So as I went over the first season of Everybody Loves Raymond, one thing was very clear. I didn’t care for that season very much. Usually the first season of a series is the best because everything is fresh and new (Cosby Show, Who’s The Boss, Home Improvement and Big Bang Theory for instance). But some shows have trouble finding a voice or experience other growing pains. The result is a weak first season that makes you wonder how the shoe made it past it. Seinfeld is a great example, with Kramer being odd and the creators having to figure out you need a strong female in there. Everyone knew “The Seinfeld Chronicles” was weak but the network saw the potential and thankfully let the series grow. But while those episodes are clearly not that great, they aren’t horrible either. Same with Star Trek TNG and DS9, the episodes aren’t god awful but it’s clear that neither show had really found their stride yet. Even Cheers, while the show was pretty much as we would know for eleven years I never could get into those early episodes. Maybe because I didn’t really watch the show until they had found their niche, making the earlier episodes seem less than spectacular.
But while Cheers, Seinfeld and Star Trek were at least decent, some first seasons are almost unwatchable for me. And it’s almost amazing that the show we would love actually emerged from it. And here are five that are like that, for me anyway.
Family Ties
Yeah this may be just me but I always hated the first season. The show felt like so much, safer. If you’re ever confused on how Michael J Fox saved the show, watch that first year before he became the break out star. The episodes were good but it’s clear that the show had some growing up to do.
Full House
I know, I’ve talked about this before. But the first season of this show was awful. It was to sugary and corny, and I am just glad that I didn’t start watching until it was done. When I finally caught up I couldn’t believe it. What do I mean by sugary and corny? Little things like excessive hugging and singing. The characters also weren’t very fleshed out, it was in Season 2 they made Danny a clean freak probably to give him something. As the series developed Danny stopped being so corny, Joey stopped smiling all the time, the kids acted more like kids, and of course they added Rebecca which was exactly what the series needed. Were these episodes awful? No, but they weren’t great either.
Night Court
This show had a double whammy, it really is almost amazing that the series survived its first season. Not only was the tone wrong, it was trying to be realistic like Barney Miller, but there was major upheaval in the cast. Lana was replaced by Mac, the public defender in the pilot disappeared fast only to be replaced by Liz and then Billie and finally Christine. There was also less slapstick in those early episodes. It’s a good thing they re-tooled things for the second season and when the show finally found it’s voice it was great!
King of Queens
I saw this one a list about this topic and it took me a second to agree, but when I thought about it I realized that it’s true. This show did have some growing pains that first year. They clearly had trouble finding a voice, and this is most clear in the character of Sarah . Who is she? She was Carrie’s sister who was supposed to also live in the house. Yeah she vanished rather fast, as did Doug’s friend Richie.
The Brady Bunch
I should stress this all opinion, and in my honest opinion I hated this show’s first season. When I was a kid I would watch this show religiously and was always annoyed when the early episodes rolled around. Since the premise, cast, and characters were all intact what was the problem? It comes down to one thing I think-the tone. While Full House was way to sugar, Brady Bunch was way to dramatic (compared to later episodes anyway). So many episodes had this melodramatic music and tried to deal with things more seriously than episodes would later. Mike having an affair? Bobby almost running away? Alice spraining her ankle? Eventually the show found its charm in being light for the whole episode rather than just throwing in a happy ending after we spend the entire episode with the kids crying or angry. People who think the Brady’s always smiled should watch these episodes! So for me that first season, everything sucked right down the the theme song! If you don’t know it was done by the Peppermint Trolley Company in the first season. And it’s awful! No wonder they switched it so the kids would sing it from season 2 on (though to be fair even that improved as the kids got better at singing).
Some may say Friends, but I disagree I think while the show evolved past that first year that season was still really good. I checked and apparently Parks and Recreation belongs here. Sadly I never watched any of that show so I can’t vouch for its first season. The Simpsons had a rough first year but we can forgive that. And this is true for drama’s. In the first season’s of Buffy, X-Files, and 90210 for example it’s clear they hadn’t found their stride yet.
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