10 TV Shows That Had To Reinvent Themselves To Remain Popular

Television is a high-stakes business, and if a show loses the spark that makes it special, it will be replaced by a brand-new series faster than the snap of fingers, so it has to brainstorm and try out new ideas on how to remain popular with its audiences. Once a series reaches its climax the premise has initially set up, it is time to change things up and create a new narrative for the characters, and this is where it might get tricky. Every show that runs for a while has its devoted viewership that has gotten accustomed to a certain way of things, and not everyone is ready for it to evolve.

That is, of course, if the show’s upgrade is about evolving and not recycling the same concept over and over again until it gets tiresome and predictable for everyone involved. From Doctor Who in the sci-fi genre to Bridgerton in the historical fiction, every series runs the risk of losing its unique feature if it does not reinvent itselfat some point, and few are successful in this endeavor enough to remain on the air for a longer while. However, some shows manage to escape the vicious circle and keep their place in the audiences’ hearts despite shaking things up.

10 You

Joe Goldberg Encounters A Murder Mystery Himself

Based on Caroline Kepnes’ book series, You, which follows the murderous stalker Joe Goldberg and his obsessions, quickly became a hit. Starting from season 2, the series had to find a way to intensify Joe’s story and intensify it did. Seasons 2 and 3 saw a change in the setting and the main characters, and You became an anthology series of sorts. Then, season 4 rolled around, and the show made the headlines again — Joe was no longer the only mad fanatic running around, as now he was at the very center of a murder mystery. This radical reinvention of the genre paid off, getting You renewed for season 5.

9 Bridgerton

The Queen Charlotte Spinoff Adds Intrigue

Based on Julia Quinn’s book series of the same name, Bridgerton follows the noble Bridgerton siblings on their journeys to find love. While the main plot points are the same in the show and in the books, the series takes liberties with the timeline and side characters, creating a separate narrative for them. Bridgerton truly reinvented itself with the help of its spinoff show, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, which gave a spotlight to the royal family, Lady Agatha Danbury, and Violet Bridgerton. Apart from that, the main series made a bold move and skipped Benedict’s story, opting for Colin’s for Bridgerton season 3, and that has incited more interest in the upcoming chapter.

8 ​​​​New Girl

A Time Jump Propels Jessica Day’s Story Forward

New Girl took a very average Jessica Day and made her archetype the central character, which surprisingly worked out for the best, and the series did last seven seasons. The series first reinvented itself in New Girl season 1, episode 2, “Kryptonite,” by temporarily writing off Coach, one of the main characters in the pilot, and replacing him with Winston, who quickly gained the viewers’ affection. In season 7, New Girl took another risk and did a three-year time-jump for the New Girl’s final chapter — even though the ratings went down and season 7 turned out to be the series’ last season, critics applauded the brilliant swansong.

7 Angel

Angel Investigations Takes Over Wolfram & Hart

Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s spinoff, was a universally acclaimed show that did right by its predecessor. For four seasons, Team Angel fought monsters and helped people, allying against Wolfram & Hart, the evil law firm that was the source of all problems demonic. In season 5, the tables turned, and now Angel and Co. were running the Los Angeles office of Wolfram & Hart, which was a genius move on the show’s part, evidenced by the steady ratings. Unfortunately, creator Joss Whedon pushed The WB for an early renewal, as he had plans for future stories, and got Angel canceled after season 5 instead.

6 Doctor Who

Every Regeneration Of The Doctor Shakes Things Up

Doctor Who couldn’t have reached its 60th anniversary if it hadn’t kept on refreshing the narrative every three or so seasons. Starting from William Hartnell’s First Doctor and all the way to David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor, Doctor Who has never had a problem with reinventing itself through every regeneration of the Time Lord. Speaking of David Tennant, his involvement in Doctor Who‘s 60th-anniversary specials was another case of the show taking a risk and casting the same actor in the (almost) same lead role twice. The series has shown no sign of getting canceled any time soon, with Ncuti Gatwa’s Fourteenth Doctor coming in season 14.

5 Community

Jeff Winger Becomes A Professor At Greendale

Community struggled with its ratings during the original run, but they still didn’t stop it from gaining a cult following. In season 4, the study group said goodbye to Jeff, their leader and founder, but in season 5, he returned to Greendale after his law practice suffered a setback. This controversial move changed the dynamic within Community‘s main group, which might have been the reason for the show’s first cancelation. In season 6, the newly graduated study group came back to Greendale once more, making for a riveting final chapter. In addition, Community played around with Chang, rebranding him into a new type of psycho each season.

4 13 Reasons Why

The Murder Of Bryce Walker Takes Center Stage

13 Reasons Why season 1 received backlash for violent scenes that were too graphic for anyone’s comfort, but overall, Hannah Baker’s depressing life-to-death story became the critics’ darling, which meant more money-making seasons could be greenlit. Unfortunately, that also signified that the show had to come up with ways to drive the narrative without Hannah’s tapes, and that proved to be difficult. Season 2 focused on the aftermath of the tapes being released, something that didn’t live up to the expectations, so in season 3, the writers killed off Bryce Walker and turned the show into a murder mystery. Even though the ratings were down, 13 Reasons Why lived to see another season.

3 Supernatural

The Winchesters’ Monster Tale Goes Biblical

Supernatural‘s first three seasons followed Sam and Dean Winchester on their monster-hunting adventures, and while it was the golden era of the show, Eric Kripke had a huge angelic plot twist in mind. Starting from season 4, Supernatural upped the scale of its ever-impending apocalypses and threw the brothers into the biblical events, introducing Lucifer, angels, and all sorts of creatures in the grand scheme of things. The move was the right call, as the series did run for a whopping 15 seasons before finally coming to its conclusion in the epic but disappointing finale that did Dean’s death dirty.

2 Charmed

Paige Breathes A New Life Into The Power Of Three

Charmed utilized its theme of the importance of sisterhood to the full extent in the first three seasons, but then Shannen Doherty decided to exit the show, and Prue’s death could’ve doomed it. Fortunately, the showrunners created Paige, the long-lost half-sister with Whitelighter powers, which allowed Charmed to run for five more seasons without compromising the Power of Three and everything that came with it. Coincidentally, the reboot of the show reused the same trope when Madeleine Mantock exited Charmed after season 3 — her character Macy was killed off, and a new Charmed one, Kaela, was introduced, although she wasn’t actually a blood relative to the other two.

1 Riverdale

Reinventing Itself Is The Only Constant In Riverdale

Riverdale started out as a run-of-the-mill murder mystery with an eerie vibe in season 1, but the Archie Comics show kept on rebranding itself in each subsequent season to different degrees of success. In season 2, the show dived into the slasher genre with The Black Hood; in season 3, Gryphons & Gargoyles and The Farm took center stage; in season 4, Stonewall Prep’s evil doings were exposed; and in season 5, a time jump and Polly’s disappearance allowed Riverdale to return to its mysterious roots. Seasons 6 and 7 were where things turned supernatural, and even the most devoted viewers lost track of Riverdale‘s timeline, but the show still enjoyed quite a long run.