# TV Binge Watch (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [October 4, 2022, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711 "2022-10-04T16:51:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 392
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/7821 "2025-04-16T14:36:51Z")
**Shows that missed their moment** (shows that came out too early or too late to hit the mark) 1. _Cafe Americain_ 2. _Police Squad!_ 3. _Freaks and Geeks_ Created by Paul Feig, Who would go on to write and/or direct episodes of _Arrested Development_ _Nurse Jackie_, and _The Office_, as well as direct movies like _Bridesmaids_ and _Ghostbusters_ and executive-produced by Judd Apatow, who would go on to make movies like _Knocked Up_ and The _40-Year-Old-Virgin_ as well as produce dozens more, the show is set during the 1980-81 school year (a time the creators were more familiar with) with Linda Cardellini’s Lindsay falling in with the “Freaks” crowd while her brother Sam, played by John Francis Daley, navigates high school with his fellow “Geeks.” The show also starred actors who broke out after the series including James Franco, Seth Rogan, Jason Segel, Busy Phillips, Martin Starr, and Samm Levine. The show was critically acclaimed but rated #93 in its only season. NBC erratically scheduled it and placed it in time slots against the popular _Who Wants to be a Millionaire_, where it failed to gain an audience. The network also would not share the show’s website, fearing that they would lose TV viewers to it and didn’t seem to understand the program’s concept of realistically showing public high school life. Like _Police Squad!_ above, _Freaks and Geeks_ could possibly be a hit today on a streaming service or possibly even a broadcast network that would allow the show to find its audience. ---
**Author:** ![knoodler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ccd318/32.png) [@knoodler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knoodler)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/7822 "2025-04-16T15:23:42Z")
**Shows that missed their moment** (shows that came out too early or too late to hit the mark) 1. _Cafe Americain_ 2. _Police Squad!_ 3. _Freaks and Geeks_ 4. _Carnivàle_ _Carnivàle_ is an American television series set in the United States Dust Bowl during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The series, created by Daniel Knauf, ran for two seasons between 2003 and 2005. In tracing the lives of disparate groups of people in a traveling carnival, Knauf’s story combined a bleak atmosphere with elements of the surreal in portraying struggles between good and evil and between free will and destiny. The show’s mythology draws upon themes and motifs from traditional Christianity and gnosticism together with Masonic lore, particularly that of the Knights Templar order. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/7823 "2025-04-16T15:34:49Z")
**Shows that missed their moment** (shows that came out too early or too late to hit the mark) 1. _Cafe Americain_ 2. _Police Squad!_ 3. _Freaks and Geeks_ 4. _Carnivàle_ 5. _Firefly_ FOX aired the series out of order and kept changing its time slot. No wonder it had low ratings. After its cancellation, merchandising flew off the shelves, and _Firefly_ continued in the form of comic book miniseries, a videogame, and the movie _Serenity_. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/7824 "2025-04-16T17:02:43Z")
**Shows that missed their moment** (shows that came out too early or too late to hit the mark) 1. _Cafe Americain_ 2. _Police Squad!_ 3. _Freaks and Geeks_ 4. _Carnivàle_ 5. _Firefly_ 6. _Hot l Baltimore_ A 1975 Norman Lear sitcom, based on the play of the same name, about the denizens of a seedy Baltimore hotel. Mid-1970s audiences weren’t ready for a sitcom with openly adult themes, nor characters which included prostitutes (one of whom was an illegal immigrant), and an openly gay couple. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/7825 "2025-04-16T21:13:19Z")
**Shows that missed their moment** (shows that came out too early or too late to hit the mark) 1. _Cafe Americain_ 2. _Police Squad!_ 3. _Freaks and Geeks_ 4. _Carnivàle_ 5. _Firefly_ 6. _Hot l Baltimore_ 7. _The Wayne Brady Show_ Wayne was/is an immensely talented performer. A great singer, dancer, and has impeccable comic timing as demonstrated on the show _Whose Line Is It?__The Wayne Brady Show_ would almost certainly have been a smash hit had it come out 30 years earlier, but by 2002 the variety show format was an anachronism and the show’s ratings never materialized. ---
**Author:** ![Skunkdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Skunkdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skunkdog)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/7826 "2025-04-17T06:49:04Z")
**Shows that missed their moment** (shows that came out too early or too late to hit the mark) 1. _Cafe Americain_ 2. _Police Squad!_ 3. _Freaks and Geeks_ 4. _Carnivàle_ 5. _Firefly_ 6. _Hot l Baltimore_ 7. _The Wayne Brady Show_ 8. _The Ben Stiller Show_ Much like the previously mentioned Wayne Brady Show, it was an edgy sketch comedy show that was built to appeal to the MTV generation who tended to be a fickle demographic. The talented cast included Bob Odenkirk, Janeane Garofalo, and Andy Dick who all wrote for the show along with Judd Apatow and David Cross. Ben Stiller was much more successful in his next venture, the film _Reality Bites_. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/7827 "2025-04-17T08:23:11Z")
**Shows that missed their moment** (shows that came out too early or too late to hit the mark) 1. _Cafe Americain_ 2. _Police Squad!_ 3. _Freaks and Geeks_ 4. _Carnivàle_ 5. _Firefly_ 6. _Hot l Baltimore_ 7. _The Wayne Brady Show_ 8. _The Ben Stiller Show_ 9. _When Things Were Rotten_ This came out in 1975, created by Mel Brooks. Brooks was known, most for _Get Smart_, and the movies, _Blazing Saddles_ and _Young Frankenstein._ But a half-hour sitcom about Robin Hood? It didn’t succeed. Brooks eventually expanded it into the movie, _Robin Hood: Men in Tights_, and it worked then. Likely because there were too many jokes to squeeze into a half-hour sitcom. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/7828 "2025-04-17T14:23:18Z")
**Shows that missed their moment** (shows that came out too early or too late to hit the mark) 1. _Cafe Americain_ 2. _Police Squad!_ 3. _Freaks and Geeks_ 4. _Carnivàle_ 5. _Firefly_ 6. _Hot l Baltimore_ 7. _The Wayne Brady Show_ 8. _The Ben Stiller Show_ 9. _When Things Were Rotten_ 10. _My So-Called Life_ Starring Claire Danes, Jared Leto, AJ Langer, and Wilson Cruz, the show about high school life dealt with numerous social issues including child abuse, homophobia, homelessness, school violence, adultery, and censorship. _My So-Called Lif_e was critically acclaimed and the acting was praised but the show struggled in ratings – especially since it was aired against NBC’s Must See TV Thursdays. The show did average 10 million viewers per week and was almost saved by a write-in campaign but was ultimately cancelled after one season for having “too narrow of appeal.” Next: **Shows that lasted too long** 1. _The Simpsons_ I loved the show years ago and I still enjoy watching it. I even used to say that the worst episode of _The Simpsons_ is far better than the best episode of _Mama’s Family_. I think it’s still funny but unfortunately the show just doesn’t hit the high mark that it had years ago, which is interesting since current writers grew up as fans of the show. After 36 seasons it seems issues are often repeated (Homer and Marge having marriage problems) and the actors are getting older and may not have the energy they once had. Possibly the biggest mark against it is that the show started out taking shots at social and media institutions but is now one of those institutions. **Like the previous topic, my proposal is that when adding to the list, a good explanation is given for each show’s inclusion, but the explanations are cut from list reproductions, so that each list has only the explanation of the bottom item.** Shoutout to @RivkahChaya for the original wording. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/7829 "2025-04-17T14:51:17Z")
**Shows that lasted too long** 1. _The Simpsons_ 2. _Supernatural_ Originally planned by showrunner/creator Eric Kripke for a five-season story arc, it continued for an additional ten seasons after that (and after Kripke’s departure). The stories became repetitive (there are only so many times you can save the world from angels and/or devils), and it increasingly engaged in blatant fan-service stories. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/7830 "2025-04-17T14:54:29Z")
**Shows that lasted too long** 1. _The Simpsons_ 2. _Supernatural_ 3. _Law and Order: SVU_ But I still watch it. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/7831 "2025-04-17T15:04:18Z")
**Shows that lasted too long** 1. _The Simpsons_ 2. _Supernatural_ 3. _Law and Order: SVU_ 4. _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ I may get some hate for saying this but the show was set up for the perfect ending…sacrifice…closure…everything you could ask for in a finale. Whedon really believed the show WAS ending at the end of season 5. But miraculously the show got rescued and seasons 6 and 7 occurred. While there were certainly some good individual episodes made during the last two seasons the overall change of themes (e.g. evil Willow) made the viewer feel like this was a contrived coda that had gone on a little too long. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/7832 "2025-04-17T15:07:12Z")
**Shows that lasted too long** 1. _The Simpsons_ 2. _Supernatural_ 3. _Law and Order: SVU_ 4. _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ 5. _The Office_ (US) I thought it was pretty good when it was a show about a guy who has a crush on the attractive woman he works with, but she’s with another guy even though it’s obvious to **everyone but her** that she and crush guy belong together. That’s a solid two-season premise, or even three if your writers are on top of their game. In my opinion, the show lost quite a bit when Jim and Pam got together, although I’ll agree that it had isolated good moments all the way through. Too many of the story lines in later seasons were just too badly contrived, even for the cartoonish tone already established, as if the show runners were flailing around trying to figure out what to do with the characters. For example, I was happy to suspend disbelief at the notion that a branch office (not headquarters, mind you, but branch office) with, like, what, a dozen or so people would need a three-person accounting department to sell paper. But then they come up with this whole co-managers thing? Come on, _really???_ ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/7833 "2025-04-17T15:46:17Z")
**Shows that lasted too long** 1. _The Simpsons_ 2. _Supernatural_ 3. _Law and Order: SVU_ 4. _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ 5. _The Office_ (US) 6. _Downton Abbey_ There are some decent storylines in its back half, but it really should have ended when Dan Stevens (Matthew) left the show. Once that happened, the very foundation of the show changed. Originally it was about a beautiful but haughty heiress who, barely in her 20s, loses her fiancee and must suddenly try to marry even though she is essentially broke and (by the standards of her day) nearly too old to be considered a prize match. Once her sister exposes the story of a foreign visitor dying in her bed, she’s basically kryptonite. And then Matthew dies, and suddenly, despite the fact she is raising her late husband’s child, is tied to a very expensive estate and has very little money of her own — and despite the fact that WWI decimated the male population of England, making it even harder for unmarried women to find husbands — every eligible man is flinging himself at her, dragging the show down with romantic plots that never resolve (until they do, at the last hour and in the most contrived way possible). ---
**Author:** ![knoodler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ccd318/32.png) [@knoodler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knoodler)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/7834 "2025-04-17T15:50:06Z")
**Shows that lasted too long** 1. _The Simpsons_ 2. _Supernatural_ 3. _Law and Order: SVU_ 4. _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ 5. _The Office_ (US) 6. _MASH_ I admit I enjoyed the show for most of it’s 11-yr run. But the last two or three seasons it lost its charm. It hit its stride right before the double departures of Henry and Trapper, and picked back up by the time Charles entered into the picture. But eventually it lost its comedic touch and dragged itself to the finish line. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/7835 "2025-04-17T18:42:26Z")
**Shows that lasted too long** 1. _The Simpsons_ 2. _Supernatural_ 3. _Law and Order: SVU_ 4. _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ 5. _The Office_ (US) 6. _MASH_ 7. _Happy Days_ I mean, there’s a reason that the phrase “Jump the shark” has come to mean “when a television series becomes lame” ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/7836 "2025-04-17T23:56:37Z")
**Shows that lasted too long** 1. _The Simpsons_ 2. _Supernatural_ 3. _Law and Order: SVU_ 4. _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ 5. _The Office_ (US) 6. _Downton Abbey_ 7. _MASH_ 8. _Happy Days_ Housekeeping. ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/7837 "2025-04-18T02:44:41Z")
**Shows that lasted too long** 1. _The Simpsons_ 2. _Supernatural_ 3. _Law and Order: SVU_ 4. _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ 5. _The Office_ (US) 6. _Downton Abbey_ 7. _MASH_ 8. _Happy Days_ 9. _Family Guy_ ---
**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:** [April 18, 2025, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/7838 "2025-04-18T02:51:18Z")
Explain why, please, **Gr8Kat**? **Shows that lasted too long** 1. _The Simpsons_ 2. _Supernatural_ 3. _Law and Order: SVU_ 4. _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ 5. _The Office_ (US) 6. _Downton Abbey_ 7. _MASH_ 8. _Happy Days_ 9. _Family Guy_ 10. _Twin Peaks_ The first season was terrific - creepy and engaging. The second season felt padded, and even silly at times, and then ended abruptly, with Agent Cooper left in a terrible place IMHO. Pass. ---
**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 18, 2025, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/7839 "2025-04-18T09:27:00Z")
I would like to add an 11th to the previous list. It’s near and dear my now-breaking heart, as it was my favorite show when I was a sentimental tween & teen. _Masterpiece Theatre_, in retrospect, should have gone with Alistair Cooke. Seriously, what was it supposed to do? call central casting and say “Our god died; send us a guy who fits the suit.” But that’s basically what Russell Baker was. I don’t care how good some of the post-Cooke series were. But. if that didn’t do it, the emergence of the cable channel BBC America should have. And when the theme was abbreviated for longer plugs for the sponsors, that was slow suicide. The show doesn’t even air regularly anymore-- WGBH just hangs out the corpse every now and again, refusing to give it a decent burial. ---
**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:** [April 18, 2025, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711/7840 "2025-04-18T14:31:48Z")
My wife and I thought Russell Baker was a worthy successor to Cooke, all in all, but we noticed that he didn’t know what to do with his hands. He was always fidgeting - it was distracting. By the end of his run on _MT_, the camera would push in fast so that his hands were soon out of frame. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711.md?page=391) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-binge-watch-part-2/972711.md?page=393)