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Post by The Cap'n on Mar 1, 2019 16:32:42 GMT -5
Recently I was talking about how sad I was at the most recent season of Arrested Development. I loved all three of the initial seasons that ran on regular television. I really liked the reunion season on Netflix in 2012 or whatever it was, not quite as much as the first ones, but enough that any drop-off was totally fine. But the most recent season--the one that came last year, I think?--was, in my opinion, not just failing to meet their previous work's standards, but flat-out bad.
Queen's discography took a plunge after The Game, too, in my opinion. There were certainly some returns to form here and there, but I don't think they ever matched that album as a whole in quality again. (I do like A Kind of Magic and Innuendo, the post-Game highlights, but neither rates as highly for me. And the lowlights ... those are low.)
That got me wondering what people think of as the worst drop-offs in quality. What do you think? Take it whatever direction you prefer (movie to sequels, seasons of a show, a band from one album to the next, etc.).
I especially mean it as a "never to return" kind of drop as opposed to a singular aberration, but do with it what thou wilt.
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Post by ian on Mar 1, 2019 17:38:07 GMT -5
Well I think the BBs took a significant dip post holland-though I can find songs I love on the next three albums. Post la light is a major drop
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2019 18:02:39 GMT -5
I'm a big fan of the TV show, Columbo. The series first ran on NBC between 1968-1978. These were quality shows, some directed by Steven Spielberg, Jonathan Demme, Ben Gazzara, and Patrick McGoohan. Some of the murderers/villains included Lee Grant, Jack Cassidy, John Cassavetes, Robert Culp, Leonard Nimoy, Martin Landau, Richard Kiley, William Shatner, and Johnny Cash. Peter Falk hung up his raincoat in 1978 while the show was still near the top of the TV ratings.
In 1998, ABC revived the series, but in my opinion, the quality dipped substantially. The actors weren't as prolific or villainous, the scripts were inconsistent at best, and even Peter Falk seemed to lose his quirky appeal and charisma. Falk had obviously aged and just appeared...different. The second run does have its moments, just not nearly as many as the first run, and you have to be very selective when tuning in.
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Post by g00dvibrations on Mar 1, 2019 18:02:39 GMT -5
Recently I was talking about how sad I was at the most recent season of Arrested Development. I loved all three of the initial seasons that ran on regular television. I really liked the reunion season on Netflix in 2012 or whatever it was, not quite as much as the first ones, but enough that any drop-off was totally fine. But the most recent season--the one that came last year, I think?--was, in my opinion, not just failing to meet their previous work's standards, but flat-out bad.
Yeah, as well as bad attempts to hide the fact that they weren't all in the same room for most it, and the fact nothing seemed to happen, there didn't seem to be any jokes? I recall reading that they split it into a two part season after they finished it, so the best hope is it was building to something and the second part out soon might at least be mediocre. |
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Post by g00dvibrations on Mar 1, 2019 18:05:55 GMT -5
The recent seasons of Archer probably fall under this. It's been on a downhill trend since they dropped the spy stuff for the Vice season, but even then it still was decent to good, and usually a few laughs in each episode. But the Dreamland and Danger Island series felt like a further slip - not in quality of animation or necessarily even storytelling, but it just doesn't feel like the same show as the first three seasons anymore.
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Post by kds on Mar 1, 2019 23:18:03 GMT -5
I tend to agree about post The Game Queen. Though I think Innuendo is a very strong album.
The first Batman movie franchise dropped in quality once Joel Schumacher took over the franchise from Tim Burton.
The Simpsons I think was more gradual, but the last decade plus has been full of forgetable shows for a series that was once one of TV's finest.
I think the quality of Judas Priest releases have gone downhill in the last decade. When Rob Halford rejoined the band, they released the stellar Angel of Retribution album in 2005. Then, they took a chance with the double concept album Nostradamus in 2008. It was awful. The last two albums have been very paint by numbers Priest.
Queensryche went downhill quickly after their great 1990 Empire album. Although I've heard the albums they've released after Geoff Tate left the group are pretty good.
The Jaws franchise took a turn for the worse with the awful Jaws 3D. The original producer Richard Zanuck actually wanted to team up with National Lampoon to do a spoof movie called Jaws 3 People 0 as a third entry because he thought it was silly to do a third one. Sadly, that spoof sounds far better than Jaws 3D. Although, Jaws 3D is high art compared to Jaws The Revenge.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2019 7:05:22 GMT -5
The Beach Boys in the 80s. And with 15BO after a string of good to great albums.
Jefferson Airplane after After Bathing at Baxters.
Pink Floyd without Syd, though they did find themselves again later.
Big Brother without Janis Joplin.
Star Wars after Empire Strikes Back. (It was heading for great things but ROTJ was just so rushed and so poorly written. The Prequels are a case of one man biting off more than he could chew. The Sequels are corporate product rather than trying to tell a great story.)
Pirates of the Caribbean after Dead Man's Chest. (DMC has problems but was still fun at the time. It could have been the setup to a great movie but AWE completely went off the rails.)
Godfather after Godfather II (Francis Ford Coppola even admits in the GF3 commentary track that he only made it for the money. Enough said.)
Shrek after Shrek 2 (The first two films still hold up really well and blew everyone away when they came out. The third was absolutely terrible.)
Pixar Studios after Cars II (They used to make hit after hit, critically and commercially. Now it's really a crapshoot whether their next one will be great or just okay. For every Coco there's a Good Dinosaur.)
House of Cards after Season 2. (You had the perfect 3 act structure: take the VP, take the presidency, fall. They dragged it out because of greed and then Kevin Spacey's rapiness came out so they never even got to do the drawn out ending.)
Orange is the New Black after Season 2. (Season 4 and 5 were pretty good again, but not to the same level. 6 was a disappointment. At this point it just needs to die already.)
Game of Thrones after Season 4. (Once they started taking more liberties from the books--and running out of books to adapt thanks to GRRM--it all fell apart. Rewatching Season 1 the other day made me sad for how great it used to be.)
The Office after Season 3. (There's only so many plotlines you can do in an office. Plus, once Jim and Pam hooked up all the tension was gone.)
Seinfeld after Season 7 (No Larry David, no show.)
Family Guy after Season 3 (When it was revived, the first new season was okay but nowhere near as good as the classic years. It continued to get worse and worse until even Seth MacFarland thinks it should just die.)
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Post by The Cap'n on Mar 2, 2019 9:06:13 GMT -5
Orange is the New Black after Season 2. (Season 4 and 5 were pretty good again, but not to the same level. 6 was a disappointment. At this point it just needs to die already.) That's a good one. Totally agree. I actually stopped watching altogether a couple episodes into ... 4? Not sure. But it went from one of my favorites to just totally a waste of time. |
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Post by The Cap'n on Mar 2, 2019 9:58:48 GMT -5
Seinfeld after Season 7 (No Larry David, no show.) Here is where I am an outlier. I know it's the popular opinion that the show lost it without David, but I actually liked those last seasons the most. It changed, to be sure, and I loved the earlier seasons (except the first one), too. But at the end it was openly absurd, which I really enjoyed. (I'm thinking things like the Merv Griffin set in Kramer's apartment, the backwards episode of the "unvitation" to the wedding in India, etc.) |
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Post by kds on Mar 2, 2019 21:34:13 GMT -5
Seinfeld after Season 7 (No Larry David, no show.) Here is where I am an outlier. I know it's the popular opinion that the show lost it without David, but I actually liked those last seasons the most. It changed, to be sure, and I loved the earlier seasons (except the first one), too. But at the end it was openly absurd, which I really enjoyed. (I'm thinking things like the Merv Griffin set in Kramer's apartment, the backwards episode of the "unvitation" to the wedding in India, etc.) I agree that the post LD seasons are good. There were some cracks in the foundation, but still a high quality show. Though I think those cracks are why Jerry decided to end it after Season 9. |
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Post by g00dvibrations on Mar 3, 2019 8:16:21 GMT -5
This is probably slightly different as its less a large drop in quality and more just a slight dip in quality mixed with a change in approach.
But nothing Muse has done since Absolution has grabbed me the way that and Origin Of Symmetry (and even their debut Showbiz) did. I still get the albums and enjoy them though.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2019 9:18:22 GMT -5
Pink Floyd without Syd, though they did find themselves again later. This. Though I rather think you/we are in the minority. I might go even further and say they found themselves again briefly with an album about Syd.  |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2019 9:20:48 GMT -5
Pink Floyd without Syd, though they did find themselves again later. This. Though I rather think you/we are in the minority. I might go even further and say they found themselves again briefly with an album about Syd. Yeah. Syd is beloved by a certain niche, but it seems like a good number of Floyd fans don't fully appreciate him, or the fact that without him they never would have gotten a record deal. |
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Post by kds on Mar 3, 2019 14:28:09 GMT -5
This. Though I rather think you/we are in the minority. I might go even further and say they found themselves again briefly with an album about Syd. Yeah. Syd is beloved by a certain niche, but it seems like a good number of Floyd fans don't fully appreciate him, or the fact that without him they never would have gotten a record deal. I give Syd a ton of credit for getting the ball rolling on Floyd. I just much perfer Gilmour as a singer and guitarist. Plus, without Syd, we wouldn't have had great songs like If, Brain Damage, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Nobody Home, and Poles Apart. Oh, and completely agree about the Pirates movies. I loved the original. I liked the second one. I thought the third was awful, to the point that I haven't even bothered with the next two. In general, I feel most movie franchises struggle once they go past three movies. |
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