I think Veep gets better with each season, and, given the trove of topics it currently has to draw from, I can see it concluding at its very best.

Dick Van Dyke Show. First two or three episodes they were finding their footing, after that the show top notch from first season to the last.

Have to respectfully disagree. Once Iannucci left the show, it went way down hill. While it still remains a "must watch" for me, I loathed the last season. When David Mandel took over, he just seemed to want the characters to say the most extreme vile things, even if it didn't work in terms of story. Look at Peter MacNiol's character...He is way out of place in the show, and is actually just embarrassing himself...No matter what the characters said in the past, at least they seemed perfectly motivated and whatnot...The character arc that went down with Jonah was just way over the top and stupid (and he's usually been one of my favorite characters)...I guess there's only one more season so hopefully it returns to form...

May be a stretch, but Frasier's final season saw a significant upgrade in quality its final season compared to the 2 or 3 that preceded it. It was right up there with the show's better seasons.

I might catch some flack for this one, but Two Guys a Girl and a Pizza Place (later to just be Two Guys and a Girl). It was a show that really took time to find its feet, and always improved along the way. Unfortunately, ABC kept moving it from night to night, a lot of the retooling that had to happen, and of course the awkward original title kept it from finding the audience it deserved. A shame, as it became a very funny show by the end.

yes.

is this one streaming anywhere? would love to relive...

Married With Children

Shout released the complete series box set, but it doesn't seem to be on their streaming service. I bought the DVDs last year when they had a 50% off sale, and even then it was a bit pricey at $39.

South Park was terrible the first couple seasons. Which is ironic because thats when it was at its absolute peak of popularity. Then once the hysteria died down it started getting really good.

I was thinking of that as well.

I also thought of Night Court and Newhart.

I liked Married with Children in the later seasons more when Al and No Ma'am had his fights with Marcy and her Women's group, it really predicted the future. Cheers was also a better show in its later seasons.

My two favorite characters in the earlier seasons were Stan's Uncle Jimbo and his war buddy Ned. I think they were used once or twice after the first few seasons and never heard from them again. Why? They were funny characters.

I think most shows peak in seasons 3-5 and decline after that.

Married with children hit it's stride mid run, for me those were the best seasons (3 to 6) except for anything Seven related. Mainly because Christina Applegate had grown up enough (was too young in first few seasons) to be nice and slutty. In the last few seasons, she toned things down a lot

i think Still Standing and Rules of Engagement both got better as the seasons went on

The view that "Seinfeld" went down in quality after Larry David left is something I completely disagree with. Yeah, there were some weak episodes during those 2 seasons but that was no different than previous seasons. Plus classic Seinfeld things like Festivus, Elaine dancing, Bizarro Jerry, Yada Yada, and almost all the best Puddy stuff happened in those final 2 seasons.

No, the time when Seinfeld went downhill wasn't when Larry David left - it happened when Larry David returned! That Finale he wrote is the single worst episode of the entire series. Bringing him back to write the Finale was the biggest mistake Jerry Seinfeld ever made during the run of the show. (Now I do like Larry David but it took him a while to get back into funny form again after that when he later created "Curb Your Enthusiasm")

I think Cheers got better as it went along. I liked it in the earlier seasons too but I think later on when Woody and Frasier were added to the cast the group really rounded itself out nicely. I think it was one of the more consistent shows throughout its run.

Seinfeld got better too. I’d say it hit its stride around season three until the end. I’ve never really agreed with the consensus that it goes downhill after Larry David left either. I think there was still good stuff in those last two seasons.

Also while it’s varied in quality I’d say The Simpsons got better after the first couple seasons. It’s had slumps but overall despite what most people (who probably don’t actually watch new episodes regularly) will tell you it’s still overall pretty good.

Cheers was consistently solid and had the characters down from day one, but yeah Woody was awesome later on.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

The Odd Couple

I tell ya. I've been binging It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and it really starts to get better and better as it goes along. I'm on season 7 now and it is just getting funnier and funnier.

What shows that have had some longevity have just gotten better throughout it's run?

Parks and Rec. I mean even with that terrible first season, I don't think Chris and Ben came in until the end of season 2 and then it started running on all cylinders.

I'll say the Office as well but it peaked well before the end. Same with something like the Simpsons.

edited to add:
Great now that the threads are combined it looks like I've just ignored all the posts before mine...

Wait, OldBoy started the old thread too! And I was going to repeat myself and say Agents of SHIELD again.

i know. i'm getting bad at remembering these threads.

I might have already said it since the thread is so old but Star Wars Rebels starts out very clunky.

Imagine a car in square wheels. It moves, but it’s like ka-clunk ka-clunk ka-clunk but then imagine that the wheels are made of a soft material that rounds down the corner very quickly and then dumps a can of nitro in the tank and fricking stomps the pedal and doesn’t let up until the credits roll on the final episode.

IIRC, the Clone Wars (non Tartokovski) is the same way. I had a heck of a time getting past season 1.