Brain Bleed: The Shows We Hate & The Reasons We Hate Them

[NumberCruncher]

One show I'm thinking about dropping is The Walking Dead, but I have invested six years of my life into that show...

Ditto. I'm getting tired of the fact that every other episode this season has ended on a "gotcha" moment or cliffhanger only to find out that it's "Oops! Just kidding!" two episodes later. Those things aren't inherently bad and I get they are part of regular TV watching, but when they use them every two episodes they start losing their shock value and then I'm just left annoyed at the manipulation.

I'll echo what others have said re: Outlander. I canceled it back at the end of S1 when it was clear the show was hell-bent on using rape and torture as its main source of storytelling. I get the whole historic aspect of it, but the gratuitousness of it really turned me off.

[Ohwell]

I'm finding it more and more difficult to hang with Underground.  I like Aldis Hodge as Noah, but I just don't find any of the other characters that interesting.  I might hang around until the end of this season, but definitely won't be watching if it's renewed.

[festivus]

I canceled Fear the Walking Dead. I realized after the first season that although the last couple of episodes weren't too bad, that it was just a chore to watch. Delete!

[blugirlami21]

Are you caught up on Outlander? Don't give up on the show yet.

I am caught up. I don't think I ever really liked it tbh. It's a genre that I love but watching the season two premiere I realized that I don't care about any of the characters. And I really dislike Claire. Which is probably bad since she's the protagonist.

[Rick Kitchen]

I couldn't even read more than maybe 50 pages of the first Outlander book.  Don't ask me why, it just never caught me.

[ABay]

I made it through, by skimming a lot. But I read a couple of short stories about Lord John and those were much better, in part because they're shorter.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Let me preface this by saying I'm not trying to change anyone's minds here.

 

BUT, Diana Gabaldon, the author, is a horrible, horrible writer. Too clunky, wordy mcwordy, ridiculous purple prose crap, who was in desperate need of an aggressive copy editor, but no one thought to have one, and now it's too late.

 

That said, the story she gave me, the world, is really something I love, as well as the main characters.  And no lie, I'm loving the show, despite the books, and since I still love reading romance novels, contemporary and historical, I love this series, because I know what it's about. So, don't judge me! And the best part of this show is Scotland.

[bmasters9]

Right now, I've just started on Series 2 of All Creatures Great and Small (BBC series w/Christopher Timothy as British vet James Herriot), and so far I've been enjoying it. Tell you the truth, though, I'll very likely get one more series worth (the third), and then call it right there. Why? Because the character of Helen (James Herriot's wife) had an actress change (from Carol Drinkwater in the first three series' worth to Lynda Bellingham for the remaining four); as such, I do not know if Lynda will be as entertaining as Carol has been so far. 

[DearEvette]

I couldn't even read more than maybe 50 pages of the first Outlander book.  Don't ask me why, it just never caught me.

 

Ha!  I picked it up Outlander and started it about 10 times and kept putting it back donw because it bored me to death.  And finally I soldiered through and actually really liked the book.  This was back in the day when it was first published.  If this were now, I wouldn't have the patience.  Too many other distractions and I have an e-reader now with eleventy-billion other books on it at my fingertips

 

Let me preface this by saying I'm not trying to change anyone's minds here.

 

BUT, Diana Gabaldon, the author, is a horrible, horrible writer. Too clunky, wordy mcwordy, ridiculous purple prose crap, who was in desperate need of an aggressive copy editor, but no one thought to have one, and now it's too late.

 

That said, the story she gave me, the world, is really something I love, as well as the main characters.  And no lie, I'm loving the show, despite the books, and since I still love reading romance novels, contemporary and historical, I love this series, because I know what it's about. So, don't judge me! And the best part of this show is Scotland.

 

 Yeah, her writing is problematic, but the story is fantastic.  I ended up really loving it through book four.  But I was reading them in real time and the wait between books was too long and I lost interest.  So I guess in a round-about way I cancelled the series even before it aired.  LOL.

 

That said I can't sink into the show for some reason.  I love the casting, but I could only stick with the show for about half a season.  I may try to pick it back up.  I remember really loving the Paris stuff in the books and the pictures of show this season are stunning.

[Marsupial]

Empire, Sleepy Hollow and The Walking Dead seem to be heading most people's personal cancellation lists--and mine too. I canceled TwD after last season and haven't missed it. Only watched 1 episode of Sleepy and could not get into it.

 

I drop-kicked Game of Thrones three seasons ago and should have done so earlier. I actually thought I would miss it but what it taught me was to pull the flush cord immediately with no questions asked and no looking back. I don't miss it at all. I don't miss TWD either, and I am about to give Empire the same heave-ho. There are too many good shows on to waste any more time on overly paid TV writers who insist on feeding me garbage,

Edited April 25, 2016 by Marsupial

[fishcakes]

The other day, I tried to watch an episode of The Grinder that I'd recorded and it turned out to be a rerun of the Prince episode of New Girl, which was the first time I realized it was still on the air. I've seen that ep before, but I cancelled New Girl sometime during the season after she and Nick became a couple because apart they were tolerable, together repulsive. Their affectations were so magnified when they were together that even after they broke up, I couldn't take either one of them. At some point, people just need to realize they're too old to be either adorkable or a slacker. I do miss Winston and Schmidt though. I would watch that show if it were just Winston and Schmidt.

[SmithW6079]

I wouldn't say I hate "Madam Secretary," but when it came out, I rolled my eyes that it was about a strong female secretary of state, and, coincidentally,  Hillary Clinton was likely to run for president. I'm not making a political statement, just that the timing was suspicious. 

[Kromm]

10 hours ago, SmithW6079 said:

I wouldn't say I hate "Madam Secretary," but when it came out, I rolled my eyes that it was about a strong female secretary of state, and, coincidentally,  Hillary Clinton was likely to run for president. I'm not making a political statement, just that the timing was suspicious. 

I don't think they've ever denied there was an influence, although they also cite Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice in every interview where the question pops up too. The point being that a female Secretary of State wasn't that unusual anymore.

In fact, Albright AND Rice arguably had more influence on the character than Clinton, because both Albright and Rice have resumes that are at least somewhat like the one they present for the character, Elizabeth McCord, on the show. Academics both (like the McCord character) who also worked in the intelligence community at other points in their careers (the character of McCord having supposedly worked in the CIA, vs. Albright AND Rice who at different times both worked for the National Security Council) and then at a later point were recruited for Secretary of State. So you can see the alignment there--whereas the only alignment with Clinton is gender. 

Edited May 8, 2016 by Kromm

[Winter Rose]

I tried with Outlander. I really did. Despite having one of the most boring pilots I've ever seen, I stuck with it because I heard it got much better as the season went along. And while I didn't find it to be a badly written show (I admit I have no idea what the books are like) or badly acted, it still didn't get any more interesting. I wasn't even interested enough to be disgusted by the BJR stuff at the end of the season. And after Claire makes her choice to stay with Jamie, I can't be bothered to care why her former life would still matter. Either history will play out like she knows it will, and accepts that, or she'll change the future, making her former life really not matter.

[Winter Rose]

Arrow and The Flash.

For one thing I couldn't care less about either superhero, I'm wary of shows on the CW anyway, and I've only heard that Arrow's become a real trainwreck since shoving one of the characters down everyone's throats, to the detriment of either/or the other characters and plot. Again, it's just what I've heard, but having seen the bait-and-switch before, and writers using other characters to talk up how super awesome their "pet" character is (especially when it's all telling and no showing), I've officially been scared off of Arrow. And then seeing The Flash was created by the same people as Arrow, I've steered clear of that one too.

[ganesh]

The second season of Outlander is filled with hilarity now that they changed locations. 

[Guest]

8 hours ago, ganesh said:

The second season of Outlander is filled with hilarity now that they changed locations. 

What does that mean?  Never watch it, wait for a free weekend, or why is it not in your cable package right now?

I'm only through 2x01 on the free weekend approach.

[ganesh]

I'm just enjoying the show and think the injection of humor is a plus.

[zxy556575]

On 5/10/2016 at 0:45 PM, Winter Rose said:

Arrow and The Flash.

Are you avoiding all superhero and/or other comics-related stuff? Because lately that's a lot of stuff!

I watch a couple of them, tried to watch a few but didn't like them, and never tried with others. I don't hate them for existing the way I do with some other shows, though.

Edited May 11, 2016 by lordonia

[methodwriter85]

I have rarely followed a scripted show all the way through- the only examples I can think of were Buffy, Dawson's Creek, the O.C., Veronica Mars, and Mad Men. Unless, of course, it got cancelled in season 1- see My So-Called Life, Hindsight, etc etc.

I did bingewatch 8 seasons of the Office and caught the show live during its last season, but I find that most shows either just go on too long, or something goes horribly wrong during the 2nd season that they just never recover from.

Shows I gave up recently: How To Get Away With Murder, Sleepy Hollow, Separated at Birth (I could just never get over how Bay took the fall for Daphne on a FELONY),  and Quantico. Nashville I teeter-totter with, like I did with the Gilmore Girls and Pretty Little Liars.

I did think it was telling that I took a suuuppper-long break from PLL, and I literally could still follow everything going on. And then the transphobic shit that went down.

One show I really, really wanted to like was the Fosters, because Maia Mitchell is super-talented and Jude's ambiguous sexuality has been groundbreaking, but it bothers the fuck out of me that they needed to have this "forbidden" romance between her and her foster brother. It's just so unnecessary- if they wanted to date, they should just do it, but with the understanding that they should maybe wait until one of them is out of the house before they do it because of the awkwardness.

Edited May 12, 2016 by methodwriter85

[Winter Rose]

I'm not actively avoiding superhero shows as I am distrustful of CW shows. I only heard Arrow's basically gone off the deep end and I'm wary of The Flash by association for being made by the same people. But as it happens those are two characters I was never interested in in the first place.

Edited May 11, 2016 by Winter Rose

[Chaos Theory]

On April 9, 2016 at 3:08 AM, Apathy said:

Ditto on the Scorpion hate. Other shows I can't stand from their TV spots alone: Grimm because of the godawful special effects when someone turns into a werewolf or a troll or something, and Once Upon a Time because they just started ripping off Disney at some point. Game of Thrones also gets on my nerves because whenever an important character gets raped or murdered on that show, which is probably every other episode, EVERYBODY KNOWS ABOUT IT. 

If you are the kind of person who can drop a show after a couple of seasons I would actually reccomebd the first two seasons of Once Upon A Time and maybe the first season of Game of Thrones.  They don't get bad until later.

Edited May 11, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[Ohwell]

I saw the season finale of Underground last night and decided I won't be around for season 2.  Something just seems "off" about the show.  I think it's the acting.   

[Chaos Theory]

I flound for me it's not exactly cancelling shows I am currently watching (although I do that too) it is more not having as much patience for new shows.  I am much more likely to  give up on a show after two or three episodes and pick it up if it comes on Netflix.  It is how I got through Salem the first half of the first season was shaky but then it got good later and really good season 2.  Now I am looking forward to watching season 3 live.

As for shows I have given up on.  I can't give you a reason why really but most recently it has been Criminal Minds, Arrow and Scandal.  All of which I genuinely liked at one point or another big now just kinda bore and annoy me.

Edited May 12, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[AntiBeeSpray]

Castle -- Stopped after s6 and haven't looked back. Both the show and the characters took a steep nose dive.

CSI -- I saw part of an episode where they were telling shippers to move on from Gil and Sara being together over and over again. It was very condescending. Moved on and never came back.

House -- How the show handled the break up between House and Cuddy, among-st other things made me stop watching it.

[topanga]

I've tried to watch Penny Dreadful several times. I usually like gothic/horror/supernatural shows and movies, so I can't understand why this one freaks me out so much. The opening scene of the very first show gave me nightmares. And I never get nightmares. 

But people whose opinions I trust (like Aisha Tyler) rave about the show, so maybe I'll try it again. And maybe I won't watch it at night this time.

[JaggedLilPill]

I don't know if this counts, but NBC's The Slap. Truthfully I don't know if you're supposed to like it, but after watching all the episodes, I wanted those eight or so hours that I spent watching of my life back. I wish I knew how they convinced the majority of those actors to sign on. Did they read the scripts? I mean....oy. 

[Haleth]

I'm very close to cancelling Orphan Black.  While I love Tatiana's ability to play so many distinct characters, the plotline this season with all the mutilated freaks popping up is grossing me out.  Maybe I'll finish watching this summer when there's nothing else on.

[bmoore4026]

Scandal and Sleepy Hollow.  The latter, of which, broke my heart because it had so much potential and it ended up being squandered starting with season 2.  The former I stop watching over absolute irritation over horrible characters and stories that go nowhere.  My mother and elder sister still watch it, though, so I still hear the shit going on from upstairs; our downstairs family room doesn't have a door.

Things like Supernatural I watch from time to time but really on TNT.  So I guess I still watch it second hand?

I gave up on Law and Order: SVU about 6 years ago and still kick myself for not giving up on it sooner.

I've also given up on NCIS ever since Ziva left because she was the only one I liked.  Without her, it's just a show about a slap-happy sourpuss asshole, a goth girl who hasn't gotten the memo that the 90s are over, DiShithead, and a neebish man with cute chubby cheeks that is the focus of much of the abuse from the latter three (though not so much from goth girl) that I'm amazed that he hasn't snapped and gone on a rampage yet.

I don't know why I still watch Once Upon A Time.  I guess it's for Josh Dallas, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Lana Parrilla. Robert Carlyle is a great actor but Rumple aggravates the shit out of me.  And Henry is a good reason to get a vasectomy or hysterectomy.

I gave up on Deadwood midway through season 2.  I like my westerns with likable characters and other colors besides brown, thank you very much.

I'm close to giving up on The Amazing Race and Hawaii: 5-0, but that's mostly because I keep forgetting they're on.

Edited May 24, 2016 by bmoore4026

[atomationage]

The Americans.  I love Keri Russell and dislike Matthew Rhys a lot.   I keep thinking that I should watch, but there's something about it that I just don't like.  After hearing that Russell and Rhys had a child, I decided to try it.   I just watched a few minutes of one episode and I can't watch any more.  

[slf]

Supernatural. I remembering seeing the promos for it and thinking it'd just be a sausage-fest where most of the women turn out to either be evil or die tragically so the men have something to brood over. 

Also: True Detective, Breaking Bad, Legends of Tomorrow.

[Cherpumple]

I get unbearable second-hand embarrassment watching the commercials for Lip Synch Battle, and can't imagine watching even one second of the actual show. They just started a UK version that looks even more cringeworthy, and I shudder just thinking about it.

[SmithW6079]

On 5/8/2016 at 7:25 PM, Kromm said:

I don't think they've ever denied there was an influence, although they also cite Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice in every interview where the question pops up too. The point being that a female Secretary of State wasn't that unusual anymore.

In fact, Albright AND Rice arguably had more influence on the character than Clinton, because both Albright and Rice have resumes that are at least somewhat like the one they present for the character, Elizabeth McCord, on the show. Academics both (like the McCord character) who also worked in the intelligence community at other points in their careers (the character of McCord having supposedly worked in the CIA, vs. Albright AND Rice who at different times both worked for the National Security Council) and then at a later point were recruited for Secretary of State. So you can see the alignment there--whereas the only alignment with Clinton is gender. 

But only Hillary Clinton was floating a run for president when the show premeired, so how nice that a network show about a strong female secretary of state was airing. And Tea Leoni is neither black (Rice) nor short and overweight (Albright).

***

I never watched  "Person of Interest" because  I hate the creepy guy from "Lost." 

[Terrafamilia]

A bit off topic since it's not a tv show but as a result of all the incessant praise/hype I am now disinclined to like the musical Hamilton should I ever have the chance to see it.

[fishcakes]

15 hours ago, Terrafamilia said:

A bit off topic since it's not a tv show but as a result of all the incessant praise/hype I am now disinclined to like the musical Hamilton should I ever have the chance to see it.

I'd still like to see it, but I know what you mean. I had to mute Lin-Manuel Miranda on Twitter because so many of the people I follow retweet him incessantly even though none of them have even seen Hamilton.

[Bookish Jen]

I tried watching "Girl" but just gave up in disgust. I first thought I didn't like it because I am a card-carrying member of Generation X. But then again, I adored Millennial Betty Suarez from "Ugly Betty" and truly despised fellow Gen X-ers like Carrie Bradshaw and Ally McBeal.

I guess I just can't relate to privileged young women who live off the largesse of others, continuously fuck up and think their first world problems are of any great significance. Sure, I wasn't perfect when I was in my twenties; I look at a lot of the decisions I made both professionally and personally and just cringe. But I also managed to see beyond my own little bubble every now and then.

I think a lot has to do with Lena Dunham and co., a bunch of trust fund hipsters with limited appeal. Bust magazine had a cover story with Jemima Kirke a while back and she just came across really full of herself.

[DangerousMinds]

Game of Thrones. Just no. And all the people referencing it in other contexts, because I don't get it.

[CoderLady]

1 hour ago, DangerousMinds said:

Game of Thrones. Just no.

I tried watching it the first season but had to stop because -- and don't laugh -- I could smell it, and it gave me headaches. Too many dark, dirty, bloody scenes and too vivid an imagination.

[atomationage]

19 hours ago, Terrafamilia said:

I am now disinclined to like the musical Hamilton should I ever have the chance to see it.

I agree.  How can it live up to the hype?   The bits that I've seen look horrible, but I'll probably eventually see it in some form, after everyone shuts up about it. 

[Chaos Theory]

Anything on HBO.  It's weird; I don't  think there are too many HBO shows I have actually liked.  I didn't watch The Sopranos,. I thought The Wire is incredibly overrated.  I wanted to like Game Of Thrones and True Blood but I found them too overwrought and pretenious.  I think the only HBO show I actually liked was Oz but then I have an unnatural affinity for prison shows.

Edited June 6, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[paulvdb]

Bizaardvark on Disney Channel. I have no idea what it's even about but the pop-up ads during other programs are so big and annoying that I have no interest in ever watching it.

[bmoore4026]

Just about everything on TLC including shows that aren't on anymore like the Duggar Family Dominionism Hour and Here Comes a Train Wreck Boo Boo;  I will never forgive The Learning Channel for getting rid of Great Books.

Also, don't care much for stuff on Bravo or A&E.  Fuck The Housewives and fuck Duck Dynasty.

I've never seen Big Brother or Survivor fully and have no intention to.

(Does it still count to not watch these shows even if we've seen clips of them on The Soup?)

[Haleth]

11 hours ago, bmoore4026 said:

Just about everything on TLC including shows that aren't on anymore like the Duggar Family Dominionism Hour and Here Comes a Train Wreck Boo Boo;  I will never forgive The Learning Channel for getting rid of Great Books.

Also, don't care much for stuff on Bravo or A&E.  Fuck The Housewives and fuck Duck Dynasty.

I've never seen Big Brother or Survivor fully and have no intention to.

(Does it still count to not watch these shows even if we've seen clips of them on The Soup?)

Swap out Survivor for the Bachelor/ette and I'm with you.

[bmoore4026]

6 hours ago, Haleth said:

Swap out Survivor for the Bachelor/ette and I'm with you.

Oh, God!  I forgot those two.  And the dancing with the has-beens show.

[atomationage]

4 minutes ago, bmoore4026 said:

And the dancing with the has-beens show.

I used to call that Dancing with People I've never heard of.  Those types of shows are 90% filler. 

[Haleth]

I call it Dancing with the D List.  Can't say I hate it though.  It seems pretty harmless.

Edited June 25, 2016 by Haleth

[Marsupial]

I still have two episodes of Empire in my DVR that I haven't watched yet, so I just deleted them. It's over, Empire. And the show that I was addicted to in its first season, Unreal, is three episodes in and I'm seriously considering pulling its plug too.

And you know what, shows? It's not me. It's you.

[Misslindsey]

Quote

And the show that I was addicted to in its first season, Unreal, is three episodes in and I'm seriously considering pulling its plug too

I stopped watching Unreal after the first episode of this season. I realized I do not like any of the characters on the show, and I really do not care what happens to them. I thought the first season of Unreal was amusing, but never thought it was that great of a show in the first place.

[Ohwell]

I saw the premier of Queen of the South last night and I had enough.

[Jaded]

43 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

I saw the premier of Queen of the South last night and I had enough.

The commercials for that show and Animal Kingdom made me not want to watch either of them. I'm hating that TNT and USA are getting rid of and have gotten rid of all their more lighthearted shows and are replacing them with these "gritty" dramas. I don't mind those kind of shows but I hate when networks start getting away from what got them more exposure in the first place. I'm not sure if I made sense with this post though.