Sometimes a TV series needs a little time to figure out what it actually wants to be. The first season might bring in the right characters but the wrong tone, or have a great premise with an awful name, or even focus on a main character who loses their charm. Of course, creators and writers often introduce plot twists and changes between seasons to spice things up and recapture audience interest and ratings.<\/p>\n
But for these shows, it was the jump from Season 1 to Season 2 that brought some surprisingly big changes, from new characters to storylines to complete rethinks of the main focus and even titles. Which of these were the biggest shifts?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The first season of\u00a0The Office\u00a0showed Steve Carell’s Michael Scott as an awkward, insensitive boss, clueless about how badly he irritated his staff. Given that the character was heavily modeled on Ricky Gervais’ David Brent from the British original, Season 1 came with no surprises, with Carell playing Michael’s unpleasantness down pat.<\/p>\n
Between Seasons 1 and 2, the scriptwriters deliberately softened him, making him\u00a0more lovable<\/a>\u00a0than cringe-inducing. By giving viewers glimpses of insecurity and genuine affection for his employees, Michael Scott moved from being the office menace to someone truly likable, even if he remains oblivious to the carnage he causes<\/p>\n
Creator\u00a0Greg Daniels later explained<\/a>\u00a0that Carell’s own career path helped them bring about that change,<\/p>\n
I think Michael has changed a little bit, and a lot of it has to do with growing away from the British show a little bit, and also Steve’s movie career, because when Steve Carell did\u00a040-Year-Old Virgin, I think that was eye-opening for me and for some of the writers to see him play a romantic lead in that way, and how likeable he was.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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Season 1 of\u00a0Suits\u00a0debuted as a legal dramedy, mostly built around Harvey Specter’s (Gabriel Macht) swagger, Mike Ross’ (Patrick J. Adams) secret, and perfectly witty banter. Each episode handled one case, which mattered, but the show’s appeal lay in the repartee, the amazing-looking lawyers, and the chemistry among them.<\/p>\n
Season 2 brought more energy, introducing Daniel Hardman (David Costabile) , who burst into the internal politics of the Pearson Hardman firm like a missing link, to challenge and usurp Harvey and Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty). Cases became longer, spanning more episodes, and the spotlight turned to betrayals, professional rivalries, and personal secrets. While the show was hardly groundbreaking in its script, the new focus on who would control the firm gave it a noticeably\u00a0more dramatic tone<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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Seinfeld\u00a0broke out of the usual 90s’ mold by being a show based on nothing more than the “trivial pursuits and pettiness of everyday life.” That said, season 1 wasn’t really an indication of how popular or successful it would become, given it ran for just five episodes that focused more on Jerry Seinfeld’s stand-up comedy, and executives\u00a0doubted the show’s future<\/a>.<\/p>\n
In Season 2, the show’s trademark frantic pace of interpersonal relationships and banter came to the fore, bringing its peculiar mix of observational comedy and character stories. It was only in Season 4 that the show won an Emmy, but by then, the characters had grown on people, and so had the super-fast-paced 22-minute episodes. From Season 2 itself, the show started to feel less like a conventional sitcom, and director\u00a0Tom Cherones later recalled<\/a>,<\/p>\n
People would say, “Can\u2019t you make this look more like a sitcom?” And I\u2019d say, “I don\u2019t want to…”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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The first season of\u00a0Westworld\u00a0was set inside Delos’ elaborate Western theme park, even though the real subject was the increasingly complicated consciousness of its hosts. The finale, however, opened the door to a much larger world with Maeve (Thandiwe Newton) leaving to find her daughter.<\/p>\n
Season 2 exploited this peek into the outside world, and the story expanded beyond Westworld itself, also introducing character backstories and other Delos parks. Showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy confirmed this, with\u00a0Nolan saying<\/a>,<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t like to endlessly build mystery; we like to settle our debts by the end of the season. We want to feel like the show is rocketing ahead. The first season was a journey inward; this is a journey outward. It\u2019s a search for what else is in the park, and what else is beyond the park.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
While the aim was to make Season 2 feel less like another amusement park trip and more like an expansion of the show’s robotic mythology, many felt\u00a0it was botched<\/a>\u00a0and didn’t capture the audience’s interest as it could have.<\/p>\n
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Given that Greg Daniels and Michael Schur created both\u00a0The Office\u00a0and\u00a0Parks and Recreation, it was natural for the latter to feel like a spin-off of the first instead of having its own identity. Despite different characters and setup, the first season of\u00a0Parks and Recreation\u00a0felt terribly familiar, given the mockumentary format and awkward workplace dynamics.<\/p>\n
Season 2 actively separated the series from that mold by\u00a0making Pawnee itself more important<\/a>, strengthening the ensemble and letting many characters become much more distinctive.<\/p>\n
The writers also began shifting Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) away from being a female version of Michael Scott (from\u00a0The Office) to a somewhat relentlessly optimistic, ambitious character who led the series. These and further changes led to the show getting a distinctive identity, making it popular with the audience. Writer Michael Schur\u00a0downplayed the idea<\/a>\u00a0of a massive overhaul, though, saying,<\/p>\n
I don’t think magical fairy dust was sprinkled over the show. I just think we’re getting better at it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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In Season 1 of\u00a0The Good Place,\u00a0the audience saw a strange afterlife in which Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) was trying to become a better person after accidentally being sent to the Good Place, aka heaven. Then came the enormous reveal: the Good Place was actually the Bad Place, and Michael (Ted Danson) was a demon running an elaborate experiment on the humans.<\/p>\n
Season 2 couldn’t simply continue where Season 1 left off because the central plot was exposed. Writer Michael Schur had to\u00a0think outside the box<\/a>\u00a0and said,<\/p>\n
The Good Place… it’s more of a high-wire act than what I’m used to… and that is scary, because when things are plot driven, if you make a wrong move in the plot, then people aren’t gonna enjoy what you’re doing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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