10 Amazing TV Shows With Surprisingly Weak First Seasons

8. The Simpsons

Nowadays, most people with taste and a sense of humor consider The Simpsons to be the best animated show of all time, if not the greatest show, period. And it's been on the air for so long, that we forget what it actually looked like during its first season. The animation style is so choppy and awkward that it actually looks kind of creepy, and the characterization of the Simpson family hadn't settled into their established roles yet. We joke about Homer Simpson being an abusive dad, but while in the later seasons his anger issues and poor decision-making skills are tempered by a genuine love for his children, in the beginning he pretty much did just beat up on Bart all the time. He didn't quite have a lovable side yet. The early show was almost exclusively focused on Bart and his antics, which are funny, but a little too childish and one note to really carry a show. How many times can we listen to "Eat my shorts!" before it starts being slightly less funny? Once The Simpsons started to shift its focus to the family unit, it really became the show that we all know and love.