{"id":147902,"date":"2025-11-23T00:29:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T00:29:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/147902\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T00:29:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T00:29:23","slug":"8-episodes-that-ruined-popular-tv-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/147902\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Episodes That Ruined Popular TV Shows"},"content":{"rendered":"

While it\u2019s 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\u2019s rare when a TV show has no bad episodes, as even some of the best TV shows of all time<\/a> do or have entire seasons that don\u2019t match the quality of the rest.<\/p>\n

Usually, a bad episode is just a bump in the road of a TV show, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer\u2019s \u201cBeer Bad\u201d, and it doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cNice To Meet You, Walden Schmidt\u201d – Two and a Half Men<\/p>\n

Season 9, Episode 1<\/p>\n

\"Amber
\n Amber Tamblyn smiling as Jenny Harper in Two and a Half Men with Ashton Kutcher as Walden Schmidt sitting next to her<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Despite playing one of the main characters, Two and a Half Men continued after Sheen\u2019s departure and introduced Ashton Kutcher\u2019s Walden Schmidt as a replacement. While the character wasn\u2019t bad, he didn\u2019t have the same chemistry with Alan, and the show\u2019s quality wasn\u2019t the same from then on.<\/p>\n

Although Two and a Half Men held on for three more seasons after Walden\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cCyberwoman\u201d – Torchwood<\/p>\n

Season 1, Episode 4<\/p>\n

\"Torchwood's
\n Torchwood’s original cast<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The episode \u201cCyberwoman\u201d 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\u2019t bad, the budget was very limited, and it was a cheap episode financially and in quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cCyberwoman\u201d has been criticized for not delivering on its promising concept, changes in Harkness\u2019 personality, and unconvincing settings and overall production value. Although Torchwood continued after that, it was a very early disappointment.<\/p>\n

\u201cArnold Betrays Iggy\u201d – Hey Arnold!<\/p>\n

Season 3, Episode 10<\/p>\n

\"Iggy
\n Iggy wearing bunny pajamas and begging to Arnold in Hey Arnold<\/p>\n

Hey Arnold! is one of the best animated TV shows of all time<\/a>, but it can\u2019t be denied that the episode \u201cArnold Betrays Iggy\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

In \u201cArnold Betrays Iggy\u201d, Arnold brings Iggy\u2019s 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\u2019s exactly what Arnold saw.<\/p>\n

To make it up to him, Arnold does Iggy\u2019s chores for a week, but he\u2019s 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\u2019t speak to Iggy again. Arnold putting himself through this, Iggy\u2019s attitude, and Sid and Stinky\u2019s antagonistic roles led to this being considered the show\u2019s worst episode.<\/p>\n

This was the beginning of other, crueler, and darker episodes in Hey Arnold!, marking an unnecessary and strange twist to the show.<\/p>\n

\u201cSong Beneath The Song\u201d – Grey\u2019s Anatomy<\/p>\n

Season 7, Episode 18<\/p>\n

\"Callie<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Anatomy, but this episode ruined the show. Grey\u2019s Anatomy follows the crew at the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, focusing on their chaotic lives in the hospital and outside.<\/p>\n

Grey\u2019s Anatomy\u2019s musical episode, \u201cSong Beneath the Song\u201d, sees the team trying to save Callie Torres\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

Grey\u2019s Anatomy was already struggling by the time \u201cSong Beneath the Song\u201d aired, so it only made it even worse. Unfortunately, Grey\u2019s Anatomy\u2019s problems continue, but so does the show.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Empty Hearse\u201d – Sherlock <\/p>\n

Season 3, Episode 1<\/p>\n

\"John
\n John Watson (Martin Freeman) looking serious next to a sad Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) in Sherlock season 3 episode The Empty Hearse<\/p>\n

The BBC\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Season 3\u2019s premiere episode, \u201cThe Empty Hearse\u201d, saw Holmes\u2019 (Benedict Cumberbatch) return from the dead, but the show never answered the most important question: how Holmes faked his death<\/a>. In addition to that, the episode introduced Mary Morstan, who always felt out of place.<\/p>\n

This episode also marked a tonal shift in Sherlock, being more comedic (which felt very forced) and making Holmes\u2019 skills really hard to believe. Sherlock continued for one more season, and it only got worse.<\/p>\n

\u201cInto That Good Night\u201d – Roseanne<\/p>\n

Season 9, Episodes 23 & 24<\/p>\n

\"Roseanne
\n Roseanne looking serious in the series finale of Roseanne<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of the season, the Conners won the lottery, and thus their socio-economic level increased. However, in \u201cInto That Good Night\u201d, 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cReturn to Camelot\u201d – Dallas<\/p>\n

Season 10, Episodes 1 & 2<\/p>\n

\"Dallas
\n Dallas 1978 season 9 finale Bobby Ewing in the shower<\/p>\n

Dallas is one of the most influential TV shows of all time<\/a>, and it made TV history a couple of times, including with the two-part episode \u201cReturn to Camelot.\u201d Dallas followed the Ewing family, who owned the independent oil company Ewing Oil and the cattle-ranching land of Southfork.<\/p>\n

At the end of season 8, one of Dallas\u2019 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. \u201cReturn to Camelot\u201d revealed that the entirety of season 9 was a dream of Pam, so Bobby didn\u2019t die, and other key events never happened.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cdream season\u201d technique, later used by Roseanne and other shows.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Principal and The Pauper\u201d – The Simpsons<\/p>\n

Season 9, Episode 2<\/p>\n

\"The
\n The real Principal Skinner with the impostor in The Simpsons<\/p>\n

The Simpsons is still one of the best and most successful TV shows of all time, but it can\u2019t be denied that the show\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

The episode that is widely regarded as the beginning of The Simpsons\u2019 decline is \u201cThe Principal and the Pauper\u201d, which revealed that Principal Skinner wasn\u2019t 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\u2019s mother mistook him for her son.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s real identity hasn\u2019t been mentioned again, and the show hasn\u2019t been the same ever since.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While it\u2019s not uncommon for TV shows to have bad episodes, not all of them are bad enough…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[146,85,46,411],"class_list":["post-147902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}