10 TV Seasons That Bombed So Hard They Killed a Show
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at nine seasons of television that bombed
00:04so hard, they killed all interest in their respective shows.
00:07What's that supposed to mean?
00:09What that means is, the next time you come into my room and carry on like this, you better
00:12be ready to finish whatever it is you came here to start.
00:16Season 3, Westworld
00:17I read your book.
00:18Book?
00:19What book?
00:20Think of it as an unauthorized autobiography.
00:25Oh, what could've been with this show.
00:28After a middling second season, fans were hoping that Westworld would get back on its
00:31feet.
00:32They were wrong.
00:33The proof of concept was entirely alien to what made them fall in love with this show.
00:37What started as a fun mystery western with robot cowboys turned into another generic
00:40sci-fi dystopia, with androids in the near future of neo-Los Angeles.
00:44Yawn.
00:45They say it's a meritocracy, the system picks the right people for the right job, which
00:51is great, I guess, but I don't know where that leaves the rest of us.
00:57Their narrative was also significantly dumbed down with more straightforward storytelling
01:01and painfully on-the-nose dialogue.
01:03Add in some bland new characters and weak development for existing ones, and you have
01:06a season that bombed with a capital B. Westworld lasted just one more season before the park
01:12was officially closed.
01:13You're letting an algorithm decide the fate of the company?
01:17People died because of our machines.
01:19Season 2, Terminator, The Sarah Connor Chronicles
01:21It's another computer.
01:22It's a program.
01:23What's it do?
01:24Right now, it plays a mean game of chess.
01:27In a couple years, it's gonna get really pissed off, blow up the world.
01:31This was a fun idea for a Terminator show, ignoring Rise of the Machines and following
01:35both John and Sarah after the events of Judgment Day.
01:38While the first season was hindered by the writer's strike, it received good reviews
01:41and was moderately popular.
01:42And its popularity continued into its second season, well, with diehard Terminator fans,
01:47anyway.
01:48She's stronger and faster.
01:50We have to kill her, John.
01:53Terminator fans quickly bailed.
01:55Season 2 saw a middling reception, with some critics citing its slow pacing and aimless
01:58narrative.
01:59Despite an extensive fan campaign to save it, ratings continued to plummet, and Fox
02:03eventually pulled the plug on this Terminator.
02:05Did you do it?
02:09Did you kill her?
02:12John Connor let her go.
02:13Season 7, The Walking Dead
02:15I want you to think about what could have happened.
02:19Think about what happened.
02:21And think about what can still happen.
02:25It really is amazing how fast The Walking Dead dropped off.
02:27One night it was a defining piece of pop culture, the next it was a walking corpse aimlessly
02:31shuffling towards a conclusion.
02:33A lot of goodwill evaporated through Season 7, although some fans were already getting
02:37fatigued from its repetitive narrative structure.
02:39The season started in controversial fashion, killing off two beloved characters and drawing
02:43criticism for its excessive violence.
02:45Buddy, you still there?
02:47I just don't know.
02:51It seems like you're trying to speak, but you just took a hell of a hit.
02:56But it only got worse from there, with the cheap student film quality and over-reliance
03:00on Negan and his silly monologues and some severe pacing issues.
03:04While The Walking Dead continued for four more seasons, it was just that, and ratings
03:07plummeted off a cliff.
03:09You're thinking of leading the Hilltop over there to fight?
03:11I am.
03:12Negan finds out they're planning something, they're gonna need help, even with those scavengers
03:17at their side.
03:18Season 2, Carnival
03:19Don't be a fool, boy.
03:21I don't aim to be.
03:22Not this time.
03:23I'm gonna turn myself over to the others.
03:29They'll make me pay, and give me more of a choice than I got with you.
03:32Does anyone remember the HBO show Carnival?
03:35The first season was released in 2003, a time when HBO was really hot and experimenting
03:39with tons of new ideas, and Carnival was no different, being a very surreal show with
03:43challenging themes and a dense mythology.
03:46It certainly wasn't for everyone, but it was a surprise hit nonetheless, garnering
03:49great reviews and huge ratings, but the second season was too ambitious even for its devoted
03:54followers.
03:55What have you done?
03:58The symbolism grew denser, the themes heavier, the plot more difficult to follow.
04:02While some fans enjoyed deciphering the layered narrative, many found it too confusing, leading
04:06to a rapidly dwindling rating.
04:08HBO found it difficult to justify its enormous budget, and the show was canceled, leaving
04:12many storylines annoyingly incomplete.
04:14You know what I bet?
04:15My God, you know what I bet?
04:16I bet old Jones is already headed out.
04:17He's probably waiting for us up on down the road.
04:18What do you think?
04:26Season 8, That 70s Show
04:27This is fun.
04:28What a great idea, making a tape to send to Eric in Africa.
04:32Many shows have suffered from it, nearly all have been killed by it.
04:35We're talking, of course, about missing main character syndrome.
04:38That 70s show tried soldiering on without Eric Foreman as Topher Grace had left the
04:42show to pursue a steadier career in movies.
04:44That alone was bad enough, but Ashton Kutcher also decided to leave, meaning Season 8 was
04:48largely without both Eric and Kelso.
04:50Is it Eric going away?
04:52Is that why you use this stuff?
04:55Kitty, if you were feeling blue, you didn't have to turn to drugs.
04:59I would have made you a martini.
05:02Unsurprisingly, it didn't work.
05:03Many fans couldn't enjoy the show without two of its main characters, and newcomer Randy
05:07Pearson earned a ton of ire for being both annoying and unfunny.
05:11Season 8 would be the show's last, but at least it went out in a fun way by closing
05:14out the decade.
05:1510, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
05:26Season 5, Arrested Development
05:28Chobe said he heard something in the attic.
05:30Oh yeah, uh, well, hopefully it's not my father.
05:36George Sr.
05:37Okay, this bug guy really knows our family.
05:41Netflix tried making Arrested Development work, but if you ask the show's fans, it probably
05:45should have stayed canceled.
05:46Both of the Netflix seasons suffered from the same problems, most notably the lack of
05:50cast dynamics.
05:51Scheduling conflicts meant that many scenes were shot with only a few characters at a
05:55time, and the show completely lost the ensemble dynamic that made the first three seasons
05:58so fantastic.
05:59Am I that much of a monster, Michael, even to you?
06:02No, no, not at all.
06:03I just, I wasn't expecting, uh, you know, a man to be sitting in a scuba junior, leaping
06:09out at me up in the attic.
06:10That's all.
06:11The problem was much worse in Season 4, but it still persisted through 5.
06:14The writing also suffered, with predictable jokes, weird character beats, and a very awkward
06:19plot structure that was both sprawling and unfocused.
06:22Season 5 failed to right the wrongs that 4 committed, and the show was canceled for a
06:25second time.
06:26I feel like men run away from me.
06:28I'm stuck here doing therapy.
06:29I've been deserted.
06:30Is that my fault?
06:32Season 2, Twin Peaks
06:33If you want this case, it's yours.
06:39Harry, I want it.
06:41Few shows have dropped in quality as hard as Twin Peaks.
06:44The first season was a cultural phenomenon, with everyone asking the same question, who
06:48killed Laura Palmer?
06:49But the second was frankly a mess.
06:51This was largely owing to the absence of showrunners David Lynch and Mark Frost, both of whom left
06:55over creative differences with the network.
06:57Wyndham Earl's mind is like a diamond.
07:01It's cold and hard and brilliant.
07:04The result was an aimless disaster, with a meandering plot, bizarre storylines, and writers
07:08trying to emulate Lynch's trademark weirdness.
07:11Trying being the prominent word.
07:12By the end of 1991, the show was as dead as Laura Palmer, despite being the biggest thing
07:17on TV just one year before.
07:18Luckily, fans were treated to a wonderful, albeit subversive, third season in 2017.
07:23This is the water, and this is the well.
07:28Drink full, end as end.
07:34Season 9, Scrubs
07:35They tore down the old crappy hospital and rebuilt it on the med school campus.
07:39I'm just back to teach some classes.
07:42First though, I need to do my morning good luck ritual.
07:44The ninth season of Scrubs asked a lot of its audience.
07:47It was a deeply unnecessary continuation, as Scrubs had already delivered a satisfying
07:51and emotional series finale.
07:52But now it was reversing course, and season 9's attempt to soft-reboot the show was met
07:56with severe backlash by longtime fans.
07:59I smell kiwi.
08:00Yeah, it's my shampoo.
08:01I love kiwis, okay?
08:02I love them too!
08:03Actually, that's not true.
08:05They're hairy.
08:06They look like monkey nuts.
08:07Don't smell people.
08:08It's weird.
08:09It also underwent significant cast changes, with uninteresting new characters taking the
08:13spotlight while mainstays like J.D., Turk, and Cox took supporting roles.
08:17It just wasn't at all what fans wanted or expected.
08:19It didn't help that the writing wasn't up to snuff, either.
08:22With undeveloped characters and a more generic sitcom-y tone, the show received its lowest
08:26ratings ever and quickly flatlined.
08:28If you count to ten before you run, I should be able to get downstairs and over to you!
08:33I'm already counting!
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08:51Season 2, Heroes
08:52So, if you're really interested in saving the world, the least you could do is let me
08:57buy you a drink.
08:59People forget just how much of a phenomenon the first season of Heroes was, and that's
09:02because 2 was so stinking bad that it completely erased the show from cultural memory.
09:07There were important external factors hampering the quality of the season, most notably the
09:10writers' strike that threw everyone's plans into chaos.
09:13The result was a slow, meandering pace that greatly frustrated viewers, especially following
09:18the fast-paced, high-stakes narrative of Season 1.
09:20You're new, right?
09:22Yeah.
09:23So what are you?
09:27Meaning what, exactly?
09:28There were also a number of poorly-received storylines, like Hiro in Feudal Japan, Siler's
09:32lack of powers, and Peter's amnesia.
09:35Add in some whatever new characters like Maya, Alejandro, and Adam Monroe, and you have a
09:40disastrous season that effectively killed all interest in the burgeoning show.
09:43You don't want to talk about your exams, I don't want to talk about my dreams.
09:47Molly, I want to help you.
09:50I don't want you to be afraid.
09:51I said I didn't want to talk about it!
09:53Did you enjoy these seasons, or did they kill the shows for you?
09:56Let us know in the comments below.
09:57This is fun.
09:58What a great idea, making a tape to send to Eric in Africa.
10:02Did you enjoy this video?
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