I don’t watch very much television, but the shows that I love I have been very devoted to. Alas, every now and then there is a moment where you realize that the shark has been jumped and what once was brilliant has degenerated into a pile of suck that makes small children run screaming in terror.
Here are shows that I gave up on:
Buffy. After this season I just can’t bring myself to care.
Angel. I think I will watch the first episode or two, but unless they manage to pull off consistent characters and much better writing then I’m going to give up.
X-Files. When you watch the show for 6 weeks straight and don’t get it, it’s time for a change. This one I gave up a few years ago.
The Practice. Bobby and what’shername made one of the least compelling couples that I’ve ever seen. Again, gave it up a few years ago.
I abandoned Voyager mid-way through the first season. DS9 turned stupid after a few seasons and never recovered. The X-Files become unbearably annoying during the 5th season and after sitting through that hideously bad movie, I gave up. I stopped watching Angel once they had collected all my least-favourite characters from Buffy. Anyway, I’ll never forgive them for killing Doyle.
I have not yet given up hope on Buffy. After all, it’s only been this season that has been a major disappointment.
(Note to Mutant Enemey: If I want depressing realism, I can always turn on the news, read the newspaper or, for that matter, walk outside. I watch this show for escapism, not realism. Get back to the funny and fantastic, please. Oh, and dump the shrill whiney-girl. She’s ruining the entire show.)
I largely gave up on Seinfeld after Elaine took over for J. Peterman. I’d come back every now and then and did watch the last 5 episodes but they had become too bitter. Elaine used to be really caring but they changed her.
Enterprise hasn’t been able to hold my attention. None of them have since The Next Generation. I’m not sure what’s missing in every series since then.
I used to watch SNL religiously from 1988 till Phil Hartman left. Then it just wasn’t the same anymore. Well of course!
This may be too sacriligious but Spongebob Squarepants is beginning to wear on me. Now they too often write out of character. They’re rehashing old jokes. In the beginning it was so original and it was so much fun to see how they’d deal with this or that but … it’s just not as fun anymore. Too much like any other cartoon.
The same with the Rugrats. Originally it was an adventure series taking place in a suburban backyard. These 4 babies could go spelunking or on safari right there in their own house. But then Dill came along and changed the whole dynamic. Before the relationships were important but not the driving force. It was more fun the old way.
If you want to expand this to books you can toss in Aspin’s MYTH books and LJBraun’s Cat Who books.
I should’ve given up on the X-files years ago. Hell, I did give up on the X-files years ago. But I kept watching for a myriad of reasons, none having to do with the actual qualities of the show.
But I never, ever thought that I could be so disappointed in a stupid TV show as I was when the X-files ended. I can’t believe I spent nine years with these stupid, selfish, godda… takes a deep breath… well, anyway, this isn’t the Pit. But I truly wish I could have all that time back that I wasted on watching the X-files. I met some nice people because of the show, but still: Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz needs to have their rectums mang… A-Hem!
Wasted. Nine freakin’ years. Gone. I deserve a check.
Gotta pitch in on “The X-Files.” Once it became obvious that the whole alien subplot thing was being made up on a scene-to-scene basis and was never going anywhere, I knew it was time to stop watching. That would have been five years ago, at least.
“The X-Files” will get named more than any other show because, I suspect, it’s the most dramatic current example of a show that just completely ran out of steam relatively early in its run.
Well, I haven’t given up on Smallville, yet. But I’m finally going to watch last week’s season finale today, and it’ll be the deciding factor. But it is just the “freak of the week” show, and the only person who has any sort of story arc is Lex…who rocks. But come on, the star of the show is Superman! He should be much cooler than Lex…
I haven’t given up on Buffy. I think 5 fantastic seasons is worth 1 not so stellar season. I probably won’t give up on Buffy unless Buffy or Willow hooks up with Xander. One thing I’ve always loved about the show is that they’re friends, dammit.
I gave up on Boston Public when it went from being a sometihng fun and interesting to Moral Story of the Week! I understand it’s a drama, but come on Kelly, you were laying it on a little thick.
I gave up on “Get Smart” as soon as Max and Agent 99 got married and had twins. I didn’t mind the change of networks, but the family thing just didn’t work for me…TRM
(I thought this thread was getting a tad too contemporary.)
I too gave up on Voyager. I stuck with it for ages though, because I wanted not to hate it. I think the last straw came when DS9 ended and Paramount let almost every single DS9 writer go while keeping on Voyager writers who couldn’t or didn’t care to remember what had happened on their own show last week, let alone 30 years of star trek shows and movies.
This is pretty much verbatim what I feel and what I’d say. Such a shame, too, because it truly was an amazing show those first few seasons. Then it just became a caricature of itself.
Others:
Boston Public This one took me very little time, though. I liked about the first 4 episodes. Then, like “Ally,” it became a joke. As a teacher, I just found it insulting that there’s never ANYTHING interesting EVER in a school to justify a TV show, unless EVERY CONCEIVABLE THING can go wrong (bomb scare, kid shoots himself, shooter hides out at the school, kid goes on shooting rampage, teacher has affair with student, blah blah blah).
Friends I got sick of the Rachel/Ross thing. It just got old after a while.
X-Files This thing got so convoluted and confused with itself. Shame, too.
Farscape- too few episodes and the storyline has gone south.
Enterprise- watched the first episode, that was enough.
Family Guy- got tired trying to find it.
Simpsons- it’s gotten thin, sould have bowed out a couple of years ago.
ER when they stopped focusing on the medical aspect of the drama and became a big soap opera (which coincidentally was right after Chicago Soap err Hope was cancelled).
I used to watch Xena up until the beginning of the fifth season. It was interesting at first, but then I lost track of it when all this stuff with Xena having a baby and being frozen then awakened years later… I know it’s a fantasy show, but that’s over kill. At least in earlier seasons, they tried to stick to the Greek Mythology theme!
Gotta second Ruffian about Boston Public. I don’t think I made it to the 6th episode. I know that TV isn’t reality, but that show got so far out, it was embarrassing to watch.
Seems every year I watch less and less TV, and I don’t miss it much.
