# The most losingest TV shows of recent history. It makes sense! Honest. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 25, 2010, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350 "2010-01-25T11:24:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350/1 "2010-01-25T11:24:24Z")
We had a discussion at work today about unpopular popular shows. It eventually boiled down to “which popular shows have you actually watched but quickly given up on?” The hands down winner seemed to be _Heroes_. Mine were _24_ - half an episode _Lost_ - one episode _Heroes_ - two episodes There are many that I have never seen like all the Whedon stuff but we are only counting stuff you tried to watch. So which hit shows totally failed you? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350/2 "2010-01-25T12:53:14Z")
\*Lost \*immediately lost me - I think I’ve seen two partial episodes. My view was “I’ve already seen Twin Peaks, and I don’t want to see it again.” _24_ - I watched the first season, but the second one made me desperately wish that someone had shot Jack’s daughter instead of his wife at the end of Season 1. Dear God, she was annoying. I just couldn’t risk watching it lest she appear onscreen again. _Dollhouse_ - One episode. [Here’s why.](http://www.pvponline.com/2009/11/12/dullhouse/) ---
**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:** [January 25, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350/3 "2010-01-25T13:53:05Z")
**Beauty and the Beast**. Half a scene. It didn’t help that I had recently seen Cocteau’s version, but when they showed Linda Hamilton with the fakest looking wound in the history of TV (it looked like someone marked up her face with a black MagicMarker), I quit. **Lost** – an episode. I came in late in the first season because my wife was watching. They were showing some sort of mysterious something in a cave. I asked her, “Are they going to resolve this tonight, or is it just a tease?” She said, “Just a tease.” I walked away and haven’t watched again. **Seinfeld**. About four episodes of **Seinfeld** (I had seen all four of **The Seinfeld Chronicles**. Every time Jason Alexander showed up with his destitute-man’s Woody Allen imitation, the show just stopped being anything I wanted to watch (I didn’t care much for Kramer, either, though I could understand why he was so popular). Alexander has the unique talent of sucking all the entertainment out of anything he did. **Curb Your Enthusiasm** – I had no trouble curbing it. I mean, you had a character who was George Costanza but with even less charm and played by a less-talented actor. **Mad Men** – 1 episode. They used such an outrageous cheat to resolve things – on the level of having Custer call in for air support at Little Big Horn – and Don Draper was a whiny little sleezeball. Plus they really had no feel for the 60s. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350/4 "2010-01-25T13:57:38Z")
The CSI franchise - one episode. I just don’t understand the appeal. Lost - 1.5 episodes. ALIAS left a bad taste in my mouth from JJ, so I’m holding off until the series is over to see if there isn’t rioting in the streets. The 1.5 episodes was from when I forgot to change the channel while I was reading or on the internet. American Idol - 1 episode. I saw the finale of the first season, because a friend insisted on it. Just not my thing. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350/5 "2010-01-25T14:10:38Z")
Everything. No, seriously, my list of shows that I regularly watch gets smaller every year, and I’m more than OK with that. I sometimes try to catch stuff that “everyone’s talking about” and give up quickly, because “everyone” turns out to be brain-dead idiots. Lately, I don’t even bother trying to catch something that I “must see” because I know I’m just going to be burned. I have 3 shows left on my list that I try to catch when they come on, and that’s it. (Down from 5 last year, but 2 of those shows had their series finales last year, wasn’t a case of me leaving them, they were good shows) Can’t think of any real good example, the only one that comes to mind was one on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada’s national broadcaster, well, the publicly-owned one anyways) when they touted a new show by Ron James to fill a hole in their schedule. I like Ron James and think his standup is great. this is why I’m convinced that he is embarassed for what he’s doing now, while the standup bits are good, the “skits” are completely not his style, and look like they were conjured up from the minds of writers from shows like MadTV, again not the kind of stuff suiting him. Even if I really, really hate a TV show or movie, I at least make an effort to sit through the whole ting as a show of poliltess (only _later_ am I “on the Internet in minutes registering my disgust”) but I can’t honestly recall if I made it to the credits of that. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350/6 "2010-01-25T14:11:21Z")
**Lost** – I agree about the comparison with **Twin Peaks**. I wasn’t going to get burned again. Ditto for the suite of SF-based “Lost” wannabees like **Invasion** that came out at the same time, and which didn’t even last a single season. I’d like to see a genuine thought-out-in-advance story arc, not a make-it-up-as-we-go-along string the audience along show. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350/7 "2010-01-25T14:19:48Z")
I saw part of an episode of **NCIS** on an airplane. It was so bad that it makes most any other television look good by comparison. **Parks and Recreation** (?) was on my last flight and I would have stopped watching that except for the attractive brunettes. So I just took the headset off of my ears. It was really stupid as well as unfunny. ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350/8 "2010-01-25T14:25:31Z")
**House** I watched ten minutes of the first episode and found the main character so repugnant for so many reasons I turned it off and have never gone back to watch anothr episode. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350/9 "2010-01-25T14:31:21Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **Curb Your Enthusiasm** – I had no trouble curbing it. I mean, you had a character who was George Costanza but with even less charm and played by a less-talented actor. I have to agree with this one. In one of my first apartments out of college I was getting free cable, including HBO (the people who had lived there before had apparently never bothered canceling it, and I never got a bill for it). I got into some other HBO shows this way. But I just couldn’t see what the big deal was about Curb Your Enthusiasm. I was actually a pretty big Seinfeld fan, but I just couldn’t get myself to like this. You’re right in that it’s like watching a real life George Costanza, but without the quirks that made his character funny. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350/10 "2010-01-25T14:35:25Z")
The Office. I will watch damn near anything in syndication, but not that. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350/11 "2010-01-25T14:42:09Z")
All CSIs. The editing alone, like you’re watching MTV videos, was enough to scare me off them. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350/12 "2010-01-25T14:48:20Z")
**Dollhouse, Arrested Development, Curb** - all less than one episode **V, Heroes** - maybe an episode and a half ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350/13 "2010-01-25T15:04:31Z")
I gave Heroes a season and a half, then gave it up. Such promise, such a good beginning, such a great villain…disappointing. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350/14 "2010-01-25T15:50:37Z")
Cashmere Mafia; One and a half minutes. Seriously. We watched it for about ninety seconds (I’m going by memory; it might have been as long as a couple of minutes) and were just appalled. I was staggered that actual fellow human beings would allow such a thing to be aired. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350/15 "2010-01-25T15:55:16Z")
**The Sopranos** - I did manage to watch the first three or four episodes, only because I was REALLY excited when I got my DVD player so I could finally watch it (no HBO at the time). I still watch random episodes every once in a while but I just don’t really like it. I know I should like it, it seems like it would be a show that I would love, but it just doesn’t do it for me. ---
**Author:** ![Lethal\_Babydoll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@Lethal\_Babydoll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lethal_Babydoll)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350/16 "2010-01-25T16:01:50Z")
**Enterprise** I watched all the Star Treks and was happy things were continuing. And intrigued about the premise. But had to make myself finish the first episode and couldn’t make myself finish the next two and just gave up ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350/17 "2010-01-25T16:02:48Z")
Most reality shows, especially after it becomes obvious that their version of reality is still scripted and heavily edited. I don’t really watch much TV these days, it seems… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350/18 "2010-01-25T16:06:52Z")
I gave up on _Lost_ after two episodes. I didn’t liken it to _Twin Peaks_, in my mind, but it just seemed dumb and weird and pointless. A smoke monster? On an island? C’mon. :rolleyes: I don’t think I’ve ever seen a full episode of _Curb Your Enthusiasm_. It strikes me as _Seinfeld_ minus all the funny stuff and with an even bigger jerk as the star. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350/19 "2010-01-25T16:18:16Z")
> [@Ronald\_C.Semone](#): > > **House** I watched ten minutes of the first episode and found the main character so repugnant for so many reasons I turned it off and have never gone back to watch anothr episode. Yea, I think I watched most of two episodes, but I don’t really get the appeal. Its just some scruffy guy stumbling around insulting people. I can go to the local dive bar and see that, and most of the insults aren’t even funny, just dickish. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350/20 "2010-01-25T16:23:41Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > The CSI franchise - one episode. I just don’t understand the appeal. I totally concur. I watched my one and only episode last Thurs night. In fact, I started a thread on it. I thought the acting stunk and writing was worse. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-losingest-tv-shows-of-recent-history-it-makes-sense-honest/526350.md?page=2)