# "I felt SO much better after I shot the television." (open spoilers inevitable) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 2, 2006, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023 "2006-08-02T14:55:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023/1 "2006-08-02T14:55:16Z")
So we’ve done threads on walking out of movies, and two on realizing books suck or throwing them across the room. Somehow in all this we seem to have forgotten that great sucking whole of inanity that is _television_. So–thinking ONLY of television shows you liked at one point–at what point did you fall out of love with a given television series? Bonus points if you swore off the show, then came back to find it returned to its former glory. As always, I’ll get the ball rolling: 1. \*\*The West Wing. \*\* I started watching this show solely because those stinking bastards at ABC cancelled Sports Night and I needed an Aaron Sorkin fix; I was delighted to find that WW was even better than SN. Consequently, when word of Sorkin’s departure from the series came, i was worried. I watched a couple of episodes in the fifth season because I wanted to see the end of the Zoe-kidnapping arc, but it was swiftly clear to me that the new writing staff had forgotten the funny. 2.\*\* Gilmore Girls \*\*: WW taught me a lesson. The exit of the Palladinos was it for me, particularly as I was already getting weary of Lorelai & Luke not getting married. 3.\*\* Star Trek: Voyager \*\*: If you’ve seen the episode “Threshold,” you understand. If you haven’t seen it, I envy you and shall not inflict even a summary on you, as that would be cruel. 1. \*\*Xena: Warrior Princess \*\*: The ambiguously lesbian die for, what, the 72nd time and are sealed in ice by Ares, who somehow doesn’t realize that they’ll come back–because they ALWAYS FREAKING COME BACK. (I came back for the series finale, though, which was possibly the best series finale in the history of the known universe.) Anybody else? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023/2 "2006-08-02T15:33:45Z")
**X-Files:** When Duchovny left, it went to all-alien-black-oil-paranoia stories all the time. Bored me senseless. **Friends:** Somewhere around Ross and Rachel’s second or third reunion/separation I lost interest. ---
**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:** [August 2, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023/3 "2006-08-02T15:39:10Z")
**Lois and Clark** : Around the time they got married. **Gilmore Girls** : Around the time Lorelei started getting regular sex. **Babylon V** : Early in the 4th season, when I found out the 5th season was only going to be broadcast on cable, which I didn’t have. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023/4 "2006-08-02T15:43:02Z")
**Queer as Folk** was always a soap opera, but it got downright ridiculous. I kept watching because they were still my guys, you know? I stopped halfway through the third season, I think. **24** , after the first season, got increasingly ridiculous. I mean, the first season was too, but man, I couldn’t keep my eyes steady in my head. ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023/5 "2006-08-02T15:55:14Z")
_ER_. I was obsessed with it for the first five or six seasons. After that, it started getting into “top this!” mode-- ever more outrageous situations and outlandish drama. I think I permanently wrote off the show when the hospital was attacked by an army tank (?!). ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023/6 "2006-08-02T15:58:42Z")
> [@wm--](#): > > _ER_. I was obsessed with it for the first five or six seasons. After that, it started getting into “top this!” mode-- ever more outrageous situations and outlandish drama. I think I permanently wrote off the show when the hospital was attacked by an army tank (?!). You clearly missed the memo that ER is actually set in the Marvel Comics universe. It’s during Thor’s stay in Chicago; every time something incomprehensibly & spectaculalry horrid happens, Thor and Loki are just off screen. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023/7 "2006-08-02T16:28:07Z")
> [@Skald the Rhymer](#): > > 2.\*\* Gilmore Girls \*\*: WW taught me a lesson. The exit of the Palladinos was it for me, particularly as I was already getting weary of Lorelai & Luke not getting married. …Where’s your time machine butch? There has yet to be an episode without Palladino involvement produced. Amy Sherman and her hackish husband left the show at the end of THIS season. And since the episode by the guy who is now the new show head was one of the better episodes in awhile, writing off this show NOW just smacks of misplaced creator worship. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023/8 "2006-08-02T16:29:53Z")
I gave up on West Wing after the first couple episodes of the fifth season too. My parents have the fifth and sixth seasons on DVD, and I’m thinking about watching them for the hell of it, but I think it might just make me bitter. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023/9 "2006-08-02T16:32:09Z")
> [@Push You Down](#): > > …Where’s your time machine butch? Yeah, like I’d tell that. > [@](#): > > There has yet to be an episode without Palladino involvement produced. Amy Sherman and her hackish husband left the show at the end of THIS season. > And since the episode by the guy who is now the new show head was one of the better episodes in awhile, writing off this show NOW just smacks of misplaced creator worship. I mentioned that I’d already lost interest in the show; I didn’t even bother watching the last three episodes of the season. The knowledge that Amy SP is departing was just the last straw. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023/10 "2006-08-02T16:56:22Z")
I may be the only person to respond to this thread that actually HAS shot a television. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023/11 "2006-08-02T17:05:32Z")
> [@August West](#): > > I may be the only person to respond to this thread that actually HAS shot a television. I think we all want to hear this story. Was the television possessed by demons from the underworld and about to attack, or did you accidentally find that you had tuned into Walker: Texas Ranger and then discover that the remote wasn’t working? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023/12 "2006-08-02T17:18:14Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > **X-Files:** When Duchovny left, it went to all-alien-black-oil-paranoia stories all the time. IMO, **X-Files** was going downhill before then. My mental image is of Chris Carter repeatedly painting himself into a corner and cutting through the wall behind him (occasionally taking out a load-bearing beam) to escape. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023/13 "2006-08-02T17:26:29Z")
Andromeda when they were going to dump Tyr. He begin “having issues” and need “to build my confidence” instead of being a guy with a BFG who walked in and announced, “I’ll take care of this.” ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023/14 "2006-08-02T18:05:53Z")
No one’s mentioned Alias yet? My wife and I stuck with it for four seasons, but quit after the premiere of season 5. We’ll see it on DVD sometime in the future. Man, that show went downhill fast. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023/15 "2006-08-02T18:14:49Z")
[Jump the Shark](http://www.jumptheshark.com) ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023/16 "2006-08-02T18:15:11Z")
Actually it is a good lesson in gun safety. I was 12 years old and was playing with a .22 pistol. Even though my father kept the pistol, magazine and bullets in three different spots I managed to find all three. I had loaded the gun and I removed the magazine far enough that I thought it wouldn’t chamber a round when I cocked the slide. I was wrong. I had just switched the TV on and Sesame Street was showing. I aimed the gun at the TV and said “Die Grover!” and pulled the trigger. BLAM! The screen went black.I nearly shit myself. There was a small hole in the screen and a big crack that ran from top to bottom. I was never in so much trouble in my life. The lesson is: Parents, if you have a gun, lock up your ammunition somewhere safe and teach your kids about gun safety. Up to that point all I had ever been told is “guns are dangerous” and “stay away” ---
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023/17 "2006-08-02T18:22:51Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > **Babylon V** : Early in the 4th season, when I found out the 5th season was only going to be broadcast on cable, which I didn’t have. Ouch. The ending of the 4th season neatly wrapped everything up. They wrote & filmed it as though season 5 would never be approved. I recommend watching it, if the story still interests you. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023/18 "2006-08-02T19:23:36Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > [Jump the Shark](http://www.jumptheshark.com) I have chosen to eliminate that phrase from my vocabulary. ‘Sides, I’m only interested in Dopers’ thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023/19 "2006-08-02T19:36:50Z")
> [@August West](#): > > …I had just switched the TV on and Sesame Street was showing. I aimed the gun at the TV and said “Die Grover!” and pulled the trigger. > > BLAM! Great Og, that is too funny! “Die, Grover!” I used to be a diehard Babylon 5 fan. I watched it religiously, right up until the big climactic battle, wherein Capt. Sheridan resolved everything by… …telling the Shadows and Vorlons to go away. And they did. I stopped watching then and there. “Die, Grover!” indeed. Harumph. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023/20 "2006-08-02T19:39:33Z")
**Moonlighting**. So brilliant when it started, so unbearable after a season or two. **Designing Women**. Why didn’t they just cancel it when Delta Burke and Jean Smart left?! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-felt-so-much-better-after-i-shot-the-television-open-spoilers-inevitable/367023.md?page=2)