5 TV Shows That Improved With Age

Let's face it; there have been many a TV show we've seen start out strong and deteriorated or run out of steam after a couple of seasons. Shows like Heroes have taught us that having a great premise and a strong first season isn't always enough to sustain the quality of the show for further years. Heroes declined by the end of season 1, and by early season 2, all hope of the show ever being something really special was destroyed. It's a pity, really, when a show hits the ground running right from the get-go but runs out of energy in no time at all. I know lots of people who'd argue the same point for Lost, usually pinpointing season 3 or 4 as the season when it all started to go downhill. Lost is one of, if not my favourite show ever, and so I'm not fully on board with this notion, but alas, it is another example. Other shows stay consistent throughout their run. Friends was funny for 10 whole seasons and never really showed signs of ever being unwanted. The same goes for Seinfeld, and a heap of HBO shows, most notably for me being The Sopranos and Six Feet Under. Then of course, there are shows that actually improve in their later years. It's a rare enough occurrence in this day and age for TV shows to even maintain quality throughout their run, but it's considerably more impressive when they can actually get better as the seasons pass. Sometimes this will come down to the show not quite finding it's feet in beginning. Often pilots will tinker with a few ideas, and see what works and what doesn't, and changes are made to try and improve the show. Other times, a show will be good right from the get-go and they have the brains to utilise their greatest assets while adding something even more to make it into a truly great show. Here are 5 very different shows which I believe improved with age.