Summary

It ’s not rare for long - running TV shows to change a lilliputian over meter , but in some extreme lawsuit , they become altogether unrecognisable . Cast change are always a sure thing for appearance that proceed for years and years , and it is n’t always easy to sail such massive shifting . Another factor which can storm a show to change is a plot that reaches its natural conclusion . In these cases , display have to find unexampled way to continue , even when their original assumption is burned out . This is n’t of necessity a bad thing , but it means that shows must totally reinvent themselves .

Any show that is on for long enough will undergo some kind of change . Some of these changes are draw , and some of them are planned from the start . What matters most is how a show responds to these changes and how it care to transition to its new luck . Many shows have get a lot better as a result of unexpected change , and the other seasons start to seem strange over clock time . alteration is inevitable , but it should n’t automatically be treated as a negative . It ’s interesting to see how different idiot box show have palm massive changes , and why some have fared much sound than others .

10Community (2009-2015)

Turbulent cast changes and a shifting premise

A community of interests college education is not supposed to last for six years , soCommunityhad to get creative to keep things interesting throughout all six seasons . The core cast of characters begin out as a written report radical for a Spanish class , but they underwent a number of big changes , and the discipline group aspect was ditched completely . Jeff became a prof , and new cast members were brought in to supervene upon Donald Glover , Chevy Chase and Yvette Nicole - Brown , who all left before the serial ended . TheupcomingCommunitymovielooks like it will include Glover and Nicole - Brown , but Chase leave the show in acrimonious circumstances , so it ’s unbelievable he will return .

9Archer (2009-2023)

Jumping between genres with glee

The first seven seasons ofArcherfollow the man ’s greatest secret factor as he bounces from one perilous mission to the next , but the show change forever after he hang into a comatoseness . season 8 , 9 and 10 ofArchertake home totally within Sterling Archer ’s subconscious . Familiar graphic symbol are give new persona in different eras which Archer imagines . The show expands from its undercover agent takeoff assumption to admit plagiariser dangerous undertaking , sci - fi horror , and film noir pastiches . Archer rouse up in season 11 and normal inspection and repair is resumed , but the show is never quite the same . TheArcherseries finalesomehow deal to connect up 14 seasons of genre - hopping chaos .

8Prison Break (2005-2017)

The original premise ran its course

Prison Breakprobably should have been kept to just one season . The show ’s gripping drama meant that there was always fit to be an audience for more , but the storytelling lacked the clarity of use that the first season had . After the prison faulting , there was n’t much need to continue a show calledPrison Break , and the show had to generate progressively complex conspiracies or flakey twists to keep the natural process go . Prison Break ’s resurgence time of year tried to shroud one-time ground once again , but the spark was long expire , and the show hardly resembled the first season which made it so great .

7Killing Eve (2018-2022)

The plot needed a sudden rethink

Once the two finally get to do it one another , the mystery dissipates .

kill Evefaced the same challenge that Prison Break did . It had a dynamite premise , but it struggled to reinvent itself after the initial tenseness was resolved . The start ofKilling Eveportrays the grave game of cat - and - mouse between an MI5 security measure officeholder and a volatile , sociopathic assassin . Eve and Villanelle are both obsessed with one another in ways neither of them full understands . There are definite sapphic undertones to their rivalry , but Villanelle is little more than a apparition at first . Once the two finally get to have a go at it one another , the mystery dissipates . Killing Evemust then raise a novel report , unrelated to the original plot .

6Adventure Time (2010-2018)

Not just for children anymore

Adventure Timestarts out as a rainbow - colored child ’s show about two friends on cuckoo adventures in a kingdom populated by confect creatures . There is very little in the earliest episodes to suggest just how dark and mature the show would finally become . It ’s still appropriate for children throughout , butAdventure Timedelves into its rich lore , include the atomic warfare which ended human civilisation and irradiated the Earth for centuries . Finn and Jake still have the same fun adventures with some screaming characters , but there are more horror instalment later on , and the show becomes much more likable for adult .

Although Adventure Time : Fionna and Cake is a direct spinoff of Cartoon connection ’s Adventure Time , the new series is more mature than its precursor .

5Master Of None (2015-2021)

Different characters, setting, tone and focus

After two critically acclaim seasons ofMaster of None , Almighty and superstar Aziz Ansari faced allegations of sexual wrongful conduct . After briefly draw back from the public ’s gaze , Ansari go beforehand withMaster of Noneseason 3 , but he switched the show ’s focal point to Denise , who had been a comparatively small-scale character for the first two seasons . The third season features very little in mutual with the ones that get before it . It ’s not just the story that is unplug . The tone is also much darker and less humorous , as the show delve into Denise ’s tumultuous marriage and her vocation as a novelist .

4Scrubs (2001-2010)

A new sitcom with the same old name

For the most part , Scrubsfollows Elliot , Turk , and J.D. as they find out the rophy of medicine under the fiery Dr. Cox and Dr. Kelso . As the show progresses , they make their way up from lowly interns to become give Doctor with more responsibilities and more stress . Butthe final season feel like a altogether different show . After a smart as a whip serial publication coda at the end of season 8,Scrubswas unexpectedly resurrected for a 9th season , but some stars did n’t return . Zach Braff only appear in six sequence , as the focus shift completely to a new shape of aesculapian bookman . time of year 9 ofScrubsis widely count to be the worst .

3South Park (1997-)

A gradual move away from convention

South Parkoverhauled its visual style after the pilot episode , ditching the painstaking cutout animation for loose calculator - generated liveliness . But this is n’t the biggest alteration in the history of the show . South Parkhas shift in recent years from a more traditional sitcom , where each sequence acts as a standalone write up , with some overarching plot , to a more serialized show . Many of the most recent instalment do n’t make sentiency out of context . This all began whenSouth Parkambitiously tried to satirize the 2016 Presidential Election in genuine - sentence , with episodes parody real - living consequence which happen bare day before the show . South Park ’s hour - long specialscontinue this trend .

2Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999-)

One character takes over completely

Most long - running adjective display go through a lot of cast changes , but these seldom impact the format and focus of a show as drastically as they have impactedLaw and Order : Special Victims Unit . The show start up out by follow the whole squad of detectives equally . Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler are the two main stars , but other characters get their own sequence which put them in the spotlight . In the later seasons , Benson becomes Captain , and the primary focus of the show . SVUhas also become more of a serialized drama , with cases often running for multiple episode . This helpsSVUtie into Stabler ’s novel show , Organized Crime .

1The Good Place (2016-2020)

Bigger and stranger with each season

As the show continues , it drive itself to constantly raise the stakes and expand the scope .

The Good Placestarts off with Eleanor waking up in the afterlife . They do n’t use term like heaven or blaze , but Eleanor is tell that she is in “ the Good Place . ”As the show continue , it forces itself to perpetually rear the stake and dilate the scope . The Good Placealways dealt with ontological and theological school of thought , but it mould well as a comparatively modest situation comedy with distinct character in improbable post . By the remnant of the show , these characters were tasked with deciding the fate of the entire world and every human soul in beingness . at last , four time of year were enough forThe Good Place .

fionnaandcake_moremature_than_adventuretime

Star Wars Stormtrooper

KX-Droid Staring At Syril in Andor Season 2

Archer, Lana, and Cheryl in a spaceship in Archer season 10.

Archer points a gun as others watch in the background

Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrow Looking Cross in Prison Break

The Lich inhabits Jake’s body in Adventure Time

Aziz Ansari and Eric Wareheim in Master of None Season 2

Mr. Garrison as Trump in South Park season 26

Benson staring to the side in Law and Order SVU and OC finale