What's a show or movie that started off a little weak, but you stuck with it anyway and it paid off?

Season 1 Leslie was basically just a female Michael Scott clone which was painful to watch but once they let Amy Poehler actually develop the character it became amazing. That whole Ben storyline in later seasons had me actually invested in these fake government people lol

My answer. In season 1, Parks and Rec didn’t know what it wanted to be. In season 2, it starts to take on its personality and develop the characters to be likeable.

It’s pretty much a universal opinion that people should just skip season 1 because it’s trying too hard to copy the Office and you don’t exactly miss much except Bland Mark who leaves, and Andy being unlikable.

That’s cuz you barely see Ron in season one!

I always start my rewatch with the episode where Ben and Chris show up

I was listening to Michael Schur on a podcast and he talked about people’s first reactions to Leslie. And he said one of the notes during test screenings was that Leslie was unlikable. So they didn’t actually change her character that much, but they ended up changing characters reaction to her and that changed the audience’s perception of her.

Once mark brandanaquitz, it’s a spectacular ride. He was such a dull character that brought down the show in season 1. Honestly all the characters found their groove in season 2 and that’s when the show really starts. I mostly tell people to skip season 1, know that andy and anne lived together but had a bad breakup. Which is important to understand the april-ann dynamic in the early seasons.

Everyone always says this but I thought S1 was great lol 🤷🏽‍♂️

It's my go-to background show. I currently have season 4 on before I go to work.

Hell yeah. Buffy is truly one of the greatest shows of all time. If the apocalypse comes, beep me 💅

Yeah, once Spike appears you get four seasons of mostly good episodes.

Season 1 is a 90s 'monster of the week' cheese-fest. Season 2 finale is when you realize you aren't just watching a teen show—you’re watching a Greek tragedy. It went from 'corny vampire show' to 'the reason I have trust issues' real quick

You're not myth-taken.

Schitt's Creek is tough even on rewatches just because most of the Rose family is so shitty and entitled, and even knowing how good the character development is going to be doesn't make it much easier to stomach at first.

Schitt’s Creek is the only show I tell people they have to stick with through the entire first season. Usually I’m not a fan of having to power through media I’m not enjoying, but it’s so so so worth it in this case. The uncomfortableness and awfulness of the characters at the beginning is integral to the growth of the characters and the overall premise of the show. The payoff is definitely worth it in my opinion!

Fun fact: the term for the point when a show that started slow got better (ie the opposite of a show "jumping the shark") is actually named after TNG. It is called "growing the beard" because right around when TNG started getting good was when Riker grew out his beard

Every Star trek series takes a bit to get going. Voyager was pretty meh the first few seasons. DS9 was iffy until Worf came on board. Enterprise got good once the Xindi stuff started going crazy.

They were using leftover scripts from the original series and really didn’t know what direction to take. I think they really found themselves in season 3 or 4.

Similar for us, my wife and I persevered through three mediocre seasons on Star Trek Voyager before it finally got good on the same level of TNG and DS9. I’m glad we got there because those last four seasons were great.

In shields case they always knew they were going to the hydra plotline. They just had to wait for winter soldier to be released.

Was looking for this. The first 3ish episodes are generic primetime TV feel good schlok. The rest of the show parodies the first couple episodes while still having feels. I'm not sure if that was planned or just a good course correction.

It gets good pretty quickly, then makes a left turn into postmodernism halfway through season 2. I love it all, but some people prefer earlier show and some the later.

The prison episode is probably one of the most memorable episodes of any show I've watched in the last few years.

I’m with you! The first couple episodes were good but after that it was gripping. I struggled to turn it off. Best Star Wars thing period for me.

Best Star Wars Anything yet, in my opinion. And I consider myself a SW fan.

"This is boring. Why did they even make this? No one asked for this and no one cares about this character....wait this is ok..wait this is good...wait this is great...wait this is one of the best shows ive ever seen"

Same! I struggled to get through the first three episodes, but it was great after that

They're great episodes but it's hard to fully appreciate them until you've seen the whole series at least once

*Andor* got me in the first episode with Hyne's (Syril's boss) speech, but the flashbacks to Kenari were definitely my least favourite part of the first series, although I did understand why they made that choice by the end of the arc. EDIT: I did drag my feet on tuning in to begin with, though

Agreed. It started as another adult animation with weird art and ended up as a one of the darkest, deepest fiction series I’ve come across.

My go-to answer for this kind of question. I mean, I'd even say that it really doesn't kick off properly until season 2. Season 1 felt very much like it was struggling to find it's identity.

I enjoyed the first season but the opening scene of the first episode in season two completely hooked me. I actually doubled checked the channel guide to make sure I was watching the right show.

I'm one of the minority that prefers the first season, but that show is so amazing overall! Such a great depiction of loss and grief, and how people handle it. Plus Carrie C***! That monologue is something else

Came here to say Leftovers. It was...interesting enough in the first season and then got increasingly better. My favorite scene is probably the opening five minutes of season three. Such a relief to see (a particular character) get taken off the board.

I restarted this show like 3 times before I got into it. The first season is just kinda bland for me. But my friend swore it was up there with Breaking Bad, which I absolutely loved, so I stuck it out and I'm glad I did.

better than BB, imho

You spend the entire show in anticipation of when Jimmy finally transitions over to the BB fan favorite Saul Goodman and then when it happens it's just such a gut punch.

It's a slow burn compared to BB but better in the long run I think

I thought the same thing. That slow burn in Better Call Saul totally paid off. The character depth and storytelling just skyrocketed. By the end, I was more stressed for Jimmy than I ever was for Walter White.

I tell everyone that BCS starts slower/worse than breaking bad, but finishes WAY better. It’s around season 3 when it really picks up, and when it does it’s so so good. 

I really liked it up until the last season. I just lost interest and watched the important bits. First few seasons hooked me, though!

It's certainly rough around the edges, but it has Diversity Day and Basketball. Those are great episodes.

People don’t like season 1 of the Office??

I did not. I tried to like it. Watched the whole first season. Just wasn't for me.

season 1 was one of the best

The first trailer that dropped once Amazon took it over from Syfy….I had never been more excited for a season of television ever in my life.

Thanks for this point. I've tried it twice and dragged my wife through it both times. She even forgot she watched the first 2 episodes a couple of years ago it was so unremarkable. I'm giving it another go this week just to power through.

Come on over to r/theexpanse I'm on ...oh I think my 7th rewatch

Beat me to it, beltalowda. Same deal here, just about gave up right before CQB.

yea agreed, I was really pushing myself to watch this show in the beginning but by the later seasons I was so fuckin hooked to that shit

I got someone watching it and their first thoughts were that there was too much going on and too many characters being introduced in quick succession. I told them to try and remember the faces for now and keep going until the end of the first season and it’ll all make sense. They were hooked until the end. I can see why they needed to do so much at once, but it did make it harder to get into. I tried watching it when it first came out on Sy-Fi and it was a struggle with one episode a week. Watching them one after another made it a lot easier.

It’s really enjoyable to come back to the first few episodes after you’ve watched the whole show. S1 really throws you in the deep end of the pool with way too much new stuff to process, once you understand what it’s all about it’s a lot more fun.

Good to know Im in the struggle bus with the first 2 episodes. Also love sci-fi type shows/movies

What?! That show hooked me from the first episode!

Yes once they dropped the chicken people and got better villains if was hilarious. They regularly took the piss out of the first season too. I don't think I'd stick with it these days, nearly didn't back then, would have missed out.

Yeah, Savage was a major threat when he was first introduced but became far less impressive in LoT

Season 1 might have been my favorite season. I loved them in the projects more than the shipyard.

Was looking for this. It’s my favorite show but I’ve always felt it was hard to get into.

The Wire is the greatest TV show I've ever watched but it is such a slow burn, especially on a first viewing. Any time I recommend it to people I always caveat it with that otherwise I know they're just going to give up during season two, which is totally understandable, because while I really liked the first season the tonal shift between seasons one and two was jarring. They feel like different shows at times and I definitely struggled to get through it. Perseverance however is rewarded like none other with this show Season three is phenomenal but season four is, as you said, the greatest season of TV I have ever seen. It's the only season of a show I would rate 11/10. It has the most accomplished blend of drama, comedy and tragedy while remaining true to itself. As far as I'm concerned it's the greatest accomplishment in TV history. Season five has flaws but is still great, especially as it redeems itself with a near-perfect ending For anyone who is considering watching it, all I can say is stick with it. It's a show that respects your intellect and demands your attention because every detail matters. There is very little exposition and it can be difficult to follow the threads at the start, but after a while you develop an almost preternatural sense of what's going on. It doesn't hand-hold you through the differences in language and culture presented in each season, but it feels vastly richer because of it. You feel like you're watching real people in a real city that lives and breathes its story I'm going to stop here because I could wax lyrical about The Wire all day. Give it a chance, use subtitles if you have to because it's important to know what is being said. If you get to the end I can guarantee you'll be glad you did "A life, Jimmy, you know what that is? It’s the shit that happens while you wait for moments that never come"

i think the first episodes are really solid tbh, it just takes like… 6ish episodes to lock in with the characters. but if you go back for a rewatch once you know them, the whole first season is so good.

It went from interesting, but a little cringy to one of the top sci-fi shows of all time. It was the best written, for sure.

It's funny because this was definitely one of my 'completely hooked from the pilot' shows for me.  The effects are super dated but the character work blew me away with some of the directions it took.  I definitely agree that some of the characters took a bit to come into their own though.  Garibaldi was insufferable for about ninety percent of it, and I think they hadn't quiet figured out what note they wanted to hit with Delenn yet, but overall I was hooked. That said, we started with the TV pilot, not the original 'movie' pilot before they replaced half the cast.  I didn't even know that existed until we were halfway into the first season.  If we'd started with the movie, I might have had a tougher time - the cast *really* wasn't gelling in that one, I get why they made some changes.

Boxleitner really shines as Sheridan. Too bad Crusade never got a chance to follow the same pattern. I actually liked some of the characters

The original actor was having health problems and had to quit. Such a great example of 90’s syndication. I used to love that show. I still do but I used to too.

Ohhh the entire story arc is made of magestic storytelling!!  Season 1 is cringe, but the series as a full is...wow

Yeah, this is on my list to try again because of how highly people talk about it

I appreciated the earlier seasons more after the later ones.

Don't sleep on Major Crimes, the sequel to The Closer. Genius plot lines and fantastic acting. They were able to make Captain Rayder, hated by everyone in The Closer into a likeable character by keeping Rusty in the mix. I ended up liking it more than The Closer and I love The Closer.

🤣

I still have not watched that last season.

I'm not going to downvote you cuz we should all talk about Fleabag but really? The first season is "meh"? Is it because it's more serious than the 2nd? I think you're doing people a huge disservice if you advise them to skip it!

So glad to see She-Ra mentioned here. Such a great and underrated series, which holds its own among greats like Avatar the Last Airbender.