It took a season and a half for Riker to grow out his beard, which is part of why that part of Star Trek: The Next Generation is considered the point when the show “grew the beard”.
Oh wow it does kinda read that way - honestly I worded the original comment wrong, I now realize. imo it only improves as it goes, I really enjoyed each season of DS9 more and more than the last as they went on
Yep.
Like how "*Jumping the Shark*" comes from "Happy Days" when Fonzie literally jumps a shark in an episode in an attempt by the writers to raise the stakes and get people to watch the show with something that is really out there compared to what usually happens in a normal episode or episodes.
*>Happy Days* is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour ...
Holy fucking fuck
they had NOTHING going on...
*Parks and Rec* might as well be a completely different show during its first season.
(And by different, I mean just an extremely derivative Office knock-off)
I only ever watched random episodes while living in a house of dudes, so your comment intrigued me. Just looked it up, we were watching season 4-6, I can't even IMAGINE what the early stuff was like
Leslie was an arrogant and incompetent stooge.
Tom was a whipped office aide.
Andy was a lazy bum.
There was a guy named Mark that was teased as a love interest for both Leslie and Ann. He left in Season 2 and never came back.
Both Ben and Chris didn't come into the show until the end of the 2nd season.
It was weird.
Andy was more than a lazy bum, he was a shitty boyfriend who mooched off his girlfriend and then guilted her with his broken leg to let him stay with her. Just a total trash human who knew what he was doing.
Going back and watching the early stuff from that show is like watching a shallow parody of itself. Yes, you recognize these characters, these locales, and the jokes are delivered similarly, but there's something *wrong* about it. Like watching an old play that you were in in grade school or high school and seeing all of your old mannerisms.
Star Trek TNG. Encounter at Farpoint is... okay. Sets up a lot of the really best Trek stuff ever, with the characters and Q and all, but itself isn't a really very good ep.
And is then immediately followed by the "everyone gets drunk via space-virus and Tasha bangs Data" episode, which is followed by the "mandingo warrior people kidnap the white woman" episode.
TNG takes a bit to get going.
I got into TNG because of RLM and I had learned enough to know to skip the 1st season. I DIDN'T know that you were also meant to skip most of the 2nd season, and I sat through it wondering what made TNG such a long lasting show to so many people.
Started season 3 and got into the episode with the mysterious couple from the missing colony and I just went "Ohhhh, okay I get it."
"meant to" is a lot. There's a lot of good stuff in those first two seasons. Measure of a Man is in there, which is a really REALLY important early-Data episode. Even the janky dumb episodes are fun in their own way. Depends on who you are as a person, really. I love dumb jank as much as I love really good sci-fi, so I didn't find it a slog to get through the goofy trek, especially knowing how good it gets later on. When I've got people into it, I've never told anyone they "meant to" skip two whole seasons of it. Just to revel in the dumb Roddenberry jank while it's finding its feet. By the time you get to S03, you'll be in. And that approach has never gone wrong.
I'd recommend going back to those earlier seasons with loving eyes, if you have it in you.
SG1 is like this, I think most series are. Some of those season 1 episodes were rough, but I can enjoy how dumb they are in a weird way. Emancipation, The Broca Divide, *Hathor,* some hilariously bad things in there. Still though, it has some gems.The Torment of Tantalus, Enigma, and Bloodlines are all pretty solid.
You can't skip The Measure of a Man in S2 either, and I think A Matter of Honor (the one where Riker serves aboard a Klingon ship) is pretty underrated. Otherwise, that works out.
Fittingly, the Orville is the same way, except instead of problematic Gene Roddenberry tropes it's awkward Seth MacFarlane humor. The only really good part of the first few episodes is the beginning of the Topa arc.
You can't really blame Seth for that though. The network didn't want to let him do his Star Trek show unless it was another Seth McFarlane comedy. So he gave them what they wanted for a few episodes and transitioned into the show he actually wanted to make after he had something to show the network execs.
That's as good a reason as any, I just wish the humor was...better? The only gag from the first half of S1 that I even remember laughing at is the prank war between Isaac and Malloy.
I've been meaning to ask something. Does every Star Trek show have a "space-virus makes everyone on the ship go crazy" episode early on? Because between the shows I've given a shot (TNG, Strange New Worlds, and Lower Decks), I'm 3 for 3 on that happening in the first few episodes.
That is funny to think about. Mainly because the author was pushed by Jump to make it an Shonen battle manga if she wanted to keep the series going. And good on them it's a much better series for it.
With the expectation of the forced and rushed final arc which again was Jump's doing.
I have a friend who resents me for not reading Reborn, it's been YEARS, but I just fucking hated the slice of life/comedy stuff when he sold me on a cool action thing. The irony is that it's been so long, slice of life is my preferred genre but I still just don't enjoy Reborn.
Best advice I've seen for starting the series is reading the first 10 chapters, then jump straight to ch 60 or so. You get the basic introduction of the characters, and then just jump into the Battle arc.
Much is a strong word, it was definitely better to read weekly, but the characters are fun, the art is pretty, and the battle mechanics are honestly unique in the middle of the manga
Blackadder, the first six episodes are unlike everything else in the series, both in quality and tone. Not saying they are unwatchable, but if you stopped after season 1 you would be baffled by the general perception of the series.
it's a weird one as like, i wouldn't tell people to skip it but can't pretend like i ever have any interest in rewatching it.
the character changes from season 2 on just work so much better.
I think the 3 episode rule is particularly not useful for episodic stories, where you can mostly drop in and out.
There's also a point like, it something runs for 10 years, the show likely can't be that consistent over that time period.
The Expanse takes the first 6 episodes to do world building which while absolutely necessary will absolutely turn people off the show.
If you only watched the 1st season you'd think that Amos is the most boring boilerplate bruiser character even though he's one of the most interesting characters in TV history.
Yeah, when I was selling The Expanse to my partner, I said it'd be a 4 episode test because "CQB" is that good. It shows how ship combat looks in that show and it shows >!that the show won't be afraid to kill characters!<. They were absolutely hooked after that.
Honestly, while I think it's super cool world building, them killing off a "main" character in a nanosecond to show how dangerous space combat is *really* fucking hampered my enjoyment of the show. They made sure to showcase how dangerous space combat is, but it made me put up "caring" shields for the first season and a half before i realized it wasn't going to pull that on a character with a narrative arc for no reason.
Always wanted to get into The Expanse but it seems like it didn't get enough season to resolve everything, does it end at a satisfying place or am I going to be disappointed? Or is the show good enough that it won't matter?
The show is absolutely good enough, the acting is very good and I'm convinced that their VFX team is full of gods because they somehow managed to make all the space battles very convincing.
They didn't get to complete the series but they knew that beforehand so they had the opportunity to tie it up pretty satisfyingly.
There is basically one unresolved plotline at series end, but it develops parallel to the main conflict and is sort of disconnected from all the main characters the entire time.
I found the "ending" itself to be pretty satisfying for all involved. It honestly felt more like the writers just left enough room for more story to be told if there was ever an opportunity to revisit The Expanse again rather than leaving a major plot point entirely unresolved.
Oh yeah I listended to them at work and they are fantastic, I will say that the books differ from the show enough that they sort of become supplementary material for each other.
I listened to the books after watching the show and it was the same plot but also very diffrent because the books are all internal monologue and whose monologue it is depends on the chapter.
Succession, in my opinion, and sorry for the long text. I was engrossed immediately, but I can see why it turned some away in the first few episodes, including my family/friends. Makes you wonder why you would ever care about watching a family of filthy rich assholes as a drama with the same camera work that starts out like an episode of The Office. I think it takes longer than usual for the show to really click, and that typically comes in the 5th or 6th episode. The show really does become engaging and fascinating to see such a dysfunctional family being overtaken by such greed and power, coupled with the characters themselves having so many issues as a result of no real loving mother and father. It really doesn’t wallow in it though and you do root for certain characters, and despite a couple slow spots, it’s very entertaining. The actors really brought their A game too.
My wife watched and I just could not do it. I absolutely hate all the business jargon that they tried to convince us real people would actually use.
"Does it play? Does it play?!"
The dialogue sounds like a bunch of fucking posers doing their best impression of what they think "high-stakes business men" should sound like. It fails the authenticity test for me and totally breaks my suspension of disbelief.
Well those characters, at least the main siblings, ARE posers. They're nepotists who've had a silver spoon in their mouths their entire lives and think being in close proximity with their dad somehow makes them business moguls. Everyone who deals with them is always incredibly put off by them.
Kendall's dialogue alone is 95% cringe, waltzing around with unearned swagger like he fits right in with the upper crusts who've been doing this for decades.
Kamen Rider Ex-Aid takes a while to unveil its true colours, and if you bounced off it, I wouldn't blame you at all. The first few episodes are "Haha! Videogame virus, how wacky!" and relying purely on that premise to carry it... Right up until they hit Episode 12, kill off a character, and start to get into the *actual* theme of the series, which is: "What is the value of a life?"
Bojack Horseman is a below average wacky adult comedy with an asshole protagonist for the first half of season 1, and then really becomes a character study and dramedy by the end of the season and continues it throughout the rest of the show.
Yes BH was going to be my answer as well. Hard to recommend because the first few episodes really don’t get across what the show as a whole is about, but you also can’t skip them because it introduces all the characters and their relationships
The shift in quality (and critical reception) was so pronounced and widely-regarded that it led to [straight-up policy changes at IndieWire](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BoJack_Horseman&oldid=1227321468#Season_1).
Teen Titans (2003) takes a bit to get started, Season 1 is pretty weak unless Slade is involved. A couple of episodes stick out (Car Trouble is my fav, and people really like Mad Mod) but it isn't until Terra shows up that the show found its voice.
*A lot* of older television takes a while to find their footing, partially due to the nature of how television was filmed back then. Off the top of my head, Farscape, Red Dwarf, Buffy, Angel, Supernatural, X-Files, TNG and DS9, Beast Wars, Batman: TAS, Superman: TAS, and so many others. All good (to great) shows eventually but boy do they take a minute to figure things out. Not to say all the early stuff is purely rancid either, just not at the level of what comes later.
I really miss the more episodic nature of the early seasons of Supernatural and X-Files. There just aren't any real "monster of the week" shows anymore because you either need the season/series long arc or will-they/won't-they romantic tension to pull in viewers and keep them hooked.
Yeah, I think it’s an issue with modern Trek too. They’re not afforded as many episodic episodes as old Trek (generally). But it’s this weird double edge sword, because partially the reason it fell out of vogue is how badly some shows did it and how well some shows did the tighter schedule (specially at the start of the Netflix era).
Hell, while I think Supernatural has some strong seasons, there’s a few middle seasons (post-season 5) where they feel weirdly disconnected because they’ll drop **all** references to the “big plot” during some one-off episodic adventures. Which isn’t how you handle it in that scenario (where they’re meant to be hunting the big bad too) in my opinion, it’s a balancing act. Though even a throwaway line referencing it can help.
I've been having a full on apoplectic fit the past few days realizing that none of the major streaming services have tried putting out a 24 episode yearly episodic cop show. you know, that thing that major backbone of all tv since it's invention.
>X-Files
The arching-plot was okay (until the revival tore it down and rebuilt it into a weird lame alex jones globalist elite using dead aliens to do... something) but nothing beats Mulder and Scully taking on random weird shit every week.
Was about to say Farscape. Tried to get my wife into it but there is just so much *weird* filler in the first season. (I know that it being the weird SciFi show as kind of the point, but it makes it hard to get into if it's not your favorite genre)
It's rough because i know there's so much **amazing** stuff in the later seasons: >!Everything to do with Scorpius, the clone storyline with actual repercussions rather than being status-quoed, "Here's the wormhole tech you all wanted, turns out you're fucked now" etc.!< but we just weren't able to tank the early stuff.
I think Venture Bros S1 has filtered everybody I try to get into the series. It's not even particularly bad, but the pacing on jokes and delivery is so bizzarely unlike what people expect from the series.
I think a big difference is that early Venture Bros treats a lot of the characters as throwaway jokes, whereas the latter seasons start giving everyone a bit more depth and pathos.
I hit a wall in the post-ARR patch content. Haven't played for a while. Honestly I probably would've just dropped off completely, but then playable amazonian khajiit women, so now I'm going to have to get back into it and power through the slog.
Just off the top of my head, Gintama. It starts with a two-episode adventure with a bunch of established characters, and then the third episode starts at the beginning of the story before you’ve even met half of them.
I'd honestly say Gintama takes a good 20 or 30 episodes to really get going, but I also haven't finished watching all 10 seasons yet, so my opinion probably doesn't count for much.
Whenever i introduce someone to DBZ Abridged i always preface them with the first few episodes being very rough. Bad audio quality, weak editing, mixed quality jokes. Around episode 10 things get much tighter and higher quality and become progressively so for the rest of the series.
As for myself, I was watching Owl House just cause a friend was pushing me to, but I wasn't really into it. It's very episodic and the writing felt pretty childish, more so than other "kids" shows I love. Then I finished the first season. I was hooked. Amazing series!
Once Vegeta and Napa land on Earth. There's some good jokes here and there before that, but that's when they really started taking it seriously. I feel like they changed course from "a bunch of internet humor" to "we're going to retale DBZ but funny."
I still feel robbed of a final season (although I lived the Buu Bits).
i dunno the buu bits were more in line with the whole abridgement concept than the bloated mess Cell saga became towards the end
Frieza saga still good tho
I feel you, but the Cell Saga itself got bloated (and Buu even more so). But Cell is my favorite vilian, and I really enjoyed what they did with him. Also, an amazing rendition of "My Way."
Hunter x Hunter. Legit, wouldn't blame you to drop it just due to everything before the Exams start.
Also most American shows since the first 2 season are usually the worst seasons. Of course there are exception, but in those cases it's likely the opposite.
Yu Yu Hakusho. Period.
Claymore. It took the author a while to figure out what the series would even be.
It may be the nostalgia talking but I still find the start of YYH charming and entertaining. Of course, it doesn’t accurately reflect how dark the story eventually becomes, but there is plenty of fun to be had.
I am well-known amongst my friends as a shonen-disliker. I burn out on things really quickly and crave novelty, and my tendency is that if a show isn't doing something I've never seen before, after a few hours in, I lose interest. That said, one of my friends tried to sell me on HxH and failed *miserably* because he just kept pitching it like a normal-ass shonen— "There's this kid, and he's going on an adventure to become the best in the world," "They fight in a big tournament arc and there's a rival character who's like an evil harlequin..."
It wasn't until Pat started talking about it on the podcast, and specifically when he said, "There's an owl guy who works for the mafia, and he flies down the highway and shrinks a car with a magic quilt," that I was like, *yeah, I gotta watch this show now,* and now it's one of my all-time favorite pieces of fiction.
That said, I was surprised by how interesting it was, even at the beginning. It hits usual shonen beats, but wraps them in creative setpieces and breaks the usual shonen tendency to avoid graphic unpleasantness so early on by showing pointless, cruel death right out of the gate. Characters are getting ingloriously killed left and right in a really direct way once the Hunter Exam begins, and that blew my mind. Not to mention the bizarre locations—the incredibly long tunnel, the trap-filled prison tower made of Tetris blocks—it stays away from the usual, trite *arena in a city, normal field, forest* (there is a forest, but interesting things happen there, so it's fine) settings of what I feel are most action-oriented shonen anime.
I’d say HxH is still pretty enjoyable even in the Hunter Exam arc albeit show. What keeps it all together is Gon’s infectious upbeat and kind personality and the way he manages befriends Kurapika, Leorio and Killua.
It made for an interesting watch for me as you’re not following a rambunctious teen but rather a really innocent child who just wants to go on bug adventures.
I struggled to care about Leorio and Kurapika until the second part of the exams, so those first few episodes weren't great. I got hooked as soon as Killua and Hisoka showed up.
I haven't read it or even watched the anime, but Claymore kinda fails any sort of rule since the last 3 episodes of the anime are filler and it just ends there.
The manga isn't a show, so.....
I think Black Clover leaves a bad first impression with Asta's yelling and taking a second to introduce the rest of the magic knights. That and the first op doesn't really hit for me.
Season 3 is when the animation became more streamlined, and the stories focused on the Belcher kids as well as Bob and Linda. The jokes also had a huge jump in quality.
The first season was a rough, but still enjoyable watch. Compared to the show now, a lot of the jokes were pretty crass. Like Tina over sharing her crotch itch and Jimmy Pesto having a diaper fetish.
From the same franchise, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels.
The first season of both shows is not that good, and both shows catch their stride in the second season.
That was going to be my answer.
I'd say Season 2 is when it really starts picking up, but you NEED Season 1 to just understand the status quo. Babylon 5 has been called a "televised novel" and Season 1 is basically the prologue.
I really appreciate that structure BTW. I could never get into *Game of Thrones* or *Breaking Bad* because the first episode was always like "Here's everything that's going on, get into it now, immediately" and I didn't know anybody or have any reason to care.
Season 1 of B5 just lets me hang out with these people and get to see how they are day to day. It's just that JMS really is not great at episodic sci-fi.
It does. Season 1 is all about setting the pieces in place. By the latter half of 1 and into Season 2 it gets really really good. It would not have worked if we didn't have the first Season to show you the state of the galaxy before the dominos start to fall.
I feel like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya dodges the 3 episode rule intentionally. The first three episodes spend their time getting you used to the characters and implying that there's supernatural stuff going on under the hood, but nothing gets outright confirmed until episode 4. *And boy does episode 4 slap you across the face with some craziness.*
Gintama, once it's finish introducing the regular characters and put on more regular fight episodes, it goes crazy places. That first movie is a good example.
Black Sails. The first season started off way too hard trying to get the game of thrones audience by being excessively shocking and vile. Luckily it quickly tones down and becomes one of the best pieces of pirate media.
The Shield. While the pilot episode is great, the following three episodes aren’t and you can definitely feel that they weren’t quite sure where the show was going at that point. However, once they figure it out, it becomes amazing and I don’t think it has another bad episode for the rest of the series
I would argue most shows before The Wire/Sappranos era.
Looking back its kinda astounding how many shows were just allowed to flop around for an entire 22 episode season before finding their footing.
Hunter X Hunter. Its feels like a pretty generic shonen until like 20 episodes in and really doesn't hit its stride until the Phantom Troupe comes in about 10 episodes later.
Might be a hot take but Avatar TLA is very meh until around the end of Book 1.
I nearly dropped Gurren Laggan, my favourite anime ever, because I found the first few episodes to kinda drag. >!It picks up hard though after Kamina dies.!<
It's difficult to recommend it for that reason because the first and second halves of that show are completely different genres and its very possible someone would dislike one of those genres but like the other.
I was about to mention Steins: Gate myself, although the initial mystery and slice of life hijinks kinda had me hooked right from the start, personally speaking.
While not talked about here as much as it's sister series The Owl House, Amphibia doesn't get good unless Sasha's on the screen in season 1, or until Marcy shows up in the middle of season 2.
Sense8. If I remember right it wasn’t until episode 4 or 5 where I felt like they really showed the potential of the show >!by having the sensate’s use each others abilities!<. The first 3 episodes were mostly just introducing the huge cast.
Undead Unluck, easily. It's a shame the first few chapters/episodes require a high level of tolerance to certain problematic elements that simply stop being used less than 10% of the way through.
Undead Unluck is following the inverse of the usual battle shonen pattern; it starts off terrible, climbs to quality over a few arcs, and then spends the next few hundred chapters getting better and better and unfathomably better with no sign of slowing down late into what feels like its endgame buildup.
It also started off with gross perv gags and then hard committed to having one of the very best female casts in WSJ history, with Fuuko herself constantly challenging Luffy and Denji as my overall favorite main protagonist.
I think this series is the first shonen I've ever consumed that started out "fine" and has only gotten better since without a drop in quality. At worst it plateaus for a bit but it never gets worse.
The fact it went from weird groping jokes, to having some of the best romances in shonen, as well as becoming one of the rare female led action manga, with the most fanservicey thing being one gym outfit in a boxing arc, really is some of the best glow ups in jump history.
Ill be honest Im not sure the 3 episode works well for many shows.. Imagine watching first three episodes of SpongeBob and being like “damn that was kind of a generic kids cartoon”
To many people, it's One Piece. I personally loved it from minute one, but on rewatch I can see how much the early arcs DRAG (specially Usopp's).
Still, it really picks up IMO after during and after Baratie arc.
The first three episodes of Jujutsu Kaisen are pretty mid. I watched them a year ago and said got it Naruto clone and dropped it.
Then a couple of months ago I watched a YouTube clip that piqued my curiosity and watched the next episode and the show really went places. I get why is popular. But man those three first episodes try their hardest to convince you is Naruto in an urban setting
For me, it was Nagi no Asukara. I watched three episodes when it came out and didn’t enjoy it. Years later I saw five episodes and was extremely invested, finished it and I found myself quite liking it.
A good amount of shows for transformers often have a slow start and don't try to shake up too much initially cus with the first batch of episodes Hasbro just didn't give them permission to do anything interesting at first. Once it gets to near the end of the first season onwards you actually get some long term plot and neat ideas showing up finally.
The Simpsons' season 1 is ....fine. But it's so outclassed by every following season up to about 10 that you can pretty safely skip it if you're just going for the memes
Psych is a really cool show I'd recommend to anyone looking for something light and fun to binge but the first couple of episodes aren't great. Not bad but I had to convince people to stick with it when they came to me going "what is this goofy shit you told me to watch?"
It's an Anime but The Dangers in My heart.
It's a great middle school romance about two dorks that bond together and start to fall in love. The MCs actually reflect on their actions and behaviors and grow through the series.
Buuuuut. The first three episodes has the Male MC constantly talk about how he's edgy and not like other guys and wants to kill the Female MC. This behavior stops after episode 3 and actually has a pay off later in the show, so it's not just a gag the author put in to seem different. But it can make many drop the show entirely
Agents of SHIELD is a fucking great show, but the first 5 episodes are pretty average. Episode 6 is the first one that really shows the chops the actors have for proper drama and puts them in peril, and from there it consistently gets better.
Alright, bot an extreme example of this and I say it with love, but...
Andor.
The first two episodes are *very slow" and if you're showing it to non-Star Wars nerds you *have to* get them to episode 3 without being bored. It's like the only stain on that masterpiece.
I actually think the first episodes of EVA are very strong, and more tonally befitting where the show would go than people remember. It's the middle act -- after Shinji and Asuka's incredible sync episode, and until the introduction of Seele -- that lags a little for me.
I'm a defender of the lighter stretch of the show, myself. The volcano episode has some great character work for Asuka and Shinji, the blackout episode is a laugh riot with great editing, and the falling angel episode has the best setpiece in the series and good character work across the board. Only the computer virus angel episode is kind of weak imo, and it's still like a 7.5/10.
I also just think that having that stretch where we see the characters doing mostly well is important to make the later parts land.
Yeah, that’s fair. I’d put the volcano episode below the computer virus one as my series low point, but I never *disliked* watching the show at its weakest.
I am an unapologetic Magma Diver defender hahaha
Although I'll admit it's in large part because we get some *primo* "Asuka being aggressively thirteen years old" content, plus Shinji's all-time moral high point. I'm mostly here for character work, and I think there's more worthwhile stuff in it than in episode 13, which sidelines the kids in favor of a single plot that's mostly technobabble.
But yeah, my stance on NGE is that its direction and editing are good enough that even its weakest material is still good.
Huh? The first four episodes of Eva are dynamite stuff.
Like, I think that the first two should basically be viewed as a double-length pilot, but its strengths are all on display from the first couple of minutes.
Is this a thing? Because I've always done 4. 1 is a pilot, 2 is the first episode, 3 needs to introduce stuff that won't matter til later, 4 NEEDS TO BE AMAZING. Case in point: episode 4 of The Flash has a TRAIN FLIP. But if I recall, episode 3 was garbage, so it fails, and that's fine
I can’t think of any that are dreadful, but many that are just ok. A ton of network TV shows, especially comedies, take a season to hit their stride.
Notable examples Parks & Rec, the Office, TNG, The Simpsons.
And in terms of sheer delta, I wouldn’t forgive anyone for dropping Chainsaw Man after 3/4 episodes, and honestly the show stops right before the manga becomes something special.
SHIKI.
It has such a slow start, it took me about 4 attempts before I was able to bite the bullet and see it through. Holy shit does it pay off by the end of it though.
Even the best Star Trek shows take like a season or two to find their footing.
Same with Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
The first season of The Simpsons is not great and does not feel like the show it would become when it was at its best.
Star Wars Clone Wars. It really does not pick. The first season is mostly meh, but it starts to pick up in the second season, and keeps picking up steam afterwards.
For me it was The Owl House. Wanted to at least finish the first season but wasn't feeling it then the episode where they introduce the glyphs hooked me. I was like this should have been WAY earlier.
Two episode rule, but "Black Butler" veers off hard and instantly. First two episodes are about a count of monte cristo/kira type making bad people dance in his manipulations who has a demon butler to solve problems that require violence.
it IMMEDIATELY becomes so, *so* gay.
Nagi No Asukara
Every time someone asks me about this show, I always tell them to commit until episode 8. I swear, it's first episode was one of the longest 23 minutes of my life.
Definitely depends on the person, but Steins;Gate takes a good while until the plot really spins up. A lot of the first half is just setting up for the second half. It's a ton better on a second watch/play, when you get to see how much blatant foreshadowing you missed the first time around. The anime isn't too long, 24 episodes, but I've seen a lot of people drop it and the VN out of impatience because of how slow its initial pacing is.
Jujitsu Kaisen is this for me. First season is just filled with tropes and a really basic story, and the only thing that kept me interested at all was Sukuna being unwilling to work with the main character.
Second season is nutters with a bunch of trope breaking, and I was extremely entertained.
The Clone Wars, the barrier to entry is a bad movie and a not great first season. I've tried to push through it multiple times, I'm a huge EU nerd, but it's just so damn boring. I get more enjoyment playing with my desk toys.
Gantz has a very slow start, only carried by the sudden extreme violence. The payoff in the 1st arc is great but even that doesn't quite establish how insane the series gets later on
It took a season and a half for Riker to grow out his beard, which is part of why that part of Star Trek: The Next Generation is considered the point when the show “grew the beard”.
Then DS9 went the opposite after Sisko shaves his head
Is that implying it got worse after the head shave? I haven't seen ds9 but i heard it's all good but got better post head shave
Oh wow it does kinda read that way - honestly I worded the original comment wrong, I now realize. imo it only improves as it goes, I really enjoyed each season of DS9 more and more than the last as they went on
sisko shaves his head *and* grows a beard, so it's double good.
IS *THAT* WHERE THAT TERM COMES FROM???
Yep. Like how "*Jumping the Shark*" comes from "Happy Days" when Fonzie literally jumps a shark in an episode in an attempt by the writers to raise the stakes and get people to watch the show with something that is really out there compared to what usually happens in a normal episode or episodes.
*>Happy Days* is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour ... Holy fucking fuck they had NOTHING going on...
Christ, I know you didn’t mean it but seeing this post and your shock made me *feel old*. (Don’t let it set in.)
It’s never not setting in
Yeah I started rewatching TNG with my parents since they love(d) the show and we were all like “Wow, season 1 kind of sucks” lol
*Parks and Rec* might as well be a completely different show during its first season. (And by different, I mean just an extremely derivative Office knock-off)
Season 1 Ron Swanson is virtually unrecognizable.
Leslie was just a female version of Michael Scott as well
I could not imagine later season Ron showing up to work wearing a nice suit. Man would never show that much respect to a governmental building.
Him playing words with friends on his phone and then seasons later not knowing what the internet is was jarring to say the least.
I only ever watched random episodes while living in a house of dudes, so your comment intrigued me. Just looked it up, we were watching season 4-6, I can't even IMAGINE what the early stuff was like
Leslie was an arrogant and incompetent stooge. Tom was a whipped office aide. Andy was a lazy bum. There was a guy named Mark that was teased as a love interest for both Leslie and Ann. He left in Season 2 and never came back. Both Ben and Chris didn't come into the show until the end of the 2nd season. It was weird.
Andy was more than a lazy bum, he was a shitty boyfriend who mooched off his girlfriend and then guilted her with his broken leg to let him stay with her. Just a total trash human who knew what he was doing.
Him falling and living in the hole was pretty funny tho
Yeah I had to slug through S1. Can't even imagine the show without Ben and Chris
Going back and watching the early stuff from that show is like watching a shallow parody of itself. Yes, you recognize these characters, these locales, and the jokes are delivered similarly, but there's something *wrong* about it. Like watching an old play that you were in in grade school or high school and seeing all of your old mannerisms.
Honestly the way to rewatch that show is to just skip season 1 really.
Where would one start when watching the show then?
You can start with season 2, but the first season is like 6 episodes
Star Trek TNG. Encounter at Farpoint is... okay. Sets up a lot of the really best Trek stuff ever, with the characters and Q and all, but itself isn't a really very good ep. And is then immediately followed by the "everyone gets drunk via space-virus and Tasha bangs Data" episode, which is followed by the "mandingo warrior people kidnap the white woman" episode. TNG takes a bit to get going.
I got into TNG because of RLM and I had learned enough to know to skip the 1st season. I DIDN'T know that you were also meant to skip most of the 2nd season, and I sat through it wondering what made TNG such a long lasting show to so many people. Started season 3 and got into the episode with the mysterious couple from the missing colony and I just went "Ohhhh, okay I get it."
"meant to" is a lot. There's a lot of good stuff in those first two seasons. Measure of a Man is in there, which is a really REALLY important early-Data episode. Even the janky dumb episodes are fun in their own way. Depends on who you are as a person, really. I love dumb jank as much as I love really good sci-fi, so I didn't find it a slog to get through the goofy trek, especially knowing how good it gets later on. When I've got people into it, I've never told anyone they "meant to" skip two whole seasons of it. Just to revel in the dumb Roddenberry jank while it's finding its feet. By the time you get to S03, you'll be in. And that approach has never gone wrong. I'd recommend going back to those earlier seasons with loving eyes, if you have it in you.
SG1 is like this, I think most series are. Some of those season 1 episodes were rough, but I can enjoy how dumb they are in a weird way. Emancipation, The Broca Divide, *Hathor,* some hilariously bad things in there. Still though, it has some gems.The Torment of Tantalus, Enigma, and Bloodlines are all pretty solid.
Good tea. Nice house.
Watch all the Q related episodes in seasons 1 and 2 and jump to season 3 is what I usually recommend
You can't skip The Measure of a Man in S2 either, and I think A Matter of Honor (the one where Riker serves aboard a Klingon ship) is pretty underrated. Otherwise, that works out.
Matter of Honor is awesome because it shows Riker's tricky, mischievous goblin side, which is a huge part of what makes him such a lovable character
Mischevious goblin who eats klingon bugs.
S2 has some solid episodes tbh
Fittingly, the Orville is the same way, except instead of problematic Gene Roddenberry tropes it's awkward Seth MacFarlane humor. The only really good part of the first few episodes is the beginning of the Topa arc.
You can't really blame Seth for that though. The network didn't want to let him do his Star Trek show unless it was another Seth McFarlane comedy. So he gave them what they wanted for a few episodes and transitioned into the show he actually wanted to make after he had something to show the network execs.
That's as good a reason as any, I just wish the humor was...better? The only gag from the first half of S1 that I even remember laughing at is the prank war between Isaac and Malloy.
I've been meaning to ask something. Does every Star Trek show have a "space-virus makes everyone on the ship go crazy" episode early on? Because between the shows I've given a shot (TNG, Strange New Worlds, and Lower Decks), I'm 3 for 3 on that happening in the first few episodes.
Happens in the first 10 episodes of TOS too, with the bacteria that synthesizes alcohol getting the whole crew drunk
That's not a coincidence. Every use of that episode premise in later series is a reference to The Naked Time, the TOS episode.
Doesn't the TNG episode even directly reference it with a "hey this is similar to that time it happened to Kirk and Co" line?
It’s also literally called “The Naked Now”
And on DS9
Hitman reborn has like 60 chapters of slice of life/comedy before it becomes a proper action manga
I don't even hate the slice of life comedy that much, but holy shit the Natto Longchamp bit really sucked.
That is funny to think about. Mainly because the author was pushed by Jump to make it an Shonen battle manga if she wanted to keep the series going. And good on them it's a much better series for it. With the expectation of the forced and rushed final arc which again was Jump's doing.
It’s insane to me that she was going to do slice of life comedy with her art style.
I have a friend who resents me for not reading Reborn, it's been YEARS, but I just fucking hated the slice of life/comedy stuff when he sold me on a cool action thing. The irony is that it's been so long, slice of life is my preferred genre but I still just don't enjoy Reborn.
Best advice I've seen for starting the series is reading the first 10 chapters, then jump straight to ch 60 or so. You get the basic introduction of the characters, and then just jump into the Battle arc.
I’ve heard this and I tried and I just can’t ahha , am I missing much ?
It’s a fun read but it kinda has the problem of introducing new mechanics for each arc and then dropping them for new stuff by the next,
Much is a strong word, it was definitely better to read weekly, but the characters are fun, the art is pretty, and the battle mechanics are honestly unique in the middle of the manga
Blackadder, the first six episodes are unlike everything else in the series, both in quality and tone. Not saying they are unwatchable, but if you stopped after season 1 you would be baffled by the general perception of the series.
it's a weird one as like, i wouldn't tell people to skip it but can't pretend like i ever have any interest in rewatching it. the character changes from season 2 on just work so much better.
*Blackadder* at least has the advantage of every season being standalone, so just tell someone to skip it and go straight to Season 2.
I agree , it’s still very funny . But the seasons after that made me remember it fondly. Like I belllyached from start to finish after season one
A rare show where each season is better than the last.
I think the 3 episode rule is particularly not useful for episodic stories, where you can mostly drop in and out. There's also a point like, it something runs for 10 years, the show likely can't be that consistent over that time period.
The Expanse takes the first 6 episodes to do world building which while absolutely necessary will absolutely turn people off the show. If you only watched the 1st season you'd think that Amos is the most boring boilerplate bruiser character even though he's one of the most interesting characters in TV history.
Yeah, when I was selling The Expanse to my partner, I said it'd be a 4 episode test because "CQB" is that good. It shows how ship combat looks in that show and it shows >!that the show won't be afraid to kill characters!<. They were absolutely hooked after that.
Honestly, while I think it's super cool world building, them killing off a "main" character in a nanosecond to show how dangerous space combat is *really* fucking hampered my enjoyment of the show. They made sure to showcase how dangerous space combat is, but it made me put up "caring" shields for the first season and a half before i realized it wasn't going to pull that on a character with a narrative arc for no reason.
Always wanted to get into The Expanse but it seems like it didn't get enough season to resolve everything, does it end at a satisfying place or am I going to be disappointed? Or is the show good enough that it won't matter?
The show is absolutely good enough, the acting is very good and I'm convinced that their VFX team is full of gods because they somehow managed to make all the space battles very convincing. They didn't get to complete the series but they knew that beforehand so they had the opportunity to tie it up pretty satisfyingly.
There is basically one unresolved plotline at series end, but it develops parallel to the main conflict and is sort of disconnected from all the main characters the entire time. I found the "ending" itself to be pretty satisfying for all involved. It honestly felt more like the writers just left enough room for more story to be told if there was ever an opportunity to revisit The Expanse again rather than leaving a major plot point entirely unresolved.
Huh, I thought it was interesting from the jump. But yeah, I hadn’t gelled with any of the characters.
Even worse, I've been told that the source material gets really good... four or five books in
Oh yeah I listended to them at work and they are fantastic, I will say that the books differ from the show enough that they sort of become supplementary material for each other. I listened to the books after watching the show and it was the same plot but also very diffrent because the books are all internal monologue and whose monologue it is depends on the chapter.
Holden is so much better in the books, but boy is it a much harder read than watch for a lot of it despite that.
IDK, I thought it was good from the start even if it has better stuff later.
Succession, in my opinion, and sorry for the long text. I was engrossed immediately, but I can see why it turned some away in the first few episodes, including my family/friends. Makes you wonder why you would ever care about watching a family of filthy rich assholes as a drama with the same camera work that starts out like an episode of The Office. I think it takes longer than usual for the show to really click, and that typically comes in the 5th or 6th episode. The show really does become engaging and fascinating to see such a dysfunctional family being overtaken by such greed and power, coupled with the characters themselves having so many issues as a result of no real loving mother and father. It really doesn’t wallow in it though and you do root for certain characters, and despite a couple slow spots, it’s very entertaining. The actors really brought their A game too.
My wife watched and I just could not do it. I absolutely hate all the business jargon that they tried to convince us real people would actually use. "Does it play? Does it play?!" The dialogue sounds like a bunch of fucking posers doing their best impression of what they think "high-stakes business men" should sound like. It fails the authenticity test for me and totally breaks my suspension of disbelief.
Well those characters, at least the main siblings, ARE posers. They're nepotists who've had a silver spoon in their mouths their entire lives and think being in close proximity with their dad somehow makes them business moguls. Everyone who deals with them is always incredibly put off by them. Kendall's dialogue alone is 95% cringe, waltzing around with unearned swagger like he fits right in with the upper crusts who've been doing this for decades.
Kamen Rider Ex-Aid takes a while to unveil its true colours, and if you bounced off it, I wouldn't blame you at all. The first few episodes are "Haha! Videogame virus, how wacky!" and relying purely on that premise to carry it... Right up until they hit Episode 12, kill off a character, and start to get into the *actual* theme of the series, which is: "What is the value of a life?"
I adore the fact that they killed the character off in the Christmas episode.
I think quite a few of the slow burn riders are decent early on but don't shift into the next gear until episode 13
Bojack Horseman is a below average wacky adult comedy with an asshole protagonist for the first half of season 1, and then really becomes a character study and dramedy by the end of the season and continues it throughout the rest of the show.
Yes BH was going to be my answer as well. Hard to recommend because the first few episodes really don’t get across what the show as a whole is about, but you also can’t skip them because it introduces all the characters and their relationships
The shift in quality (and critical reception) was so pronounced and widely-regarded that it led to [straight-up policy changes at IndieWire](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BoJack_Horseman&oldid=1227321468#Season_1).
Super disagree, the first episode has the "The troops are jerks" moment, it was good from the start
Neil McBeal the Navy Seal.
That's the second episode, the first episode does have a line I repeat often "your silence speaks volumes"
Teen Titans (2003) takes a bit to get started, Season 1 is pretty weak unless Slade is involved. A couple of episodes stick out (Car Trouble is my fav, and people really like Mad Mod) but it isn't until Terra shows up that the show found its voice.
What season was the apprentice arc? Show was picking up *steam* by that point imo
Slade picking Robin as his apprentice is from Season 1. Slade picking Terra as his apprentice is from Season 2.
*A lot* of older television takes a while to find their footing, partially due to the nature of how television was filmed back then. Off the top of my head, Farscape, Red Dwarf, Buffy, Angel, Supernatural, X-Files, TNG and DS9, Beast Wars, Batman: TAS, Superman: TAS, and so many others. All good (to great) shows eventually but boy do they take a minute to figure things out. Not to say all the early stuff is purely rancid either, just not at the level of what comes later.
I really miss the more episodic nature of the early seasons of Supernatural and X-Files. There just aren't any real "monster of the week" shows anymore because you either need the season/series long arc or will-they/won't-they romantic tension to pull in viewers and keep them hooked.
Yeah, I think it’s an issue with modern Trek too. They’re not afforded as many episodic episodes as old Trek (generally). But it’s this weird double edge sword, because partially the reason it fell out of vogue is how badly some shows did it and how well some shows did the tighter schedule (specially at the start of the Netflix era). Hell, while I think Supernatural has some strong seasons, there’s a few middle seasons (post-season 5) where they feel weirdly disconnected because they’ll drop **all** references to the “big plot” during some one-off episodic adventures. Which isn’t how you handle it in that scenario (where they’re meant to be hunting the big bad too) in my opinion, it’s a balancing act. Though even a throwaway line referencing it can help.
I've been having a full on apoplectic fit the past few days realizing that none of the major streaming services have tried putting out a 24 episode yearly episodic cop show. you know, that thing that major backbone of all tv since it's invention.
>X-Files The arching-plot was okay (until the revival tore it down and rebuilt it into a weird lame alex jones globalist elite using dead aliens to do... something) but nothing beats Mulder and Scully taking on random weird shit every week.
Was about to say Farscape. Tried to get my wife into it but there is just so much *weird* filler in the first season. (I know that it being the weird SciFi show as kind of the point, but it makes it hard to get into if it's not your favorite genre) It's rough because i know there's so much **amazing** stuff in the later seasons: >!Everything to do with Scorpius, the clone storyline with actual repercussions rather than being status-quoed, "Here's the wormhole tech you all wanted, turns out you're fucked now" etc.!< but we just weren't able to tank the early stuff.
I think Venture Bros S1 has filtered everybody I try to get into the series. It's not even particularly bad, but the pacing on jokes and delivery is so bizzarely unlike what people expect from the series.
I think a big difference is that early Venture Bros treats a lot of the characters as throwaway jokes, whereas the latter seasons start giving everyone a bit more depth and pathos.
Dean and hank are annoying and the worst part of the show until new york imo.
Final Fantasy XIV. I know it's a game and not a show, but geezus, the amount of time people gave up because ARR was too boring.
I hit a wall in the post-ARR patch content. Haven't played for a while. Honestly I probably would've just dropped off completely, but then playable amazonian khajiit women, so now I'm going to have to get back into it and power through the slog.
yeah ARR itself(the like lvl1-50 msq) is over hated, now the post ARR stuff all the lvl 50 i think mostly titan stuff, thats very deserved
Just off the top of my head, Gintama. It starts with a two-episode adventure with a bunch of established characters, and then the third episode starts at the beginning of the story before you’ve even met half of them.
This why you just start at episode 3 It’s better when you slowly establish the cast
I'd honestly say Gintama takes a good 20 or 30 episodes to really get going, but I also haven't finished watching all 10 seasons yet, so my opinion probably doesn't count for much.
i bounced off the Japanese puns and gags were too DEEP if you know what i mean
Whenever i introduce someone to DBZ Abridged i always preface them with the first few episodes being very rough. Bad audio quality, weak editing, mixed quality jokes. Around episode 10 things get much tighter and higher quality and become progressively so for the rest of the series. As for myself, I was watching Owl House just cause a friend was pushing me to, but I wasn't really into it. It's very episodic and the writing felt pretty childish, more so than other "kids" shows I love. Then I finished the first season. I was hooked. Amazing series!
Once Vegeta and Napa land on Earth. There's some good jokes here and there before that, but that's when they really started taking it seriously. I feel like they changed course from "a bunch of internet humor" to "we're going to retale DBZ but funny." I still feel robbed of a final season (although I lived the Buu Bits).
The Trix are for kids joke is so stupid but the timing of it just makes me laugh every time
Catch it with your mouth
i dunno the buu bits were more in line with the whole abridgement concept than the bloated mess Cell saga became towards the end Frieza saga still good tho
I feel you, but the Cell Saga itself got bloated (and Buu even more so). But Cell is my favorite vilian, and I really enjoyed what they did with him. Also, an amazing rendition of "My Way."
"You couldn't fathom the amount of dead men behind me." is still one of my favorite lines in anything ever.
Hunter x Hunter. Legit, wouldn't blame you to drop it just due to everything before the Exams start. Also most American shows since the first 2 season are usually the worst seasons. Of course there are exception, but in those cases it's likely the opposite. Yu Yu Hakusho. Period. Claymore. It took the author a while to figure out what the series would even be.
It may be the nostalgia talking but I still find the start of YYH charming and entertaining. Of course, it doesn’t accurately reflect how dark the story eventually becomes, but there is plenty of fun to be had.
I am well-known amongst my friends as a shonen-disliker. I burn out on things really quickly and crave novelty, and my tendency is that if a show isn't doing something I've never seen before, after a few hours in, I lose interest. That said, one of my friends tried to sell me on HxH and failed *miserably* because he just kept pitching it like a normal-ass shonen— "There's this kid, and he's going on an adventure to become the best in the world," "They fight in a big tournament arc and there's a rival character who's like an evil harlequin..." It wasn't until Pat started talking about it on the podcast, and specifically when he said, "There's an owl guy who works for the mafia, and he flies down the highway and shrinks a car with a magic quilt," that I was like, *yeah, I gotta watch this show now,* and now it's one of my all-time favorite pieces of fiction. That said, I was surprised by how interesting it was, even at the beginning. It hits usual shonen beats, but wraps them in creative setpieces and breaks the usual shonen tendency to avoid graphic unpleasantness so early on by showing pointless, cruel death right out of the gate. Characters are getting ingloriously killed left and right in a really direct way once the Hunter Exam begins, and that blew my mind. Not to mention the bizarre locations—the incredibly long tunnel, the trap-filled prison tower made of Tetris blocks—it stays away from the usual, trite *arena in a city, normal field, forest* (there is a forest, but interesting things happen there, so it's fine) settings of what I feel are most action-oriented shonen anime.
I’d say HxH is still pretty enjoyable even in the Hunter Exam arc albeit show. What keeps it all together is Gon’s infectious upbeat and kind personality and the way he manages befriends Kurapika, Leorio and Killua. It made for an interesting watch for me as you’re not following a rambunctious teen but rather a really innocent child who just wants to go on bug adventures.
I struggled to care about Leorio and Kurapika until the second part of the exams, so those first few episodes weren't great. I got hooked as soon as Killua and Hisoka showed up.
It’s weird, I actually enjoyed the beginning of Yu Yu Hakusho more than the rest of show.
That makes more sense since I expected it to be an action show from the beginning but it instead acts like a mystery or supernatural ghost show.
I haven't read it or even watched the anime, but Claymore kinda fails any sort of rule since the last 3 episodes of the anime are filler and it just ends there. The manga isn't a show, so.....
I think Black Clover leaves a bad first impression with Asta's yelling and taking a second to introduce the rest of the magic knights. That and the first op doesn't really hit for me.
TBF the manga starts really good
I'd say Bob's Burgers was like that for me. I really started liking the show once season three rolled around.
For me I always liked it, but I didn't *love* it until the end of season 2
Season 3 is when the animation became more streamlined, and the stories focused on the Belcher kids as well as Bob and Linda. The jokes also had a huge jump in quality.
The first season was a rough, but still enjoyable watch. Compared to the show now, a lot of the jokes were pretty crass. Like Tina over sharing her crotch itch and Jimmy Pesto having a diaper fetish.
Also joking about Tina having autism and a pedophile-themed burger
Now they're regularly pulling off bangers like The Amazing Rudy and it's like how the fuck did we get here?
bobs burgers is wierd for me cause ive seen like every ep, yet im still unsure if i like it
Andor starts alright, but it doesn't get to the REALLY good shit until a few episodes in
From the same franchise, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels. The first season of both shows is not that good, and both shows catch their stride in the second season.
The moment Cad Bane broke a guy's neck on screen I was all in.
I'm mid season 1 of Babylon 5. I'm hoping all the people who say it gets much better are right.
That was going to be my answer. I'd say Season 2 is when it really starts picking up, but you NEED Season 1 to just understand the status quo. Babylon 5 has been called a "televised novel" and Season 1 is basically the prologue. I really appreciate that structure BTW. I could never get into *Game of Thrones* or *Breaking Bad* because the first episode was always like "Here's everything that's going on, get into it now, immediately" and I didn't know anybody or have any reason to care. Season 1 of B5 just lets me hang out with these people and get to see how they are day to day. It's just that JMS really is not great at episodic sci-fi.
It does. Season 1 is all about setting the pieces in place. By the latter half of 1 and into Season 2 it gets really really good. It would not have worked if we didn't have the first Season to show you the state of the galaxy before the dominos start to fall.
It gets much better. There's a huge jump in budget and quality of direction/acting.
I feel like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya dodges the 3 episode rule intentionally. The first three episodes spend their time getting you used to the characters and implying that there's supernatural stuff going on under the hood, but nothing gets outright confirmed until episode 4. *And boy does episode 4 slap you across the face with some craziness.*
Gintama, once it's finish introducing the regular characters and put on more regular fight episodes, it goes crazy places. That first movie is a good example.
Black Sails. The first season started off way too hard trying to get the game of thrones audience by being excessively shocking and vile. Luckily it quickly tones down and becomes one of the best pieces of pirate media. The Shield. While the pilot episode is great, the following three episodes aren’t and you can definitely feel that they weren’t quite sure where the show was going at that point. However, once they figure it out, it becomes amazing and I don’t think it has another bad episode for the rest of the series
This is JJBA, specifically Phantom Blood, for a lot of people, meanwhile I got into it immediately
You can really see just how indebted Araki was to Fist of the North Star with the character designs alone
Jonathan and Dio are practically just AU versions of Kenshiro and Raoh
Jotaro was very inspired by Kenshiro too.
I knew the show was for me when it opened up with a dude impaled through the mouth with a wooden spike
I would argue most shows before The Wire/Sappranos era. Looking back its kinda astounding how many shows were just allowed to flop around for an entire 22 episode season before finding their footing.
Hunter X Hunter. Its feels like a pretty generic shonen until like 20 episodes in and really doesn't hit its stride until the Phantom Troupe comes in about 10 episodes later. Might be a hot take but Avatar TLA is very meh until around the end of Book 1.
Bojack Horseman took me four or five episodes to get into.
Violet evergarden. You need to see more than 3
Stein's Gate by a long shot.
Steins;gate grabs you on Episode 1 as far as I'm concerned.
I nearly dropped Gurren Laggan, my favourite anime ever, because I found the first few episodes to kinda drag. >!It picks up hard though after Kamina dies.!<
Believe in the me that believes in you that the show gets better!
It takes 10 episodes for Steins Gate to really become the amazing show it is
It's difficult to recommend it for that reason because the first and second halves of that show are completely different genres and its very possible someone would dislike one of those genres but like the other.
I was about to mention Steins: Gate myself, although the initial mystery and slice of life hijinks kinda had me hooked right from the start, personally speaking.
While not talked about here as much as it's sister series The Owl House, Amphibia doesn't get good unless Sasha's on the screen in season 1, or until Marcy shows up in the middle of season 2.
Sense8. If I remember right it wasn’t until episode 4 or 5 where I felt like they really showed the potential of the show >!by having the sensate’s use each others abilities!<. The first 3 episodes were mostly just introducing the huge cast.
I remember trying it out and just thinking "So their super power is a support group I guess?" and stopped watching
Undead Unluck, easily. It's a shame the first few chapters/episodes require a high level of tolerance to certain problematic elements that simply stop being used less than 10% of the way through.
Undead Unluck is following the inverse of the usual battle shonen pattern; it starts off terrible, climbs to quality over a few arcs, and then spends the next few hundred chapters getting better and better and unfathomably better with no sign of slowing down late into what feels like its endgame buildup. It also started off with gross perv gags and then hard committed to having one of the very best female casts in WSJ history, with Fuuko herself constantly challenging Luffy and Denji as my overall favorite main protagonist.
I think this series is the first shonen I've ever consumed that started out "fine" and has only gotten better since without a drop in quality. At worst it plateaus for a bit but it never gets worse.
The fact it went from weird groping jokes, to having some of the best romances in shonen, as well as becoming one of the rare female led action manga, with the most fanservicey thing being one gym outfit in a boxing arc, really is some of the best glow ups in jump history.
Ill be honest Im not sure the 3 episode works well for many shows.. Imagine watching first three episodes of SpongeBob and being like “damn that was kind of a generic kids cartoon”
To many people, it's One Piece. I personally loved it from minute one, but on rewatch I can see how much the early arcs DRAG (specially Usopp's). Still, it really picks up IMO after during and after Baratie arc.
The first three episodes of Jujutsu Kaisen are pretty mid. I watched them a year ago and said got it Naruto clone and dropped it. Then a couple of months ago I watched a YouTube clip that piqued my curiosity and watched the next episode and the show really went places. I get why is popular. But man those three first episodes try their hardest to convince you is Naruto in an urban setting
For me, it was Nagi no Asukara. I watched three episodes when it came out and didn’t enjoy it. Years later I saw five episodes and was extremely invested, finished it and I found myself quite liking it.
A good amount of shows for transformers often have a slow start and don't try to shake up too much initially cus with the first batch of episodes Hasbro just didn't give them permission to do anything interesting at first. Once it gets to near the end of the first season onwards you actually get some long term plot and neat ideas showing up finally.
The Simpsons' season 1 is ....fine. But it's so outclassed by every following season up to about 10 that you can pretty safely skip it if you're just going for the memes
Psych is a really cool show I'd recommend to anyone looking for something light and fun to binge but the first couple of episodes aren't great. Not bad but I had to convince people to stick with it when they came to me going "what is this goofy shit you told me to watch?"
It's an Anime but The Dangers in My heart. It's a great middle school romance about two dorks that bond together and start to fall in love. The MCs actually reflect on their actions and behaviors and grow through the series. Buuuuut. The first three episodes has the Male MC constantly talk about how he's edgy and not like other guys and wants to kill the Female MC. This behavior stops after episode 3 and actually has a pay off later in the show, so it's not just a gag the author put in to seem different. But it can make many drop the show entirely
When I was heavily into watching network TV, I'd always give a new show half a season to figure itself out
Dr Stone starts off real badly then he drops the two friends, goes to the village and gets really good.
I'd say the opposite, it start off Stellar and the village kinda bums me out
Agents of SHIELD is a fucking great show, but the first 5 episodes are pretty average. Episode 6 is the first one that really shows the chops the actors have for proper drama and puts them in peril, and from there it consistently gets better.
Every star trek
Alright, bot an extreme example of this and I say it with love, but... Andor. The first two episodes are *very slow" and if you're showing it to non-Star Wars nerds you *have to* get them to episode 3 without being bored. It's like the only stain on that masterpiece.
First eps of EVA can be pretty rough
I actually think the first episodes of EVA are very strong, and more tonally befitting where the show would go than people remember. It's the middle act -- after Shinji and Asuka's incredible sync episode, and until the introduction of Seele -- that lags a little for me.
I'm a defender of the lighter stretch of the show, myself. The volcano episode has some great character work for Asuka and Shinji, the blackout episode is a laugh riot with great editing, and the falling angel episode has the best setpiece in the series and good character work across the board. Only the computer virus angel episode is kind of weak imo, and it's still like a 7.5/10. I also just think that having that stretch where we see the characters doing mostly well is important to make the later parts land.
Yeah, that’s fair. I’d put the volcano episode below the computer virus one as my series low point, but I never *disliked* watching the show at its weakest.
I am an unapologetic Magma Diver defender hahaha Although I'll admit it's in large part because we get some *primo* "Asuka being aggressively thirteen years old" content, plus Shinji's all-time moral high point. I'm mostly here for character work, and I think there's more worthwhile stuff in it than in episode 13, which sidelines the kids in favor of a single plot that's mostly technobabble. But yeah, my stance on NGE is that its direction and editing are good enough that even its weakest material is still good.
Huh? The first four episodes of Eva are dynamite stuff. Like, I think that the first two should basically be viewed as a double-length pilot, but its strengths are all on display from the first couple of minutes.
Is this a thing? Because I've always done 4. 1 is a pilot, 2 is the first episode, 3 needs to introduce stuff that won't matter til later, 4 NEEDS TO BE AMAZING. Case in point: episode 4 of The Flash has a TRAIN FLIP. But if I recall, episode 3 was garbage, so it fails, and that's fine
i think everyone has their own version of it, i tend to do 5-10 depending on the genre
Can I do the reverse where the only good episodes of SAO are the first 3-5 episodes and its all downhill from there?
**STEINS;GATE** “Mad Scientist becomes >!Sad Scientist!<“
I can’t think of any that are dreadful, but many that are just ok. A ton of network TV shows, especially comedies, take a season to hit their stride. Notable examples Parks & Rec, the Office, TNG, The Simpsons. And in terms of sheer delta, I wouldn’t forgive anyone for dropping Chainsaw Man after 3/4 episodes, and honestly the show stops right before the manga becomes something special.
SHIKI. It has such a slow start, it took me about 4 attempts before I was able to bite the bullet and see it through. Holy shit does it pay off by the end of it though.
Even the best Star Trek shows take like a season or two to find their footing. Same with Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The first season of The Simpsons is not great and does not feel like the show it would become when it was at its best.
Star Wars Clone Wars. It really does not pick. The first season is mostly meh, but it starts to pick up in the second season, and keeps picking up steam afterwards.
For me it was The Owl House. Wanted to at least finish the first season but wasn't feeling it then the episode where they introduce the glyphs hooked me. I was like this should have been WAY earlier.
Two episode rule, but "Black Butler" veers off hard and instantly. First two episodes are about a count of monte cristo/kira type making bad people dance in his manipulations who has a demon butler to solve problems that require violence. it IMMEDIATELY becomes so, *so* gay.
The Sopranos
Nagi No Asukara Every time someone asks me about this show, I always tell them to commit until episode 8. I swear, it's first episode was one of the longest 23 minutes of my life.
Re:Zero gets better the more time subaru spends suffering. 3 episodes is not sufficient to beat the incel out of him, but oh boy do we get there
Definitely depends on the person, but Steins;Gate takes a good while until the plot really spins up. A lot of the first half is just setting up for the second half. It's a ton better on a second watch/play, when you get to see how much blatant foreshadowing you missed the first time around. The anime isn't too long, 24 episodes, but I've seen a lot of people drop it and the VN out of impatience because of how slow its initial pacing is.
Jujitsu Kaisen is this for me. First season is just filled with tropes and a really basic story, and the only thing that kept me interested at all was Sukuna being unwilling to work with the main character. Second season is nutters with a bunch of trope breaking, and I was extremely entertained.
The Clone Wars, the barrier to entry is a bad movie and a not great first season. I've tried to push through it multiple times, I'm a huge EU nerd, but it's just so damn boring. I get more enjoyment playing with my desk toys.
man i feel like the 3 episode rule is such an outdated method that i never hear talked about anymore
Gantz has a very slow start, only carried by the sudden extreme violence. The payoff in the 1st arc is great but even that doesn't quite establish how insane the series gets later on