shaw]

I find it very annoying when a great premise is wasted on a show that doesn't do it justice. It's very hard to go back and do it right without being called derivative. 'Lost in space' is a difficult premise to pull off, and Voyager failed. Stargate tried it twice, neither all that successfully.

I would have liked voyager to have been a bit more bashed up after 7 years lost in space and for Endgame never to have been filmed.
Another show I feel went off the rails was Hannibal in the last season.

 

[Tom]

Two words: Falling Skies.

Amen, wasted potential for sure.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Planet of the Apes (1974). Maybe it was a drained battery by the time it was developed, but if the series had to be produced, I would have enjoyed the astronauts to actually discover that all technology had not been swept away by war(s) so the possibility of finding another ship and/or advanced culture would be a goal.

 

[Forbin]

Martial Law!
Stared out a GREAT and very humorous kung fu buddy-cop show, with Sammo Hong (Jackie Chan's trainer!) as a Chinese cop in a US police force. Lots of fun tongue-in-cheek martial arts fight scenes. Then they just kept tinkering with it - changing cast, cutting down on the fun and increasing the corny drama, making the fight scenes less humorous and more boring. Worst thing they did was try to recreate the Rush Hour effect by hiring as Sammo's partner ... Arsenio Hall?!?!

 

[Captaindemotion]

Andromeda

 

[cultcross]

Merlin - very corny too much of the time, but it had flashes of brilliance which showed what it could have been.

 

[Starkers]

Merlin - very corny too much of the time, but it had flashes of brilliance which showed what it could have been.

Compared to some of the terrible shows the Beeb have put out in the same time slot (Robin Hood, Atlantis) Merlin was magnificent. Admittedly a lot of that was down to Morgan and James' chemistry but I'd be quite happy if it was still running.

Voyager had its problems, and yes it never remotely lived up to its premise, but surely the biggest wasted opportunity in Trek was Enterprise? Enterprise makes Voyager look like Deep Space Nine.

 

[bigdaddy]

Some great suggestions I have forgotten about.

Stargate Universe should have been a lot better. I'd actually argue that Atlantis did the 'Lost in Space' part really well the first season, and thankful didn't drag it out.

Voyager is shit but I hated the premise. I which it was a small fleet planning a trip into the unknown country.
I think Enterprise might have been a little better, it looked better and Manny Coto season 4 is a winner. However that's like arguing which is better, a stroke or a heart attack.

How could I forget about Falling Skies, that is like the perfect example of a great idea wasted.

I'd like to add Torchwood. I watched the first 4 episodes back in May and June. It was bad. I tried another episode, it's so bad. It's unwatchable bad. I can't understand how they took a great character, have it set in the Doctor Who universe and still suck as bad as this.

 

[Starkers]

Which season of Torchwood did you see? Season 3 is top drawer, the rest...well. Season 1 is terrible. Season 4 is terrible. Season 2 is terrible, but knows its terrible and plays into that fact and, as a result, becomes strangely enjoyable.

 

[bigdaddy]

Which season of Torchwood did you see? Season 3 is top drawer, the rest...well. Season 1 is terrible. Season 4 is terrible. Season 2 is terrible, but knows its terrible and plays into that fact and, as a result, becomes strangely enjoyable.

I've been trying to watch it from the beginning. I heard it has a rough start, and everyone wants another season.

But the first season is 13 episodes, the second season is 13 episodes, the third season is 5 episodes and the fourth is 10.

So out of 41 episodes only 5 are good? I mean really that is insane! Why do people want more of this garbage!? I spent $10.58 on this garbage.