Did you quit watching any series this year?

[Sampiro]

I used to be an ER fanatic, but somewhere during this season I just stopped watching. The plotlines are lame, the characters blah, all of my favorites have left and or been killed off and even Weaver's reunion with her long lost mother was "yawn". This show circled the shark many times but, imo, finally jumped it when Romano was killed by the helicopter (just how many horrible accidents can you realistically have in your life involving both helicopters and a hospital in Chicago?). I've stopped watching.

I've also stopped watching Malcolm in the Middle but not due as much to a decline in quality as the fact they keep yo-yoing it on the schedule and I always miss it (and now it's on at 6:30 EST- that's a gameshow or tabloid-news-program slot, not a quality sitcom slot.)

I also quit watching The Apprentice about halfway through with next to no curiosity as to who will win.

Have you stopped watching any series you used to view regularly this year?

[Lord Ashtar]

I used to be kind of into Smallville. This year, not so much. I don't even know why, I just kind of stopped watching it.

[pinkfreud]

I am ready to quit watching Deadwood, but my husband is still interested in the show, so I'll tag along for his sake. I liked Deadwood during its first season, but I've grown increasingly weary of the plethora of gratuitous obscenities and the scarcity of likeable characters. If it weren't for Brad Dourif, I would probably put headphones on and listen to music while hubby enjoys Deadwood.

[Watcher of the Skies]

I didn't totally quit watching it yet, but I'm about to give up on Stargate Atlantis. As great a series as Stargate SG-1 has been, Atlantis has failed to deliver much in the way of interesting stories or characters. I say let the Wraith have at 'em and hope that they enjoy the meal. Thankfully, the new Battlestar Galactica turned out to be one of the best science fiction shows ever - if you haven't seen it, forget anything you knew about the lame original series from the 70's and check it out.

[Carol the Impaler]

Sadly, I no longer watch The West Wing. God, how I used to look forward to it...

[Sampiro]

Thankfully, the new Battlestar Galactica turned out to be one of the best science fiction shows ever - if you haven't seen it, forget anything you knew about the lame original series from the 70's and check it out.

Hijacking my own thread, but is it at all related to the Lorne Greene series (as in "Galactica: the Next Generations") or is it a "reimagining"?

[Cervaise]

I'm about to give up on Stargate Atlantis.I watched the first half of the premiere season (looking for a possible replacement for the quickly sinking Enterprise). Wasn't impressed. Stopped. And yeah, you're right, Galactica kicks all manner of television ass. (Sampiro, it retains the loose premise of the original, but otherwise it's back to the drawing board, and it's a thousand times better for it. It's a cross between West Wing and 24 in tone, an intense character-driven drama with some action, that just happens to be set in space.)

On a longer-term front, having watched and enjoyed Monk from the beginning, I stuck with it for three episodes after they switched assistants, and simply couldn't stomach it any longer. Not primarily for the new character or the loss of Bitty Schram (though I missed her), but because the writing was suddenly much, much worse than it had been before. TiVo pass: canceled!

I've also stopped watching Queer Eye. They've started repeating advice (which was pretty useful for a while) and relying more on schtick and gimmicks ("let's make over a father and son! hey, are you having a high school reunion?" etc.). To be strictly accurate, I still record the show, and I look at the first two or three minutes to see what it's going to be about, but I rarely continue beyond.

[BiblioCat]

I'm still limping along with ER, although it's been demoted to "taped" status rather than "watch it live" status. I used to watch ER and tape Without A Trace, but they've switched places in my viewing priority.
I usually watch it Friday afternoon or evening, but sometimes I don't get around to watching it till Monday morning (I don't work on Mondays), and that's fine with me. There's no sense of "gotta see what happened NOW!" anymore. Certainly not "Must See TV." Part of me just doesn't care, but part of me says I've stuck it out this long, I need to keep going.

I used to watch Law & Order:SVU faithfully, but I'm sick of the child rape and molestation episodes. If the episode description implies that's what it's about, I'll skip it.

[Sampiro]

I've also stopped watching Queer Eye. They've started repeating advice (which was pretty useful for a while) and relying more on schtick and gimmicks ("let's make over a father and son! hey, are you having a high school reunion?" etc.).

Same here- it had a really short half-life and went from 'best thing on TV" to "eh... what else is on" really quick, though I think Carson and Thom will survive the inevitable sinking. I've never seen an episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Girl and I haven't had Bravo for the past couple of months- is it still on?

[BiblioCat]

IOn a longer-term front, having watched and enjoyed Monk from the beginning, I stuck with it for three episodes after they switched assistants, and simply couldn't stomach it any longer. Not primarily for the new character or the loss of Bitty Schram (though I missed her), but because the writing was suddenly much, much worse than it had been before. TiVo pass: canceled!

They also repeated a whole plotline! The episode where Monk and Sharona went on a plane, and the bad guy used his girlfriend who looked just like his wife to kill said wife, and the whole lookalike thing was how he was planning on getting away with murder - it was repeated this past season. It was the one with with James Brolin as the casino owner. James Brolin used his girlfriend who looked just like his wife to kill his wife - and the fact that the girlfriend looked just like the wife was the way he planned on getting away with the murder. :rolleyes:

[Mama Tiger]

This year I've given up on West Wing, Monk, and Airline (when they started doing all those stupid nothing-to-do-with-the-airport stories). I gave Survivor one last shot, but fortunately it turned into a fun season. I've stayed with Apprentice mostly to watch the trainwreck and try to figure out just where Trump would put some of these people if he ended up hiring them (because I don't think most of them would survive even in his mailroom).

[Watcher of the Skies]

Good choice of words because that's what the producers call it - a "reimagining." They took the original concept and developed an entirely new show that has great characters, great writing, interesting plots, is darker, sexier, and way more involving than it has any right to be. They got rid of the goofy looking robots (Cylons as they're called) and in one stroke of conceptual brilliance had the Cylons develop into humanoids who look just like real humans; in so doing they both saved a ton of money on special effects, and at the same time set up a way more interesting plot device, one that even brings in the concept of sleeper terrorist cells, as some of the Cylons do not even know that they are Cylons. One of the producers has a major background with Star Trek the Next Generation. If you're interested, the new version was introduced by way of a four hour miniseries that is now available (inexpensively) on dvd. The current season, now in rerun on the SciFi Channel is season one. This was a totally unexpected pleasure - you don't normally see quality like this in made for cable shows; I have to actually thank my brother for twisting my arm to initially check it out.

[Agrippina]

I used to watch Law & Order:SVU faithfully, but I'm sick of the child rape and molestation episodes. If the episode description implies that's what it's about, I'll skip it.

I liked to watch the re-runs on USA, but I've seen all of them numerous times. So I'm taking a break for a while.

[amarinth]

Law & Order - I stopped watching about 3 episodes in. I have no need to start up again. (Though, I will watch re-runs.... and SVU if I'm there. Taping it is straight out.)

JAG - I know I was the only one left who did watch it. And I did turn in for the finale. But not really watching.

Alias - I'm bored. If I'm home, I'll have it in the background, but I'm not paying close attention.

Monk - also bored

Scrubs - has an unfortunate time slot. I'd like to watch. But between Amazing Race & House... it's just not going to happen.

NBC Thursday night - It seems like it's in reruns all the time. ER is not good. Apprentice was awful. (though I'm still watching). But it's very odd. I was never in to survivor, so for years, 8-11pm on Thursday was going to be NBC. And now, it's not.

[Murcielago]

I'm annoyed at myself for not being able to give up on Lost. I've decided to quit watching a few times, but I have this childish need to know WTF is the island is about. I don't care about most of the characters, I have a feeling very few of the stories are going to pay off, I'm irked at ABC for dragging the thing out, yet I still end up watching the friggin' show. My only solace is that I don't feel the need to watch it at broadcast time, so at least I can skip the commercials.

[Roadfood]

Smallville - It's just gotten dumb, and they basically retread the same three plots over and over (how many times have we seen a variation on the "bad person inhabits the bodies of various cast members and wreaks havoc" bit?)

CSI - It's gone from being a cool police procedural with a focus on solving the case by following the evidence, to "who cares about the case or the evidence, we just want to showcase a new bizarre lifestyle every month." The murder has become just a MacGuffin. The evidence has become unimportant, cases are now "solved" by someone's deductive leap from nowhere.

Shows I'm almost ready to give up on, but will give them one more chance:

Joan of Arcadia - It's gone from a nice, reasonable happy show where at least the audience got to see the good that came from Joan's actions, to a "nobody gets to be happy" show where most episodes have no point. And now, appparently, next season we get "the nemesis". Joan doesn't need a nemesis, she just needs some writers with imagination.

Stargate Atlantis - Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb. And did I mention that it's dumb? The Major is the only worthwhile character, all the rest (especially Dr. Weir!!) need to be sucked dry by the Wraith and replaced. It's got such potential, though, that's just being wasted, wasted, wasted!

Everwood - It's gone from a reasonably pleasant series to just a soap opera with a bigger budget. And is Ephraim the dumbest kid who's ever lived or what? Hey, I'm going to throw away my entire future, the girlfriend who loves me, my relationship with my father, and everything else, just because I can't wait another two days to fly off and gaze at the house where my son lives???

Stargate SG-1 - I'll try it for at least a couple of episodes with the doofus from Farscape, but he's just not fit to lick the bootprints of Richard Dean Anderson. I just don't think the remaining three will be able to make up for the loss of O'Neil. The writers have pretty much run out of ideas anyway, they should have cancelled it and let it go out gracefully.

[Roadfood]

I'm annoyed at myself for not being able to give up on Lost. I've decided to quit watching a few times, but I have this childish need to know WTF is the island is about. I don't care about most of the characters, I have a feeling very few of the stories are going to pay off, I'm irked at ABC for dragging the thing out, yet I still end up watching the friggin' show. My only solace is that I don't feel the need to watch it at broadcast time, so at least I can skip the commercials.If it weren't for my SO being devoted to it, I'd give up on Lost. If you're waiting to find out the answer to any major question about the island, the smart money says you'll be waiting forever. I'm convinced that the writers have no idea, no answers in place, they're just making up weird stuff to, well, see how weird they can get. Audiences like mysteries, but they also like answers. Shows that keep a little sub-plot mystery continually unsolved (like Magnum and the Robin Masters thing) can keep going, because they've got real plots. But a show like Lost where almost the entire show is always about the unsolved big mysteries, it just can't last, the audience will (like Murcielago) just get fed up after a while.

[Cliffy]

Alias has shown us that J.J. Abrams can indeed suffer from Chris Carter disease, but he hired a bunch of Joss Whedon writers this season and I think they'll help him with this problem.

I watched Joey about halfway through the season. I still kind of liked it when I dropped, but it was just too much TV and I figured of everything that was the show I could best pick up in reruns if I feel like it.

--Cliffy

[Gatopescado]

I stopped watching World Superbike, Supercross and Superbike (AMA) racing, and only make a half-assed effort to catch Moto GP. I only really watch World Rally and Formula One regularly.

Come football season, I think I'll only watch Pac-10 games in addition to all USC's games. And maybe when someone is going to put an asskicking on Notre Dame. I'll tune in for that!

[percypercy]

Desperate Housewives. I tried to like this show. It had an interesting premise, but it didn't go anywhere. So no more of that for me.

[Eve]

South Park, for reasons we've already gone into elsewhere.

[conurepete]

Nip/Tuck. I had to stop watching it when I wanted to slap every character. Sure, TV characters have to have some flaws or make bad choices to provide drama and move things along, but if that's ALL they do, I ask "Why am I watching imaginary jerks when the world is too full of real ones?"

[N. Sane]

I quit watching CSI, because it seemed like it turned into a contest to see how many viewers they could revolt. And why does every show have to be about sex? At least, that's what it was seeming like when I quit watching.

I also quit watching Without a Trace, because it was getting too soap-opera-y for me.

And since I started working for CPS, I quit watching any show--whether one I loved or not--that had to do with child abuse. I deal with it every day, and don't feel the need to watch it for entertainment.

[PastAllReason]

Desperate Housewives for me as well. I started the year as a fan, then started to find almost all of the characters annoying. By the beginning of the year I stopped watching altogether.

[Silentgoldfish]

I've quit watching the Simpsons... one too many shows that I turned off halfway through, so I gave up on the first half.

[SolGrundy]

Monk: Just lost interest, and have no desire to see it without Sharona.

Best Week Ever: I kept talking it up, and somewhere along the way it just got unacceptably stupid, instead of its previous level of stupid-but-funny. Now people keep saying, "You actually like that? It sucks!" I swear to God it used to be funnier; I don't know what the hell happened.

[Ludovic]

24. The premise of this season seemed interesting but they pulled the "plot device from out of their ass" one too many season for me.

[Cervaise]

Desperate Housewives for me as well. I started the year as a fan, then started to find almost all of the characters annoying. By the beginning of the year I stopped watching altogether.I knew halfway through the pilot episode it wasn't going to be for me.

"Ah, another show where well-dressed people fall into swimming pools." —click—

[Harborwolf]

Law and Order-It's just not the same without Lenny. :(

That 70's Show-The show has gone way downhill. The writing was erratic at best and the laugh track got out of control. It's also against Lost in the schedule. Now that Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher are leaving, the show is only going to get worse. Is it 1980 yet?

[AuntiePam]

Here's a third (or fourth) for Desperate Housewives. I think it was a post here that did it for me.

I've also lost interest inER and Lost. Haven't decided if I'll watch the new seasons of Nip/Tuck and Rescue Me. Probably not.

It's not that I have anything else very interesting to do in the evenings (reading and sewing). I think it's realizing that TV programs are vehicles for commercials. Thank heaven for PBS and TCM.

[SiouxChief]

"The Screen Savers" on G4TechTV. Ever since they moved the show from San Francisco to L.A. it just hasn't been the same. Then, they renamed it "Attack of the Show". What's up with that?

I'll still watch it once in a while mainly to see Kevin Rose and Sarah Lane, but that's about it. I need Kevin, Sarah, Leo, Pat, Jessica, and Yoshi to get back together!!

[Izzybella]

I've stopped watching CSI (same old, same old, similar plot, different deviant behavior, got boring), Without a Trace (interested in the cases, not wanting an entire episode about some guy's divorce), and I haven't caught a single American Idol episode this season (just not interested).

I pretty much watch only 3 shows aside from the 10 o'clock news: Extreme Makeover Home Edition (yeah, it's schmaltzy, what can I say? I'm a big sucker for the happy, I guess. Though I could do without Ty's stupid megaphone or whatever the hell you call that thing he's always screaming into), Lost, and Alias.

[Sam Lowry]

Smallville - it used to be can't miss TV for me, but the "secrets and lies" and Lana's supposed perfection just got too annoying.

The OC- it never was classic television, but in the first season it was a cheesy, fun, entertaining show. While the Marissa character has always been annoying, I loved Seth and Summer last year, and many of the other characters as well. This season though it is just too much over the top, and I often want to slap Seth. I'll halfway watch it now if it's on while I'm doing homework or cleaning my room, but I could easily never see it again and not care.

[Sampiro]

Now that Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher are leaving, the show is only going to get worse. Is it 1980 yet?

I can't believe they're actually going to continue. I don't blame the actors who are remaining to hanging onto a good paycheck, but this show is going to suck big-time. It would be almost like carrying on with Malcolm in the Middle without Malcolm and Lois.

[Snooooopy]

I stopped watching The Simpsons, although I haven't stopped wanting to watch. It's just that I decided I wanted to see Cold Case more, and when Cold Case is a rerun, I'll switch over to have a look at Enterprise. It's just a really crowded time slot for a TiVo-less dude.

[Excalibre]

I've also given up on Joan of Arcadia. It was interesting at first, had likable, complex characters, and so on. Now it's just subjecting each character to misery after misery. It's too unpleasant to watch everyone suffering. I've all but given up on ER as well (and thus Will and Grace, since I used to sit down and watch the Must See TV lineup.) ER has gotten dull, and for some reason, while I really enjoyed the first two Apprentices, I just couldn't persuade myself to watch it this season.

[Hey, It's That Guy!]

I gave up WWE Raw and Smackdown because they were getting really stupid.

(Yeah, go ahead and laugh.)

My dad gave up The Shield this season, because it was too dark and twisted, and he found it too hard to empathize with characters or care what happened to them. I still write him weekly recaps, which he looks forward to. We both gave up on The Sopranos after season 2 for the same reason, and now--who knew?--the old man is a Sex In the City fan.

[Larry Borgia]

South Park jumped the shark for me when Mr. Garrison became Mrs. Garrison. The shows this season just aren't funny. I'll still watch them if there's nothing better to do, but I don't really look forward to them anymore.

[Sampiro]

South Park jumped the shark for me when Mr. Garrison became Mrs. Garrison. The shows this season just aren't funny. I'll still watch them if there's nothing better to do, but I don't really look forward to them anymore.

Not to rehash an old thread, but the... ignorance... of that episode. They made it sound like somebody can get a "sex change on demand" when it takes years and years of counselling and hormonal treatments, most people who apply are rejected (everybody who applies has to live as a member of the chosen gender for at least a year before an operation), etc.. It's not just a matter of a self-loathing gay guy deciding "I wish I'd been a girlie..."- I don't know any transexxuals in the Waking and I know that much. Usually when they skewer a topic (whether Joseph Smith, PETA or NAMBLA) they do some type of research beforehand and it's hysterical.

Stone and particularly Parker have just gotten full of themselves, though in fairness I have to admit that I thought the Kenny/Terry Schiavo episode was hysterical.

[asterion]

I agree that that episode was spectaculary unfunny. However, "Die, Hippy, Die" was hilarious, as was "Wing" and "Best Friends Forever." The rest weren't a hoot, but they were funny enough.

[CandidGamera]

I used to be kind of into Smallville. This year, not so much. I don't even know why, I just kind of stopped watching it.

Likewise. Though last week's episode rekindled a bit of fire, as did the one before that. If it can recover its momentum, it might keep me as a viewer next season.

[drm]

The West Wing. I'm not really sure why either.

[suranyi]

CSI - It's gone from being a cool police procedural with a focus on solving the case by following the evidence, to "who cares about the case or the evidence, we just want to showcase a new bizarre lifestyle every month." The murder has become just a MacGuffin. The evidence has become unimportant, cases are now "solved" by someone's deductive leap from nowhere.



Few shows have disappointed me as much as CSI this season. It used to be an absolute must-see for me. But the episode with the guy who wanted to be treated like a baby was the last straw for me. There was no point to the story but to shock the viewer.

Ed

[ivylass]

The West Wing. I'm not really sure why either.

I tried after Aaron Sorkin left, but the snappy writing was gone. I gave up after Leo returned and tried to spell out what they should do for the last 1000 days or something. I rolled my eyes, thought, "And what were you doing for all they days prior to that?" and freed up 9pm on Wed.

I'm still giving Joan a chance. I hope CBS renews it. It has such wonderful potential.

I gave up on 24 halfway through last season and haven't been back.

[Push You Down]

Not to rehash an old thread, but the... ignorance... of that episode. They made it sound like somebody can get a "sex change on demand" when it takes years and years of counselling and hormonal treatments, most people who apply are rejected (everybody who applies has to live as a member of the chosen gender for at least a year before an operation), etc.. It's not just a matter of a self-loathing gay guy deciding "I wish I'd been a girlie..."- I don't know any transexxuals in the Waking and I know that much. Usually when they skewer a topic (whether Joseph Smith, PETA or NAMBLA) they do some type of research beforehand and it's hysterical.

Stone and particularly Parker have just gotten full of themselves, though in fairness I have to admit that I thought the Kenny/Terry Schiavo episode was hysterical.

.... Are you s***ting me? In a show where a character dies weekly and comes back, fire shoots out of a fat kids ass, playing a japanese card game turns you 'japanese', etc. etc. .. You harp about them not being factual about sex changes?

Whoah. Free to be you and me and all.... but ... Whoah.


I cooled on 'Desperate Housewives' but caught this weeks episode and really liked it.

It's funny to me that Bree the anal retentive one with impossible standards is actually the most likable one.

[SkipMagic]

Smallville. To be fair, they're at least trying the whole arc thing this season (with a little oomph, that is), but the episodes are just too silly. Not even fun campy; when they got to their "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" episode, I gave up.

[5que]

Joan of Arcadia - It's gone from a nice, reasonable happy show where at least the audience got to see the good that came from Joan's actions, to a "nobody gets to be happy" show where most episodes have no point..Ditto for me.

Everwood - It's gone from a reasonably pleasant series to just a soap opera with a bigger budget. And is Ephraim the dumbest kid who's ever lived or what?Same here. I don't really understand why I started watching it the first season -- probably was on as background noise while I was working, and it got interesting. Now, I could care less if an avalanche buried the entire town. Though I might watch that.

CSI Miami - how many times can we see Horatio standing sideways looking at the camera, then take off the sunglasses? Still TiVo by habit but usually delete.

West Wing - completely lost interest last season.

24 - tried to start watching because it's one of my daughter's favorite shows, but after three episodes it was just too stupid.

Appointment TV for me is pretty much Deadwood, Carnivale, Daily Show, House, and Countdown with Keith Olberman.

[Roadfood]

Not to rehash an old thread, but the... ignorance... of that episode. They made it sound like somebody can get a "sex change on demand" when it takes years and years of counselling and hormonal treatments, most people who apply are rejected (everybody who applies has to live as a member of the chosen gender for at least a year before an operation), etc.. It's not just a matter of a self-loathing gay guy deciding "I wish I'd been a girlie..."- I don't know any transexxuals in the Waking and I know that much. Usually when they skewer a topic (whether Joseph Smith, PETA or NAMBLA) they do some type of research beforehand and it's hysterical.Wait a minute, let me make sure I understand you. You're complaining that South Park, the cartoon show where one of the characters dies every week and is just back the next week, the show that has Saddam Hussein in a homosexual relationship with the devil, the show where little kids visit secret military installations and advise the generals, you're saying that that show is . . . too unrealistic because it cut some corners in its portrayal of sex change issues???

[Eve]

To the folks compaling that we are too hard on South Park: please go back and search for that other thread ("South Park" was in the title), so we don't have to rehash the whole thing here.

And yes, I am complaining about them: hate speech is hate speech, and this was as bad as anything the Christian right or the KKK have said about the subject, cartoon show or not.

[brianjedi]

"The Screen Savers" on G4TechTV. Ever since they moved the show from San Francisco to L.A. it just hasn't been the same. Then, they renamed it "Attack of the Show". What's up with that?

I'll still watch it once in a while mainly to see Kevin Rose and Sarah Lane, but that's about it. I need Kevin, Sarah, Leo, Pat, Jessica, and Yoshi to get back together!!

Check out http://twit.tv then.

I gave up on Alias when UK's SEC schedule started, since they play on Wednesdays. It wasn't holding my attention like it used to anyway. I think it's almost time to let it go.

[SmackFu]

The Screen Savers - Went from sometimes great to always pointless.
Joan of Arcadia - Just didn't care what happened anymore.
Alias - Crossed the line from barely interesting to.... not interesting.
Six Feet Under - I think that was this year. Too slow and depressing, so that I never really wanted to sit down and watch it. So one day I just deleted all the old episodes off my Tivo and was happier.

[singular1]

I suppose I'll try and get the DVR to catch Lost (although I haven't been too good at that lately - my DVR got the hiccups at the time change, and it still hasn't been completely fixed), but I'm sick of the reruns and gaps. I have given up on Desperate Housewives for the same reason: if ABC can't get it together to show a new episode once a week, I can't be bothered. I'm also pretty tired of the media saturation of these five women - I'm sick of seeing them together everywhere.

[Merijeek]

Smallville. To be fair, they're at least trying the whole arc thing this season (with a little oomph, that is), but the episodes are just too silly. Not even fun campy; when they got to their "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" episode, I gave up.

I've only seen one episode of this because I was on the road for work and the guy I was with usually watches it.

The episode in question was the one with Mixilplik (I know it's not spelled correctly). Things happen, blah blah evil guy, blah blah. Gonna kill girl if Clark doesn't throw the game blah blah.

Clark does something super (in this case moving so fast he can do a whole bunch of stuff without anyone even noticing even though he's being watched by a stadium full of football fans) and saves the day. Ta-da!

Now, because Babylon5 was on right after Lois and Clark on TNT I would generally catch the last 5 minutes of Lois and Clark.

It seemed to me like every episode ended the EXACT SAME WAY. Bad guys being bad until Clark decides to do something super (or, occasionally, super-duper) and blammo, problem solved.

I've got to ask...is every episode like that? Cuz that seems kind of crappy and stupid.

-Joe

[Roadfood]

I've got to ask...is every episode like that? Cuz that seems kind of crappy and stupid.Actually, most episodes of Smallville go like this: Some evil or semi-evil person or entity uses magic or some device or just by accident gains the ability to inhabit and take over the body of anyone. They take over one of Clark's friends or parents. Clark notices that his friend/parent is not acting like themselves but, even after this has happened twenty times already, just shrugs it off, idly wondering what's wrong but doing nothing and not really getting suspicious. The person being inhabited gets weirder and weirder as the show goes on, doing more and more outrageous acts, until finally Clark's dim bulb of a brain catches on (although it's usually that Chloe is the one that figures it out and tells Clark). Then Clark does something super and forces the bad entity to leave the friend's or parent's body.

Minor variations include:

The evil entity can move at will from body to body, thus making Clark's confusion all the more understandable.

When confronted, the evil entity tries to inhabit Clark. This either fails because he's super, or it succeeds and requires some other friend or parent to force the entity out using kryptonite.

But you're right that, even when it's not the above formula, it's that "Weird or bad things happen for fifty minutes until Clark catches on and does something super to stop it" formula.

And there's the standard sub-formula where Clark starts to get close to Lana or Chloe, only to have to run away and leave her hanging in order to save the day, then can't explain it, making Lana/Chloe all pissy at how he's so secretive.

I've thought from the beginning, and still do, that Lex Luthor is the most interesting character on that show. The actor is excellent, and the character is being well-portrayed as not wholly evil, not angelic good (like Clark), but basically operating by his own rules and being slowly pulled by circumstances toward the evil side. Give him his own show and get rid of everyone else.

[jsgoddess]

I gave up on "Jack and Bobby," (blech) "Boston Legal," and "Las Vegas." LV was insanely silly and good for a laugh. Then they decided that they wanted to turn it into a crime drama and it was just awful. Haven't seen it in a long time but it's not long enough.

We watched a few episodes of "Without a Trace." It's good and yet I didn't want to watch it. Weird.

[ladybug]

The West Wing. I started taping it when Alias moved into the same time slot, then never watched the taped episodes. I've found I don't miss it at all. (Oddly enough, I'm now four episodes behind on Alias.)

Joan of Arcadia. I liked it at first, but I lost interest after the first season.

Desperate Housewives. The first time I saw this show was when I visited my parents for Thanksgiving -- mom's a huge fan. I couldn't get into it, though.