I remember thinking that the Simpsons would be so bad before I really gave it a chance. 
Possibly that’s because I thought the Bart Simpson catchphrases were all it was really about.
Yes! I saw my first ep in a hotel room with limited channels, and was hooked. For a show that “everyone” hates, I have to say it’s much better than people give it credit for. And the acting by Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle is priceless.
I dreaded the red envelope that would bring Juno to our door. When it inevitably, horribly showed up (fucking reliable USPS), it sat on the TV cart for a couple of weeks. I found reasons to suggest other means of recreation on our movie nights. “Hey sweetie, you wanna play Risk?” (I lost, an ignominious defeat). “You wanna walk down the street for dinner?” “You wanna…you know…” Finally, I could delay the inevitable no longer.
It was good. Verisimilitude might not have been its strong suit, but it was funny, charming, and kind of moving. I really liked it.
Years ago, Bosom Buddies. Not a great show, but surprisingly funny even with the tired premise. Maybe Tom Hanks had something to do with it, but the show was not the T&A fest that most critics thought it would be (though the pilot did seem to indicate it would be).
I’ve watched the first two seasons of How I Met Your Mother since the semester ended a couple weeks ago. I don’t even know why I gave it a chance – I think I stumbled across an episode on Lifetime, and I enjoyed it. Anyway, watching it from the start I’ve found that (in spite of its title, which sounds sort of effeminate) it’s a pretty damn clever show. It’s sort of similar to Friends, but … ya know, actually watchable. I like how the continuity of it is pretty consistent, the parallel in the one episode to the Great Pumpkin from Peanuts was cute … I don’t know, it’s just a really solid show.
Here’s something I’m perversely proud of:
I like Tom Hanks, have liked him in everything I’ve seen him in. I watched Bosom Buddies from the start. I thought that Tom person was OK, but I really really liked Peter Scolari. 
How is the title of that show “effeminate?”
Maybe that was the wrong word. It just sounds like a title that’s aimed at women. Maybe the show is; regardless, I liked it.
Oh, you have to ignore that going into it. It’s a Magic Science show. It’s like how you try to restrain the bit of you that’s ever been in a hospital when you watch House. I keep watching for genuine character moments, which are few and far between these days. They keep me going, though. For now. (I’m on, like, episode 10 of the latest season. One hears it gets worse. Hard to believe, but sometimes you have to crane your head to look at the accident.)
I quite enjoyed the Jorja Fox Show.
Desperate Housewives is not the kind of show I should like. I really don’t think it’s quite accurate (well, it’s least it’s not the whole truth ;)), but most of my friends consider me a film snob, and I really don’t watch much tv.
Also, even though I watched the first few episodes of King of the Hill when it debuted, I didn’t expect myself to be a late-coming fan of the series. It’s really got a subtlety that most other tv shows and pretty much all other cartoons lack.
I recently had a marathon viewing of all the live action Batman movies, and I had hear plenty enough about Batman & Robin to have the most minimal expectations possible.
Ok so I liked it. It’s obviously not a “good” movie, but i found it to be be at least a little fun and enjoyable…nowhere near the absolute dregs of cinema that so many people have made it out to be.
This is probably the most blatant example of things I’ve liked that go against the general critical consensus (which I generally agree with). Other notable exceptions include Repo:The Genetic Opera and Showtime’s Reefer Madness. Both of those also happen to be musicals so that could have something to do with it.
Star Trek: 90210. I mean, I’m not really attached to the TOS crew (other than Checkov, via Alfred Bester), and I hadn’t exactly heard great things about Abrams. So, going in, kind of low expectations, which may have helped. Anyways, the main thing was that for all the retarded villains, the asshattery of nu-Kirk, the plot holes big enough to drive a Borg cube through, the constant lens flare (god, the LENS FLARE)… well, damned if it wasn’t a pretty entertaining movie. Scotty was funny, I could empathize with Spock, and Checkov was freakin’ adorable. I normally think story trumps all, but this may make me rethink that.
You absolutely MUST MUST MUST check out Good Bye Pork Pie and Came a Hot Friday. You can most likely find them in the library, but don’t think they will be anywhere else.
Thought it was funny, But the movie gave little to no clues as to why: the sister was the killer. Good mysteries can be solved by audience members that can piece the clues together. The only reason anyone would think the killer would be her sister was that her part was otherwise useless
I liked, but didn’t think I would:
Eraserhead
The Truman Show
The Office (after a few veiwings)
30 Rock
For some reason I almost had to be dragged to see the The Aviator.
I know there’s more!!
OH, Batman Begins
Yes, I skipped the first season, then watched a couple…then a few more…then I became a regular veiwer. Later seasons are better, the cast grew better, the humor came naturally, and you really think those dudes really like each other.
For some reason, I have become addicted to the TV show Legend of the Seeker that runs on the CW. (Looking at its wiki entry, I guess it may run on different channels, depending on what market you live in.)
I am not a fan of Xena, Hercules, most fantasy novels, or anything remotely like this. The show is a little cheesy, but I like it anyway.
I like the fact that they play it straight, that all the episodes are available on Hulu.com (I mean, who watches the CW?), and that Bridget Regan is featured prominently.
:falls into silent reverie thinking about Bridget Regan:
Where was I? Oh, and I like the New Zealand location shots and the fact that they use New Zealander (New Zealandish?) actors without explanation of why some characters are Caucasian and some are Maori. It’s just a given that the Seeker universe is a multi-racial, post-racial society.
Did I mention Bridget Regan?
The X Files
I never watched it in it’s first run on Fox because I thought it would be a stupid alien chaser type thing.
Well, around 2003 or so TNT started airing the show late at night. There would be two or three episodes a night and my husband decided to start watching them. I watched some of them with him and bada bing I was intrigued and wanted to see more. I think caught nearly all the seasons in the following years on TNT and some episodes I watched more than once.
I loved the chemistry between the Sculder. Loved it. Of course the show did get stupid when Duchovny left, followed by Anderson and Dogget and Moronica arrived. Those episodes should be burned.
And I’m still pissed that we never got any resolution to the baby William story. Is he still with Mr. and Mrs. Kent in Kansas?
I’ve seen Came a Hot Friday & excerpts from Good Bye Pork Pie. Came a Hot Friday wouldn’t come under the premise of the thread as I expected to like it - I was (& am) a huge Billy T fan. 
Avatar: The Last Airbender. I was avoiding it, as I expected it to be an interesting concept ruined by kiddifying it, like some other cartoons are. Fortunately I was wrong, as I discovered when I bit the bullet and actually tried watching it.
New Zealand kid’s SF series The Tribe. I am not the target demographic, but I could not stop watching.