Talk:Episodes which stink !!/@comment-68.228.197.33-20120311043106/@comment-1034487-20120312160722

Season 2 of FiM definitely felt a little different than Season 1, BUT, I don't believe it was because they were running out of ideas. Judging from Lesson Zero's ending, I'd say it was more leaning toward the show staff feeling unsatisfied with season 1's direction, which involved Twilight being the main focus. And that they decided to make Cele request for the whole mane 6 to write letters about friendship from that ep forth. This allows the show a little more story freedom, as they wont have to shove Twilight into it anymore, and it generally turns the mane 6 into more of a true enemble cast, rather than "Twilight and friends" as it was in season 1. I definitely couldn't feel any sense of "running out of ideas" in this show as much as i have for, say, Simpsons Seasons 11+.

From my experience with TV, using Season 1 as the standard is very naive, and only increases the chances of getting disappointed. Why?, almost every series usually progressively changes around the second or third seasons, usually due to the creators either not being fully satisfied with the original direction, or could even not have set a real direction at all when they started, and were simply experimenting ideas.

Also, from my experience with TV, the running out of ideas thing isn't really determined by season, but more determined by how many ideas they've already put forth and how much freedom the overall setup of the series gives them in the ideas. Hence, why you might find that 2 segment shows (such as Spongebob) tend to run out of ideas far sooner than full 22 minute episode shows.