# Good Investment? Or "Throwing good time after bad"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 1, 2019, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-investment-or-throwing-good-time-after-bad/833313 "2019-05-01T10:49:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2019, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-investment-or-throwing-good-time-after-bad/833313/1 "2019-05-01T10:49:58Z")
I think series are popular because your investment of time into learning characters and story-lines is rewarded. A first episode of even a great series may not be much, but after 20 or 30 episodes when you’ve come to know the characters, there’s much more to appreciate: you can build on your knowledge; even a casual conversation has undertones. This was brought home when I bought an NCIS Season Five DVD. (I’d have started with Season One, but Five was all the store had.) I bought it, and found it absurd: All the characters were slapstick caricatures. But then I thought that someone who had watched and enjoyed Seasons One to Four might have a completely different view. The slapstick would hint at a long story-line where they’d grown to understand, and perhaps love, these characters. I’m reminded of this again having just finished Endeavour Season Six. If anyone is asking for advice, I’ll say **Don’t waste time on _Endeavour_.** But, having [del]wasted[/del] invested so much time meeting these characters, I’ll probably watch Season Seven if it appears. Do others have series you’ll keep watching but, in hindsight, wish you’d never started? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2019, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-investment-or-throwing-good-time-after-bad/833313/2 "2019-05-01T11:32:27Z")
I go through three stages with the type of shows. Watch and enjoy, and get invested. Watch only because of that investment. Break away from them because I have a depressive/anxiety jag and stop watching everything, and don’t bother picking it up again, because…well, why would I? OK, so I can’t recommend that as a good way to break the cycle… ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2019, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-investment-or-throwing-good-time-after-bad/833313/3 "2019-05-01T12:06:13Z")
There are some series that significantly decline in quality at some point, and I have no problem giving up on such series before the end. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2019, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-investment-or-throwing-good-time-after-bad/833313/4 "2019-05-01T14:38:24Z")
I love **Endeavor** and do not think it is in any way a waste of time. I find the characters interesting, the intricate plots fun and the long term rewards significantly higher than most of TV. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2019, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-investment-or-throwing-good-time-after-bad/833313/5 "2019-05-01T15:06:20Z")
I let my DVR be my guide. If I am recording a series and see a new episode pop up and watch it before the next episode records, I am still interested. If I notice 5+ episodes of a series are recorded and I am waiting to burn them off in the background when I am doing something else, I need to re-evaluate that commitment. The only exception is if I know a series is on its last season. Then I may ride it into the dirt. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2019, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-investment-or-throwing-good-time-after-bad/833313/6 "2019-05-01T15:29:04Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > There are some series that significantly decline in quality at some point, and I have no problem giving up on such series before the end. Also known as, _“The Kenny Rogers Dicta”._ ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2019, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-investment-or-throwing-good-time-after-bad/833313/7 "2019-05-01T16:38:36Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Do others have series you’ll keep watching but, in hindsight, wish you’d never started? **The Walking Dead**. I’m still watching it to see how it finally comes out. (I’ve just finished Season 8, so please no spoilers on Season 9). I got tired years ago of the constant reversals of fortune, arbitrary defeats followed by improbable escapes, stupid strategy by both heroes and villains, and random killing of important characters. (I’m not a great fan of the “anyone can die” trope, which once it becomes established becomes a trope itself). Watching it has become a chore instead of interesting. It doesn’t help that the seasons are so long. Having 16 episodes a season means they have to do a lot of filler and wheel-spinning without going in any direction. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2019, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-investment-or-throwing-good-time-after-bad/833313/8 "2019-05-01T21:28:13Z")
Mark Maron has a bit in a recent standup show he did for Netflix about the “Do I really want to spend that much of my remaining time on Earth to watch this?” question. Yeah, _GoT_ is some sort of cultural bonding thing. But I’ve got better things to do before I die. As to the OP and quitting/staying with a series. It does get difficult. E.g., we are watching _Mork & Mindy_ now. Up to season 4. The quality keeps sinking and sinking. I suggested to **Mrs. FtG** from the start that we might want to bail after watching just a few episodes, but she seems to want to persevere. Oh, well. We might be giving up on _The Good Fight_. Stalled late in season 2 and season 3 is out now. Was only watching one episode here and there. Other, better, stuff got higher priority. Baranski is great, but they were misusing her in season 2. We may have given up on _Transparent_. What are we, two seasons behind? And then there’s the final season of _Orphan Black_ that I moved off the DVR to the server. Someday? Probably not. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2019, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-investment-or-throwing-good-time-after-bad/833313/9 "2019-05-01T21:39:05Z")
The late, lamented [jumptheshark.com](http://jumptheshark.com) (actually, it’s technically still alive, but the site itself has jumped the shark) had a section called “Shows that never jumped.” It was a pretty short list. Pretty much every open-ended series has entire seasons you wished you hadn’t spent time with. But mostly you continue to watch for two reasons 1. You can’t believe the show won’t return to its former greatness at some point. Very rarely, it actually happens. 2)You’ve put all that time into watching it, so it just feels like a complete waste to stop watching now.