2. Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)
What Was So Bad? Buffy is a strange case: not only did Joss Whedon (praise Joss!) have to introduce his characters to a new audience, he also had to retcon the events of the 1992 film for anyone who'd seen that (not a lot of people, and it's probably best you give it a miss). It's not completely disastrous, it's just that it didn't really know what it wanted to be. Was it going to be a teenage angst dramedy balancing puberty and boys with vampires, or a quirky comedy about the cheerleader who also goes out at night to slay demons, or maybe even a completely serious vampire-hunting drama? In the pilot, we get all of these. At one point in the 'Welcome To Hellmouth', the plot veers from 'Clueless' into a completely serious film, and that really affects the overall tone. Also, the low-budget really shows in this pilot. It's quite obvious the film used was of a lower quality and a lot of effects were rushed to get done in time for broadcast. The action scenes really fall flat and we never believe that Buffy is going to fail in her mission. It's only as Whedon got more comfortable with the characters that the show really hit its stride and became one of the better dramas that The WB/The CW ever produced.
How Did They Fix It? Less focus was put on the teenage elements - Xander stops using a skateboard, for one - and, whilst there were still plots that focused on Buffy's teenage problems, a lot more focus was put on the Vampire-hunting theme of the series, and Buffy was made into more of an action girl. Giles is also less bookish as time goes on and becomes a real bad-ass and hilarious character. With an increased budget, they were able to create more arc episodes and themed episodes, like 'Once More with Feeling' and 'Hush'. It also started to balance better the line between comedy and horror and sometimes wasn't afraid to go completely one way or the other, making for some genuinely scary and hilarious episodes. It was this crazy format that made Buffy so popular, you could tune in each week and not really know what you were going to get.