# Guilty Non-pleasures or Why do I watch this show? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 20, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688 "2016-04-20T00:36:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/41 "2016-04-20T22:08:56Z")
Ever since _Breaking Bad_ ended, I’ve been like a junkie deprived of his smack. As a result, I’ve been watching nearly two seasons of _Better Call Saul_, hoping that it would turn into _Breaking Bad_. It hasn’t, and I’ve finally realized that it never will. And I hate the show, it just pisses me off. I think it’s kind of amazing how poorly the writers understand their own characters. I think I’ve managed to walk away from the stupid thing now, I haven’t watched the last couple of episodes. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/42 "2016-04-20T22:15:12Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I’m a sucker for any reality show set in Alaska, even though every last one of them is permacrap. Heh. That’s just plain cold. I’ll raise the bar around these here parts (or lower perhaps). Big Foot Hunters. ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/43 "2016-04-20T22:53:20Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Ever since _Breaking Bad_ ended, I’ve been like a junkie deprived of his smack. As a result, I’ve been watching nearly two seasons of _Better Call Saul_, hoping that it would turn into _Breaking Bad_. > > It hasn’t, and I’ve finally realized that it never will. And I hate the show, it just pisses me off. I think it’s kind of amazing how poorly the writers understand their own characters. I think I’ve managed to walk away from the stupid thing now, I haven’t watched the last couple of episodes. My jaw literally dropped as I read this. I think the show is brilliant, and possibly better than Breaking Bad. Pistols at dawn, sir. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/44 "2016-04-20T23:00:47Z")
**Cops**. I’ve probably watched more hours of that show than any other thing on TV in my entire life, seeing as how I’ve been watching it since the late 80s, and it seems to always be on when I can’t find anything else to watch. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/45 "2016-04-20T23:17:54Z")
**Wayward Pines** , a dog’s breakfast of shopworn sci-fi tropes and plot holes you could steer the U.S.S. Nimitz through. Somehow I was driven to stick it out to the end, but _goddammit_, there’s going to be a second season! :mad: **The Following** , a cliche-ridden mess about a secret society of serial killers, which concealed an _even bigger and more secret_ society of serial killers, lather, rinse, repeat. Blessedly it was cancelled before implicating the Bilderberg Group in the increasingly vast serial-killer conspiracy. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/46 "2016-04-21T00:24:49Z")
> [@MoonMoon](#): > > My jaw literally dropped as I read this. I think the show is brilliant, and possibly better than Breaking Bad. > > Pistols at dawn, sir. You know, I would probably have liked the show a lot if it hadn’t been a BB prequel. The writing is fantastic (at least most of the time), the look of the show is great, and the characters are interesting. It’s just that Saul/Jimmy and Mike on BCS feel so completely off compared to their BB counterparts that it makes my head hurt. Especially Saul/Jimmy. Mike started out very interesting indeed, but now he’s pissing me off, too. Only \*now \*he’s getting into the crime scene? Like, a few years before BB, at the age of, what, seventy? It doesn’t even make any sense. The whole point of Mike on BB is that he’s a grizzled veteran, who has been around the block any number of times, and seen it all. I’m probably projecting, but I’ve been listening to the BCS podcast some, and a couple of times Bob Odenkirk and Jonathan Banks have sounded exasperated in a way that almost makes me think they agree. Odenkirk said at one point something like “the fans are being patient with us, and if this show gets three or four seasons, then we’ll all see what it’s really about”. OK, maybe he didn’t mean: “Right now, it sucks”, but that’s how I heard it in my head. 😉 As for Mike, one of the writers was going on about how Mike “isn’t Mike yet”, that BCS is his origin story, too, and Banks basically jumped on her, explaining that Mike isn’t a newbie. He’s hardened. And you could just tell that he found it mindboggling that she couldn’t understand that. Or at least, as I said, that’s how I heard it. Again, I’m probably projecting. Anyway… Also, I can’t stand the constant references and callbacks to BB. I haven’t completely articulated why yet, but it’s like the writers are too much in love with BB, and not in a good way. I dunno. It ticks me off. It feels like bad BB fan fiction sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/47 "2016-04-21T00:44:42Z")
Too late for edit: I probably shouldn’t be harping on this, but another thing from the podcast: At one point Odenkirk says that there’s this one moment on BB where Saul feels like Jimmy, and that’s a moment that he keeps coming back to in his mind. Well, five seasons of BB, two seasons of BCS. \*One \*moment where they even feel like the same character? Yeah, something’s just not right there. Anyway, if you guys actually like BCS, I don’t particularly want to spoil your fun. This is all just my opinion. Even though, as always, my opinion is the correct one. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/48 "2016-04-23T00:28:35Z")
I watched all six seasons of _Glee_, which even as a lover of musicals was three to five seasons longer than I feel can be rationally justified. ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/49 "2016-04-23T00:37:34Z")
I continue to watch _Bones_, _Castle_, _Grey’s Anatomy_ and _NCIS_, mostly as a matter of inertia (I think I’m using that word correctly?). Fortunately for me, two of those problems are about to correct themselves. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/50 "2016-04-23T00:51:47Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I watched all six seasons of _Glee_, which even as a lover of musicals was three to five seasons longer than I feel can be rationally justified. I stopped watching after Finn’s Dead episode (which was longer than I’d intended, but the actor’d done gone an died after the season finale where I’d decided to stop watching, so I had stay a little longer to see how they’d handle that) but really should have stopped years earlier. Really only the first half of season 1 is good, the rest (up to where I watched, I mean) ranges from passable to “dear merciful crap, do the people making this show actually know any real people at all, this is unlike anything even remotely related to reality”. Show was definitely hurt by the huge sensation it became in that first half year (made before anyone saw it so they didn’t have swelled heads about it and think they could do whatever they wanted), ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/51 "2016-04-23T00:58:32Z")
I watch infomercials for Time-Life CD music collections. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/52 "2016-04-23T01:47:32Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I watch infomercials for Time-Life CD music collections. I keep seeing posts from you, **Rivkah** and thinking maybe me and you are kinda kindred, ya know? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/53 "2016-04-23T03:37:29Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I stopped watching after Finn’s Dead episode (which was longer than I’d intended, but the actor’d done gone an died after the season finale where I’d decided to stop watching, so I had stay a little longer to see how they’d handle that) but really should have stopped years earlier. Really only the first half of season 1 is good, the rest (up to where I watched, I mean) ranges from passable to “dear merciful crap, do the people making this show actually know any real people at all, this is unlike anything even remotely related to reality”. I don’t think quality entertainment has to be realistic, and musicals generally aren’t known for their gritty realism. But it’s one thing to be unrealistic and fun or interesting and quite another to be unrealistic and _terrible_. On the “not only bad, but bad for you” front, the episode where Finn “heroically” (:rolleyes:) beat up a male prostitute _for being a prostitute_ stands out as one of the more loathsome things I’ve ever seen on television. Which is especially sad as it was one of the last episodes Cory Monteith appeared in before his death. This may sound like a tasteless joke, but when he went into rehab shortly after this episode aired I seriously wondered if he turned to drugs at least in part because of the reprehensible material he was being asked to perform. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/54 "2016-04-24T21:44:50Z")
I’m not saying shows have to be realistic, but the people making them should at least understand reality and how the real world is, so that they then know how and when to deviate from that and not have it turn into a hot mess. I mean, South Park isn’t realistic at all, but Stone and Parker know what they’re doing, so even when something nutty happens, it’s for a reason, and that’s why South Park is one of the longest running shows currently still in production and Glee’s not. You can have a show with a Randy Marsh, acting absolutely crazy, so long as you don’t have a show where everyone’s a Randy Marsh, which is kind of what Glee turned into. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/55 "2016-04-25T01:35:27Z")
> [@stillownedbysetters](#): > > I watch the Hoarders shows (there are several, I’ll watch them all). They sicken me, sadden me, disgust me, and upset me, but their glimpses into the psychological processes that change people with basically normal lives into people controlled by junk fascinate me. I especially like the ones where the person in the hoarder house is a nurse, or social worker. One was a real estate agent. i scream at the TV “What is wrong with you, throw that (quite often literal) shit out!” Then I watch another one. Or I watch\*\* My 600lb life\*\*. Spoiler, they have to start loving and accepting themselves, and their families are enablers. I actually think the show is sort of exploitive as well, but I am guessing that being on the show pays for the surgery? (I am sure I could google that but I honestly don’t care that much.) Before my whole life went sideways mid-March I would usually start the day with a Horders or 600lb life double shot, and occasionally one of each. Then I would either get going to the gym, or start cleaning my house. I am neither morbidly obese nor a compulsive hoarder, but I consider a daily dose of these shows a booster shot. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/56 "2016-04-25T01:45:40Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > I keep seeing posts from you, **Rivkah** and thinking maybe me and you are kinda kindred, ya know? Shall we start a club? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/57 "2016-04-25T02:52:47Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The Walking Dead > [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > **Chefguy** , I wanted to be the first to claim the Walking Dead. Here is a show with a great post-apocalyptic premise and general common sense that people are more interesting than monsters. The TV show format allows the creators hours of freedom to build a rich world with engaging characters who build relationships with each other and face drama. Perfect! Except its people are stupid, vapid, and seem to make decisions based on a random-number generator rather than based on their character traits or their development as shown on screen. It’s ludicrous. Whenever characters aren’t doing stupid things, they are spouting wooden dialog instead. Grrr!\ Thirded. I wish I knew how to quit “The Walking Dead.” **Tired and Cranky** , you have exactly put into words my problems with TWD - so much potential, and they just stupidly piss it away every goddamned week. I’ve seriously considered that we are going to find out at some point that the same virus that makes people re-animate after they die also reduced everyone’s IQ by about 30%. My husband has defended/explained the dialogue in TWD by saying that it’s a show based on a comic book - I don’t accept that at all. You’re not writing a comic book now - you’re writing the top show on television, so step your goddamned game up! And then we have “Fear The Walking Dead” - there’s only one good character making reasonable decisions in that whole show. Everyone else is mind-blowingly stupid and deserved to die in the first wave of zombies. Hopefully this season we’ll see him kill everyone else and take their food and supplies. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/58 "2016-04-25T03:02:50Z")
Archer. I have no idea why anyone in their right mind would want to work with him or ISIS, or why in hell Lana would want him part of her life. His asshattery grates my nerves every time he’s on the screen, but I like the other characters overall and Pam is a lot of fun. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/59 "2016-04-25T17:41:34Z")
I’m embarrassed to admit this. Dance Moms. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688/60 "2016-04-25T18:39:58Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Legends of Tomorrow - there’s so many reasons to hate the show, but the hate is more of a MST3K culture. It’s so bad, it’s entertaining to snark about it. > . It’s still the best live superhero team TV show on. 😛 Or, perhaps \*ever. \*☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-non-pleasures-or-why-do-i-watch-this-show/752688.md?page=4)