Shows that started out good but got even better

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malamigpusa

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Are there any TV shows that you think started out good, but got better as they went along ? that is, you always liked the show, but at some point, grew to like it even more?

For me, that would be The Penguins of Madagascar. The first episodes I saw were "Operation Plush & Cover"/"Happy King Julien Day." Both of them had plenty of good gags and I really enjoyed the characters, but the plots just felt a little formulaic, "Operation Plush & Cover" in particular. Not long afterward, though, the show started to come unto its own. I'd say "Two Feet High and Rising" was the turning point. Here we have Mort's recurring love of King Julien's feet placed in the spotlight. By having the trait played against (the penguins get Mort to stop liking feet) and then come back into play late in the episode (he has to grab hold of said feet to rescue Julien), there is some interesting character development.

From then, the characters really seemed to come into clearer focus, allowing the writers to have more fun with them. Plenty of new characters come along to give the show a wider range ? and because the new characters are sufficiently developed on their own, the interplay works amazingly well. The spy-like themes get turned up to "crazy awesome" levels. The writers slip more and more things past the radar and play the Ho Yay angle to amusing degrees (three words: "Kaboom and Kabust"). Overall, the existing characters are given more of a diverse range, and the show's gone from "pretty good" to "best thing on Nickelodeon in quite some time."
 
Jem

The first mini series was great and introduced us Jem's Truly Outrageous world. Then we got the second season and we started getting more focus on pretty much everyone, along with some solid stories and great music.

But the third season's where the show really started to shine, But the best part was that we got some insight into why Pizazz is the ultra mega-witch that she is and get a bit of compassion for her, which is rare with villains in any cartoon. Along with the additions of newer characters who also their share of focus, Jem became of the best 80's cartoons which still holds up better than most shows of that time period.
 
Tiny Toons, I always enjoyed the first season, but by the later seasons, the writing became more clever and funnier. I think Freakazoid really progressed in it's short run. I think Ed Edd n' Eddy also became a little better

With Freakazoid, the episodes became full length and had more substance. The sketch format of the first season was cool, but the full episodes suited Freakazoid as a character more.

As for Tiny Toons, I know there are alot of people who say the shows don't hold up. I dissagree. But anyway, The writing in the later seasons really found it's audience and almost came to what kind of show animaniacs would be.

And Ed Edd n' Eddy used more characters and settings in the later episodes which I really enjoyed.
 
Ed Edd n' Eddy

This show is the fine wine of cartoons; every season, it just got better with age. The Season 1/2 episodes were good, no doubt, but by the time that Season 3 came along, it had found it's niche. The characters had really come into their own, the voices sounded better and better with every episode, the jokes were solid, and the slapstick/cartoon violence was crazy, funny, and done right.

It never really jumped the shark, in my opinion. I thought I'd hate the new schoolyard plots that started in Season 5 when I first heard about them, but they actually brought a whole new dimension to the show that was quite enjoyable. It was also really clever how they still kept the focus on the 12 main characters in a school setting (no teachers, other kids, etc.); they didn't go nuts in adding a new character every other episodes like most shows. The only new character we ever did see over it's 10-year run was Eddy's brother in the finale, and that was done perfectly (we finally got to see this guy, after all the years of buildup).

It's a shame that EEnE is over and done, but I'm glad to see the show go out on the high note that it did. It's different from a lot of long-running shows, as it seemed to improve every year (in my opinion, anyways); it didn't start decent, hit it's peak, then badly flame out, like so many others have done. I think it's the perfect example of a show that only got better as it went along.
 
I second Avatar. I enjoyed the first season, but the second season really improved in every way. I'll also say SpongeBob, to an extent. I loved the first season of the show but the second season was even better and the third was just as good. It might've been the innuendo in these seasons, but the show really came in to it's own after the first season.
 
I'd like to say Spongebob or Fairly Oddparents, but I'd but be lying.

Ed Edd 'n Eddy as someone mentioned got a lot better over time.

And Avatar was really cool too but the reruns I watch on the Nicktoons Network today; it being a couple years old now; leave me with an off feeling. I just don't think it has a real timelessness to it like some shows do but it did progress nicely.
 
Like many others, I will say Ed Edd n Eddy. The first season was very blah IMO. I didn't even watch it when it originally aired. With the second and third seasons, the show became one of, if not, my favorite.

I will also say Billy & Mandy also. The original Grim & Evil episodes weren't really all that great, but it became better when it became it's own show.
 
Justice League's first season was good, but I think the second season was just amazing. Can't think of an episode from that season I didn't like.
 
The Muppet Babies started out kinda good, then it got really good around the 1986 season. If only the show didn't start to decline in quality around 1989...
 
King Of The Hill, for sure. Season 1 and 2 were good (and had a few classic eps in them), but when season 3 came out I couldn't believe how funny it was. The plots, characters, ideas, everything was just so much better than what the potentially limited idea could have been like. Of course, it leveled out by about season 8 or 9, but it had an incredible run that I don't think anybody who watched from day one saw coming.
 
I agree on this on every level the show was a pretty basic fun show but became the corner stone of my Sunday nightes later on. I never saw it coming I always thought when the show first came out it would last maybe three seasons then Mike Judge would go back to Beavis and Butthead. Instead it got 13 seasons and then Mike Judge went back to Beavis and Butthead.:p

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2K3: I dont know if I can really put this on the list because well Fast Forward and Back to the Sewar wasn't very good. Season one through 4 was great and the show kept get bigger and badder each season. Season one started out good but outside of using the mirage stories and characters the show felt flat just watch episodes like Garbageman. Then later on the writer really got to know what they were doing and you got really cool stuff like Battle Nexus and Bishop.

The Venture Brothers: It started out as a funny Jhonny Quest saturday morning cartoon parady but later became a very character and plot driven show right after the finale of the first season and the start of second season. Each season you keep getting more and more in depth with the characters and I found myself caring more about them. That and its supporting cast keeps getting bigger and while that sometimes hurts shows like I feel it did to the Simpsons and Family Guy I find more chacters to love.

Dragonball ---> Dragonball Z: It started out as a fun parody of an old adventure story to a Martial Arts parody to a point they drop the parody roots pretty much all togeather. Really I think that made it a better show. The moment Piccolo's minion killed Krillin was when the show started to become the anime/manga legend it is now.

American Dad: The way I feel about King of the Hill is simular about this show. the first season started out pretty good but the show really came into its own later on. Now I'm far more excited to see this show then i am Family Guy.

Teen Titans: The fist few episodes were enough to engage me but it was really when Slade really becoame more of a presence on the show tell I got hooked.
 
The Simpsons. It's first season was pretty much the cleverest comedy on TV at the time with the exception of Seinfeld. And then it got even better during season 2, and then reached the hight of it's power in season 3, where it would then remain all the way to season 8.
 
I agree with this, seeing Rai go to the dark side was its turning point for the series if yah ask me. Than the battles improved and the comedy, only thing that really annoyed me was Omi and that was cuz of his annoying ego.

I do agree with another person on Avatar the Last Airbender, good action towards the end, Azula added the spice the show needed.

The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius, I think half way into season two it got better. Animation improved and they added better villains for Jimmy and the gang to fight, some specials were better too like Win, Loose Kabloom now that was awesome.

Codename Kids Next Door, in season one I didn't like it much till the season one finale when Father fought off against Number 1 as an adult. After that, the action did get better with some odd ball villains. I think Chad helped the show out too when he became a villain, I didn't like the guy as a Hero but that's me. Plus it added more to Number 1 character :)
 
Agreed, but I'd like to add to it.

Yeah, I get that conflict is compelling, but I found that the whole boys against the girls mentality was overdone. So, yeah Season Two see Jimmy, Carl and Sheen actually getting along better with Cindy and Libby. And it gives the Jimmy/Cindy pairing a little more credibility over Arnold and Helga.


Also, I find that Kim and Ron's friendship in Kim Possible Season 2 and up felt stronger than in Season 1 where they feel like two teens who just hang out. But then you could attribute that to Kim slowly growing less self conscious of the social standards in High School.
 
"Futurama" started out good, mostly as a showcase for science fiction spoofs and future-based gags. Entire episodes were built around ideas like a planet inhabited by robots, or a meteor made of garbage on a collision course with Earth - stuff that could only be done on a show set 1000 years in the future. It was more of a concept show back then, albeit a very funny one.

But in Season 2, the characters began to take center stage. Suddenly, we had episodes focusing on the likes of Zoidberg, Amy, Hermes, and Zapp, who up to that point had mostly just been there for jokes. Hints of a relationship between Fry and Leela began to form, and Bender's gleeful connection to all things immoral made him a very interesting character. And in Season 3, the writers had made the characters so believable and endearing to the audience that they could actually tug at our heartstrings with them. "Luck of the Fryrish", "Parasites Lost", "Time Keeps On Slippin'", "Jurassic Bark", "Leela's Homeworld"...all these and more prove what amazing emotional depth the show possessed, while at the same time still managing to be screamingly funny. In the post-revival era, they still maintain this balance with the likes of Bender's Big Score, "Lethal Inspection", and "The Late Philip J. Fry", all of which remind me of why I love this show so much.
 
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