10 TV Shows That Suffered A Sophomore Slump

Perhaps the ultimate example of a sophomore slump on the small screen, Prison Break started so strongly but suffered a pretty dreadful second season. The show stayed on the air for seasons three and four, but ratings and reviews only got worse over time and the whole show eventually seemed proved to be an excellent premise stretched far too thin.

Season one follows genius structural engineer Michael Scofield as he orchestrates a remarkably elaborate escape plan to bust his brother Lincoln and a small group of other inmates out of Fox River State Penitentiary.

The season ends with the group successfully escaping and beginning their new lives as fugitives. From there, however, it seems like the writers just looked at each other and said "Now what?" Ideas were clearly in short supply and the addition of multi-layered government conspiracies and double-bluffing operatives turned a fun show into a bit of a convoluted mess.

Freed from the confines of Fox River, Prison Break lost its way. Unsurprisingly, seasons three and four threw various characters back into different prisons in order to try and recover some of its former glory, but it never quite succeeded. A recent revival of the show received mixed reviews but another season is in the works.