Summary

• Better Call Saul: The Breaking Bad spin-off started off as a potential comedy but ended up becoming a renowned drama show.
• The Defenders: The highly anticipated team-up of Marvel superheroes didn't mesh well on TV and took multiple episodes to come together.
• Atlanta: Donald Glover's show about rappers in Atlanta went off the rails with a surrealist, off-beat approach in later seasons.

For various reasons, certain popular shows ended up being totally different than anyone expected. Whether it be due to unclear advertising or a show derailing and taking an entirely new direction after its first season, several shows ended up much different than expected. While most shows have shocking plot twists or off-beat episodes, that's par for the course in television. A TV show becoming something totally unlike what anyone believed it to be is far less common.

With many shows, like The Crown or Seinfeld, the subject is straightforward, and the series benefits from sticking to what one might expect. With shows like Twin Peaks or Atlanta, the artistic vision of the creators took the series in new directions. For shows like Game of Thrones and Better Call Saul, no one could predict what the prestige dramas would look like from early announcements and trailers.

10 Better Call Saul

After Breaking Bad, there were rumors of Better Call Saul being a comedy.

Breaking Bad is one of the best TV shows of all time, so rightfully, there was a nervous apprehension when a spin-off series was announced. Saul Goodman was an interesting character, but a well-written ing role can't always hold attention the same way as a lead. Not to mention, there was even discussion of the show being a sitcom at the start. In an interview with Awards Daily, showrunner Peter Gould explained that their original hope was that "Better Call Saul was gonna be 70% comedy and 30% drama." Better Call Saul ended up being a renowned drama show.

9 The Defenders

Netflix's The Defenders was expected to be a street-level Avengers equivalent.

Before Marvel Studios began working on shows for Disney+, Netflix was one of the homes for tangentially related MCU stories on television. Daredevil was a massively popular show among the first Netflix Originals, and Jessica Jones and Luke Cage were also well-received. Despite poor reviews for Iron Fist, the idea of these heroes coming together for a street-level Avengers-type team in The Defenders was exciting. However, the team didn't mesh well at all on TV, and it took multiple grueling episodes for them to even come together in the first place.

8 Atlanta

Atlanta embraced its bizarre nature after a grounded first season.

Donald Glover making a show about rappers in Atlanta was an exciting prospect, and Atlanta season 1 was pretty tame and straightforward in its comedy premise. However, Atlanta went off the rails for the following seasons with a surrealist, off-beat approach to American social issues. While it may have declined in viewership and commercial appeal, Donald Glover's creativity shines through in the fantastically bizarre series in a way no one predicted.

7 The Office

The Office defied expectation by succeeding as a US remake of a UK sitcom.

The Office is such an enormous cultural phenomenon and quintessential 2000s TV show that it's easy to forget it's a remake of a British sitcom of the same name. Aside from the Steve Carell mockumentary, American remakes of British shows have typically not been well-received. There are several terrible US remakes of UK sitcoms, so the fact that The Office found a life of its own and managed to be a gigantic hit was a surprise.

6 Lost

The ABC drama about plane crash survivors developed an expansive mythology.

When Lost first aired, the outstanding popularity of Survivor likely helped the ABC drama find its footing. The idea of a serialized drama of survivors on a deserted island in a Lord of the Flies-like scenario was captivating on its own. However, Lost truly took over the TV world with its complex mysteries, ultimately becoming an expansive series with its own mythology and world-building beyond what anyone expected. Aptly timed with the rise of internet forum culture, the online communities analyzing and theorizing about Lost were also groundbreaking.

5 Game Of Thrones

Even book readers couldn't anticipate what HBO's Game of Thrones would be like.

Game of Thrones changed television drastically, demonstrating the potential for blockbuster fictional universes to appear in shows. But the original marketing for the series posed it as a Sean Bean-centric series through trailers and posters. The advertising gave off an eerie, dark vibe, closer to a medieval setting than a fantasy series. Even for book readers, it was hard to tell what Game of Thrones would look like and whether it could capture the vast world George R.R. Martin created. No one could have predicted how immensely popular the HBO series would get.

4 Riverdale

The CW's edgy drama grew more bizarre each season.

Early trailers for Riverdale are amusing to reflect on, given how bizarre the series became over time. The series initially combined elements of classic Archie comics with CW-style edgy drama. The central mystery of "Who killed Jason Blossom?" was the main focus, and the premiere season made for a captivating mystery thriller with a healthy dose of teen melodrama. However, Riverdale got stranger and less well-received each season, pushing boundaries with its storytelling in a way that better resembled the absurdity of Archie comics.

3 Arrow

The Green Arrow-centric series turned into a massive television superhero universe.

Shortly after Smallville finished, Arrow was the next step in superhero television. Given that Green Arrow was a popular character in the latest seasons of Smallville, it seemed possible that the new show would be a spin-off. Instead, Arrow established its own tone with heavy inspiration from The Dark Knight trilogy and began its fictional universe. The Arrowverse was far more extensive than anyone expected, introducing DC heroes like The Flash, Superman, and many more for fun television. Given how Oliver Queen-centric the first season of Arrow was, the vastness of season 8 is a stark contrast.

2 Succession

HBO's dramedy developed a surprisingly emotional character-driven story.

HBO's Succession seemed promising from the start, but it took time for the series to find its identity. Early trailers depicted it with a dark-comedy/dramedy premise with prestige acting and a similar vision to The Big Short. The surprising development of Succession was the immense emotional attachment audiences developed for its characters. Despite being about some of the worst people ever portrayed on television, Succession became one of the most captivating, character-driven dramas ever made.

1 Twin Peaks: The Return

Showtime's Twin Peaks: The Return was nothing like the original ABC drama.

Arriving nearly three decades after Twin Peaks originally went off the air on ABC, Showtime's Twin Peaks: The Return was an utterly unpredictable show. While many hoped for a nostalgic trip back to the Pacific Northwest town of the original series, the long-awaited third season/reboot was purposefully distinctive, focusing primarily on new story ideas while characters from the original waited for their moments to shine. David Lynch returned to direct all 18 episodes of one of the most inventive artistic achievements in the television medium. The Return became the best Twin Peaks season, partially for its careful critique of nostalgia and fan service culture in media.