- 4 months ago
From quirky comedies that turned dark to dramas that embraced sci-fi, some TV shows love to reinvent themselves. Join us as we explore memorable series that boldly switched genres mid-run, leaving audiences surprised and sometimes bewildered. Which of these unconventional pivots was your favorite? Let us know in the comments!
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00:00When you saw that little girl, and you thought that she could actually do curses,
00:06I could have definitely accused you of something, but I didn't.
00:10Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:12And today, we're looking at TV shows that started as one genre,
00:15but at some point, drastically shifted gears.
00:18This includes a few spoilers.
00:20Look what you did.
00:26Number 10. Felicity.
00:28I don't know if I can do this.
00:30Yeah, you can.
00:33Do you promise we'll talk on time?
00:34I promise.
00:35Okay.
00:35Okay?
00:36Okay.
00:37For most of its four-season run, Felicity was a college drama grounded in reality,
00:43or at least as realistic as a WB show is expected to be.
00:47When a season three episode touched upon sci-fi with a Twilight Zone homage,
00:51season four dove into pure fantasy as a spell sends the titular character back in time
00:56to the start of her senior year.
00:58This gives Felicity another chance to choose between Noel and Ben,
01:09but her actions naturally have unforeseen consequences.
01:13This storyline isn't merely contained to a what-if episode.
01:16The last several episodes revolve around time travel.
01:20Although it's suggested this might have been a dream,
01:22several signs seemingly canonize an alternate reality.
01:25Not quite as jarring as Felicity's haircut, but it came close.
01:30You were actually in my dream, too.
01:32You rescued me from a psych ward.
01:35Oh, Benjamin.
01:36Always all hair around you.
01:38Number 9.
01:39Bojack Horseman.
01:40This animated series begins as an absurd satire about a washed-up sitcom actor who just so happens to be a horse.
01:47While the show never entirely abandons its comedy roots,
01:50the penultimate episode of season one takes a sharp turn into psychological drama,
01:55as Bojack contemplates whether or not he's a good person.
01:58I know that I can be selfish and narcissistic and self-destructive,
02:01but underneath all that, deep down,
02:03I'm a good person and I need you to tell me that I'm good.
02:06Diane, tell me, please, Diane, tell me that I'm good.
02:10Throughout the following five seasons, we find that he isn't.
02:14Yes, Bojack has his sympathetic moments,
02:16but he's also the kind of man-slash-horse
02:18who'll groom the underage daughter of a woman he claims to love.
02:21And that's not even his absolute worst offense.
02:23And if you ever try to contact me or my family again,
02:28I will f***ing kill you.
02:31Although Bojack's life seems like a comedy,
02:33it's truly a tragedy that slowly but surely catches up to him,
02:37along with the consequences of his actions.
02:40Then, in an effort to cover for yourself,
02:42you waited to call the paramedics that might have saved her life.
02:46And you don't think you have any power over women.
02:50Number 8.
02:51Twin Peaks.
02:51You're gonna let me in on whatever the hell is going on here?
02:56Sheriff, we got a lot to talk about.
02:58Twin Peaks was ahead of its time in more ways than one.
03:01David Lynch brought a cinematic eye
03:02when this was still uncommon for network TV.
03:05But it's in the storytelling where Twin Peaks truly broke new ground.
03:09The series starts as a small-town mystery
03:11revolving around the murder of Laura Palmer.
03:13Although it has a quirky edge from the get-go,
03:16the third episode marks the first major shift into surrealism
03:20as Agent Dale Cooper enters the Red Room.
03:23Almost like that.
03:25You do it watch Laura Palmer.
03:29But it is Laura Palmer.
03:32From there, the show became increasingly supernatural
03:35and more complex than audiences initially anticipated.
03:38This might have been one of the reasons
03:40Twin Peaks was prematurely canceled,
03:42but it also gained the show a cult following
03:44that would lead to a revival.
03:54Number 7.
03:56Community.
03:57No, Dad!
03:57What about you?
03:58Well, that actually was from The Breakfast Club.
04:08Nobody puts Baby in the Corner.
04:09At first, this sitcom might seem like a throwback to 80s comedies.
04:13The pilot is even dedicated to John Hughes.
04:16As community unfolds,
04:18it becomes clear that this isn't exclusively a send-up
04:20of high school and college comedies.
04:22It's a satire of virtually every subgenre,
04:25from spaghetti westerns to conspiracy thrillers
04:28to zombie outbreaks.
04:29It also branched out to different formats,
04:32such as documentaries and animation.
04:34What did you say we were, Abed?
04:36We're stop-motion animated.
04:37I don't understand what he's saying.
04:38I never understand what any of you are saying.
04:40The show didn't just change its premise
04:42with the community college backdrop becoming an afterthought.
04:45It pretty much changed genres on a weekly basis,
04:48yet maintained the show's signature wit throughout.
04:51While always a comedy at its core,
04:53to call community a genre-bending show
04:55would be an understatement.
04:57It twisted genres into balloon animals.
04:59He's teaching me about real conspiracies
05:01by erasing his existence.
05:03My God, do you know what this means?
05:06That's how stupid Jeff thinks other people are.
05:09Number 6. The Curse
05:11That's amazing. Thank you, guys.
05:16You're welcome.
05:17Happy, Adira.
05:18Mommy, happy.
05:19Yes.
05:19Son has a job, right?
05:22Combining Nathan Fielder's cringe comedy
05:24with Benny Safdie's paranoid tension,
05:27The Curse carries an uneasy sentiment
05:28from the first episode
05:29when a young girl says she curses a TV host.
05:32I curse you.
05:36Okay.
05:37Okay.
05:38I'm gonna go get change, okay?
05:40So I'll be right back.
05:41This gets inside the character's head,
05:43making him contemplate whether or not he is cursed
05:45as misfortune befalls him and his wife.
05:48The show keeps the audience guessing as well,
05:50although it never veers from reality
05:52until the season's last episode.
05:55What's happening?
05:56Why are you on the ceiling?
05:58I don't know.
06:00Let me climb down.
06:02Up until this point,
06:04you can chalk up everything that's happened
06:05to the characters as bad luck,
06:07bad karma,
06:07or simply their own ignorance.
06:09The curse gets real, though,
06:11as the protagonist literally floats off the floor
06:14into the sky.
06:15It goes all in on the supernatural
06:16and never looks back or down.
06:19I have to tell them to stop!
06:20Ducky, please!
06:21Please!
06:22I'm begging you!
06:23Stop!
06:26Help!
06:27This spinoff initially centered on Garner Ellerbee
06:41starting his own detective agency,
06:43receiving help from Mitch Buchanan and company.
06:45The crime drama angle was already a deviation
06:48from the original Baywatch,
06:50but Baywatch Nights took an even sharper turn
06:52with its second season.
06:53With ratings floundering,
06:55the showrunners made a few tweaks.
06:56Ellerbee was no longer part of the main cast,
06:59and it was now a paranormal investigation series
07:01like The X-Files.
07:08It's not a parody of a show
07:10desperately trying to stay afloat.
07:12It's the definition of one.
07:14While this franchise was never meant
07:15to be taken that seriously,
07:17we're still having a hard time
07:19wrapping our brains around the fact
07:20sea monsters, vampires, and demons
07:22are all officially part of the Baywatch lore.
07:26Hey!
07:31Ah!
07:31Ah!
07:34Number 4.
07:36Family Matters.
07:38Hi, Mr. Winslow.
07:40I'm Steve Urkel.
07:44Harriet and Carl Winslow
07:46appeared on Perfect Strangers
07:47before taking center stage
07:49in the spinoff Family Matters.
07:50Ironically, by the end of the first season,
07:53the family didn't matter much.
07:54The only one who truly mattered
07:56was Steve Urkel,
07:57who appeared several episodes in
07:59as an intended one-off guest star.
08:01I hope you don't mind if I stay a while.
08:04My parents told me not to come home till 10.
08:10Got me cheese?
08:12Jaleel White was so scene-stealing
08:14that the series began to center
08:15on Urkel and his inventions.
08:17It went from a family-centric sitcom
08:19to a sci-fi comedy
08:20with Urkel building a transformation chamber,
08:23a teleportation device,
08:24and a time machine.
08:26The series was canceled
08:27before the team could move forward
08:29with a planned 10th season.
08:30After sending Urkel to space
08:32in what wound up being
08:33the series finale, though,
08:35was there anywhere else to go?
08:36Richard Hooker's novel provided the basis
08:57for Robert Altman's 1970 movie
08:59centered on a mobile army surgical hospital.
09:02The Oscar-winning film was
09:03a black comedy.
09:04The TV series,
09:05which premiered two years later,
09:07maintained that comedic edge.
09:09With war being such a serious subject, though,
09:11perhaps it was inevitable
09:13that MASH evolved
09:14into a more dramatic,
09:15at times tragic show.
09:17The series wasn't the same
09:18after the season three finale,
09:20when Radar dropped the bombshell
09:21that Henry Blake's plane
09:22was shot down over the Sea of Japan.
09:25It spun in.
09:30There were no survivors.
09:33With the cost of war
09:34hitting the characters
09:35and audience like never before,
09:37MASH took its most significant step
09:39from sitcom to dramedy
09:40with emphasis on the drama.
09:42She killed it.
09:44She killed it.
09:46She killed the chicken.
09:52Oh my God.
09:53Oh my God.
09:55I want to know everything
09:59I have on the Collins family.
10:01Everyone who lives in that house
10:02on the hill
10:03and anyone who has
10:04anything to do with them.
10:06Then can I go back home
10:07to New York?
10:09Although Dark Shadows
10:10always had a gothic ambiance,
10:12it more or less blended in
10:13with other daytime soap operas
10:14at the time,
10:15struggling in the ratings.
10:17After roughly 10 months,
10:18the writers injected
10:19a little more bite
10:20into the setup
10:21with the arrival
10:22of Barnabas Collins,
10:23a 175-year-old vampire.
10:26The show had introduced
10:27supernatural horror,
10:28opening the door
10:29for witches,
10:30werewolves,
10:30and other creatures.
10:31They even worked time travel
10:33into the equation.
10:34Bye, Barnabas.
10:36No, Sarah.
10:38Please don't leave me.
10:40It sounds like
10:41a shark jumping moment,
10:42but the switch worked,
10:44going from TV's
10:45lowest rated soap
10:46to ABC's
10:46most watched daytime show.
10:48It wouldn't be
10:49the last soap opera
10:50to take this approach,
10:51as poor Charles
10:51somehow went from
10:52a medical drama spinoff
10:54to steamy vampire romance.
10:56Yes,
10:56vampires exist
10:57in the general hospital universe.
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11:25Number one,
11:26Doctor Who.
11:27Frankly,
11:28I don't understand
11:28your attitude.
11:29Yours leaves a lot
11:30to be desired.
11:31Will you open the door?
11:32There's nothing in there.
11:34Then what are you
11:34afraid to show us?
11:35Afraid?
11:36Oh, go away.
11:37Doctor Who
11:38has gone through
11:38many changes.
11:39When we say that,
11:40we're referring to
11:41both the titular doctor
11:42and the show's tone.
11:44Certain elements
11:44have been present
11:45since the beginning.
11:46Like the TARDIS.
11:48She isn't there.
11:48Close the door.
11:50Barbara.
11:50What do you like?
11:58Yet the series
11:59in its infancy
12:00is almost unrecognizable
12:01now for a variety
12:02of reasons.
12:03For starters,
12:04Doctor Who started
12:05as an educational program
12:07aimed at families.
12:08The TARDIS
12:09was used to travel
12:10through time,
12:10but the goal
12:11was to provide
12:12fun history lessons.
12:13There was also room
12:14for real science
12:15interspersed
12:16with science fiction.
12:17With the creation
12:17of beings like Daleks,
12:19Doctor Who drifted
12:20further away
12:21from its educational
12:22purposes.
12:23While sci-fi
12:23has been a constant,
12:25the franchise
12:25has experimented
12:26with an array
12:27of genres
12:27throughout its
12:28more than 60-year history.
12:29Can you think of
12:42any other shows
12:43that change genres?
12:44Let us know
12:45in the comments.
12:45Hey, aren't you
12:47the horse
12:48from Horsin' Around?
12:49of theuv Wis�� oro.
12:50.
12:51.
12:51.
12:52.
12:59.
13:00.
13:04.
13:08.
13:08.
13:10.
13:10.
13:14.
13:16.
13:16.
13:16.
13:17.
13:17.
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