# TV Shows You Once Loved But Now Think Are Awful **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 6, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037 "2014-03-06T19:16:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037/61 "2014-03-07T16:58:54Z")
I still enjoy watching Bewitched, though even back when I was a kid I used to wonder why Samantha bothered to stay with Derwood. I mean, seriously–she’s a witch! She’s immortal! She’s beautiful! Why would she stay with this schlub who wants her to give up everything she is in order to make him feel good about his inadequacies? I guess maybe she felt like since he was going to die soon (in her timeframe) she could put up with it for a few years. Maybe he was really good in the sack… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037/62 "2014-03-07T17:10:21Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > Hill Street Blues (i also don’t know where it actually exists now either) has lots of elements new to tv. it was a drama with a number of subplots, some of which might be serial. it had terrific black comedy; Hunter was funny because of what that character was, there was a scene where a politician was doing an interview about infrastructure repair needed and to illustrate that shook an upper story window grate, this let loose and he fell to his death. > > with the right mindset you can re-watch and might re-enjoy. A few years ago, I introduced my wife to St. Elsewhere via DVD (only Season 1 was released). She was working in an underfunded urban hospital at the time. The acting and stories largely held up okay but she really thought that, even today, the show captured the general feeling of the workplace better than any of the ER/Chicago Hope/Greys Anatomy/etc modern hospital dramas she’d seen. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037/63 "2014-03-07T17:31:23Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Yeah, um … I don’t think she was showing that she could tie a knot in his dick. Heh. No, that much was me being snarky. But I still don’t get how that trick instantly landed her a job at Blackie’s whore-house. How exactly would she be pleasuring a guy that way? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037/64 "2014-03-07T17:52:37Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > I guess maybe she felt like since he was going to die soon (in her timeframe) she could put up with it for a few years. A few years in her timeframe? After a few years _period,_ she just wiggled her nose and replaced him with a younger and taller version. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037/65 "2014-03-07T18:02:28Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > **Twin Peaks** = Yes, I was one of the many rabid fans who… > > The ‘best’ episodes (those directed by David Lynch himself) I will grant are a major step up in production values compared to other late 80s TV series, but the overblown ‘style’ is clearly used to distract from the fact that there is very little substance to the storyline. Why bother telling a coherent story when Lynch can just as easily parade a bunch of ridiculously cartoon characters around, or indulge in nonsensical surreality with no point to it at all? > > The worst episodes indulge in the most pointless, ludicrous ‘artsy’ visuals - such as the episode that starts with an extreme close-up of the tiles in the hospital ceiling - Just weirdness for the sake of being weird, because it’s pandering to an audience that was sold on a show because of its’ weirdness. > > … his film Eraserhead shows much of his style. his other films also have elements brought into this show. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037/66 "2014-03-07T19:28:46Z")
Rewatched some **Gilligan’s Island** recently. It was always a brainless fluff show from the outset, but with hindsight the real star of that show was Jim Baccus, he’s an underrated comedic genius. Everyone else was simply terrible and unfunny. ---
**Author:** ![Athabasca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Athabasca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athabasca)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037/67 "2014-03-07T21:13:36Z")
The Munsters is pretty painful now. I tried watching old Dr. Who episodes and anything withOUT Tom Baker is just hard. Roseanne just gives me a headache - all that anger. Whew. It had its place at one time but surely TV has evolved? The Cosby Show - likewise a headache. The cheery positive spin on everything. OTOH, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is still wonderful, and my all time fave, Upstairs, Downstairs (from the 70s-80s) is still classic viewing. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037/68 "2014-03-08T01:03:21Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > his film Eraserhead shows much of his style. If that’s the case, then it’s proof that his style is horrific and unbearable. Blech. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037/69 "2014-03-08T02:09:42Z")
I second **Northern Exposure**. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037/70 "2014-03-08T02:37:04Z")
Everyone loved **DuckTales**. We watched it every day, right? I grabbed a few episodes this winter and couldn’t stand the nephews’ duck voices. Didn’t even get to decide wether or not I liked the plot. ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037/71 "2014-03-08T02:44:14Z")
Many of the shows mentioned so far (_Northern Exposure_), I disagree with. I started watching it again a while back and enjoyed it. For me _Welcome Back Kotter_ is truly painful to watch. I remember enjoying it as a kid, but honestly have a hard time believing it lasted for 4 years. ---
**Author:** ![Roundabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dec6dc/32.png) [@Roundabout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roundabout)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037/72 "2014-03-08T03:23:48Z")
The Breaking Bad finale kinda soured the rest of the show for me. It’s still a great show, It’s just that I’m not as interested in re-watching it. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037/73 "2014-03-08T08:19:28Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > The Beverly Hillbillies. > > Petticoat Junction. > > Green Acres. I just read for the first time Gil Scott-Heron’s poem “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, and these three shows were among the things that would not be relevant post-revolution. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037/74 "2014-03-08T09:45:49Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > A few years in her timeframe? After a few years _period,_ she just wiggled her nose and replaced him with a younger and taller version. 😉 But due to Endora’s meddling, the new version turned out to be gay. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037/75 "2014-03-08T18:52:18Z")
Valerie/Valerie’s Family/The Hogan Family. I loved this family sitcom as a middle-schooler in the late 80s, but I’m sure I would find it incredibly lame if I were to watch it again. I don’t think I’ve seen any reruns since the mid-90s, which is just s well. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037/76 "2014-03-09T01:22:07Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > I still enjoy watching Bewitched, though even back when I was a kid I used to wonder why Samantha bothered to stay with Derwood. I mean, seriously–she’s a witch! She’s immortal! She’s beautiful! Why would she stay with this schlub who wants her to give up everything she is in order to make him feel good about his inadequacies? > > I guess maybe she felt like since he was going to die soon (in her timeframe) she could put up with it for a few years. Maybe he was really good in the sack… 😃 How old was she? If she was centuries old, I could see her hooking up with husbands over the years, jut to avoid the boredom of immortality. "OK…My dear Wentworth died in a buggy race in 1910, but… 50 years later, time to move on and spend a couple of decades living this curious mortal life with dear Darren…" so it goes over the years. Because I think just doing whatever you want, living however you want, getting whatever you want would get boring if you lived a long long time. Besides, she retained her powerz and was sort of dumbing herself down to placate Darren, role acting for a while. What fun would it be, mashing him like a bug? Let him order her around, it would be a passing thing! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037/77 "2014-03-09T01:32:51Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Let him order her around, it would be a passing thing! Plus, I suspect Darrin’s attitude toward women had been the norm through most of Western history. She was used to it. Samantha was at least 300 years old in the 1960s; Darrin once came across an engraving titled “Maid of Salem” that clearly showed her in Colonial garb. :eek: To keep the neighbors from getting suspicious, I suppose she could have made herself “age” at Darrin’s speed and then rejuvenate herself when the time came to move on. I always just assumed that Endora, et al., preferred the “mature” look for themselves. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037/78 "2014-03-09T01:40:39Z")
WRT the “Revolution”, assume it focused on the “rural purge”? ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037/79 "2014-03-09T02:04:14Z")
I don’t know if children’s shows count, but when I was very little, I loved the show [Caillou](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caillou). Looking back, Caillou was an incredibly obnoxious, whiny brat who though the world revolved around him. OK, OK, that’s common in many toddlers and such, but he was especially bad. Sometimes I question my younger self’s taste in television - I _hated_ Sesame Street and was never a big fan of Mr. Roger’s, yet Caillou seemed like high art. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037/80 "2014-03-09T02:25:21Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Two from the '60s: > > **Bonanza:** Then: “must see” Sunday night viewing. Now: unwatchable. I got trapped into watching an episode of _Bonanza_ recently. Not long before I finally watched all three seasons of _Deadwood_. Mental whiplash. OK, you expect that _Bonanza_ would be slow and talky and have an obvious plot with a simple moral at the end. What’s really hilarious is how clean everybody was. (I mean physically, not just the dialog.) How anachronistic and unrealistic the clothing was. How totally Hollywood sound stage the sets were. It was practically a cartoon. You have to wonder how anybody ever took it seriously. Almost nothing from that era holds up. The only drama I can stand is _Burke’s Law_. And that’s because it was a spoof on all the cliches of the cop shows of the time, with the characters, dialog, and plots deliberately insane and supposed to be laughable. It remains fun while all the serious shows turn inane. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-you-once-loved-but-now-think-are-awful/683037.md?page=5)