They’ve done the “baby” thing successfully, I think, on 30 Rock. Jack met Avery, married her, she had a baby, got kidnapped, leaving Jack with the baby, yet we rarely see the baby. Of course he can afford a nanny. But it’s an example of a baby working as just another plot device instead of bringing the whole show to a full stop while every character and the audience is supposed to go crazy over the stupid baby.
The introductions of babies and children into a show that doesn’t fit the theme of the show or the character.
Two shows I watch have done this recently, In Plain Sight and Bones. Neither show needs kids, neither character is the type to have kids. The plot lines were contrived because the actresses got pregnant. I don’t see why they don’t just put the show on hiatus when the actress gets so far a long the they are obviously pregnant or somehow work around the issue. I mean we suspend our disbelief that the characters in the show would actually be doing all the things they do anyway, so why can’t we just pretend the actress isn’t pregnant and when it becomes too obvious - hiatus. Viewers understand.
Amy Farrah Fowler on the Big Bang Theory. One Sheldon is more than enough, and her homoerotic fixation on Penny has gone way over the line into blatant sexual harassment.
the polar bear did it for me.
Pavel Andreievich Chekov on Star Trek
“Hey hey we’re the Wrussians” just didn’t do it for me, man.
Okay, I’m kidding.
I didn’t like any ep featuring Peggy on King of the Hill. Didn’t care much for Luann centered eps either. Or any ep not featuring them that still had them shown or talking anywhere in the ep. I guess I just got tired of KotH in general.
So 30 minutes into the pilot?
First, ditto on dumping Lost when time travel showed up.
But your quote above prods me onto a short tangent.
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I’ve noticed that the most realistic, (or maybe just attention-getting) of all sounds on television is the sound of phones ringing. I’ve noticed this since back when phones had bells that actually rang, and not ringtones. I would always stop what I was doing because I thoght a phone was ringing in my house. Don’t know exactly why that is. The sound of cars on television doesn’t make me look out the window. May be a Pavlovian thing going on there.
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When I used to carry a Motorola beeper, a long, long time ago, I found that sound of my beeper was exactly the same as the sound of the McDonalds french fry machine signaling that the fries were done. This was a common beeper back then, and you could tell who around you was wearing one because when the french fry machine made that sound, everyone wearing one would unconsciously reach down to check their beeper. Also, you could hear that tone above any amount of noise. Pavlovian, indeed.
Rescue Me used to be one of my favorite shows, but then it got bogged down in its own maudlin tragedy story arcs. By the last season they were barely even in the Fire house, which was always the best part of the show.
I can’t remember exactly what killed my interest in Lost, and it may have taken the second episode or even third. But this exchange has me curious if yet another spinoff thread dealing with how quickly we jettisoned some show – where the aim would be to find the Doper and the show that dumped (or got dumped) soonest.
I know there have been quite a few shows that I got as far as the first episode (or pilot) and leapt off before the first commercial, but I’m hard pressed to recall their names or anything significant about the shows. I do try to be selective in which shows to give a chance, based on the promos and advance hype, but so many these days are instant trash for me.
Anybody want to start such a thread? Or just bat the idea around some here?
Yes, but keep in mind that for many shows nowadays, “seasons” is not the same as “years”.
They broadcast two “seasons” each year.
Haven’t watched “House” since he drove through Cuddy’s wall. There’s really no redeeming his character after that.
Haven’t watched “Bones” since she announced her pregnancy to Booth. It was so out of character for her to ever want a child in the first place. But even if we bought that she suddenly wanted a baby, it would have been: a) planned; and b) with a father (probably a sperm donor) who had superior genetic material. Booth is handsome, but he’s not the thickest tool in the shed. There was no reason for her to complicate her life by picking a man who has unrequited feelings for her. Totally stupid and illogical.
I quit watching “Buffy” when Willow turned gay and evil.
I stopped watching Alias after the third or fourth “revelation” that the existing secret agencies were actually being secretly controlled by an even bigger secret agency. It became clear that J.J. Abrams has no idea how to write something that doesn’t end with a “DUN DUN DUN” twist (plot coherency and internal consistency be damned!). He’s the M. Night Shyamalan of television producers.
Twiki from Buck Rogers. Shudder
I’ve stopped watching new drama series when it becomes apparent that they are trying, like Lost, to have a story arc that extends for years. Now I liked Lost but after that experience, I’m really reluctant to commit to another series for years.
To MWC’s credit, they realized the Seven error pretty quickly and canned him after just a handful of episodes, never to mention him again (much like Poochy on the Simpsons!). For that show, I think it was once Bud was in college that I it went way down. I’ve never laughed at a bit with No Ma’am.
I thought it was kind of silly when Fonzie jumped over a shark on Happy Days, but maybe that’s just me.
This thread used to be good. I can’t be bothered with it anymore, though.
Nitpick: They actually did reference Seven once in the later seasons, when his picture appeared on a milk carton.
For me, it was the first episode I saw, in the second season. My wife was getting into it and I started watching an episode with the idea of watching along.
Partway through, I asked her, “Are they going to resolve this?” (referring to a particular mystery being shown in that episode, not the entire arc). “Or is it just a tease?”
She said, “It’s a tease.”
I stopped watching then and there.
My wife (who was a big X-Files fan) is watching Fringe these days. I used to stick around for an episode here and there when it felt like MotW fodder. Then one day I asked what was going on and it was all alternate dimensions and romances and shit and I bowed out completely. I’m not interested enough to watch religiously to keep up with that sort of thing.