Chuck. I really loved the first 2 seasons or so, even if it was never what you’d call a good show. I still watch it (hell, there’s only 3 episodes or so left), largely to see just how hot Sarah will be this week. I certainly won’t miss it when it’s ended.
Matter of taste, I guess. At least those two have (marginally) grown and matured over the years. Abby seems to me identical now (or the last time I watched it) as in the first season. Her daddy issues with Gibbs, the whole goth thing, the CafPow thing, all those schticks are still there in all their horrifying glory. {{{{shudder}}}}
Roddy
I quite deliberately decided to quit watching ER, shortly before Romano was killed. I realized I no longer enjoyed the show enough to stay up that late. Over the next few years, I’d occasionally hear something about the show and remark to myself, “Is that still on?”
The original CSI. The baby fetish episode in season 5 pushed it into “this is too disgusting and creepy to keep watching” territory, plus the characters were starting to grate on me. I can watch a bad show forever as long as I like either the plot setup or at least one of the actors. That stopped being the case, so I gave it up. Since William Petersen and now Marg Helgenberger are now gone, I don’t know why they keep bothering.
I stuck with ER until Noah Wyle left, but I basically hated every new character they brought in to replace the originals with the possible exception of Luka. The thing was just a soap opera by the end.
Psych: I don’t know if it because of Shawn and Juliette hooking up or it’s just seems like the same episode every week. Definately has that “taking itself too seriously” vibe.
Burn Notice: Good series but they never seemed to work on the major arc. I heard that Michael found out why he got burned or was back with the CIA or something and realized I didn’t care.
House: They’ve just given up.
Desperate Housewives. I love the characters - but the show!!! Talk about giving up! I’m still compelled to watch, there will be a big gaping hole in my Sunday nights when it’s gone, but the ladies of Wisteria Lane are floundering around aimlessly.
Married with Children
The first 4 or so seasons were hilarious (those with Steve Rhodes, and I guess the 1st season with Jefferson D’arcy). But once the kids were out of high school and No Ma’am was formed, it was never funny. Actually, the turning point may have been when Seven (I think that was the name) was introduced as a character. It never recovered even after they (quickly) got rid of that kid.
I really liked That 70’s Show up to about the 4th or 5th season, after that it became unwatchable.
I was a huge Family Guy fan in college (along with every other college male at the time it seemed), until it was pretty much destroyed by South Park. I realized the manatee-driven non sequitur generator in those episodes was pretty much spot-on.
I watched Gray’s Anatomy as a sort of guilty pleasure for the first few seasons. Granted it was essentially a juicy soap opera from the start, but it was good fun drama. It went downhill fast for me as soon as Izzie cut the LVAD wire. She and the rest of the team are wining about how unfair her slap on the wrist punishment is, and I’m thinking “In real life you would be summarily kicked out and probably charged with murder!”
Was that “Eric left” or “Donna went blonde?” Either of which was major shark jumpage.
He’s mellowed some.
Anyway, the topic. “Cannot Stand” is overstating the case, but Babylon 5 has, regrettably, not aged well to my eyes. And it took a nosedive after the fourth season plotwise, too, so there’s not much there worth sitting through the acting for. Ah well.
It wasn’t so much a plot as something Elaine mentioned during the “Let’s change your name to something other than that of a serial killer, Joel Rifkin!” discussion, wasn’t it?
Yeah…
JOEL
Alex.
ELAINE
I gotta tell you, I have a bad association
with the name Alex.
JOEL
Bad ... bad association?
ELAINE
Yeah, in college I sat next to an Alex
in art history. And he was always drinking
coffee, and after every sip he would
go: "Ahh!" I mean every two seconds:
"Ahh!" And he would take like 40 sips
and after every one: "Ahh!" I had to
drop the class.
Unless there’s something else I’m not remembering.
Current shows:
2 1/2 Men - I actually didn’t catch this show during its original run, but rather as repeats. Seasons 1-3 are very funny, when Jake was little. As the kid aged, so did the premise of the show. Charlie went from from an aging Lothario to a pathetic loser. And Alan was always a pathetic loser so there was nowhere for him to go.
The Office - Seasons 1-2 were brilliant. I’m honestly shocked that it’s still gasping for air.
Dexter - Once “The Tudors” ended its run, I had to make the decision to keep SHO just to watch “Dexter” or axe it. I axed it.
House - Simply put, I lost interest.
Past shows:
Lost - It became clearer as time when by that there was no master game plan and they were just making shit up as they went along. I quit watching the last season until the last 3 shows, when they were SUPPOSED to “explain it all.” They didn’t.
Buffy - The last 2 years lost their way. Joss should have killed it when Buffy leapt to her death.
Ally McBeal - Quirky and cute became embarrassing.
Grey’s Anatomy - It was a guilty pleasure that became a guilty meh.
Saturday Night Live - Quit watching after Belushi left. 
I pulled the plug on these shows when i realized that i just didn’t enjoy watching them anymore:
Heroes
The Office
My Name is Earl
Fringe
Oh, and I tried to watch **The League **and decided to pull the plug during the pilot episode, right about the time the one dude announced to everyone at a party that his wife liked to shove her finger up his ass during sex.
George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Ice series. I just can’t get through this last book, it’s clear he has no idea how to end the series and never will. It’s just the same book written over and over at this point and the whole story could literally by thousands of pages shorter.
CSI: All of them. We used to watch the CSIs relgiously but now I can’t stand them.
How I Met Your Mother: Hey, kids, did I ever tell you about time Aunt Robin, who I used to screw, was screwing Uncle Barney? Yeah, no thanks.
Two and a Half Men: I lost interest in this one about the time they both got girlfriends.
My Name is Earl: It’s not still on, is it? It got really bad somewhere around the second or third season.
ER: When I realized that I found Scrubs to be more realistic and touching, I gave it up for good.
I’m afraid Weeds may be headed onto this list for me. We haven’t watched the most recent season or maybe two…not sure how many there have been, because we cut out HBO after our daughter was born. Nancy has just become so repulsive.
My Name is Earl went down hill when they tried to smooth its rough edges. The first season was great because it had a dark streak, but I suspect they tried to make everyone more likeable.
Whaaat? They got together? :eek: Dammit I really need to catch up on that show.
As for me? Anything from the old TGIF lineup. Was that NBC? I can’t remember but it was shows like Family Matters and Full House especially. I watch them now and think “These are HORRIBLE. How could they have been so popular??” I guess it was a different time back then. :dubious:
Basically. It started getting more and more soap opera the second half of the series. The whole Jackie/Kelso/Hyde thing started getting really old, Fez’s character changed and he started getting girls (I think because Wilmer Valderrama gradually got more and more jacked, and it was beginning to stretch belief that an ambiguously foreign beefcake would have trouble picking up girls in high school), and the Eric/Donna dynamic became too much effort to follow. The things you mention were pretty much the nail in the coffin IMO.
Bones. I enjoyed it up until they betrayed Zach’s character so completely, and turned Angela into a selfish slut. I began to loathe the entire show and all the characters. On the recco of a friend, who finally forgave the show, I tried to watch a few more episodes. But I can’t. I loathe it so much, I’m starting to dislike the actors, too.
Fringe. Too many parallel universes. I cared about the characters in the original universe, and didn’t want to keep getting to know their analogues in other universes.
Chuck. Got bored with it when there started to be too much Morgan.
I’m still watching NCIS, but it has lost urgency since Gibbs made peace with his demons and has become more mellow. Tim and Tony have matured some, but I agree, Abby makes me cringe, and I keep thinking “She should have outgrown this by now.”