10 Amazing TV Shows Where The Worst Season Is Still Good

Summary

• Some TV shows manage to maintain quality across all seasons, balancing audience expectations and studio requests.
• Breaking Bad, Ted Lasso, and Friends are examples of shows that consistently delivered strong seasons without quality dips.
• Ozark and The Sopranos tell gripping stories with strong character arcs in fewer seasons and ending strong.

For most TV shows that last more than a couple of seasons, there are usually some seasons that fail to live up to the rest, but there are some shows where every season was great. TV shows have an enormous challenge: trying to balance what audiences want, a great story, any studio requests, and fitting everything in on time and under budget. With the most successful and popular shows, usually, the turnaround that is expected can be pretty tight, putting the creatives into a tough spot to get the show made, and sometimes the quality lags.

But, some shows manage to successfully juggle all of these requirements and still release great new episodes each and every season. Whether the concept was planned out from the beginning with a framework for the team to follow and still have powerful stories, or whether the talents involved were so efficient and inspired that they could quickly turn around new episodes while maintaining the quality, some shows never hit that low point. These shows managed to keep the story flowing, and the energy high, and everything just clicked into place season after season.

10 Breaking Bad

5 Tense, Action-Packed Seasons

Breaking Bad is one of the best TV shows ever made, thanks to the incredible work of creator Vince Gilligan and everyone else involved. The show starts off at an even pace, as Walter White receives a terminal diagnosis, but the action picks up quickly and tension builds in the following episodes and seasons. As more lives got entangled in the story of Walter White, things got messy, but the show never suffered a dip in quality. Every new season felt like an event, unfolding the story of Heisenberg until the final epic conclusion in season 5.

9 The Wire

5 Seasons Of Baltimore Under Fire

The Wire took a unique approach to telling its story, with the central character being the setting where the action takes place, rather than the people involved. While this was a risk that could have meant viewers didn’t feel any connection to the show, or interest waned, it opened up the story to allow other characters to take the lead and switch between different groups. Viewers had a bird’s eye view of the action, and during each season, with the new events that would besiege the city of Baltimore, interest remained high in seeing what would happen next.

8 Ted Lasso

3 Perfect Seasons Of Sports Drama

Ted Lasso didn’t have a long run, but that was a part of what made it so good. The series had a story to tell, so it set out to do that over a few seasons, and when the story was finished, so was the show. The series never dragged, and every single episode of the 34 released felt important. Audiences got to know Ted intimately, from his happy-go-lucky attitude to the darker sadness and struggles that lay beneath, and the show perfectly created an arc for Ted, with his family, his loved ones, and the Richmond football club.

7 Mad Men

7 Seasons Of The Booming Ad Agency In 1960s New York

Mad Men starring Jon Hamm as Don Draper was a phenomenal series that depicted the rockstar status and lifestyles of those involved in advertising and marketing just as the industry began to explode. The series was an incredible character study on the mysterious Don Draper, as well as an engaging and exciting look at New York’s swinging 60s. As each new season reveals more about Don and the identity he has assumed to create the best life for himself, the show continues to build its scale and feels even more important.

6 Friends

Ensemble Sitcom Done Right In 10 Perfect Seasons

Friends remains high on most people’s lists when considering the best sitcom of all time (via Rolling Stone). The show had an incredible run for 10 seasons in total, with every season managing to connect with audiences, tell great stories, and be laugh-out-loud funny. While sitcoms may have an easier time creating new stories as each episode follows a new adventure, Friends managed to make each season feel connected and push the story forward, while still keeping the quality high.

5 Ozark

4 Seasons Of Dark Crime Drama

Ozark is another show that didn’t need a ton of seasons to tell a great story, and once the story reached its ending, it wasn’t stretched out further. Jason Bateman plays Marty Byrde, an unassuming accountant who ends up in the middle of huge drug and money-laundering operations. The premise is entertaining and strong enough to carry the narrative forward with high intensity and even higher stakes in each new season. The series was innovative and engaging with characters that had strong character arcs that were genuinely gripping, making the whole show a pleasure to binge.

4 The Sopranos

Gripping Character Study Of Tony Soprano From Start To Season 6’s Finish

The Sopranos created a unique and deeply emotional story around the mafia boss Tony Soprano, revealing the harsh and gruesome details of his life alongside his struggles and nightmares. The series is dark and visceral at points, but it’s also an incredible psychological study of the crime boss as he seeks to balance his criminal activity and his family life. The entire series was full of clever twists, incredibly innovative and intelligent framing devices, camera work, and more to make the show something special that continues to stand out.

3 The Office

9 Seasons Of Comedy Masterclass

While the last two seasons of The Office certainly felt the absence of Steve Carell’s Michael Scott, the show continued to have great comedy with the rest of the incredible cast. The Office was inspired by the UK show of the same name, but it exceeded the original in both longevity and popularity. The show was aided by an outstanding cast of actors who perfectly slotted into their roles and non-stop comedic moments that made the series iconic and enduring.

2 Daredevil

Cut Too Soon At 3 Seasons

The Netflix Marvel shows ranged in their success, but without a doubt, Daredevil was the best show to come out of that era. The series was prematurely canceled due to Disney and Marvel Studios choosing to focus on their serialized TV properties and move everything to Disney+. Now, with a new show focused on the character appearing to follow up on many of the previously established elements of the Netflix show, Daredevil has a future, but in the three seasons produced by Netflix, the series got better and better with each new season.

1 Succession

4 Seasons Rising To The Top

Succession is an outstanding series that relays the story of the Roy family as the patriarch and founder of their global media empire approaches the end of his life. The series saw the siblings battle it out to be chosen as their father’s successor and inherit the controlling share of the company, and every episode was captivating. Succession did not try to drag out Logan Roy’s death beyond what was necessary, and after four incredibly well-crafted seasons, the show ended with the only outcome that made sense after the Roy siblings put their true colors on full display.