Television has delivered audiences so many unforgettable stories over the years. In terms of modern entertainment, it remains one of the biggest and most successful mediums there is. The very best TV shows often become culturally important or generally iconic, with their small-screen stories proving to be beloved among audiences around the world. The ever-changing societal landscape means that TV shows must always be able to adapt, serving audiences more of the entertainment they love in order to keep up their appeal. This has seen the way TV shows handle their stories change over the years, and has also affected the way fans consume media, with the age of streaming bringing about the rise of the binge-watch.
On some occasions, TV shows subtly evolve in front of our very eyes, changing course partway through their run. Great TV shows with massive potential sometimes have to adapt their format, either to give viewers more of what they want or as the natural result of character growth over the show’s progression. Whether it came about naturally or was a more conscious decision, the following shows managed to quietly switch up their genres or format mid-run without losing any of their appeal — and, in many cases, actually enhancing it.
Breaking Bad is one of the most celebrated and beloved TV shows of the 21st century. Its story chronicled the journey of Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher who begins manufacturing crystal meth after receiving a diagnosis of terminal lung cancer. Walt’s rise from a hapless criminal to a ruthless drug kingpin is often hailed as one of the greatest crime drama stories in TV history, earning Breaking Bad a place among the best-loved and highest-regarded TV shows of all time.
The thing is, the earlier seasons of Breaking Bad felt incredibly different from its later chapters. The show starts off as a sort of comedy-drama, with the dynamic between Walter and sidekick Jesse Pinkman providing a great deal of off-beat humor even alongside the show’s intense drama. As Walter descends further into a life of crime, the show’s tone gradually shifts until Breaking Bad becomes a full-on crime epic. The organic evolution of its format served the show incredibly well, and not only did it lead to one of the most perfect final seasons of a TV show ever made, but also cemented Breaking Bad as a truly exceptional piece of television.
There have been many great Marvel TV shows over the years, particularly when it comes to those that are part of or adjacent to the MCU. Expanding upon the hugely popular early chapters of the franchise, Agents of SHIELD started as a show that explored the exploits of the titular agency, bringing back a handful of characters from the movies of the MCU while also telling its own relatively independent story. Its early seasons were very much spy stories with a little added superhero drama and action, but that isn’t the way it stayed.
As Agents of SHIELD introduced more powerful characters to its cast, the show gradually shifted away from its spy elements and further towards superhero sci-fi. The later seasons of the show relied heavily upon more complex sci-fi ideas and tropes such as time travel and alternate realities, as it was the natural evolution of its story alongside that of the MCU. That willingness to adapt is exactly what kept Agents of SHIELD on the air for seven seasons, and why it retains a loyal following ever after shifting slowly away from its original premise.
When Parks and Recreation first aired, it was only a shadow of what it later became. The lightly satirical mockumentary format of its first season in particular made it feel like a fairly weak rip-off of The Office. However, the way that Parks and Recreation evolved eventually led to it becoming known as a cult TV show that almost everybody hated at first, as it gradually pivoted into a frenetic, quirky comedy with a relatable and unforgettable cast of characters.
Watching back the first season of the show, it’s clear that the best aspects of Parks and Recreation were still a work in progress. The fact that the show managed to hone in on its best qualities and discard the rest is ultimately what led to its massive success; if it hadn’t altered its format, it almost certainly wouldn’t have lasted. Thankfully, the show worked out that it needed to lean more heavily on the unique and bizarre traits of its characters, and zeroed in on the perfect tone to ensure it has been remembered as a truly exceptional comedy series.
There are very few examples of TV shows that got better after abandoning their original premise more obvious than Person of Interest. First airing in 2011, the show’s basic premise concerns the application of “the Machine” — a computer program that collates various sources of information to predict terrorist attacks — in preventing lesser crimes such as murder. The result was a fairly standard procedural with a high-concept premise and a wider story arc on a very slow burn in the background.
As Person of Interest continued, however, it slowly morphed into an entirely different type of show. Moving away from its procedural elements, Person of Interest fully embraced its identity as a conspiracy-based thriller, further exploring the idea of the Machine and the moral and ethical issues surrounding its application. Later seasons effectively saw the show become a full-on dystopian sci-fi series, and while the changes weren’t for everyone, they proved a fascinating and natural progression of Person of Interest‘s high-concept story.
Cougar Town is far from the best-known series on this list, but it’s remembered as a cancelled cult TV show that deserved far better. Its original premise was pretty much exactly what its name implied: it followed a divorced woman in her 40s who set out to date younger men. Effectively a sort of dating comedy, its romantic elements were very much at the fore in its earliest episodes. However, when showrunner Bill Lawrence realized the format wasn’t maximizing the show’s potential, a concerted effort was made to change Cougar Town into a whole new show.
After its original format was abandoned, Cougar Town subtly shifted into an ensemble comedy, slowly phasing out the whole idea of following an older woman dating younger men. By the time its third season came around, the show had entirely abandoned the original premise, instead pivoting to explore the friendship of its main characters, embracing the idea that it had fully outgrown not just its premise, but its title, too. The result is a show that remains criminally underrated, but also serves as a perfect example of how shifting focus mid-run can actually be a very good thing.
