What are some signs that a TV show is running out of ideas?

Question

Silke Achen · Accepted Answer

"In most comedy and animated shows it's usually around the time when they start to exaggerate characters flaws/quirks for comedic effect. Examples: Simpsons began to dip in quality when they made homer far more stupid then when he was originally created. Homer was always designed to be a less than bright character but he had his moments of intelligence and could be fairly insightful with his jokes. Somewhere around season 12-16 they changed him to an absolute buffoon. Big Bang Theory started out with Sheldon just being an eccentric genius who had a few odd quirks. Then as the show went along they made all of his jokes and interactions about how weird he is. "Sheldon doesn't get sarcasm LOL" "LOL Sheldon doesn't understand that amy wants to have sex with him". Any endearing qualities of sheldon were quickly lost. Ed Edd and Eddy is another case in which Ed was set as the dim witted friend with the heart of gold but by the end he was struggling to blink and talk at the same time. "

Eija-Leena · Answer

When old villains keep coming back again and again, to a point where they no longer seem threatening. Looking at you, Supernatural.

Havivah · Answer

Characters endlessly get in and out of relationships with each other, even totally incompatible ones Especially the weird/quiet/loner character start getting in and out of relationships. That is a definite jump the shark sign Character traits get exaggerated  Previously unimportant side characters are given the spotlight and turns out they are super important to the plot or have been living totally wacky lives Previously unknown family members appear and they are all wacky as shit Plotlines from previous seasons get rehashed but they are more and more epic and/or weird New character gets introduced, the show pretends that he has been there the entire time and super good friends with the main characters Main characters get given new traits and the show pretends that they have been there the entire time The stakes get 10x higher, a bunch of cops trying to catch a serial killer are now trying to save New York City from a major terrorist attack that will kill millions

Milka · Answer

When the characters lurch from one safe point to the next which then (predictably) turns out not to be a safe place after all, then they face off against the baddie of the season.

Bay · Answer

They begin falling back on tropes when they began with something interesting and relatively unique. Characters start to make decisions simply to create plot rather than acting in character.

Pierrette · Answer

Big celebrities start to randomly appear

monia · Answer

When the faries have a fucking baby.  Fuck you Poof.  Fuck you.

Vicdan · Answer

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Conway Twitty.

Tuckie · Answer

Fake a characters death I will never forgive the walking dead

Nicol · Answer

Thinking of Once Upon A Time. I liked the first season. Gradually it descended into a mess of time travel, alternate universe nonsense, gimmicky character additions (from fairy tale characters to Disney originals), drifting away from the original versions of stories and instead portraying everything as highly similar to Disney's versions... I stopped watching not long after the Frozen arc, but I kind of hated it before then (probably after the Peter Pan thing). With Frozen and the fact that Disney had taken over, I knew it was about to turn into one giant Disney commercial...

BILLYE · Answer

The sister falling in love with her brother who happens to be a serial killer.

Stefanie Ebersbach · Answer

When villains have same power like the flash

Libbi · Answer

Focusing on side characters and their pointless side stories instead of the main character and plot. See Dexter on the last 3 or 4 seasons for an example. After watching Iron Fist and being completely disappointed by it, I looked up some information on it and found that it was the same show runner that made Dexter horrible in the last few seasons.

Charmain · Answer

When they save the world for the 3rd time.  SUPERNATURAL

Gordon · Answer

When the funny stupid character becomes a total asshole, examples being Patrick star and Peter Griffin.

iqra · Answer

Trip to Disney.  Someone has a baby.  Episodes turn out to be dream sequences.  One of the more talented actors dies, because they were offered better roles and the writers try to milk it for at least three episodes.  Pretty much anything that happened in one of the classic 90's sitcoms in their last two seasons  Full House, Step by Step, Family Matters, etc Edit: Flashback episodes, forgot about that one.  And as someone reminded me, just watch the very last season of Roseanne and you'll learn exactly how a sitcom crashes and burns when the writers stop giving a shit.

Mia-Riitta · Answer

"Either the plot gets wacky and wacky-er or they kill someone off to "shake things up."  "

Katri-Maria · Answer

He becomes a lumberjack. The end.

Torrey · Answer

When the premise of the show stops being believable. It's a localised crime show? Well, sure, at the start every episode is about the team investigating a crime in the area, but as the seasons roll on, they're investigating threats to national security, plots to sabotage international relations and spy rings. It's a medical show? Well, at first they have patients dealing with run of the mill conditions, but as the seasons roll on, they're dealing with conditions that no random hospital would feasibly be seeing, ever. It's a soap? At the start it's about a bunch of people in a town living their lives, and as the seasons roll on there's time travel, Satanic possession and identical twins who never existed until two episodes ago. Edit: I love how people keep asking me if I was specifically referring to certain shows with each example, and each person asking brings up a different show.

TRACI · Answer

When most of the main cast characters have slept with each other.  *edit for clarity

Viia · Answer

Forced romances between long-standing characters, for no reason.

Cathleen · Answer

New gimmicky characters are added.

Elle · Answer

Have a wedding! Two seasons later, when they are really out of ideas: Have a baby!

Hansel · Answer

When previously-complex characters start to become defined by one or two major traits.

Anna Schmid · Answer

Do you remember that character who died like 2 seasons ago? Well he is alive now because he only faked his death.

Enni · Answer

When the main plot that kept you interested originally has ended or is delayed through many filler episodes and you are no longer invested in the show

Silke Keller · Answer

When one of the characters has a baby and the baby becomes part of the show.

Rhodora · Answer

When a female character who never really expressed interest in (or flat out didn't want to) having kids suddenly develops baby rabies and has to have one NOW.

Tanny · Answer

""Flashback" episodes where characters sit around and discuss memories, which are really just scenes from previous episodes. We get about 2 minutes of new dialogue and get to watch snippets of reruns that are already in syndication and likely on TBS 5 times a week.  Edit: a lot of people are mentioning shows that flashback to old stuff but it's all new footage. I don't consider these the same thing. Yes they're "flashbacks" but if it's all new footage I see it as part of the ongoing storyline.  edit 2: I get it, it's about money - I still hate it. edit 3: Having done some research into "clip episodes" apparently back in the day these were some of the highest rated episodes of a series and were well looked forward to, go figure - New age and all that! "

THALIA · Answer

When a main character goes water skiing and jumps over a shark.

Ellamari · Answer

Clip shows. I already watched the older episodes, why the hell would I want to watch them all again lazily thrown into a quarter of a storyline?

WENONA · Answer

"A dream episode, because some of the more far fetched things can't be shown on a regular episode, so they have the character "dream" what if or an alternate universe, because then it can be at least slightly plausible. "

Monika Finkel · Answer

When they decide they have to ship the main characters. It always destroys shows. X-files went off the deep end when they decided to put Mulder and Scully together. Same thing happened with Bones. It destroys shows. Men and women work together IRL for years without ever ending up in bed but no one on TV can do it apparently.

What are some signs that a TV show is running out of ideas?

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