While it’s not uncommon for TV shows to have bad episodes, not all of them are bad enough to ruin the entire show, but some of them are. It’s rare when a TV show has no bad episodes, as even some of the best TV shows of all time do or have entire seasons that don’t match the quality of the rest.
Usually, a bad episode is just a bump in the road of a TV show, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s “Beer Bad”, and it doesn’t affect the rest of it. However, there have been some cases where an episode was so bad that it ruined the entire show, no matter if it was the final episode or there was still more to go after it.
“Nice To Meet You, Walden Schmidt” – Two and a Half Men
Season 9, Episode 1
Amber Tamblyn smiling as Jenny Harper in Two and a Half Men with Ashton Kutcher as Walden Schmidt sitting next to her
Two and a Half Men was one of the most popular sitcoms of the 2000s, but it all crashed down when one of its leads, Charlie Sheen, left the show. Two and a Half Men follows eternal bachelor Charlie Harper (Sheen), whose brother, Alan (Jon Cryer), moves in with him and brings his slacker son Jake (Angus T. Jones) with him.
Despite playing one of the main characters, Two and a Half Men continued after Sheen’s departure and introduced Ashton Kutcher’s Walden Schmidt as a replacement. While the character wasn’t bad, he didn’t have the same chemistry with Alan, and the show’s quality wasn’t the same from then on.
Although Two and a Half Men held on for three more seasons after Walden’s introduction, its legacy was tainted by behind-the-scenes drama, this abrupt and weird change in one of its lead characters, and the strange returns of Charlie that completely ruined the show.
“Cyberwoman” – Torchwood
Season 1, Episode 4
Torchwood’s original cast
Torchwood is a sci-fi TV show created by Russell T Davies and a spinoff of the revival of Doctor Who. As such, Torchwood follows a team of alien-hunters, led by Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), as they investigate incidents mostly involving extraterrestrials. Torchwood stuck around for four seasons, but a season 1 episode was fatal for the show.
The episode “Cyberwoman” sees a half-converted Cyberman named Lisa Hallett attacking the Torchwood base after being hidden there by her boyfriend Ianto Jones (Gareth David-Lloyd), with the purpose of making her human again. While the story isn’t bad, the budget was very limited, and it was a cheap episode financially and in quality.
“Cyberwoman” has been criticized for not delivering on its promising concept, changes in Harkness’ personality, and unconvincing settings and overall production value. Although Torchwood continued after that, it was a very early disappointment.
“Arnold Betrays Iggy” – Hey Arnold!
Season 3, Episode 10
Iggy wearing bunny pajamas and begging to Arnold in Hey Arnold
Hey Arnold! is one of the best animated TV shows of all time, but it can’t be denied that the episode “Arnold Betrays Iggy” is a huge cloud over the show. Hey Arnold! follows the everyday life of the title character, a fourth-grader living with his grandparents in an inner-city tenement, and his friends and schoolmates.
In “Arnold Betrays Iggy”, Arnold brings Iggy’s homework to his house, as Iggy was sick and learned that Iggy wears bunny pajamas. Arnold makes fun of him but swears not to tell anyone, but when Stinky and Sid casually mention how embarrassing it would be if Iggy wore bunny pajamas, they deduce that’s exactly what Arnold saw.
To make it up to him, Arnold does Iggy’s chores for a week, but he’s still not forgiven until Iggy makes Arnold wear the pajamas in front of the whole neighborhood. Arnold ends up humiliating himself doing this, and doesn’t speak to Iggy again. Arnold putting himself through this, Iggy’s attitude, and Sid and Stinky’s antagonistic roles led to this being considered the show’s worst episode.
This was the beginning of other, crueler, and darker episodes in Hey Arnold!, marking an unnecessary and strange twist to the show.
“Song Beneath The Song” – Grey’s Anatomy
Season 7, Episode 18
Some TV shows have opted for having a musical episode despite them not being music-related TV shows at all, and one of them is Grey’s Anatomy, but this episode ruined the show. Grey’s Anatomy follows the crew at the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, focusing on their chaotic lives in the hospital and outside.
Grey’s Anatomy’s musical episode, “Song Beneath the Song”, sees the team trying to save Callie Torres’ life after a car crash. The episode, then, is the hallucination of an injured Torres, and she and her colleagues begin to sing. The show went from medical drama to musical all of a sudden, with a cast not trained for singing and a storyline that failed to justify the musical tone.
Grey’s Anatomy was already struggling by the time “Song Beneath the Song” aired, so it only made it even worse. Unfortunately, Grey’s Anatomy’s problems continue, but so does the show.
“The Empty Hearse” – Sherlock
Season 3, Episode 1
John Watson (Martin Freeman) looking serious next to a sad Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) in Sherlock season 3 episode The Empty Hearse
The BBC’s Sherlock is one of the best modern adaptations of Sherlock Holmes, but it made some huge mistakes in the premiere episode of its third season. Sherlock brought the Great Detective and company to modern-day London, adapting many of his cases to modern technology and social issues. Sherlock peaked in the final episode of season 2, and the show declined after that.
Season 3’s premiere episode, “The Empty Hearse”, saw Holmes’ (Benedict Cumberbatch) return from the dead, but the show never answered the most important question: how Holmes faked his death. In addition to that, the episode introduced Mary Morstan, who always felt out of place.
This episode also marked a tonal shift in Sherlock, being more comedic (which felt very forced) and making Holmes’ skills really hard to believe. Sherlock continued for one more season, and it only got worse.
“Into That Good Night” – Roseanne
Season 9, Episodes 23 & 24
Roseanne looking serious in the series finale of Roseanne
Roseanne was one of the most popular TV shows of the 1990s, but it all crashed down in its series finale. Roseanne followed Roseanne Conner (Roseanne Barr) and her family, a working-class one struggling to get by on a limited income. Roseanne was as funny as it was relatable, but its series finale completely ruined the show.
At the beginning of the season, the Conners won the lottery, and thus their socio-economic level increased. However, in “Into That Good Night”, Roseanne reveals this was a dream she came up with in her new career as a writer, so the events of season 9 never happened. It was an unnecessary twist that, instead of shocking the audience, made them angry.
“Return to Camelot” – Dallas
Season 10, Episodes 1 & 2
Dallas 1978 season 9 finale Bobby Ewing in the shower
Dallas is one of the most influential TV shows of all time, and it made TV history a couple of times, including with the two-part episode “Return to Camelot.” Dallas followed the Ewing family, who owned the independent oil company Ewing Oil and the cattle-ranching land of Southfork.
At the end of season 8, one of Dallas’ main characters, Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy), was killed, but at the end of season 9, Bobby suddenly appeared in the shower, alive and well, where he was found by his wife, Pam. “Return to Camelot” revealed that the entirety of season 9 was a dream of Pam, so Bobby didn’t die, and other key events never happened.
Although Dallas continued for four more seasons after that, its ratings declined as many viewers gave up on the show after this reveal, and unfortunately, this episode popularized the “dream season” technique, later used by Roseanne and other shows.
“The Principal and The Pauper” – The Simpsons
Season 9, Episode 2
The real Principal Skinner with the impostor in The Simpsons
The Simpsons is still one of the best and most successful TV shows of all time, but it can’t be denied that the show’s quality has been in decline for years. The Simpsons takes viewers to the town of Springfield to follow the everyday lives of the title family, who get involved in all types of funny and chaotic situations.
The episode that is widely regarded as the beginning of The Simpsons’ decline is “The Principal and the Pauper”, which revealed that Principal Skinner wasn’t the true Seymour Skinner. Instead, he was Armin Tamzarian, who was in the army with the real Skinner and who ended up taking his identity when Skinner’s mother mistook him for her son.
This big reveal made no sense, and the episode was so bad that even at the end of it, the residents of Springfield collectively agreed to, and had a judge to make it official, that Tamzarian is Skinner. Skinner’s real identity hasn’t been mentioned again, and the show hasn’t been the same ever since.