OldBoy

for me these two shows got better and better through its' series run. TWD keeps getting better and better and BB continued to grow for me as it went on.

Breaking Bad
The Walking Dead

taffer

I think most shows improve at least a little bit for a few seasons and then are in declining quality by the end. Most shows peak somewhere in the middle of their run.

hanshotfirst1138

I'm amazed that ratings were good enough for TNG to make it past it's rubbish first season. Fortunately, it improved SIGNIFICANTLY thereafter. Very few shows are great out of the gate though, and I can't think of many which were at their best in the first season.

fumanstan

I haven't seen tonight's Walking Dead, but I don't think it's gotten better. It's been awfully inconsistent through it's run.

Agents of SHIELD has gotten a shit ton better since the first half of it's initial season.

dex14

Parks and Rec. First season was awful.

Tom Banjo

Many will likely disagree, but Fringe.

johnnysd

I think Walking Dead got significantly worse. The whole crap with the Governor and just the increased lameness and complete idiocy of the show ramped up and up until I just couldn't watch it any longer. It is a truly terrible show.

Game Of Thrones has improved as it has gone along
Breaking Bad as mentioned
ST:NG and Deep Space Nine

Boondock Saint

Quantum Leap. I know a lot of people think it may have jumped the shark in the final season with Elvis, Evil Leaper etc. But I loved it. Favorite show ever.

cleaver

It didn't get a whole lot better than. Season 2 though.
Star Trek the Next Generation kept getting better up to season 5.

writer106

I agree with previous posters on Breaking Bad, Parks and Rec, and The Walking Dead.

Xiroteus

Season one and two were a bit odd. Watching it now Picard and Riker were too harsh too often and got better once season three hit.

johnnysd

I think QL has my favorite series final ever.

Hazel Motes

South Park in the beginning at its most famous wasn't very good, but eventually got better and better and better.

The best season of The Wire is Season 4 and the least best is Season 5, so I'd call that a split.

The Simpsons has been a bit of a rollercoaster thats been up down and sideways throughout 25 years. But it definitely got better than season 1.

Same with Seinfeld.

Mad Men got better after season 1.

Home Movies.

Late Night With Conan O'Brien. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. Jimmy Kimmel Live.

superdeluxe

X-files got better till about season 4..then slowly started to get worse..then the bottom dropped out of the barrel.

Boondock Saint

Hell yeah

Xiroteus

This is a serious question, what did you like about it?

I ask because I don't most care for it or found the parts of it lacking. Thinking about it now the only real flaw is not getting to go home.

PhantomStranger

South Park is the most obvious comedy. The writing on South Park has wildly improved over the years. Those first couple of years are almost painful to watch now.

Original Desmond

Breaking Bad for sure

Arrow so far for me

Nth Power

Parks and Recreation - I remember thinking it being so-so at the start. Now it's one of my favorite shows.

Marvel's Agents of SHIELD - I gave up on it 2/3 of the way last season. Then heard it got better. I recently went back and finished up season one and it did get much better.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand - Thought it was pretty average until episode 4 when it really took off for me and became awesome.

morriscroy

Headbangers Ball.

mphtrilogy

Six feet under had a legendary final season

Hokeyboy

Babylon 5 got off to a real shaky start -- not terrible, but shaky -- and then got very good at the end of its first season. Seasons 2 through 4 were some of the best television science fiction ever produced. Season 5 was uneven, but thats more because of how they weren't planning on a Season 5 until a last minute reprieve and wrapped up many major storylines at the end of 4.

Agents of SHIELD was already mentioned. It went from absolutely fucking terrible to pretty freakin' cool, but it took half a season (and a blockbuster movie) to get there.

Can anyone watch the first season of TNG without hurling? Season 2 wasn't that much better either, but at least it improved. It was really seasons 3 through 6 that were any good.

hanshotfirst1138

Season two is actually quite a bit better than I remember. Season three was definitely where the show hit its stride, but season two was a huge improvement over the first.

TheKing

Most shows have a bell curve. They start slow, take a while to build into quality as the cast develops chemistry and the writers as well. Then they hit a peak, and if they stick around, slowly slide back down.

There are exceptions of course. Desperate Housewives peaked in Season 1, then had a terrible Season 2, then spent the rest of the series middling around, not as good as the first, but not as bad as the second.

The Simpsons has been around so long that it's had 2 bell curves. Well, one bell, and right now some would say the show has been increasing in quality over the last couple years...so the second bell hasn't turned down yet.

davidh777

As has been said before, I think this applies to nearly every series. You have a long run, your pilot was just based on an initial concept, it's natural that you figure out what works and make it better.

What's the next poll--actors or professional athletes who improved during their careers?

Maybe a better question would be: "Shows that started out mediocre and got much better." Some of my favorite series were pretty rough in their early stages, like Seinfeld and Night Court. Buffy was fine but got significantly better. Babylon 5 I keep trying to restart because I can't get into the first season but I know rewards await. ER started at a peak and just sank many years later.