8 Great TV Shows With Awful First Seasons
5. The X-Files
The show that put Fox TV on the map in the mid-90's, The X-Files - for all its many faults - was a revolution in television. Shame then that the first season very nearly killed the whole thing before it could get off the ground.
Its mix of police procedural and the supernatural was mostly uncharted territory at the time, so the writers were often at a loss of how to achieve a good balance. Plus, like a later entry on this list, the biggest failing came from the two leads, whose actors had yet to really figure out their characters or get comfortable with their roles.
As a result, the first season of The X-Files lacks the wit and charm that it would find in later seasons, instead feeling lost and awkward. Now, of course, this problem would solve itself as the series went on, where the actors grew more comfortable with their roles and the writers figured out more consistent characterizations for the two leads.