# Characters or gimmicks that killed your desire to keep watching a TV show **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2012, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260 "2012-04-09T15:10:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260/41 "2012-04-09T20:55:12Z")
I stopped watching The Office when the printer scandal thing went on. Haven’t seen an episode since then. Not sure why them getting sold off to a printer company killed it for me, but it’s a trivial change and I just lost interest. I was a HUGE The Office fan before that though. I am starting to lose interest in Doctor Who, because it is becoming more and more of a Soap Opera, and less of individual episodic-like content. When they first revamped and brought back the series, there were clever little hints, and words, and characters spread throughout each season, and in the final episode of each season, it would all come together and you were like WOW THAT WAS REALLY CLEVER WRITING! Now it’s just one open mystery after another, one unanswered question after another, and it’s getting on my nerves. I hope they cut it out or I might not last another season. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260/42 "2012-04-09T21:15:48Z")
I stopped watching Seinfeld when I noticed that the main characters were, really, fairly unpleasant people. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260/43 "2012-04-09T21:16:37Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > You said trivial … and I bet this one of the most trivial reasons anyone has ever stopped watching a show … > > I had to stop watching _Six Feet Under_ because the main guy had the same cell phone ring as mine. EVERY TIME he got a call on the show, I would turn to my husband and say “Could you please pause it? My phone is ringing.” and he would patiently explain it was the TV, not my phone. OVER AND OVER AGAIN. > > I don’t think I’m exceptionally dumb, but that phone ring tone was like Pavlov’s dogs. I would hear it and start answering my phone, even if only a minute had gone by since the last time the character’s phone rang. > > This made me so crazy I had to stop watching the show. I finally made it through the entire series, but the first time I tried 6FU I stopped watching because I _hated… Billy… SO… MUCH!!!_ The second time, I was willing to just blow through the Billy parts so I could make it to Season 2. Good thing I did as he was toned down quite a bit. When he started a relationship with another character and stopped (again) taking his meds in S3 or S4, I made liberal use of the Fast-Forward button during his scenes. Oddly enough, I made it through the final seasons because of another character - the little girl, Myra, who I thought was one of the prettiest (and most silent!) babies I’ve ever seen on TV. Eventually I was like “Jesus H. Christ, Nate, just grow the fuck up and allow yourself to be happy, ya dipshit!” But that’s another thread… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260/44 "2012-04-09T21:17:49Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I stopped watching Seinfeld when I noticed that the main characters were, really, fairly unpleasant people. Almost criminally unpleasant, one would say… ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260/45 "2012-04-09T21:22:18Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > My desire for **Awake** took a hit a couple of weeks ago when the introduced a serial killer who may have the same powers of the hero. I think you misinterpreted that scene. It wasn’t that this killer had the same “power”(if you can call it that.) It’s that he was saying they both see the world differently from everyone else, AKA they are both crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260/46 "2012-04-09T21:37:04Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I loved the original premise of True Blood, vampires come out in the open because synthetic blood that is good enough for them to drink is invented. When they started bringing in all different kinds of fantastic creatures i quickly lost interest. The first season? There’s a telepath in the first episode and a shapeshifter a few episodes later. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260/47 "2012-04-09T22:22:11Z")
> [@thinksnow](#): > > Bringing previous contestants back on Survivor! more than once. I’d been applying to the show since season 1 (yes, before it had ever been on the air) and mid way through last season I had just had enough. Don’t bother getting new people who really want to be on the show, just keep recycling douchebags 2-3 times until they win. > > It took much longer than my wife expected, but 21 1/2 seasons was enough. The All-Star seasons made up entirely of returning contestants are some of the best, but I agree, mixing a couple returnees with new contestants was terrible. Interesting to see how it changes the “meta” of the game (compare to this season), but ultimately it’s not that good because it’s too easy for the returnees to run everything. As a Rob fan, I was happy to see him finally win, but as a Survivor fan, the whole season felt like a bit of a setup. ---
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260/48 "2012-04-09T23:08:28Z")
Stopped watching “Brothers and Sisters” when they introduced yet another “is-he-or-isn-he-a-walker-child” subplot. ---
**Author:** ![FrigidLizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3bc359/32.png) [@FrigidLizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrigidLizard)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260/49 "2012-04-09T23:15:19Z")
I used to watch Farscape religiously, but by the time they had gone into the third main villain and second “Zhan replacement” character, I just couldn’t hang in there anymore. I also couldn’t tolerate the whole “have their cake and eat it too” crap with the two Crichtons. I want to finish the series, I have it sitting on my DVD shelf, but I…just…can’t. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260/50 "2012-04-10T00:04:04Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > Booth is handsome, but he’s not the thickest tool in the shed. There are straight lines, and then there are straight lines. I just can’t bring myself to pull the trigger on this one… > [@PunditLisa](#): > > I quit watching “Buffy” when Willow turned gay and evil. Willow’s turning gay (season 4), and evil (Season 6, temporarily), were separate and unrelated events. Me, I quit watching ER shortly before Romano lost his arm. One episode before, in fact. I just decided I didn’t care enough about the show any more to make it worth stayin up for. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260/51 "2012-04-10T00:12:59Z")
The “Whose Line” episodes with celebrities (Springer, the Hoff, etc.) are cringeworthy. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260/52 "2012-04-10T00:15:27Z")
The addition of [Kristen Schaal](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1102891/) as “Hazel” is driving me away from 30 Rock. It seems that the whole entertainment industry has falling in like with Kristen Schaal over the last year, so it’s no surprise that 30 Rock jumped on the bandwagon and hired her. But her style is an acquired taste and on the show her character lacks any endearing qualities. Hopefully she we vanish like so many other supporting characters on that show. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260/53 "2012-04-10T01:02:01Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > There are straight lines, and then there are straight lines. I just can’t bring myself to pull the trigger on this one… Heh heh. I guess I’m not the sharpest log in the pile, either. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260/54 "2012-04-10T01:03:11Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > The addition of [Kristen Schaal](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1102891/) as “Hazel” is driving me away from 30 Rock. 30 Rock is the only place I’ve seen her where I liked her. Each their own. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260/55 "2012-04-10T01:17:28Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > There are straight lines, and then there are straight lines. I just can’t bring myself to pull the trigger on this one… > > Willow’s turning gay (season 4), and evil (Season 6, temporarily), were separate and unrelated events. > > Me, I quit watching ER shortly before Romano lost his arm. One episode before, in fact. I just decided I didn’t care enough about the show any more to make it worth stayin up for. I gained renewed interest when they dropped the helicopter on Romano’s head and killed him (I loathed the character and thought his manner of death was awesome, even though it jumped the shark). And then I lost it again when they introduced Sam Taggart and put her in a relationship with Luka. They couldn’t do anything with his character other than put him in the janitor’s closet with the nearest nurse to start off yet another rocky relationship as a sorry substitute for the perfect family he lost in the Balkan wars? Please. Then Noah Wyle left the show and I was completely done. I dropped CSI (the original) after the episode about the man with the baby role-playing fetish. The show had been getting increasingly slimy and that was just it for me. Too creepy and disgusting. I haven’t watched an episode since. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260/56 "2012-04-10T01:42:07Z")
Burn Notice after Jesse was introduced. Partly because he was supposed to be an alternate love-interest for Fiona (as if) but mainly because of the whole schtick about Michael having ‘burned’ him. It doesn’t count as ‘burning’ someone if you take a very small action that you are completely unaware will lead to someone’s dismissal, and if the US govt is burning people just because someone used their computer once (what, they don’t have CCTV?) then the bad guys have an easy way to get rid of all spies without ever firing a bullet. Just a stupid, stupid plot, and they kept going on and on and on about it, even more than I do. Morgan getting the intersect made me never watch Chuck again. ---
**Author:** ![phxjcc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phxjcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phxjcc)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260/57 "2012-04-10T09:24:16Z")
I have an odd one - the door bell on the old Bob Newhart show was just like my front door bell and my dog would go nuts as she was usually sleeping and was startled awake–she would bark from 5 mins nonstop. The worst of all time: Chachi on Happy Days ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260/58 "2012-04-10T19:48:58Z")
When I was a teenager, I would never miss WWF Monday Night Raw. When the Attitude Era began and ratings and crowd sizes went through the roof, I tuned out. The wrestling was replaced with interviews and skits. I went full time to ECW after that. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260/59 "2012-04-10T20:22:08Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Almost criminally unpleasant, one would say… Or, criminally “indifferent”! I stopped watching way before the last episode, though. When Kramer looked like a baked chicken, well, . . . that was just stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260/60 "2012-04-10T20:26:53Z")
I stopped watching Buffy because of all the high school shenanigans (see above: re gimmicks.) I stopped BSG because of Starbuck, whom I couldn’t stand. I watched every bit of X-Files, and didn’t mind Dogett (I do like Robert Patrick a lot) or Monica but I did mind the whole plotline with Baby William, and worse yet, Scully’s other daughter. Like many here, babies completely ruin the plot for me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-or-gimmicks-that-killed-your-desire-to-keep-watching-a-tv-show/618260.md?page=4)