Love To Hate You Baby: Shows You Like To Hate-Watch

[pandora spocks]

Hate-watching is a pastime that many refer to as a form of cruel and unusual television punishment that occurs when "you watch a show you wouldn't choose to watch for any reason other than to mock it for its awfulness.--TV Guide

 

I'll go first.  My go-to shows to hate-watch are Dr. Oz, Pioneer Woman, Dr. Phil, and The Kitchen.  For classic TV, I watch Gilligan's Island and The Waltons.

 

Edited October 11, 2015 by pandora spocks

[redlaces]

The View and 19 Kids and Counting when it was on. 

[Snow Apple]

I don't set out to watch, but I often stumble upon Maury, aka Who's Your Daddy? and can't turn away.

[Sun-Bun]

"Don't Be Tardy" would qualify for my hate-watch.

I just find it so oddly fascinating yet baffling that the walking trashbin that is Kim Zolziak not only has her own successful spin-off/post RHoA career, but that this gross beast of a woman somehow managed to snag a younger rich professional football player husband to make 4 kids with---how is this possible?

She's trashy, not that hot, is a single mom and proudly wears wigs, so I just don't understand her dumb luck. And her show is equally, bafflingly awful...but like a trainwreck, I can't look away.

Other hate watch? "Real Housewives of OC"...I still watch it out of habit at this point, and to see if that hag Tamra finally gets the come-uppance she deserves.

[Ohwell]

Grey's Anatomy and Scandal.

[ebk57]

For me, it's what shows "did" I hate-watch.  Smash, which was thankfully cancelled.  And The Good Wife, which I've given up on this season,  It's just too stupid to even hate-watch.

[SmithW6079]

None. If I find a show so distasteful it's painful to watch, I don't waste the time and energy on it.

[Irlandesa]

None. If I find a show so distasteful it's painful to watch, I don't waste the time and energy on it.

I think there's sometimes an element of "hope-watching" in "hate-watching."  Or at least there is for me.  Smash was mentioned above and it was an infuriating show but it had Megan Hilty as Ivy and I loved everything about Ivy.  So I hated the rest of the show but had hope she'd get good stuff.  The only way I watch a show I hate is if it has something I genuinely love. 

[ebk57]

I think there's sometimes an element of "hope-watching" in "hate-watching."  Or at least there is for me.  Smash was mentioned above and it was an infuriating show but it had Megan Hilty as Ivy and I loved everything about Ivy.  So I hated the rest of the show but had hope she'd get good stuff.  The only way I watch a show I hate is if it has something I genuinely love. 

 

Agree completely about Megan Hilty - she's a wonder!  

 

And I suppose the reason I stayed so long with The Good Wife was Kalinda.  Just wanted to see how that played out...and it didn't play out well. So I'm out.

[Fisher King]

Nashville is one for me. Like Irlandesa, there are elements that I love about the show, and they are what bring me back even while everything surrounding it makes me cringe. It even has an old Smash! alumni. He plays Luke Wheeler.

Yes, I hate-watched that show as well.

[GaT]

"Keeping Up With the Kardashians" I hate everyone on that show.

[ChaseMCP]

"Hope-watch" is a good term and explains how I approach certain shows. Like House. It was one of my absolute favorite shows in the early seasons, and it was because of that that I let some things slide in the third season (like the Tritter arc). Then season four came where half of the cast was replaced by less interesting characters. And the whole time I'm thinking "oh, they have to bring the old characters back soon. Who just dumps a bunch of established characters?" But it was all just a mess. For some reason Foreman stuck around, and poor Chase and Cameron were bumping around with no real purpose (I didn't even like Cameron much but I felt bad for JM for having to deal with that). It was like the writers only thought about how shocking it would be to replace these characters...and then had no idea what to do with said characters for several seasons. Then bring in all the House/Cuddy crap, and by the end of season 7 I was gone. The only things that had been keeping me were Hugh Laurie, Wilson, and the hope that the Chase character would survive the bad writing (nope). I did come back for the last few episodes of the show just to see how it ended, but it was almost a relief once I stopped watching. That's the worst, is watching a show you used to love get worse and worse each year and hoping for it to get better but then it doesn't. 

[Mindymoo]

When it was on, Dexter after season two. And I hate-watched that puppy to the bitter, awful, rancid end. (Seriously, why did I do that to myself?)

[UYI]

Hate-watching is a pastime that many refer to as a form of cruel and unusual television punishment that occurs when "you watch a show you wouldn't choose to watch for any reason other than to mock it for its awfulness.--TV Guide

 

I'll go first.  My go-to shows to hate-watch are Dr. Oz, Pioneer Woman, Dr. Phil, and The Kitchen.  For classic TV, I watch Gilligan's Island and The Waltons.

 

The Waltons? Really? I actually think it was pretty good the first few years, before Richard Thomas left the show--and a LOT less sugar-sweet than its reputation suggests. YMMV, of course.

 

I guess Girls would count for me here. I've hated almost every character at one point or another while watching it (Shoshanna being the main exception), but I still want to continue watching it.

Edited October 13, 2015 by UYI

[joelene]

When it was on, Dexter after season two. And I hate-watched that puppy to the bitter, awful, rancid end. (Seriously, why did I do that to myself?)

Oh yes, except I really enjoyed it up until season 6. And there was pretty much a 50/50 split of hope-watch and hate-watch during those last three seasons. They always started out okay but by the season half point they turned into hate-watch.

Other than that I consider myself a hope-watcher rather than a hate-watcher, but it's usually 50/50, or a mash-up between genuine enjoyment, hope and hate. Pretty Little Liars is a good example of that. But for the most part I've come to stop watching a show altogether if I don't enjoy it enough anymore, even if it was great at one point. Boring is probably the most fatal a once loved show can become. Homeland became so boring after season 1. And even Evelyn Powell could no longer be the sole reason to watch Devious Maids. She remained great but the rest was just dull. I don't know how I stayed with Criminal Minds as long as a did (probably because it was my sole procedural), but I finally quit at the beginning of last season.

I've stopped watching reality altogether. Top Chef, Project Runway, I just can't anymore.

Edited October 13, 2015 by joelene

[QueerGirrl]

The Following, Girls and Scandal fall under this definition for me.  Also, I'm a completionist when it comes to TV series (Ally McBeal anyone?) but I'm starting to grow outta that!  I completely gave up on Ray Donovan, Grey's Anatomy and Gotham.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I don't hate-watch. I also like the term "hope-watch" because that was how I felt about and during the last two seasons of Smallville (Don't judge me!) Even after Michael Rosenbaum (who played Lex Luthor) left, I stayed, with the hope it just had to get better, because the potential was there. But I did hate the show runners who took over after the seventh season.  And it was Tom Welling's gorgeousness that kept me there until the end. That and Allison Mack, though the show shit upon her character like nobody's business, and still she agreed to return for the final season.

 

So I stayed for shallow reasons. Sue me.

[meep.meep]

Downton Abbey

It's just preposterous at this point.  Although if I'd given up sooner, I would have missed Sex Week.

[proserpina65]

America's Next Top Model - unless you're mocking it, there's no real reason to watch, but the mocking is fun.

Edited October 14, 2015 by proserpina65

[mansonlamps]

I guess Girls would count for me here. I've hated almost every character at one point or another while watching it (Shoshanna being the main exception), but I still want to continue watching it.

 

 

I even hate Shoshanna.  But I managed to break free of its hold and am now Girls free.

[cpcathy]

Say Yes to the Dress. I don't know why I watch it, I find myself yelling at the screen. "You don't need two wedding dresses!"

[Quof]

I find myself yelling at the SYTTD brides " That's a down payment on a house!"

[GreekGeek]

I admit I find the whole business of "hate-watching" bewildering. I barely have time to watch the shows I already like, let alone those I might come to like. But if we're talking about watching something in order to mock the fools on it, I watched Worst Cooks in America briefly in its first couple of seasons. I still think of the lady who put vanilla extract in her chicken in a misguided attempt at culinary creativity.

[GaT]

I admit I find the whole business of "hate-watching" bewildering. I barely have time to watch the shows I already like, let alone those I might come to like. But if we're talking about watching something in order to mock the fools on it, I watched Worst Cooks in America briefly in its first couple of seasons. I still think of the lady who put vanilla extract in her chicken in a misguided attempt at culinary creativity.

Yes, I remember her too. I'm currently hate watching the Celebrity Edition of the show.

[Anna Yolei]

America's Next Top Model - unless you're mocking it, there's no real reason to watch, but the mocking is fun.

Holy shit. I can't believe that show is still on the air and outlasted literally every other show from UPN's lineup.

Anyway,I usually don't hate watch, but I did get suckered into 7th Heaven...I'd occasionally catch episodes from the good seasons ("good" being prior to the canon Mary bashing Breda Hampton unleashed when Jessica Biel left the show) and I got pulled in the season Ruthie's not-boyfriend got some chick pregnant, acted like an ass the entire pregnancy then decides he wanted to marry her after all. Ruthie's mopi g irritated me to the point of registering to TWOP specifically to rant about it....then I found other like minded fans and I stayed. Lol :p

[opus]

None. If I find a show so distasteful it's painful to watch, I don't waste the time and energy on it.

I admit I find the whole business of "hate-watching" bewildering. I barely have time to watch the shows I already like

Ditto on both.

[Wax Lion]

My big hatewatch was the third season of The Big C. I was convinced to finally give the first two seasons a chance and loved it... and then the third season was a mess where the characters all became self-involved, entitled twits. I read that they wanted to go through the stages of grief with the series and that must have been the denial season. I couldn't look away from how such a remarkable, nuanced show could become so terrible so quickly.

[proserpina65]

I admit I find the whole business of "hate-watching" bewildering. I barely have time to watch the shows I already like, let alone those I might come to like.

My hatewatching is all about shows I once truly enjoyed which have descended into awfulness, but the habit of watching is too ingrained for me to be able to cut the cord.  Top Model is like that, as was Grey's Anatomy, though I finally managed to free myself of that crap this season.

[patty1h]

There's this reality show called "Diggers" which follows two guys who use metal detectors to find valuable and/or historical relics.  The first time I came across it, it held my interest because it was a slice of history - all these things now buried could give a hint to how our country evolved.  Soon, I came to wonder how much of this show was real or producer magic.  

I then came to hate the hosts use of their own little code words for the things they found:  'nectar' and 'roundness in the hole'.  The last straw was their over-excited reactions to the most mundane finds -- watching them scream and flail and yelling to each other to come see what the other found - drove me nuts.   However, if I come across the show while channel surfing, I always stop and'watch and my blood pressure soars!

Edited March 15, 2017 by patty1h
punctuation

[ari333]

I sort of hate-watch The View so I can come to this site  and understand the posts and snark that I love. :-)

[roamyn]

Scorpion, because in spite of great casting (Robert & Eddie specifically), the "cases" and stories are a joke.

[selkie]

patty1h, if you haven't already seen it, try to track down a British sitcom called 'The Detectorists' on the streaming services. It's a really pleasant, non-screaming show about a UK metal detecting club. 

We've been hate-watching 'Girls' for a while now and are now actively cheering for a giant black meteor to fall from the sky and take out everyone except Shoshanna. 

[ChromaKelly]

I used to love hate-watching The Young and the Restless. I didn't have time for it anymore and I kind of regret that I gave it up. This was way before TWOP was a thing; I used to snark along with a Usenet group. My first foray into internet snark-alongs. I watched that stupid show for 20 years.
On TWOP/PTV, I hate-watched Hoarders. God those people would drive me nuts.  The Walking Dead was turning into hate-watching but it wasn't fun enough. 

[callie lee 29]

I used to hate watch General Hospital. Then it turned to hate. Then it turned to a reading consuming fire deep in my soul. All do to the characters. I miss GH!! :(

[DisneyBoy]

Quote

Also, I'm a completionist when it comes to TV series (Ally McBeal anyone?) but I'm starting to grow outta that!

Oh my god....did you watch season five too?! *sympathetic hug* I thought I suffered alone! Remember the flying cancer man in the 100th episode? And the cow sex video? And Hayden Panettiere as Maddie the miracle baby? And the edited-in clips of Robert Downey Jr? And John Cage in a mariachi band? *weeps* Hold me.

Quote

America's Next Top Model - unless you're mocking it, there's no real reason to watch, but the mocking is fun.

I definitely mock-watched it for half of its run. It's too insane to hate. But Tyra's BS got old and stifled all the fun.

Quote

 I also like the term "hope-watch" because that was how I felt about and during the last two seasons of Smallville (Don't judge me!) Even after Michael Rosenbaum (who played Lex Luthor) left, I stayed, with the hope it just had to get better, because the potential was there. But I did hate the show runners who took over after the seventh season.  And it was Tom Welling's gorgeousness that kept me there until the end. That and Allison Mack, though the show shit upon her character like nobody's business, and still she agreed to return for the final season.

Another kindred spirit! Smallville was the show that broke me. I could only hate watch bits of the last two seasons, and now I dont watch superhero at all. I could not believe how many times they started to set up something new and interesting only to pull the football away and then force the show into being more like the comics again no matter how much that didn't make any sense. The treatment Chloe received was abysmal and I still can't believe she managed to survive the run of the show without getting killed off. Small miracles, I suppose.

But I actually found season 8 to be one of the best of the series because of great characters like Davis Bloome and Tess Mercer...before they butchered them and turned Lana into Jesus Christ and pretended Jimmy had never been Jimmy and brought in Not Zod and made Clark into a Super Douche who blew up the Twin Towers.

I can't believe that last sentence is actually factual. Smallville everybody!

[festivus]

Smallville owns this thread for me. I have never hate watched a show like I did that one and yes I watched it to the bitter end. I would yell at that show so much, it cracked my husband up. He would go tell his friends at work all about it. I had to watch till the end though for Chloe, I loved her. I also agree that season 8 was pretty good right up until the end which shat all over the great work that Sam Witwer did as Davis Bloom. And the Jimmy thing. Yeah. 

 

Currently I was hate watching Grey's Anatomy because honestly I hated everyone on that show but Alex, Richard and Arizona. Then they went and hooked Arizona up with the awful new chick and it was down to only two people I could stand. The final straw was the episode with just Jackson and April, I was like, you know what? I'm done! Feels so good. 

[Friendly Lurker]

Dance Moms. I'm catching the reruns on Bravo - we're up to season 6 and watching Abby and the moms slowly lose all redeeming qualities is like a train wreck I can't turn away from. 

[HunterHunted]

How to Get Away with Murder. The acting is phenomenal, but the writing is horrific. Additionally, all of the characters are terrible people and sanctimonious hypocrites. They sit around passing judgment on each when they've all done terrible things including so many murders.

Real Housewives of Atlanta, but only in the hope that someone will realize what horrible awful bigots Porsha and Phaedra are and shun them totally and completely. 

[DearEvette]

Up until this week I would have said "I don't hate watch shows" but now I am going to have to say Stitchers.   I started watching it because the premise was  rather interesting, I like Sci Fi-is stuff and it stars one of my girl crushes, Salli Richardson-Whitfield.  But oh, God.  It is just.... not good.  Actually it is kinda terrible I couldn't look away.  Mainly because my HULU is on auto play and I was stuck on my couch with a broken ankle and extreme apathy. 

The biggest problem is the main character is a such a wooden actress.  I don't know her name, never saw her in anything before but she is awful.  Also her character is such a fucking special snowflake!  Gah.  She goes from being a college student recruited to act as a conduit in experimental and highly secretive project by the NSA because her brain chemistry can handle seeing into the minds of dead people to actually going out into the field like an actual agent and handling interrogations all by the second season?  Plus she has major daddy issues.  It was really rather horrible and yet I couldn't look away.

[Joe Hellandback]

Law and Order SVU, they do so much wrong and Benson's positively misandrist hypocrisy drives me nuts but I still keep watching. 

[SmithW6079]

None. If I hate a show, I can't be bothered to waste my time watching it.

[Hiyo]

Bump.

[Pickles Aplenty]

House Hunters.  Everyone on that show is so effing entitled, yet I cannot look away.

[Blergh]

38 minutes ago, Billina said:

House Hunters.  Everyone on that show is so effing entitled, yet I cannot look away.

Thanks for reminding my WHY I had to quit watching it! At least in the early days, the Hunters actually had to somehow contend to  live with being told 'no' but for sometime now, somehow EVERY single one these days gets the exact dwelling of their dreams even though they [outside this show's 'reality'] couldn't pay rent on a lemonade stand and/or their bonds (marital, dating, familial,etc.) would likely hit the skids before their first housewarming party (and rarely if ever is the reality of being stuck in a decades-long mortgage with someone one can no longer  stand being in the same room for five minutes getting addressed) ! 

[Hiyo]

The Newsroom, but only because it was kind of fun to snark on that shit show.

[cpcathy]

7 hours ago, Billina said:

House Hunters.  Everyone on that show is so effing entitled, yet I cannot look away.

Thank you! I caught an episode the other day after not watching in eons. The list of stuff the couple wanted was the usual stuff, but it makes me laugh when the wife says she will start cooking only if she gets the huge gourmet kitchen. Sister, you can cook in any kitchen that’s functional. I would bet money that she never learned how to cook. 

[SVNBob]

13 hours ago, Billina said:

House Hunters.  Everyone on that show is so effing entitled, yet I cannot look away.

A gentle reminder that on these types of shows, the couple is usually already closing on their new house (the one they "pick" by the end), and the search and selection process is staged specifically for the show.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Since they have two decoy houses on House Hunters, then I wonder if the couple ever look at the other two, and wish they hadn't bought the house they've already purchased.      Especially the ones that want a fixer upper, buy one, have no idea how they'll afford the changes, and then really regret buying the house.   I bet these days, the decoys are mostly Airbnb's or other short term rentals, (except the new builds).   However,  I'm guessing that just like seeing what your partner is really like, sometimes you regret the house choice.   

Edited June 28, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[DrSpaceman73]

I don't really have time to hate watch anymore.  

But I might do it for United We Fall just to decide if there is something original or funny or .........anything about this show that differentiates it from the literally hundreds of prior sitcoms that look like the EXACT SAME CLICHED OVERDONE SET UP.  Just watching the commercials bugs me and I feel like I can hear the lame gags and set ups already just from that 20 second snippet.  Fat guy husband with a hot wife he could never actually get in real life has two literal kids I am sure are adorably annoying (is there a word for that?  there should be like adorkable, even though I hate that word).  My god, who though this was a good idea.  Have they never seen According to Jim, Yes Dear, The Homermooners, Family Guy, Just the Ten of Us, Grounded for Life, Still Standing.......

Oh wait......they have a nosy family and an annoying mother in law too!!!! 

Will Sasso is OK, but I can't imagine him being so funny to save this tired old trope an stereotype of a show