Top 10 Things that Started Out Being Good but Then Became Extremely Lame and Pretentious

1. The Simpsons

   

   The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening. It originally aired as shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show starting April 19, 1987, and debuted as a standalone series on December 17, 1989.

   As of 2026, it remains the longest-running animated sitcom. The show follows Homer Simpson... read more

   It went from being better than South Park to mostly just being more popular than South Park due to having almost none of its audacity.

   It started to go downhill very fast.

   The first 10 seasons were gold, but oh my...

2. DC Comics

   

   DC Comics, Inc. is an American comic book publisher. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, known for iconic characters such as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.

   It started out knowing how not to take everything it made as seriously as possible. Then The Dark Knight was released, inspiring numerous mediocre imitators (we're looking at you, Man of Steel and Dawn of Justice). This caused DC to think everything needed to be edgy and "badass" (Aquaman and Doom Patrol? Really?).

3. The Last of Us series

   

   TLOU 1: In my opinion, it's largely just okay. Despite having very mediocre and frustrating gameplay and arguably being the main reason Naughty Dog jumped the shark after (and arguably during) its release, it at least features a genuinely well-written and deep storyline (by video game standards). It also has incredibly top-notch graphics.

   TLOU 2: This is largely an utterly pretentious pile of garbage. The fact that its release year (2020) was also the release year of Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time shows how deeply Naughty Dog has sunk. For the most part, it smashes together all of the worst aspects of TLOU 1 and relies on Naughty Dog's name to get automatic rave reviews, despite blatantly sucking.

4. Radiohead

   

   Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Phil Selway, and Ed O'Brien.

   Known for their experimentation and sonic evolution, they rose to international prominence with OK Computer and continued... read more

   Their use of electronics is just odd. They're so good with their instruments already - why would they switch to computers, autotune, and all that crap?

   OK Computer was a good album, but I haven't really enjoyed listening to anything after that. It wasn't an easy listen.

   I personally think The Bends was mediocre, and everything after OK Computer was amazing. I respect your opinion though. Radiohead isn't for everyone.

5. SuperMarioLogan

   

   Logan Thirtyacre, born on November 17, 1994, is better known as SuperMarioLogan or SML. He is an American YouTuber and puppeteer who creates comedy videos using puppets, action figures, and plush dolls, and his content often features characters based on or inspired by the Mario franchise. He has gained... read more

6. Metroid series

   

   Due to Nintendo turning it into a bad clone of Halo, the series went from being one of the most iconic and innovative ones on Earth (in Metroid 1-4 and the Metroid Prime trilogy) to becoming a total joke. It now relies on shockingly good fan games as its version of life support.

   I only remember it for having that one ending.

   Thankfully, it's getting a good comeback.

7. Batman

   

   Batman, also known as Bruce Wayne, is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in 1939. On film, Batman has been portrayed by Lewis Wilson, Robert Lowery... read more

8. The Terminator series

9. Naughty Dog

   

   Naughty Dog is an American video game development company based in Santa Monica, California. The studio was acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2001. It is best known for producing the Uncharted series and The Last of Us, both praised for their storytelling, character development, and technical... read more

   They went from making some of the best platformers in video game history (Crash Bandicoot, Jak & Daxter, and Uncharted) to creating one of the most pretentious, generic, and boring "edgy and realistic action game" franchises ever (The Last of Us).

10. Alien series

    
The Newcomers
11. ?

    Among Us

    

    The only thing somehow keeping this alive is the addicted 9-year-olds who watch Among Us YouTubers and have Among Us merch.

12. ?

    Megadeth

    

    Megadeth is an American thrash metal band from Los Angeles, California. The band was formed in 1983 by guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassist David Ellefson, shortly after Mustaine was dismissed from Metallica. They have released 16 studio albums to date and have undergone numerous lineup changes, with... read more

The Contenders

13. Wreck-It Ralph series

    

    Wreck-it Ralph 1: It's not exactly great, but still a pretty good version of Ready Player One.

    Wreck-it Ralph 2: It has extremely flashy graphics, a social justice agenda, a painfully huge amount of Internet product placement, and practically nothing else worth mentioning.

14. Metallica

    

    Metallica is an American heavy and thrash metal band formed in 1981. The original lineup included James Hetfield (vocals and rhythm guitar), Dave Mustaine (lead guitar), Lars Ulrich (drums), and Ron McGovney (bass). They first gained mainstream fame with their 1991 self-titled album (The Black Album... read more

    Trying to turn itself into an "alt rock" band immediately comes to mind.

15. The Lion King series

16. Nickelodeon

    

    Nickelodeon is an American basic cable and satellite television network that launched on December 1, 1977. It is owned by Paramount Global and is based in New York City. The network is widely known for its original children's programming, including iconic series like SpongeBob SquarePants, Rugrats, and... read more

    I never grew up in the 90s and early 2000s because I was born in 2004. I started watching Nickelodeon when I was around 7. At that time, shows like Fanboy and Chum Chum, Tuff Puppy, Breadwinners, and Sanjay and Craig were on, but thankfully, I never watched them.

    Instead, I watched SpongeBob, iCarly, Victorious, and Fairly OddParents (FOP). I really wish I grew up watching Rocko's Modern Life, old SpongeBob only, Rugrats, Hey Arnold!, Jimmy Neutron, Invader Zim, Danny Phantom, My Life as a Teenage Robot, CatDog, Angry Beavers, Ren and Stimpy, Doug, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Wild Thornberrys, Drake and Josh, and even old Fairly OddParents.

    When I watched Fairly OddParents as a kid, they would only air seasons 5-9 and never anything from seasons 1-4. Nowadays, we have the abomination known as The Loud House, The Patrick Star Show, Kamp Koral, etc.

17. Mother 3 (EarthBound 2)

18. The Dark Knight trilogy

    

19. South Park

    

    South Park is an American adult animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. The show centers on four boys: Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick, and their adventures in the fictional town of South Park, Colorado. It's known... read more

20. The Matrix series

    

    Each one was worse than the last. Let's hope The Matrix 4 ends that cycle.

21. Death Note

    

    Death Note is a Japanese anime television series based on the manga created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. The story follows Light Yagami, a gifted high school student with a strong sense of justice who discovers a notebook that allows him to kill anyone by writing their name in it. His actions as... read more

    The show absolutely does not work without L - enough said.

    I don't really watch anime, but the 2017 movie wasn't good at all.

22. Ben 10

    

    Ben 10 is a media franchise created by Man of Action Studios and produced by Cartoon Network Studios. The franchise revolves around a boy named Ben Tennyson who acquires a watch-like alien device called the Omnitrix, which allows him to transform into ten different alien creatures. The series has expanded... read more

23. Disney

    

    The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. It was founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy O. Disney. Disney is known for its film studios, theme... read more

    They've been getting extremely lazy, and you can't watch anything without having to pay for their streaming service or just getting a DVD.

24. Cartoon Network

    

    Cartoon Network is an American basic cable and satellite television channel that was launched in 1992 by the Turner Broadcasting System. It is now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is known for airing animated programming targeted primarily at children and teenagers. The network has been home to many... read more

25. YouTube

    

    YouTube is a global video-sharing website headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States. It was created by three former PayPal employees on February 14, 2005. In November 2006, Google acquired YouTube for US$1.65 billion, and it is currently ranked as the second most visited website worldwide... read more

26. Green Day

    

    Green Day are an American pop punk and punk rock band formed in East Bay, California, in 1987. The core members are Billie Joe Armstrong (vocals, guitar), Mike Dirnt (bass), and Tré Cool (drums), with Jason White often performing live on guitar. They blend punk rock, pop punk, and alternative rock,... read more

27. The Fairly OddParents

    

    The Fairly OddParents is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. It originally premiered as a series of shorts on Oh Yeah! Cartoons in 1998 before debuting as a full series in March 2001.... read more

    Like a lot of shows on this list, it started good then quickly went downhill before being sent to the Nicktoon network, where it died a slow and painful death.