Awful’s often subjective. What’s considered awful by one person is considered decent by another. It depends on one’s tolerance levels.

An example is The Office.

Seasons 2-7 are among the greatest TV show seasons ever produced and written, but I wouldn’t call season 8 a hugely chasm-sized drop off (it’s solid, imo) and even season 9 has its moments, but both seasons definitely drop the quality a few rungs lower on the ladder compared to the show’s peak years.