8 TV Shows That Changed Their Formula for the Worse

Image via Michael Desmond/©CBS/courtesy Everett Collection Published Jul 26, 2026, 6:21 PM EDT Christine is a freelance writer for Collider with two decades of experience covering all types of TV shows and movies spanning every genre. With a particular affinity for dramas, true crime, sitcoms, and thrillers, if it's a top TV show, Christine has likely watched it and is eager to share her thoughts. When she's not furiously writing away, you can find her enjoying the next binge obsession with a glass of wine in front of the TV. Sign in to your Collider account When shows shift gears, it can go one of two ways. It can really work, as it did with shows like Paradise, Lucifer, Person of Interest, and even the classic sitcom Family Matters. But this isn't always the case. Sometimes, shows do a complete 180 or switch focus in a way that makes them virtually unrecognizable, and not in a good way. In many cases, shows ended not long after they achieved this "jumping the shark" moment. But miraculously, in some situations, the show went on for many more seasons, leaving fans scratching their heads and asking why they were even still watching. In one case, the show managed to dig itself out of a hole to come back even stronger. 'Riverdale' (2017–2023) Image via The CW Riverdale started strong as a compelling, darker, coming-of-age reimagining of the characters from the Archie Comics. They were high schoolers dealing with everyday struggles, love triangles, and other hardships. Framing the show in its early seasons was the death of Jason Blossom (Trevor Stines). From there, the show got weirder and weirder, diving into supernatural themes. Even though the show lost its aura after the killer first season, it still drew you in. For a while. The series suffered a fate we have seen again and again with characters in high school once they graduate. When the show fast forwards in time, it often loses its appeal. In this case, Riverdale went completely bonkers. Archie (KJ Apa) became invulnerable following an explosion, Betty (Lili Reinhart) was an FBI agent, Veronica (Camila Mendes) had a successful Wall Street career, and Jughead (Cole Sprouse) became a published writer who could read minds. It was clear the show was struggling for viable storylines and should have ended with the goodbye to high school. 'The Walking Dead' (2010–2022) Image via AMC One of the most unique situations, The Walking Dead had a massive fall from grace after it drew out the Saviors storyline and teased Negan's (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) brutal kill scene for too long, angering fans when two favorite characters were viciously and graphically killed. The post-apocalyptic horror drama lost a lot of viewers after that, as the story began a lather, rinse, repeat formula with a new villainous group in The Whisperers. However, somewhere along the way, with Negan's redemption arc and the introduction of The Commonwealth, The Walking Dead managed to pick back up again. It's reflective in the show's Rotten Tomatoes scores, as you can see the dip and rise again, scores falling for Seasons 7 and 8 only to rise again for the last three. 'How I Met Your Mother' (2005–2014) Image via CBS What made How I Met Your Mother so comforting to watch was the predictable settings. It was almost always Ted's (Josh Radnor) apartment or McLaren's Pub on the ground floor of the building. Occasionally, we'd see the friends out and about, Barney's (Neil Patrick Harris) apartment, or the roof of the building. So, when the scene switched to a different venue for Barney and Robin's (Cobie Smulders) wedding for the entire final season, the magic of the show was lost. Not only was the setting lackluster, the storylines were uninspired and even boring. There were still humorous moments, but the focus was on a wedding no one was sure should even happen (considering they got divorced, naysayers were right), and the long-awaited meeting of the mysterious wife, played by Cristin Milioti, was anticlimactic, even angering for some. The focus on Barney and Robin made Ted and his journey an afterthought, failing to deliver on the formula that made the show a success in the first place and leading to one of the worst TV endings of all time. 'Prison Break' (2005–2017) Image via FOX Prison Break didn't have much of a choice but to change its formula once it was renewed beyond a single season. The first season centered around the intended premise, which was Michael (Wentworth Miller) concocting a plan to get himself locked up with his older brother Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) to help him escape before getting the death penalty for a crime he didn't commit. It was exciting, thrilling, and action-packed. But once the prison break happens, what next? The show suddenly became a government conspiracy thriller, changing the structure to fit a narrative that could viably last beyond its first season. The clock was no longer ticking, and the subsequent seasons began to feel more like attempts to fill space and keep the show going beyond its welcome. In hindsight, Prison Break should have just been a miniseries. Collider Exclusive · The Sorting Hat Awaits Which Hogwarts House Are You? Gryffindor · Slytherin · Hufflepuff · Ravenclaw Four houses. One destiny. The Sorting Hat has considered thousands of students — now it's your turn. Answer honestly and discover where you truly belong at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 🦁Gryffindor 🐍Slytherin 🦡Hufflepuff 🦅Ravenclaw PLACE THE HAT → 01 What quality do you value most in yourself? Answer as honestly as you can — the Hat always knows. ACourage — I act even when I'm afraid, because what's right matters more than what's safe. BAmbition — I know what I want and I have the drive and cunning to get there. CLoyalty — I show up for the people I love, no matter what it costs me. DWisdom — I think before I act and I'm always hungry to understand more. NEXT QUESTION → 02 A friend is being treated unfairly. What do you do? How you protect others says everything about who you are. AStep in immediately and confront whoever is responsible — I won't stand by. BWork out the best strategy to address it — a smart move beats a rash one. CBe by their side, support them, and help them through it however they need. DAnalyse what's actually happening and find the most reasoned, fair solution. NEXT QUESTION → 03 What does success look like to you? What you're working toward defines who you're becoming. ABeing remembered as someone who fought for what was right, whatever the odds. BAchieving the goals I set for myself — influence, status, and earned respect. CA life where the people I care about know I was there for them, always. DMastering my field, contributing something meaningful, and never stopping learning. NEXT QUESTION → 04 What is your greatest fear? Fear is the most honest thing about a person. ABeing a coward when it mattered — looking back and knowing I did nothing. BMediocrity — fading into obscurity without making my mark on the world. CLosing the people I love or letting them down when they needed me most. DIgnorance — being wrong and not knowing it, or never reaching my potential. NEXT QUESTION → 05 The rules say no. Your gut says go. What do you do? Every institution has rules. What you do with them is a choice. ABreak the rules — if it's the right thing to do, no rule should stop me. BFind a way to get what I want without getting caught. Rules are guidelines. CProbably follow the rules — but I'd find a way to help within them if I could. DThink it through carefully — is the rule unjust, or is my gut just impatient? NEXT QUESTION → 06 What kind of friend are you? Who you are to the people you love is who you really are. AThe protector — I will go to the ends of the earth for the people I care about. BThe strategist — I give sharp advice and I'm the one who figures out how to fix things. CThe constant — I'm always there, always reliable, and I never make it about me. DThe guide — I help people think things through and see perspectives they've missed. NEXT QUESTION → 07 You look into the Mirror of Erised. What do you see? The mirror shows the deepest desire of your heart. AYourself standing victorious, having faced the greatest challenge and won. BYourself at the height of your power — respected, successful, and in control. CYourself surrounded by everyone you love, whole and happy and together. DYourself with all the answers — every book read, every mystery solved. NEXT QUESTION → 08 The Sorting Hat pauses. It whispers: "You could do well in any house. But what matters most to you — truly?" This is your tiebreaker. The Hat always listens. ABravery. I want to be the kind of person who acts when others won't. BGreatness. I want to leave my mark and be more than ordinary. CBelonging. I want to be part of something good and never let my people down. DUnderstanding. I want to know the truth of things and keep growing forever. REVEAL MY HOUSE → The Sorting Hat Speaks Your House Has Been ChosenAfter careful deliberation, the Sorting Hat has made its decision. This is the house your values, your instincts, and your particular way of being in the world were made for. 🦁 GryffindorYou have nerve. Not the reckless kind, but the deep, quiet courage that shows up even when you're terrified — especially then. Gryffindors don't act because they're fearless — they act because they understand that some things are worth being afraid for. You stand up for people when it would be easier to look away. You charge toward what's right even when the odds are terrible. Harry, Hermione, Ron — the heroes of Hogwarts's greatest chapter — all called the tower with the scarlet and gold home. And now, so do you. 🐍 SlytherinYou are driven, sharp, and utterly clear-eyed about what you want and how to get there. Slytherin has long been misunderstood — painted as the house of villains when it is, at its best, the house of those who refuse to accept limits placed on them by others. You are resourceful, strategic, and you play the long game. You know your worth. You protect your own fiercely. The dungeon common room with its view of the Black Lake is yours — and the ambitions that will take you further than anyone expects are yours too. 🦡 HufflepuffYou are the kind of person that makes the world genuinely better just by being in it. Hufflepuff is not the "safe" house or the "leftover" house — it is the house of those with the greatest heart and the most unwavering integrity. You show up. You work hard. You don't need glory or recognition — you do what's right because it's right. Your loyalty never wavers, even when tested. Nymphadora Tonks, Cedric Diggory, Newt Scamander — some of the wizarding world's finest. And now you join them. 🦅 RavenclawYour mind is your greatest gift, and you've always known it. Ravenclaws are the thinkers, the questioners, the ones who find a puzzle irresistible and a good book better company than most people. Ravenclaw is not merely about intelligence — it's about the love of learning, the pursuit of truth, and the rare courage to admit you don't know something yet. You see the world with unusual clarity and depth. Luna Lovegood, Filius Flitwick, Rowena Ravenclaw herself — all extraordinary, all original. And so are you. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 'Hijack' (2023–Present) Image via Apple TV Hijack's first season was thrilling with edge-of-your-seat tension. But once the story wrapped up, it had nowhere to go. Perhaps this is why it took almost three years for a second season to arrive. After watching Season 2, you might feel like the show was better left as a single-season. It follows Sam (Idris Elba) long after the plane hijacking from Season 1. The way the story finds a way to weave what happened there into a new one is glaringly unbelievable. The likability factor for Sam is gone, and the story is slow and methodical, but it's missing the secret sauce that made Season 1 so great. It's yet another show that should have left things at one season, which would have keep Hijack's ranking as one of the best Apple TV original shows. Instead, changing the formula to make Sam seem like the villain instead of the hero, at least for part of the story, simply did not work. 'That '70s Show' (1998–2006) Image via FOX It wasn't so much an intentional formula change as it was a need to switch things up once Topher Grace, who played the central character Eric Forman, decided to leave That '70s Show after its seventh season. As the story goes, he went to Africa to follow his dream to teach. When it was confirmed that Ashton Kutcher was leaving, too, only appearing as a special guest in Season 8, fans instantly knew That '70s Show wouldn't last beyond this. We still got to see the family members and friends. And while the other characters held their own, it was really the dynamic among all of them, led by Eric as the straight man and Kelso as comic relief, that made things work. Without them, the show fell apart. The addition of Josh Meyers as Andy Pearson, a laid-back record store employee who was written to be like a mix of Kelso and Eric, just felt like a cheap replacement. 'The Blacklist' (2013–2023) Image via NBC The Blacklist probably had one of the most frustrating runs on television of late. The series had no chance but to switch things up once Megan Boone decided to leave the show after Season 8. The premise could no longer be about fans trying to guess Raymond "Red" Reddington's (James Spader) true identity and him slowly revealing it to Liz (Boone) while doing everything he could to protect her. Now, Liz was gone. So, where does the plot go from here? Even before her departure, the narrative started to shift to Red winding down his involvement in his criminal enterprise and training Liz, a former FBI special agent, to take over. Season 9 focused on Red getting over his grief and trying to suss out a traitor in his organization. The show was still exciting up to a point, but it abandoned the original storyline that was teased from the very beginning and never ended up resolving it in a meaningful way. Ask any fan of the show and, while they'll tell you who they believe Red was (the most popular theory based on subtle clues is Liz's mother Katarina, who faked her death and had surgery), they still can't tell you with any level of definitive certainty. 'Euphoria' (2019–2026) It's a problem when a show about high school life takes more than four years to return. Along with the actors already being in their 20s while playing teenagers, in Euphoria, the kids graduate at the end of Season 2, so what story is left to tell for Season 3? Creators found one, but it turned Euphoria into a completely different show. While the psychological drama still highlighted the dysfunction of every character — Rue (Zendaya), now running drugs to pay off a debt she incurred, Nate (Jacob Elordi) in massive financial trouble, and Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) trying to make a go at creating OnlyFans-type content, it was more depressing than it was interesting. The first few seasons had some of the heaviest TV episodes of the last 20 years. But with Season 3, it became almost painful to watch. The formula that made the first two seasons compelling was lost. The characters slinked into the most unlikable versions of themselves and the change to a gritty, almost Western-style crime thriller fell flat. Euphoria Release Date 2019 - 2026-00-00 Network HBO Showrunner Sam Levinson Directors Jennifer Morrison, Augustine Frizzell Main Genre Drama Seasons 3 Producers Sam Levinson, Drake, Kevin Turen, Ravi Nandan, Will Greenfield, Adel 'Future' Nur, Kenneth Yu, Zendaya, Harrison Kreiss Creator(s) Sam Levinson Story By Ron Leshem, Daphna Levin Streaming Service(s) M Executive Producer(s) Adel 'Future' Nur, Drake, Daphna Levin, Hadas Mozes Lichtenstein, Kevin Turen, Ravi Nandan, Ron Leshem, Sam Levinson, Zendaya, Will Greenfield