It’s common these days for near-perfect shows to air episodes that are far below the quality standard. Some of these episodes are symptoms of an overall decline for their shows, while others are standalone in their terrible-ness. These ten episodes are usually agreed upon by fans to be poor examples of how great their shows could be.
10 It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia - “The Gang Does A Clip Show”
It’s natural for a show like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia to struggle with keeping a consistent quality. With the show’s 15th season, it has officially become the longest-running live-action sitcom in television history. However, the show has come a long way from its golden years, evidenced by the episode “The Gang Does A Clip Show.”
“Clip show” episodes come late in a sitcom’s run, featuring characters reminiscing on previous moments in the show’s history. It’s Always Sunny attempts to subvert that, with the gang having differing memories of events. This episode doesn’t tread any new ground for the show, especially compared to the season finale “Mac Finds His Pride.”
9 Family Guy - “Life Of Brian”
This episode of the animated sitcom Family Guy features the sudden death of Brian, the Griffin family dog. Aside from being a horrific moment in a show filled with crude humor, this moment sparked lots of negative fan reaction. Simply put, fans weren’t excited with seeing one of the show’s main characters anticlimactically killed off.
To make matters worse, Brian’s role was replaced by Vinny, voiced by Tony Sirico of The Sopranos fame. The character of Vinny was not well-received by longtime fans of the show, though those fans didn’t have to worry. Brian was brought back into the show two episodes later, reversing the long-term effects of “Life of Brian.”
8 How I Met Your Mother - “Bedtime Stories”
The final season of How I Met Your Mother is divisive among fans and critics. While some enjoyed the closure provided by the show’s finale, others felt disappointed by the twist regarding the titular mother. However, most fans can agree that the episode “Bedtime Stories” was filler in a season meant to answer everybody’s questions.
This episode finds Marshall on a bus with his son Marvin, trying to get him to fall asleep by story-telling. In this fashion, the entire episode is worded with rhymes, which proves to be creative, but ultimately a gimmick that doesn’t pay off. However, the episode does feature a cameo by a pre-Hamilton Lin-Manuel Miranda.
7 Saturday Night Live - “Steven Seagal/Michael Bolton”
Saturday Night Live is a show that varies in quality from week to week, thanks to its grueling week-long production schedule. However, some episodes fail not because of the show’s operation, but because of outside factors. At least, that’s what many in the cast and crew have to say about Steven Seagal’s hosting gig in 1991.
By the time he hosted, Seagal was at the height of his popularity after starring in several box-office hits. However, his failure to cooperate with writers and his lack of understanding for several sketches, such as “Hans and Franz”, led to a confusing episode the following Saturday. Thankfully, Seagal hasn’t been invited back since.
6 The Office - “Get The Girl”
Following Steve Carrell’s exit from The Office, the show became somewhat of a mixed bag. The episode finds Ed Helms’ Andy Bernard traveling across the country to profess his love for Ellie Kemper’s Erin. Despite being directed by series regular Rainn Wilson, this episode is regarded as one of the worst in the popular show’s run.
Many critics lambasted “Get The Girl” for its focus on Andy and Erin’s relationship, which many felt wasn’t earned. A lot of criticism was also reserved for Catherine Tate’s performance as Nellie Bertram, who attempts to take over the office as the new manager. Sadly, this episode was just another sign that The Office was past its prime.
5 Brooklyn-99 - “Casecation”
“Casecation” aired during Brooklyn-99’s sixth season after being revived by NBC. In this episode, detectives Jake Peralta and Amy Santiago celebrate their wedding anniversary in a hospital, waiting for a comatose mobster to wake up. However, the two begin to argue about their future, and specifically, whether to have kids.
What’s baffling about this episode is the lack of character consistency compared to other seasons of the show. Jake’s previous desire to be a father is cast aside, pitting his reluctance up against Amy, who seems dead-set on having kids, despite being focused on her career the whole show. Overall, it’s an episode of characters acting abnormal for the sake of unnecessary conflict.
4 Seinfeld - “The Finale”
The finale of the iconic sitcom Seinfeld proved to fans that the show about nothing truly was about nothing. After surviving a near-plane crash, Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer are arrested for failing to rescue a man from an armed robbery. What ensues is a series of events that disappointed fans expecting more from the show’s big finish.
During a trial, many characters from the show’s history reappear to testify against Jerry and his friends. This makes the episode more a cavalcade of cameo appearances rather than a satisfying conclusion for the series. The four are sentenced to a year in prison, while repeating the same conversations they had during the show’s pilot.
3 Stranger Things - “The Lost Sister”
This second season episode follows Eleven as she travels outside of Hawkins, Indiana to Chicago. There, she meets Kali, her long-lost “sister” who was also experimented on at Dr. Brenner’s lab. Kali reveals to Eleven her ability to create illusions, and introduces Eleven to her new family, a punk street gang.
This episode is a nice moment of development for Eleven, helping her realize that her friends in Hawkins need her. However, Kali and her friends received negative criticism by fans and critics. Ultimately, part of the episode’s reception can be due the previous episode’s cliffhanger that isn’t resolved until the next episode.
2 Community - “Heroic Origins”
The fourth season of NBC’s divisive sitcom Community is regarded by many to be a disaster. After series creator Dan Harmon’s public firing, the show seemed to lose sight of what worked, instead favoring pop culture references and absurd episode premises. This episode finds Abed trying to piece together the study group’s pasts.
The group finds out that they’ve all met before, and influenced each other’s decision to go to Greendale. Fans particularly didn’t like how this episode undercuts the first season’s emotional weight. It confusingly made this group of outcasts coming together seem like a product of universal destiny.
1 Game Of Thrones - “The Long Night”
Never has a TV show had a bigger fall from grace than Game of Thrones did with its final season. Fans and critics alike criticized the show for its pacing, its character inconsistency, and its lack of emotional catharsis. While the finale is usually what people point to, the problems really began in the highly-anticipated “The Long Night.”
The episode finds a majority of the surviving cast facing off against the Army of the Dead. However, what should be a climactic battle ends up being an awkward, poorly-lit sequence of action scenes. Ironically, most characters came out of the battle alive, and the White Walkers were defeated by the end. Given that this conflict had been built up since the show’s very first scene, it makes everything that came before feel weightless.
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