Some TV shows were a massive hit right out of the gate, but others took a while to find their audience. It’s rare that a TV show is a success from the get-go.Squid Gameinstantly became a cultural phenomenon.True Detective’s first seasonis still its most popular and widely acclaimed.
But it’s much more common that a show has to hone its voice and build an audience over time. Even somemust-see TV showsbeloved around the world, likeBreaking BadandGame of Thrones, weren’t a sure-fire hit from the outset.
Back when Apple TV+ still hadn’t fully established itself as an exciting new home for prestige television, it dropped a curious little sci-fi show calledSeverance. It seemed like a typical workplace show, but it had a disturbing dystopian twist: everyone in the office has had their consciousness surgically split between their “innie” at work and their “outie” outside work.
This chilling metaphor for the work-life balance that’s getting harder and harder to achieve really touched a nerve with audiences. Taking three years between seasons would usually kill momentum for a TV show, butSeveranceonly seemed to gain more fans and build more hype for season 2 during its three-year hiatus.
The premise ofThe Leftoverssounded like the most boring post-apocalyptic show of all time. It takes place in a world where 2% of the world’s population mysteriously vanished. The Sudden Departure can’t be explained by science or religion, but the world is still intact, so society goes on as normal (or at least attempts to).
What sounded like a mundane post-apocalyptic show turned out to be one of the most profound.
But when the show premiered, the genius of that premise became apparent. It’s not about the tangible devastation of an apocalyptic event;it’s about the post-apocalyptic mindset. The world might look the same, but the people inhabiting it have been forever changed. What sounded like a mundane post-apocalyptic show turned out to be one of the most profound.
In its first couple of seasons,Schitt’s Creekhad enough viewers in its native Canada to keep getting renewed. But it unexpectedly became a global smash hit during its third season when it started streaming on Netflix around the world andreally struck a chord with international audiences.
In the first half of its run,Schitt’s Creekwas an obscure show with a small but dedicated fan following. But in its second half, it became a massive success with millions of fans around the world.Schitt’s Creek’s feel-good toneflew in the face of the many cynical comedies of the time, which audiences found delightfully refreshing.
WhenYellowjacketspremiered, it seemed like anotherLostclone: a supernatural thriller about a plane crash, told across dual narrative timelines and shrouded in mystery. But throughout its first season, it became clear thatYellowjacketswas its own thing. It’s a reimagining ofLord of the Flieswith teenage girls instead of prepubescent boys, and a hefty dose of cannibalism.
Yellowjacketsis streaming on Paramount+.
Audiences became intrigued by this uniquely structured mystery. What happened to the girls who didn’t make it to the present day? What secrets are the survivors harboring from the past? Each season of this unnerving horror series has attracted new viewers with its intriguing mysteries and lingering questions.
American remakes of classic British sitcoms are almost always destined to fail. And when the U.S. version ofThe Officepremiered with an almost word-for-word translation of the original show’s script, it seemed like this would be no different. Butthe writers, much to their credit, figured out what wasn’t workingand made the necessary changes to fix it.
American remakes of classic British sitcoms are almost always destined to fail.
They recognized that American audiences don’t want to laugh at an underdog, like UK audiences did with David Brent; they want to root for the underdog. The writers startedmaking Michael Scott more likable, and the show took off from there. The U.S. remake ofThe Officewould ultimately join its predecessor as one of the greatest shows ever made.
The Bearhas all the makings of a cult classic. It takes place in a very specific world — the culinary sector of Chicago — and it features such toxic, dysfunctional characters, all screaming at each other through every episode, that it causes viewers to feel anxiety when they watch it. It’s a great show, but it didn’t seem like a mainstream hit.
As the praise rolled in, especially after its second season when the episodes “Fishes” and “Forks” were hailed as all-time greats, The Bear amassed a huge audience.
But as the praise rolled in, especially after its second season when the episodes “Fishes” and “Forks” were hailed as all-time greats,The Bearamassed a huge audience and became a blockbuster hit for FX and Hulu. It’s a show about chefs yelling at each other, but it’s becomeone of the biggest TV hits of the decade.
Very few shows have taken as long to find their feet asIt’s Always Sunny in Philadelphiaand still become a worldwide hit. The show’s first season received such low viewing figures that the producers had to add a big star to the cast or they wouldn’t get a season 2. Danny DeVito turned out to be the missing ingredient.
But the series still took until about season 4 before it refined its pitch-black comedic voice, figured out its characters and their dynamics, and started appealing to a larger audience. Today,It’s Always Sunnyis the longest-running live-action U.S. sitcom.It’s been on the air for two decades, and it’s beloved around the globe.
Vince Gilligan revolutionized the way TV shows work withBreaking Bad. Every TV show before it had focused on maintaining a status quo, butBreaking Badwas a story of change. Unfortunately, that meant that it both started out pretty slow and required viewers to watch every single episode in order to follow the plot.
Breaking Badis streaming on Netflix.
Although it was praised by critics from the beginning, it took a while forBreaking Badto find a sizable audience. If Netflix hadn’t taken the industry by storm,Breaking Badwould’ve been canceled after season 2. Afteraudiences started binge-watchingBreaking Badon the streamer, it earned its reputation as the greatest TV show ever made.
Seinfeldhad a famously rough start before becoming one of the biggest hits in television history. NBC had almost no faith in the pilot;every executive besides Rick Ludwin wanted to pull the plug on the show, but Ludwin had enough faith to secure a series order. Still,Seinfeldseason 1was given the shortest order in American television history.
After bouncing around a few timeslots over the next couple of years,Seinfeldfinally found the right spot to reach the right audience, and it was off to the races. Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David’s “show about nothing” eventually won over everyone. It remains a global hit in syndication and streaming to this day.
When HBO started working on an adaptation ofGeorge R.R. Martin’sA Song of Ice and Fireseries, fans of the books were unsure that a TV show could do them justice andnon-fantasy enthusiasts had no interest in watching a show with dragons and swordplay. But within a couple of seasons ofGame of Thrones, that all changed.
By telling grounded stories of betrayal and political intrigue within a medieval fantasy setting, Game of Thrones attracted fans who wouldn’t usually go near the genre with a 10-foot pole.
Not only did the show please fans of the books as an adaptation (at least at first); it captured a mainstream audience around the world. By telling grounded stories of betrayal and political intrigue within a medieval fantasy setting,Game of Thronesattracted fans who wouldn’t usually go near the genre with a 10-foot pole.
