Shows that went through seasonal rot

[Original Raw and Uncut]

Family Guy: In my opinion the show peaked around S5, but then it went slighty downhill when they switched to HD, although newer episodes are still pretty good. Unlike most people, i think modern family guy is pretty good, it's just not as good as the middle seasons.

Adventure Time: Went downhill halfway through Season 5, episodes became soap-opera-ish, symbolic , mellow dramtic and plain bizzare.

Regular Show: Seasons 1 and 2, were top notch. It went downhill towards the end of Season 3, with all the drama episodes. The humor became dry, less adult humor, and the loss of the surrealness of the first two seasons.

Dexter's Laboratory: Season 1 was good, and it reached a pinnacle in S2. 1990s dexters lab is a good show. But when the show got revived in Autumn 2001, things didn't feel right. The revival seaons are still Okay. Although, the revival episodes were dragged out, slow paced, cringey dialogue too, poor writing, some episodes had disturbing visuals. (The 2002 episode "Sore Eyes" from Season 4) And bland child-ish humor. The first two seasons had good humor, decent characterization, and the cel animation was fun to watch. But S3-S4 use digital ink-and-paint. The show also looks odd when digital, since I'm so used to the cels from the first two seasons and Ego Trip. In my opinion this is the only classic-era Cartoon Network show that suffered seasonal rot. The art style change sucked, but the digital colors in S3-S4 do look brighter and more polished.

Ren and Stimpy: Three words; adult party cartoon (The only episode I enjoyed was fire dogs 2)

Drawn Together: Two words; the movie

The Venture Brothers: Older episodes are more entertaining

Johnny Test: Season 1 was okay, it started to suck when they switched to flash.

 

[President Squidward]

Am I the only one who thinks Johnny Test always sucked?

 

[NerdyKairi]

I hate the term seasonal rot, it´s just I don´t find it enjoyable anymore.

 

[BobCarotte]

Am I the only one who thinks Johnny Test always sucked?

Nope.

 

[CakeCup]

Family Guy is THE definition of seasonal rot. It used to be okay during the first couple seasons but it started to become really bad after season 10. After season 10, the whole show became the epitome of unfunniness. (It's okay if you still like it, however)

 

[MrColeslaw]

I guess SpongeBob, to an extent. Although, I wouldn't call it "seasonal rot", its more "changes to the show formula that I found unappealing".

 

[Original Raw and Uncut]

Family Guy is THE definition of seasonal rot. It used to be okay during the first couple seasons but it started to become really bad after season 10. After season 10, the whole show became the epitome of unfunniness. (It's okay if you still like it, however)

I respect your opinion, another problem with later seasons, is how boring and dragged out certain episodes are

 

[EmployeeAMillion]

The 1998 Powerpuff Girls declined for much the same reason as Dexter's Lab. They even have the same pre-decline:post-decline episode ratio.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic may also count, because while Season 3-6 are fine, they're not good in the same way the original episodes are. Too much has changed for me to like it just the same.

Same goes with South Park, though less has changed overall, but Season 5-8 will remain some of my favourite adult comedy ever written.

I've only watched Season 1 and the first half of 2 of Phineas and Ferb entirely, but from what I've heard, Season 3 is the weakest season, and Season 4 ended things on a decent enough note.

The Fairly OddParents ran itself into the ground so hard that most are celebrating the fact that it's finally ending.

Total Drama really lost touch with me around the end of Season 3: World Tour, so I don't know much about Season 4-6.

The Simpsons is a strange case. Season 1-2 are seen as the blue period (when they were starting out so while they rarely put out bad episodes, they weren't making hit after hit either). Season 3-8 are seen as the golden age, Season 9-10 are seen as a step down, Season 11-12 are seen as a dark age, though it's good episodes are fondly remembered, and from Season 13 onward, people have varying opinions over whether or not the show has gotten better or even worse. One thing's for sure, they'll never make a season as consistently good as 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 again.

 

[Honest Slug]

Fairly Odd Parents is without a doubt the worst case of seasonal rot I've ever seen. I've seen a lot of great shows go down the toilet but usually there was always some merit to their later days, I can't say that about newer FOP episodes.

 

[Ol Bold and Brash]

Am I the only one who thinks Johnny Test always sucked?

:hiya:

 

[Jai The Guy]

Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy
South Park

 

[Master WhoBruh]

The Flash. D*mmit it used to be so much fun. It really went sour in last couple episodes of season 2 and ever since season 3, Barry continues to be such a whiny little jerk. Lets change timeline without thinking of it's consequences due to the fact you did get over your mom's death just two episodes ago before you change the timeline to save her. Don't forget that you decide to not save your mom in season 1 finale because it's not right. Thanks to changing timeline twice to set things right, lets bring a threat to his so called girlfriend Iris. Engage her only to change future and keep that secret from her. Break up with Iris because he wanna focus on saving her (even though Iris should dump him for his bs) and one musical later engage with Iris again because musicals can solve anything. What a lovely romance. A secret after a secret. "Can I talk to you" nonsense. Lets also not trust our beloved ones and protect them from anything because they aren't capable of protecting themselves. I'm 100% certain the big evil speedster god Savitar is Future Flash, aka Barry in the future because Barry hates himself that much and I hate him too. Such a shame that Grant Gustin is such an adorkable guy and writers want his character to be such a whiny butt. What happened to sweet Barry in season 1? God even most charaters I love in this show make same mistakes of Barry, except not changing the freaking timeline. I'm so glad H.R. exists to lighten up the mood because he's the only person who understands human relationship and he's pretty supportive and optimistic.

God and I thought season 3-4 of Arrow were low points of CW DC shows.

 

[TheGreatServer]

Here's a big list of shows i found that went through seasonal changes in a bad way.

I will use a color coding, Lime means the show only received mild seasonal rot in my opinion, Violet means the show received regular seasonal rot in my opinion, Blue means it got really bad in my opinion.

SpongeBob
Family Guy
Fairly OddParents
The Simpsons
Rugrats
Ren and Stimpy
Dexter's Lab
Powerpuff Girls 1998
American Dad
Johnny Test
Clarence
Adventure Time
Regular Show
Chowder
Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack
Scooby Doo

 

[The Guy With the Computer]

The Fairly Odd Parents: Season 5 showed some rot, but season 6 is when it really sank low.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Seasons 6 and 7, and to a lesser extent, 4, 5, and 8. 9A was around the same level as 4, 5, and 8, and I haven't seen 9B or 10 yet.
The Simpsons: Seasons 9-12 were bad, but had some good moments. Season 13 and onward aren't very good either.
Dexter's Laboratory: Seasons 3 and 4 were made without the consent of the creator, which should be indicative of their quality.
The Powerpuff Girls 1998: Season 4 showed some rot, but was still pretty good. Seasons 5 and 6, on the other hand, have obnoxiously slow pacing, with the action becoming incredibly uninteresting and the jokes becoming overly long and, thus, unfunny.
Rugrats: When the series came back in 1997, the episodes weren't as interesting or good. The introduction of new characters (who weren't very likable or well written) only shoved the nail in deeper.

 

[AquaticKonquest]

I sort of still love Family Guy, due to its controversial humor, but I think some the characterizations of some the characters annoy me. Actually, only Peter annoys me. Oh, and Chris. I wouldn't be too sad if they somehow killed him off. I'd probably throw a party.

And I love Drawn Together! I found nearly all the episodes on YouTube. I also found the movie on YouTube, and no lie but I still enjoyed it. Mostly because of all the South Park references via the SMT Girl.

(Also, I consider the DT movie to be somewhat detached, given it was released three years after the show finished/got cancelled. And would this imply there was no seasonal rot in the show itself? I know there's only three seasons, but still...)

 

[SpongeRoadie UK]

I'm not trying to meme here, I genuinely think this show's getting worse and worse...

Spoiler

Steven Universe.

I don't want to get into details of why I think it's falling, cause I don't have the time, currently, but to sum it up, I think the story's not progressing (at all), the characters are just becoming harder to like (especially the towns people), the action parts of the show are eroding, and all the potential it showed with it's strong base creative ideas and world building... it's just gone to waste IMO. Sad, really. I was never too much of a fan, but I still think it was pretty good for the first 2 (maybe 3) seasons with plenty of potential.

If I'm honest, apart from select few such as TAWOG, TLH, and SvTFOE, I think a lot of children's animated shows on CN/Nick/DXD right now are either stagnating or going downhill. Might touch on that in better detail if I have the time.

 

[Kimberly]

The Simpsons: near perfect show up until season 9, where the downfall started. Then came s10 (about the same as 9), then 11 and 12 (when the show went off the rails), then 13 and 14 (better but not in any way a renaissance). After s15 it got boring and stale, which is how it's been ever since.

The Big Bang Theory: Seasons 1 and 2 were funny and charming, then it all went downhill after Amy became a regular cast member.

SpongeBob: After the movie, things got... pretty bad. I've seen a couple of episodes from the newest season and fortunately it seems to be getting better, though I haven't seen enough to call it a renaissance yet.

Fairly Odd Parents: The first couple of seasons were good, then it slowly went awry. The switch to flash animation and the ridiculous "fairy shortage" change-up are the final nails in the coffin.

Family Guy: the show has its moments, but pre-cancellation Family Guy (aka the period in time when Seth MacFarlane couldn't do whatever he wanted) is miles better than any of the stuff the show puts out nowadays.

 

[Poop]

how can sesame street run for 47 seasons and cant run out of ideas?

 

[SpongeBobfan1987]

Doug/Brand Spanking New Doug/Disney's Doug - this cartoon went downhill, in the opinion of many viewers, when Doug's production company Jumbo Pictures was sold to Disney, new Doug episodes aired on ABC or in broadcast syndication (the "original Doug" aired on cable TV network Nickelodeon), and later on ABC's One Saturday Morning block. The series even tried to capitalize on the success of "The Rugrats Movie" by releasing "Doug's First Movie" in 1999. I think the Disney series is where much of the seasonal rot lies, since few of the fans of the Nickelodeon original knew about this "reboot." Add to that the fact that Billy West was replaced by Tom McHugh as Doug Funnie, and Chris Phillips as Roger Klotz. The Disney's Doug reboot had some bizarre plot twists, like the Honker Burger closing down, the new middle school opening with unfinished construction, being named after Beebe Bluff, the Klotz Family becoming a rich rival to the Bluff Family, Doug and Judy Funnie having a baby sister, etc. etc., but I guess that wasn't enough to carry that cartoon past 1999. Roger Klotz and Patti Mayonnaise also had new hairstyles in the Disney reboot.

 

[Fondue Pot]

Ren and Stimpy: Three words; adult party cartoon (The only episode I enjoyed was fire dogs 2)

I actually feel like it started to rot around Season 4. There were still a few good episodes here and there, but most of it was hit and miss, with more misses than hits.