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

[proserpina65]

The Office - UK and US. Not even my love for Martin Freeman can get me to give these shows a try. Hate when I'm supposed to root for assholes!

 

I don't think you're supposed to root for the assholes on The Office.  At least not the UK version, which I did watch and found mildly amusing.  You're supposed to find Ricky Gervais' character ridiculous and unsympathetic and root against him, I think.  I wouldn't know about the US version, though, as I refused to watch it due to my Steve Carrell aversion.  And yes, I hate it, because, you know, Steve Carrell.

[ramble]

Kromm if I could quadruple like your post I would. I feel like a zombie avoider in a world of zombie super fans. I don't care. I won't watch. Shut up. It's similar to how I feel when people talk about Game of Thrones, but that's show specific, while with zombies it's the entire universe related to them.

[Janet Snakehole]

Kromm if I could quadruple like your post I would. I feel like a zombie avoider in a world of zombie super fans. I don't care. I won't watch. Shut up. It's similar to how I feel when people talk about Game of Thrones, but that's show specific, while with zombies it's the entire universe related to them.

GoT is another for me, mostly because I picture one of the head writers being a 13 year old boy demanding "MOAR BEWBS" in each episode.

[Aquarius]

I'm on board the zombie-hate train too.  Just do. not. get. it.  I love ghost stories and most supernatural stuff.  But zombies just do not interest me.

 

Some shows I've never watched but hate:

 

Duck Dynasty

Any of the Real Housewives franchise

Swamp People

the Odd Couple remake

Justified

Sons of Anarchy

24

Breaking Bad

[selkie]

And nobody really watches golf on TV do they?  Like watching paint dry.

 

The people I know who watch televised golf are all about using it to put them to sleep when they want to take a nap on a weekend afternoon. The pretty green course and soothing announcer's voice will do it, I guess.

[proserpina65]

The people I know who watch televised golf are all about using it to put them to sleep when they want to take a nap on a weekend afternoon. The pretty green course and soothing announcer's voice will do it, I guess.

My mom does that.

[Chaos Theory]

I lied Duck Dynasty. I'd say anything reality TV but ESPECIALY Duck Dynasty. Don't get me wrong, props for making millions and doing it honest (it was honest right?). If they had kept their mouths shut and kept cashing in those reality TV dollars like all the other reality TV nutbars I'd be cool but these nutbsrs had to get political and that is not cool.

Edited March 20, 2015 by Chaos Theory

[Rick Kitchen]

And nobody really watches golf on TV do they?  Like watching paint dry.

 

 

 

My Dad did.  Over and over and over, hours at a time.  Ugh.

[kiddo82]

I don't hate Secrets and Lies and American Crime, but I think I just need some me time from serialized dramas.  I know even procedurals can have multi-episode long/season long arcs, but I'm talking about shows with pilots that begin with huge a mystery which carries over the length of the season/series with each episode asking more questions than it answers and every new episode teaser boasting the "most shocking reveal yet."  I've gotten somewhat disenchanted lately because I get sucked into these types of shows only to get burned more often than not.  (the end is usually not as good as the build up).  Also, these types of shows take a lot and since I'm currently invested in varying degrees with How To Get Away with Murder, The Americans, and Pretty Little Liars, I just don't know how much more I want to give.        

[bmasters9]

Yet another: Little House on the Prairie. Two of my brothers think that this was one of the best shows they ever saw (and they have the freedom to so believe), but I was never the fan of it. In fact, what put me off of it the most was the setting (the 1800s, out in the middle of nowhere). I don't know exactly how to expand upon that, but that was the main culprit. 

Edited March 23, 2015 by bmasters9

[kiddo82]

Confession: When I was little, my sisters used to watch Little House reruns. I thought they were reruns from an actual show that was shot during prairie times.

[DittyDotDot]

I loved Little House on the Prairie, but my older brother hated it and always called it "Little Outhouse on the Prairie". My 9-year-old self would get so mad at him.

 

Do I need to explain what an outhouse is to the youngin's? ;)

Edited March 24, 2015 by DittyDotDot

[JTMacc99]

My 600-LB Life on TLC.

 

I have to leave the room when this show is being watched. There really isn't a single thing about the show I like, but I would say it is the sad tinkling piano music playing through most of every episode that makes me hate it with the fire of a thousand deep fryers.

[ToxicUnicorn]

Toddlers and Tiaras.  The title and premise make my stomach turn.  Free the Toddlers!

[Rick Kitchen]

Honey Boo Boo.  The idea makes my skin crawl.

[opus]

Honey Boo Boo.  The idea makes my skin crawl.

The actuality is worse.

[Aquarius]

Dance Moms.  I avoid people like that in real life, why the hell would I want to watch them as entertainment?

[Kromm]

Toddlers and Tiaras.  The title and premise make my stomach turn.  Free the Toddlers!

It's not "big evil", like murder, rape, genocide, terrorism, etc.

 

But at the very least it's medium evil.  Child exploitation and child abuse.

[Cranberry]

Arrested Development. I'm sorry. (I probably would actually like it, but it was quoted so much while it was on and so many people practically begged me to watch because they were sure I'd love it that I got sick of it before I ever saw an episode. The same thing happened with Monty Python, although I did watch and enjoy a couple of films later.)

 

BBC's Sherlock. Sorry again. I don't like to support Moffat on principle, and I've never understood what was so great about Cumberbatch.

 

Also, The Big Bang Theory. I actually have seen one (random) episode of it, and I hated it. I've hated every clip I've seen, too. I also hate Everybody Loves Raymond and Two and a Half Men and The King of Queens and... pretty much any sitcom where a guy has a wife who's out of his league and they bicker constantly.

 

I can't really handle laugh tracks at all now, either. Back in the 90s, I watched pretty much every sitcom that was on the air and the laugh tracks didn't bother me then, but now they just grate.

 

I also avoid pretty much all reality shows, especially if they're about "famous" people. I like some competitive reality shows but my tolerance for those has gone down now that there are so many of them.

[ToxicUnicorn]

I like some competitive reality shows but my tolerance for those has gone down now that there are so many of them.

I agree with this.  The first set of competitive reality shows was such a departure for new entertainment: I remember thinking Trading Spaces was fun and Iron Chef was hilarious.  For awhile, I thought competitive reality was far more interesting than a lot of the more conventional programming.

 

The tide has turned.  Competitive reality has become stale and scripted tv is good again.  (I don't think that's a coincidence.)

 

Back on topic:  2 Broke Girls.  It seemed to get a decent reception, but it sounded completely tired to me.  Roseanne broke the diner mold, to me.

[amensisterfriend]

On paper, I should have really liked Fringe. A lot of the underlying themes/ideas are interesting to me, I'm a fan of both LOST and X-Files (shows I've often heard Fringe compared to), I love John Noble, I really like that the main female character is presented as a more cerebral introvert than what we often see, etc.  Somehow, though, the show just didn't click with me. I slogged through at least half the series before finally admitting to myself that I just didn't care enough to continue. 

 

And Mad Men and Breaking Bad own this thread for me :) 

Edited June 2, 2015 by amensisterfriend

[amensisterfriend]

---Oh, and Grimm. I like the premise and think it's gorgeously shot, but I find the characters incredibly flat and undefined, the mythology seems to range from inconsistent to nonexistent, the dialogue is awkward, the tone is all over the place and I feel like about half of the main cast are really terrible actors/actresses. I keep trying to give it another chance only to realize it's just not for me, even back when it was supposedly at its best. 

Edited June 3, 2015 by amensisterfriend

[Mulva]

Did I post in my sleep?  I too couldn't get into Grimm for the same reasons.

[ParadoxLost]

I tried with Hannibal. I really did. I tried watching it in the first season and I couldn't get into it although it wasn't bad.

Everyone keeps raving about it and the promo with Gillian Anderson looked really good. So, I watched the third season premiere and I just didn't get it. It was incoherent. I really had no idea what was going on. But, I thought it is just impossible for new viewers to enter because there seems to be something like four time lines and hallucinations in the episode.

But I decided that I just needed to go back and try the prior seasons one more time to see if I could get into it and build my way to season 3 because I've always maintained that they don't have to dumb down mid series episodes for new viewers. Then I decided to watch the 3.02 first. I got to the point when a mug broke in a artsy fartsy cinematic way; and, never mind, I don't want to do the work of watching season 1 and 2 just to reach some kind of zenith of pretentious BS.

Edited June 13, 2015 by ParadoxLost

[Chaos Theory]

OK Hannibal is incredibly artistic.  A lot of people have issues with season 3 being too art house but it has always been that way but season 1 & 2 was mixed with visually stunning  crime drama.   Half the fun was the art of the murders Hannibal and the other serial killers left.   There was a cat and mouse game between Will and Hannibal but that was in between murder cases.  Season 3 there is no murder cases so all you have is a damaged psyche chasing a serial killer being written in an incredibly visually artistic way.  I admit although I love it I can see why some people don't.   Like all things Hannibal is an acquired taste but it is an incredibly well written show if you go for visually stunning shows.  

[bmasters9]

Seinfeld.  I don't know if I ever made it through an episode.  Boring and mean-spirited.

Not to mention, hardly even funny! Barney Miller and The Bob Newhart Show both had far more laughs than that. 

[Danny Franks]

Parks & Rec. I'm not going to keep watching a show for a season and a half, just because everyone insists 'oh, it gets really funny!'. Either it's funny to begin with, or it's not. A charmless protagonist, and a bunch of charmless sidekicks.

 

Nikita. Boring, and the only character I could feel any connection to (the one played by Aaron Stanford) was tertiary at best, in most of the episodes. I just don't think Maggie Q is a very good actress either.

 

The Walking Dead. I've watched the first two seasons, rather apathetically. I don't really get the appeal, because none of the characters are likeable in any way. But then, I have never, ever understood the craze regarding zombies anyway, so perhaps that's the problem.

 

Penny Dreadful. Such a chore to watch. None of it is bad, some of it is enjoyable, but the episodes seemed to drag forever. I just lost interest about halfway through the first season. And that was watching them back to back. I could manage two episodes at a time, before needing to do anything else, and got through three sessions.

 

Gotham. When I heard they were doing a series about young Gordon's career in Gotham, I flipped out. Thought it would be amazing. Then they cast kid Bruce Wayne, and I thought 'okay, well maybe they'll just use the Waynes' murder as an easter egg of sorts, a case that Gordon gets involved in'. Then it turned out that kid Bruce Wayne was a regular and the show was going to be about him as much as about Gordon. Then Gordon's girlfriend was The Worst, and Jada Pinkett-Smith chewed up all the sets. I bailed. Shame really, because Penguin and Selina were both great.

 

The Flash. Just not very good. Light, vacuous nonsense that falls apart as soon as you pay attention to it. Barry never worked for me as a main character, and the Scrappy Doo sidekick was unbearable.

 

I enjoyed the first two seasons of New Girl, but then it suddenly got terrible, all at once. The characters all became cartoons, any nuance they had was thrown out, the only storylines the writers seemed able to come up with were about dating.

[Chaos Theory]

I just thought of a couple big ones. I am not mentioning comedies because I don't usually watch comedies so me not liking one isn't a surprise. A surprise is me liking it.

Now a good drama I don't like is a surprise:

Game Of Thones. I liked the first season but for some reason the show just dropped off my radar after that and never got back on. I tried but never got back into it.

The Walking Dead For some reason never caught on with me. It has all the peices for a kind of show I like but for some reason the final product just doesn't do it for me

Justified Again it had all the right peices but the final product just didn't work for me. I tried a couple times but it just didn't work.

<-----edited because autocorrect is evil.

Edited June 21, 2015 by Chaos Theory

[Snowprince]

2 Broke Girls. Just can't get past the most obnoxiously annoying laugh track in the history of broadcast television.

[JTMacc99]

Mad Men for me. I think it is the perfect example for me, because it is clearly a very good show. Many people love it, and it has plenty of positive things written about it by critics. But for whatever reason, I was never able to get engaged in the characters or the story. And I gave it a shot.

 

I find the whole idea of food competitions weird.  Its the only type of competition show I can think of where the viewer cant gauge the talent.  We can't taste anything

The competitive cooking shows have one thing that many other competitive reality shows do not have, and that is a high percentage of competitors who are there simply because they want to win a skill based competition and not simply because they want to be on TV. 

 

OBVIOUSLY this doesn't go for all of the competitive cooking shows or all contestants. Food Network Star is actually about being on TV; Hells Kitchen is about idiots with some sort of cooking skills getting yelled at by Gordon Ramsay, and there are occasional Top Chef contestants who do seem to enjoy being on TV more than being a chef.  But for the most part, they are real people with real skills.  This separates these shows from things like Survivor, The Amazing Race, dating shows, and anything "naked", and I think it is what it is that appeals to me.

[SmithW6079]

I'm glad you posted this, decembar13.  I remember being so jazzed that I could go to Caprica straight from BSG (which I watched and mostly loved long after it was over).  I think I watched an episode and a half.  I should have loved that premise but, alas, too many teenagers with no charisma.  (too many freaking "teens" on tv!)

 

For me, the nail in the coffin of "Caprica" was its contention that the first Cylon was basically a petulant teenage girl, and the (future) destruction of mankind was a teenage girl's temper tantrum. Not even Sasha Roiz as a gay Adama mafia uncle could keep me watching.

 

Which segues into...I love science fiction. I devoured almost any sci-fi book I could get my hands on during my youth, and I still enjoy the genre today. That said, I very rarely watch sci-fi shows. I liked most of the various "Star Treks" and "Battlestar Galatica," and I enjoyed "Eureka," but I just can't get into many of the other shows. I'm watching "Defiance" right now (because I love post-apocalyptic stuff), but I could stop watching tomorrow and not miss it. I watched some of the "Stargates," but they were never appointment TV.  

Edited June 23, 2015 by SmithW6079

[Princess Sparkle]

2 Broke Girls. Just can't get past the most obnoxiously annoying laugh track in the history of broadcast television.

I couldn't watch 2 Broke Girls because I felt so sad for Garrett Morris being stuck on that show.  He deserves so much better.

[lucindabelle]

Dr. Who. Boy do I want to like this. My niece is devoted. But I just get bored. It's not the hokiness, I love original Star Trek. Just can't get into it.

 

True Detective. I'm surprised nobody else listed this. Maybe i was watching too late at night but I'd get confused and lose interest.

 

The Wire. I am trying still but it is one of those shows that demands your full attention and I kind of don't watch TV that way anymore so it's a problem.

 

Jinxed. Put me to sleep. Again could be because it's on late.

 

Girls. Actually, i love Girls now, but I hate-watched for a long time. I think the writing's gotten better.

[ToxicUnicorn]

The Wire. I am trying still but it is one of those shows that demands your full attention and I kind of don't watch TV that way anymore so it's a problem.

I hear you!  Do you have the energy to read?  Without closed captioning, The Wire would have been impossible for me.  

 

I am still (and probably will always be) subscribed to The Wire forum.  People over there were very encouraging when I was trying to watch, if that helps.  It's worth it, if you can hang in there!

[lucindabelle]

That's a good idea re closed captioning. See I'm often playing words with friends or doing a jigsaw puzzle on my iPad and you can't half watch the wire.... I just don't like sitting still doing nothing at all when I'm at home....

[andromeda331]

I know it keeps being mentioned but Downton Abbey. I love the clothes and most period shows, but this one is so boring, and I have no sympathy for the Crawleys problems. The poor Earl the world is changing and people aren't in the mood to cater to him anymore and constantly having to depend on other people's money to save his home. Poor Mary, having so many rich, boring, and bland men chasing her. That must be rough. Normally I'd find the staff interesting but most of them are boring. Normally, I like the comments that someone like Violet would make but I don't like Violet either or find her very funny.

Edited July 2, 2015 by andromeda331

[bmasters9]

I had purchased the Emma Peel Megaset of The Avengers (classic 60s British spy series starring the late Patrick Macnee as John Steed, and Diana Rigg as Emma Peel; this release had all her episodes), and I thought I would be enough of a fan to watch it front-to-back, but it's pretty boring to me, and as such, I can only watch one episode at a time. 

[amensisterfriend]

I was recently reminded of this one: Six Feet Under. Nearly everyone I know adored it, and it sounded like it had just the blend of drama and dark humor that would normally appeal to me, but for some inexplicable reason I ended up hating this show to the point where I found it active aggravating to watch. 

[ABay]

Re: The Avengers. I love it to bits but it only had 3 plots: brainwashing, secret army, brainwashing + secret army. It's really the stylized Swinging 60s London sensibility that makes it fun. It saddens me that it took decades for TV to present a female character even as remotely cool and kick-ass as Mrs. Peel.

[Ohwell]

The only thing I found interesting about Six Feet Under was the beginning of each episode, showing the creative ways in which people died.  After that, I usually stopped watching.  

Edited July 2, 2015 by Ohwell

[JayInChicago]

Oh, Downton. I've been meaning to get back to it, but they get making more damned episodes of it. I think I got through the majority of season/series 2, given I remember the references to the War. I like the costumes and the setting, but it's a chore to watch.

 

Call the Midwife is another show I want to love but haven't been able to get into.

[DearEvette]

Veep.  I have tried.  All the episodes are there on my HBOGO.  I have watched several of them.  I don't find it funny or interesting.

 

Luther.  I love Idris Elba, but I hate the shows where the arch criminal is so very arch and so very criminal.  So clever and smug with it.  The 'Moriarity' is my least favorite character trope.  And it doesn't help that criminal mastermind actress has duck lips.  I kept getting pulled out of teh scene because I was staring at her lips.

[proserpina65]

Veep.  I have tried.  All the episodes are there on my HBOGO.  I have watched several of them.  I don't find it funny or interesting.

 

Luther.  I love Idris Elba, but I hate the shows where the arch criminal is so very arch and so very criminal.  So clever and smug with it.  The 'Moriarity' is my least favorite character trope.  And it doesn't help that criminal mastermind actress has duck lips.  I kept getting pulled out of teh scene because I was staring at her lips.

I thought I was alone in having this opinion about Luther.  Some of the very few stand-alone episodes were quite good (the Sean Pertwee one is outstanding), but the recurring villainess just annoyed me, and I stopped watching about half-way through the first season.

[CoderLady]

Invader Zim. A header for an article on another site today said the show may be returning, but I'm not even going to try watching it this time.

 

Reasons in no particular order: The green, black and purple color scheme was boring. The plots made no sense. Something revolting had to happen in each episode. And my response to the voice acting was nearly always "Dear God, please shut up shut up shut up!" whenever any of the principal characters were talking.

 

I tried. I watched at least half a dozen episodes more than once but I never stopped hating it. I was relieved when it disappeared from the schedule. 

[HalcyonDays]

Any reality show, especially Survivor, Real Housewives, Bachelor/Bachelorette, Karsashians. I can't tolerate the shallow stupidity of the people who appear on this show. I watched the first season of Survivor, but bailed on the second simply because the opening episode for season 2, had the contestants told to bring what they thought they needed, and only the clothes they were weraing and half of the woman wore bikinis only. Seriously? Yeah, because it won't get cold at night, and there are no bugs on the tropical island. Jesus. Wear proper clothes. I bailed right at that point (10 minutes I think into the episode), realizing it was just about objectifying and BS challenges and plain stupidity.

 

Seinfeld - stupid sellfish people acting stupid and selfish.

 

 

Outlander - I don't want to watch what has been dubbed torture porn. I have no interest in seeing people suffer like this.

 

Mad Men - I am sure it was a good show, but no interest in again, seeing women being treated like crap.

[lucindabelle]

Dancing with the stars. Tried because brother and sister in law watch it and mom sometimes too,

So uninterested. Don't get the appeal.

[ABay]

For me the key to enjoying Dancing with the Stars is to record it and then watch only the dancing. It means missing Tom Bergeron's asides, which are the only saving grace when watching in real time, but the show is infinitely better if you skip the judging, post-dance interviews and, especially, the rehearsal packages. The season Meryl Davis was on, I was blissfully ignorant of her annoying uptalking right until the finale.

[lucindabelle]

But why d I want to watch non experts dance in the first place? Why?

[Chaos Theory]

Person of Interest:   I don't know why I don't like this show.   Everything about it should appeal to me but it just doesn't.  

 

Elementary:    I tried to like this one but something about it turned me off from the start.  I guess because I love the British version or maybe I just don;t like Johnny Lee Miller.  I'd consider trying it again if it was on Netflix but CBS don't play that.  

 

The Good Wife:    I tried this once Season 1 and everything about the show annoyed me which is a pity I like most of the cast.  (Except for maybe Julianna Margulies - which might be the problem.)  

 

There are plenty of shows I was never going to like to begin with but this isn't really the topic for shows you were never going to watch in the first place no matter how many people bugged you to or how wrong you are about it.. (90% of comedies.  99% of reality programming)   It is stranger to find a good drama that I don't like.   However every so often even if a show has all the ingredients.   that I usually like in a show....I will not like the show.    IE True Blood and Game Of Thrones.  

Edited July 9, 2015 by Chaos Theory

[auntjess]

The shows whose existence offend me are those arranged marriage, get-married-to-a-stranger- to -be-on-tv" shows. 

Is this what we've come to?

There are other premises I dislike, and hate that TV encourages/underwrites the Duggars, but guess that's over now.