When it comes to TV shows, it's almost inevitable that the quality won't be consistent throughout. When you have dozens (or even hundreds) of episodes playing out over many years, even the best shows will likely have a stumble or two along the way. Keeping a viewer engaged for multiple years is very different from keeping one engaged for just a couple of hours, as is the case with a movie, and so these shifts in quality tend to be forgivable, so long as a show's highs are high enough.
IMDb allows users to rate every TV show episode individually, making it easier to see how consistent a show is on an episode-to-episode basis. As these ratings can change over time, it's hard to find what shows objectively have the largest difference in quality between their "best" and "worst" episode, but the following seven examples represent some of the most dramatic differences. These are all generally well-liked shows that nonetheless have some less than stellar episodes, but all in all, it may be the abundance of great episodes that make the lesser episodes seem worse than they truly are.
'Arrested Development' (2003-2019): "Development Arrested" (9.2/10) & "Saving for Arraignment Day" (6.7/10)
Arrested Development is perhaps the most beloved sitcom from the 2000s... though not while it was actually on the air, as it was a critically beloved show that never got huge ratings. This is clear from the fact that it was canceled during its third season, though despite it happening suddenly, the writers were able to craft a compelling enough season 3 finale, "Development Arrested," which still stands as the show's highest-rated episode, at a 9.2/10 on IMDb.
Cut to 2013, and the show was resurrected, courtesy of Netflix. It ended up getting a fourth and fifth season before ending for good in 2019. Season 4 has its fans and is generally recognized as ambitious and sometimes very funny, but it certainly wasn't as great as the show's original three seasons. Season 5 was a further step down in quality, though, and also contains the show's lowest-rated episode, "Saving for Arraignment Day," which has a rating 2.5 points lower than the show's highest-rated episode.
'The Office' (2005-2013): "Finale" (9.8/10) & "Get the Girl" (6.4/10)
The Office ran for a massive nine seasons and ended its run with almost 200 episodes. Surprisingly, the highest-rated of all those episodes is the very last one, appropriately titled "Finale." It's a nearly hour-long episode that does a solid job at wrapping up the show's various plot lines and giving a send-off to all its characters. It's otherwise not the funniest or most memorable episode, but it's good the show was able to have a sound series finale after a shaky eighth and ninth season.
Speaking of those last two seasons: they're not great. The show was probably feeling a little worn-out by season 6 or 7, and then when Steve Carell left, the show suffered further. It's not surprising then that the lowest-rated episode according to IMDb - "Get the Girl" - comes from season 8. With a main plot that focuses on the fairly divisive Andy, and a B-plot that focuses on the even more divisive character Nellie, it's understandable that this is as low-rated as The Office gets.
'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' (1997-2003): "The Body" (9.7/10) & "Beer Bad" (6.2/10)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a thrillingly ambitious show for a network show that demanded 20+ episodes per year on a relatively tight budget. Its riskiest episodes were often its best and most memorable. Three such episodes all have a 9.7/10 on IMDb: "The Body," which is a grim and heartbreaking episode about death and grief, "Once More, With Feeling," which is a musical episode that feels organic and impacts the ongoing story, and "Hush," which is an episode that removes everyone's ability to speak, playing out almost entirely dialogue-free.
For those highs, there were naturally some lows. There are surprisingly few genuinely bad hours among the show's 144 episodes... except for "Beer Bad," that is, which has a rating 3.5 points less than the show's best episodes. A clunky and clumsy story about how beer is, well, bad, it has the main character being turned into a cave-woman because of some cursed beer. Besides a couple of funny moments, it's entirely skippable.
'Rick and Morty' (2013-): "The Ricklantis Mixup" (9.8/10) & "Rickdependence Spray" (5.7/10)
When Rick and Morty is at its best, it's a fantastic science-fiction/comedy/animated show. With a universally-liked season 1 and 2, and an only occasionally divisive season 3, the show was unstoppable for quite a few years, back in the 2010s. Its highest-rated episode comes from season 3: "The Ricklantis Mixup," which packs so much into just 22 minutes and earns its 9.8/10 rating for being hugely ambitious and wholly unique within the show as a whole.
But once the show got to its fourth and fifth seasons, the quality became less consistent, and the fanbase was more divided than ever before. The less said about its lowest-rated episode - season 5's "Rickdependence Spray" - the better. While the show has often been crude and uncomfortable, this represented it perhaps going too far, and that sentiment is reflected by its rating being 4.1 points lower than the episode that represents Rick and Morty at its best.
'Dexter' (2006-2013): "The Getaway" (9.8/10) & "Remember the Monsters?" (4.7/10)
Dexter was a great show for its first four seasons. Well... okay, season 3 wasn't as good as the first two super entertaining seasons, sure, but it was still pretty solid. But then season 4 came around and blew viewers away, showing Dexter at its best. With the show firing on all cylinders - and having a great guest star in John Lithgow - the season ended excellently with "The Getaway," which has a near-perfect rating on IMDb of 9.8/10.
And then, four years and four seasons later, Dexter aired its final episode... and its lowest-rated. While the last four seasons of Dexter had their moments, season 8 was pretty much an all-around misfire, lacking excitement, tension, mystery, or anything particularly compelling. It even felt like the writers and cast members were tired of the show, and "Remember the Monsters" ended up being one of the limpest and most baffling series finales in recent TV history. Newcomers to Dexter are honestly better off stopping after season 4, as the show's early years still hold up as quality TV.
'The Simpsons' (1989-): "Homer's Enemy" (9.3/10) & "Lisa Goes Gaga" (4/10)
It shouldn't be surprising to anyone that The Simpsons has a huge difference between its highest and lowest-rated episodes. It's aired over 700 episodes since 1989, with 33 seasons under its belt. It's a beyond gargantuan TV show at this stage, with its earlier seasons being among the most beloved sitcom seasons of all time, and its later seasons are seen as mostly forgettable by even the show's biggest fans.
Still, it's interesting that the show's highest-rated episode - "Homer's Enemy" - comes from near the end of the show's eighth season, and the show's lowest-rated episode - "Lisa Goes Gaga" - aired more than a decade ago. The quality might not be dropping linearly, though it's safe to say the show's glory days are decades behind it at this point.
'Game of Thrones' (2011-2019): "The Winds of Winter" (9.9.10) & "The Iron Throne" (4.1/10)
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At best, the infamous Game of Thrones finale, "The Iron Throne," is not as bad as some people say. At worst, it's inexcusable and show-ruining. Either way, very few people can genuinely say they found it to be a fitting finale, let alone one of the show's best episodes.
The negative reaction to it comes across loud and clear from its dismal 4.1/10 rating on IMDb. On the other hand, season 6's finale is the show's highest-rated episode, with an almost perfect 9.9/10 rating. Airing just three years before the show ended, it's a shame the show's series finale couldn't deliver the same spectacle and excitement its season 6 finale delivered.