It doesn’t matter how many times you fall but how many times you get back up goes a well-known saying, applicable to so many contexts of life to even include the universe of television seriality. In the course of particularly long TV productions, it is in fact usual to witness some small hiccups, sometimes sufficient to undermine the quality of a television season or, in the worst case, of an entire TV series. Whether it’s for the farewell of a main protagonist – as in the case of Steve Carell with his The Officeleft to the seventh season – or for the physiological stagnation of ideas classic of particularly extensive television productions – as for the long-lived Supernatural -, there have been several TV series characterized by small défaillances in the course of their history, but which have nevertheless managed to retrace their steps, thus saving their fortunes. The TV series listed below therefore represent the best recoveries we have witnessed on the small screenclear evidence of the fact that you can always fix your mistakes.
And The Office a Losthere are the 5 TV series that were saved after retracing their steps.
1) The Office
After a tepid first season, The Office has managed to establish itself among the most popular comedy series of all time, even surpassing the English version of the same name from which it is based. Set in the boring workspace of the Dunder Mifflin company, the series follows the adventures (and misadventures) of its employees, led by their woefully incompetent boss Michael Scott (Steve Carell), the absolute protagonist of the story.
In fact, when Steve Carell left the show towards the end of season seven, Michael’s absence was definitely felt, leading to a sharp decline in the overall quality and, even more, in the acclaim of all fans of the series. His replacement Robert California (James Spader) it failed to uphold the legacy of its predecessor and the narrative strands of the various protagonists appeared frayed. However, after the season eight slide, The Office And managed to save herself with the beautiful final episodes of the ninth seasonthrough which all the protagonists have arrived exactly where the fans wanted them to be. The appearance of Michael Scott in the penultimate episode made the epilogue of the comedy perfectbringing the series back almost to the old splendor of the first seasons thanks to this very welcome (and necessary) return.
2) Buffy the Vampire Slayer
To the cult series Buffy the Vampire Slayer is still included among the Best tv shows of all time, scoring the television universe and the supernatural genre through the complexity of the plot and the writing depth of its leading lady Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar).
Looking back, however, it is possible to note that the first season of the series was decidedly bumpycharacterized by awkward fights and a direction that is certainly not up to par. Buffy the vampire slayer in fact it was born as experimental sequel of the homonymous (and bland) film of 1992, from which the success that then ensued was not expected in the slightest. Once you have cashed in enough to get the renewal, the writers have retraced their steps by completely reviewing the setting of the TV seriesthus giving life to the show that we have all known and loved and saving the television production from its disastrous pilot and its tacky first season, rebuilding the foundations of what turned out to be a real cult of the late 90s.
3) Community
The ambitious comedy Community has stood out among the productions of its genre through its metafiction language and the countless cinematic and pop culture references, brought to the small screen with apparent simplicity and with the right amount of comedy. Her originality was enough to earn her a solid fanbasefond of its protagonists to the point of pushing the creator Dan Harmon to produce a sequel film to the sound of petitions.
However, there was no shortage of problems over the six seasons of which the comedy is composed. When Dan Harmon was forced to leave the series, the sharp decline was in fact evident in the eyes of viewers. The disastrous fourth season directed by the replacements David Guarascio and Moses Port seemed like a real anomaly, inevitably altering the fabric of the show. The two directors, striving to keep the narrative linear, ended up imitating Harmon’s style making the series a parody of itself. Fortunately the manufacturers of Community they then retraced their steps asking Harmon to return, managing to save the TV series in its final seasons.
4) Supernatural
The most long-running fantasy series of the small screen Supernatural has inevitably gone through ups and downs over the course of its very long fifteen seasons. The story starring the two brothers Sam (Jared Padelecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) engaged in vengeful missions against fearsome demonic entities, has in fact begun to losing ground especially starting from the sixth season.
The relationship between Sam and Dean, which has always been the strength of the series, has been its greatest flaw in the central seasons. The differences between the two brothers with opposite characters have in fact seemed to smooth out from the sixth season onwards, thus dissipating one of the main contrasts of the narrative and depriving viewers of an important tension element. Even the strength of the antagonists that have followed one another over the years has been at least inconsistent until the eleventh seasonchapter in which the writers have finally managed to revitalize the show by finding the right balance between the key elements of the first seasons and the innovations introduced subsequently on stage, which proved to be sufficiently attractive and engaging to the point of saving the TV series from its own decline.
5) Lost
Widely considered a one of the best drama series ever, Lost immediately glued its viewers to the screen with intriguing premises: a group of survivors of a plane crash wakes up on a desert island that hides unsuspected mysteries. As the episodes progressed, the genres supernatural, sci-fi and drama have merged more and more, resulting in a tortuous narrative full of exciting twists.
However, the non-linearity of the events proved to be a double-edged sword during the third season, receiving a criticism from the critics who reproached the writers for having introduced too many ideas followed by decidedly insufficient answers. Fans have also noticed some flaws, including the introduction of new characters Nikki (Kiele Sanchez) and Paulo (Rodrigo Santoro), who has drastically reduced the playing time of the main protagonists on stage, especially by John Locke (Terry O’Quinn). These criticisms brought the series back on its feet right away through the recalibration the episodes of the second block of the third seasonincreasing the fluidity of the narrative and reassuring fans of the iconic series.
