Photo: ABC
You thought you knew your favorite TV shows. That was right before they went way off the reservation. Back in the greatness of the ’90s, the whole point of TV was to lull us into a relaxing routine of reliable TV and a false sense of happiness. But when shows pull the rug out from under you and toss curveballs in, our only question is simply this: Why?
We know there are struggles with keeping cast members, writing for a decade straight about the same boring shit, trying to boost ratings when they’re down and keeping them up when they’re rarely high. But that doesn’t mean you need to turn Family Matters into a sci-fi show or give us more David Lynch than our brains can handle.
With that said, we carefully selected seven shows that went way off the reservation and turned our regularly scheduled programs into a bit of a freak show. Watch and learn, then remember and cry all over again inside.
7 Shows That Got Weird And Went Way Off The Reservation
Let us not forget all the good times we’ve had with our good friend television: These Are the Best TV Pilots We’ve Ever Seen
TV off the Reservation
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"Family Matters"
Photo: ABC
After many years of Friday nights together, TGIF's best family sitcom went from simple Chicago suburbs to some weird sci-fi curveball. We might have been slacking after six seasons, but when we checked back in, Steve was going to another planet and marrying Laura Winslow. So yeah, things went off the rails. Oh, and they didn't think we'd notice the blatantly obvious recasting of Harriet with another woman. Shame.
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"Saved by the Bell"
Photo: NBC
Looking back, there was never any consistency on Saved by the Bell. First, they were with Miss Bliss in Jr. High, then spent a couple years in high school (with the addition of half the group) then went off to Hawaii, then Tori shows up for like half a season. Then the full squad returns just in time to graduate, right before the "new class" shows up and Zack and Kelly get married in Las Vegas. These kids are too young to be traveling around without parents.
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"Lost"
If by "off the reservation" you mean they somehow escaped that retched island, got back to civilization and then, for some reason, went back because a pilled-up Matthew Fox said so. Then yes, they went off the reservation. Basically, season four through six were totally fucked, but then again, so was the whole show, especially the finale.
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"Roseanne"
Photo: ABC
Anyone who watched Roseanne knows it went from being alright to being the kickoff to John Goodman's outstanding career to being the weirdest final season for any show. Not only did the finale reveal a lot of episodes that were a weird dream, but they also did a bunch of strange fantasy stuff, as well as had Roseanne win the lottery (for some reason). No wonder Becky left. The best was when she came back late in the game, and they alternated the role with the girl who replaced her in season five.
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"Twin Peaks"
Photo: ABC
This show had countless weird and unsettling moments, but then again, we can just chock it up to being another slice of David Lynch's strange existence.
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"Community"
We can't exactly attest to the full weirdness of Community, other than to say it was never that funny, was cancelled for a reason, came back and was somehow less funny. Even Chevy Chase was hard to swallow, and we loved the National Lampoon's movies with him. And Gillian Jacobs is one of our favorites. That's what happens when you're competing with The Office and Parks and Recreation: You cop out and make weird zombie episodes.
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"Baywatch Nights"
Photo: NBC
Everyone loved the slow-running babes of Baywatch more than 25 years ago, but that doesn't quite explain Baywatch Nights. Essentially, it's David Hasselhoff working the nightshift now, doing detective work, and there are like no bikinis. What a crap spinoff! But David Hasselhoff drunk eating Wendy's cheeseburgers? Now, that I could watch for days on end and never get sick of it.
