☰
Genres
DramaComedyAnimationActionCrimeAdventureRomanceReality-TV More genres →
Decades
2020s2010s2000s1990s1980s1970s1960s1950s1940s1930s1920s1900s
Tags Search Sign in
Grew the Beard

TV Series That Grew the Beard

Named for Riker's beard in The Next Generation, this is the show that starts shaky and then gets genuinely good. These series opened with their weakest season and climbed to a much stronger, sustained level.

Ranked by how much the show improved after season one · 43 series

Filter & sort
Genres

Genres as assigned by IMDb. Selecting several means a show must match all of them.

Decades

By first-air year. Several selections widen the range; a specific year narrows within its decade.

Specific year
Tags

Rating patterns, computed from IMDb episode-rating trajectories. Deliberately strict: only shows with an unmistakable pattern carry one, so expect small numbers.

Rating patterns

Taste tags, judged by our AI taste model. They cover the 5,000 most-rated shows.

Tone & mood
Pacing & structure
Humor style
Themes & subject matter
Characters & perspective
Emotional payoff
Craft & style
Format & audience
Viewing-culture clusters
Intensity & content character
43 series
1

Mystery Science Theater 3000

★ 8.6
28K 199 1988–1999
Lo-fi charm · Ironic & meta
6.6 to 7.8
 2

The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch

★ 6.5
6K 125 2020–present
Docuseries · Mystery box
6.8 to 7.9
 3

Industry

★ 7.5
28K 33 2020–2027
Workplace · Class divide
7.5 to 8.6
 4

Parks and Recreation

★ 8.6
317K 124 2009–2015
Warm humor · Warm glow · Workplace
7.1 to 8.2
 5

Bel-Air

★ 6.4
15K 38 2022–2025
Class divide · Coming of age
7.3 to 8.3
 6

Bungo Stray Dogs

★ 7.8
14K 62 2016–present
Anime · Supernatural
7.6 to 8.7
 7

BoJack Horseman

★ 8.8
237K 76 2014–2020
Mental health · Adult animation
7.9 to 8.9
 8

Babylon 5

★ 8.4
37K 111 1993–1998
Sprawling saga · Space & sci-fi
7.1 to 8.1
 9

Beavis and Butt-Head

★ 7.5
37K 214 1993–2011
Adult animation · Episodic
6.8 to 7.8
 10

Seinfeld

★ 8.8
387K 172 1989–1998
Sitcom · Dialogue-driven · Cynical
7.3 to 8.4
 11

Skam

★ 8.5
43K 43 2015–2017
Coming of age · Young adult
7.8 to 8.8
 12

Legend of the Galactic Heroes

★ 9.0
7K 110 1988–1997
Sprawling saga · War & military
8.2 to 9.2
 13

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

★ 8.5
147K 133 2008–2020
Deep worldbuilding
7.3 to 8.3
 14

Men Behaving Badly

★ 7.7
9K 45 1992–2014
Sitcom · British TV · Friendship
6.7 to 7.6
 15

ReBoot

★ 7.9
6K 47 1994–2001
Deep worldbuilding
8.1 to 8.9
 16

Star Trek: The Next Generation

★ 8.7
151K 176 1987–1994
Space & sci-fi · Hopeful
6.8 to 7.6
 17

Succession

★ 8.8
363K 39 2018–2023
Elites & privilege · Cynical
8.3 to 9.2
 18

12 Monkeys

★ 7.7
54K 47 2015–2018
Time travel · Puzzle plot
7.9 to 8.8
 19

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

★ 8.1
23K 64 2018–2020
Found family · Queer stories
7.8 to 8.7
 20

Kingdom

★ 8.8
7K 155 2012–present
War & military · Anime
8.3 to 9.1
 21

Re: Zero - Starting Life in Another World

★ 8.3
76K 110 2016–present
Anime · Time travel
8.6 to 9.4
 22

Only Fools and Horses

★ 9.0
66K 64 1981–2003
British TV · Working class
7.7 to 8.5
 23

Black Sails

★ 8.2
127K 38 2014–2017
Morally gray · Antihero lead
7.9 to 8.7
 24

Classroom of the Elite

★ 7.7
26K 54 2017–present
Genius lead · School & campus
7.6 to 8.3