20 TV Shows That Got Better In Season 2

Some shows with huge fanbases almost never got off the ground

Kylin

• Published in Film & TV
• May 29, 2022

Season one of most shows can start out pretty shaky as actors figure out how to fit themselves into their roles. Not to mention those behind the scenes who work tirelessly to bring a new world to life and discover how the story will evolve.

So it's pretty understandable that most shows get better after their first season. The actors and writers have a better feel and understanding of their characters, and if the first season was successful enough, they probably have more money to put into the development and production of the show.

I’m sure you’ve experienced this when trudging through a show’s first few episodes before really getting into the show's stories and characters. Sometimes we just need some patience and perseverance when checking out a new hit show.

But there are some shows that really stand out for their second season. Either for improving on a pretty rough start (looking at you, Star Trek: The Next Generation) or if they made a deal with the devil in order to improve on perfection (if you're curious about the oddly specific claim, I’m talking about Fleabag).

In honor of these sorts of shows, we made a list highlighting some of the best second seasons in TV history. The ones that have played a major part in the fanbases they’ve garnered over time.

Keep scrolling to see more.

1. Seinfeld

It's hard to believe now, but NBC didn't pick up Seinfeld after its first episode, so it was offered to Fox who also declined. But thanks to Rick Ludwin, head of late night and special events for NBC, he got funds diverted and ordered 4 more episodes for the show.

So when NBC reran the pilot episode the next year, it garnered more attention. The series was ordered and Season 2 fixed what wasn't working from Season 1, including the development of Elaine as a character instead of just being Jerry's ex.

2. BoJack Horseman

TV shows really start to blossom after getting through the first season. This is thanks to all those involved, like the showrunners, directors, writers, voice actors, animators, and everyone else, working through the kinks and getting settled in their identity.

And as Emily VanDerWerff wrote for Vox, "Netflix's BoJack Horseman has found its footing beautifully in season two, earning the title of not just the streaming service's best show, but of one of television's best shows." 

Themes of mental health, finding a purpose, and life after fame really start to take root in Season 2 and the show still manages to be hilarious while navigating such heavy topics.

3. Fleabag

If you haven't watched Fleabag yet, do yourself a favor and put it on your watchlist so you can get around to it. Fleabag is a very, very good show, even from the get-go, so it is even more astonishing that Season 2 was somehow BETTER.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge is an understated genius. Her writing and performance truly help deliver a show that feels improvised while being tightly scripted.

Her signature moments of a single, split-second look to the camera show that you can communicate virtually anything without saying a word. Season 2 took an already incredible show and delivered an even better follow-up, leaving us devastated when it ended with no plans for a Season 3.

4. Avatar: The Last Airbender

Avatar: The Last Airbender is arguably NOT just a kid show. With themes of genocide and something called "bloodbending," writers and animators have created an in-depth world full of action, fun, and thought-provoking storylines.

It seems to be a common theme with kid shows directed by Dave Filoni to get darker as it progresses, and it plays out the same with Avatar. Season 1 is geared more towards kids, and Season 2 started to change the tone, with Sokka's goofiness being a notable change, along with an upgrade in the animation.

5. The Mandalorian

While the show was a huge success from the get-go, Disney took criticisms of The Mandalorian Season 1 to heart. So with Season 2, they shortened the episodes a bit and focused more on one long story arc instead of the one-off stories they did in Season 1.

With the changes, they still managed to keep its Western-style themes and delivered some excellent character reveals, like Boba Fett, Bo-Katan Kyrze, Ashoka Tano, and even Luke-freaking-Skywalker.

6. Barry

Barry is one of those shows that "proves" a comedic actor has acting chops outside of being funny, with Bill Hader in the starring role. While he's previously worked in dramatic roles before, Barry gives Hader nearly all the control over the character and creative vision, since he writes, directs, and produces the show alongside starring in it.

Barry Season 2 is similar to Fleabag in that there's very little fluff or filler. They manage to showcase extreme seriousness and goofiness within the same episodes and do so flawlessly, without interrupting the storyline or wasting any time.

Season 2 cleaned up any issues from the first and left off with a big cliffhanger, leaving us hungry for Season 3.

7. Lady Dynamite

Lady Dynamite is probably the one show on this list that folks are the least familiar with. Thanks to Maria Bamford, who plays a version of herself on the show, it is one of the best shows that deals with mental health.

Bamford has always been brutally honest about herself and her life in her stand-up comedy, and this continues in Lady Dynamite where they cover all aspects of her life. From feeling like a fraud and that she's being used by the industry that's given her a platform, to navigating relationships, love, and sex.

In Season 2 the creators really figure out the tone of the show and even critique the first season itself. In the second season, we see Maria being worked relentlessly for Elon Musk's streaming platform, called MuskVision (essentially Netflix) while demanding her to be an agreeable and passive version of herself.

8. The Office

In Season 1 of The Office, the writers seemed to follow in the steps of the British show that inspired it, ending many of the episodes on a down note of embarrassment or awkwardness. But with Season 2, they changed things up.

Writers spun the sometimes loveable cringe into a more positive light and showed that Michael's awkwardness comes from a desire to connect with people. This helped pave the way for future episodes to find the balance of heart and painful awkwardness that the show is well known for.

9. Parks and Recreation

While Parks and Recreation was created by the same folks that did The Office, the shows shared little outside the mockumentary style and overzealous boss. The second season continued to separate any likeness between the two shows, with a unique cast of characters and situations.

In Season 2 we get to better know Donna Meagle and Andy Dwyer, and are introduced to the beloved characters Ben Wyatt and Chris Traeger.

10. Star Wars: The Clone Wars

The Clone Wars is one of those shows that feels like it grows up and matures with you. What starts out as a pretty standard kids show evolves into a dark, gripping, and violent show.

If it weren't for their courage to grow past their childish roots from Season 1, the show would never have been the success it is today. Thanks to The Clone Wars, we have one of the best Star Wars properties ever, giving us fleshed-out characters that were even included in The Mandalorian like Ahsoka Tano and Cad Bane.

11. Star Trek: The Next Generation

It is famously difficult to trudge your way through the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The show's creator, Gene Roddenberry, had a lot more control over this series than he did with the original, and it's hard to tell if that was a good thing. He made some last-minute casting changes and the writing suffered.

The legendary Star Trek screenwriter D.C. Fontana quit the show, and they struggled to replace writers throughout the season, and all but one quit by the end of Season 2. However, there were enough changes made in Season 2 that helped turn around The Next Generation, and support the following seasons into creating one of the best sci-fi shows of all time.

12. X-Files

X-Files is one of the most influential shows and just happens to be about aliens and not trusting the government before it was cool. This show is the epitome of a show that got better every season, with Season 2 considered one of the show's best.

13. The Simpsons

It's highly likely that you haven't seen the first season of The Simpsons, since it debuted over thirty years ago at the end of 1989. The biggest change from the first season to the second is that Dan Castellaneta changed Homer Simpson's voice drastically.

Initially, trying to match Matt Groening's description of his father, Castellaneta voiced Homer in a very flat, monotone way. As Homer became more realized, and Castellaneta got comfortable with his role, Homer's voice gained more range and expression.

Along with the evolution of Homer's voice came better animation, quick jokes, and the sentimentality that defined the show's early days. Season 2 was the start of the rise in quality, leading to the show's "golden era" around the fourth and fifth seasons.

14. Silicon Valley

This series is a parody of Silicon Valley culture and focuses on programmer Richard Hendricks, who founded a startup company called Pied Piper and follows his struggles trying to maintain his company while facing competition from larger entities.

Season 2 introduces us to the characters Russ Hanneman and Laurie Bream who help turn Pied Piper from a young startup into a company that got the attention of everyone in the Valley. By raising the stakes and keeping us on edge while Hendricks and his team changes, a shift in focus, the show was kept from going stale.

15. Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad was one of those shows that thrived on the writers "making it up as they go" and finding the story as they wrote it. That may be why Season 2 was so different from the rest of the show.

Season 2 was meticulously planned out, and the brought the introduction of a lot of the iconic characters that we associate with Breaking Bad: Saul Goodman, Gus Fring, Mike Ehrmantraut, and Hector Salamanca.

16. Better Call Saul

Better Call Saul had a slower pace in its first season as it laid the groundwork for a show about the soft-spoken, and unassuming lawyer Jimmy McGill and how he becomes the egocentric criminal defense attorney Saul Goodman.

It was in Season 2 that Jimmy starts to be stretched between the two worlds of normal life and organized crime that the show really picked up the pace.

17. Black Mirror

Black Mirror is one of those shows that are really "hit or miss." The full series has some incredible standouts and some super duds.

Wanting to make the show more intimate in Season 2, Charlie Brooker, the show's creator, and writer focused more on individual stories. He also included more women as protagonists, taking the criticism about Season 1 only having men as main characters.

Season 2 has two of the best episodes in the entire series, "Be Right Back" and "White Bear" but also one of the worst, "The Waldo Moment." But overall, Season 2 was better than Season 1.

18. Futurama

Just like The Simpsons, Futurama got even better as a show as the voice actors became more familiar with their characters. Especially Bender, who was voiced by John DiMaggio.

Season 2 explored everything that made the first season great in more depth. They worked on more world-building, more nerdy jokes, and it's where we discovered that Leela was a mutant, not an alien.

19. Community

Community is unique because it was created to be an ultimate parody show. Season 1 feels like the most "normal" of the entirety of the show's run.

The show evolved into the hit that we know today as the writers became more comfortable playing with genre tropes, exploring different mediums, and implementing meta-humor.

Schitt's Creek

Schitt’s Creek is a beloved show that really took some patience to really get into. Dan Levy came up with the idea for the show when he wondered how ultra-wealthy families, like those frequently depicted on American reality television, would react if they were to lose all their money.

In Season 1 we meet some really hard to like characters, between the snotty and spoiled Rose family, and some of the clueless townies in the small town of Schitt’s Creek. However, the actors and show writers gave us an incredible story of growth, and the once insufferable Roses are forced to evolve into people that are genuinely easy to love.

What did you think? Do you agree with the shows we mentioned, or do you think we missed the mark on one of the shows?

Maybe we missed another iconic show that you think should be mentioned? Let us know in the comments section below, and don’t forget to share this with your fellow TV-show-loving friends!

Kylin