Heroes.
Watched season 1; loved it.
Watched season 2; liked it.
Got halfway through season 3 and said “this show doesn’t make any friggin’ sense anymore.” Stopped watching and don’t miss it.
Medium.
At heart, this is a crime procedural with a psychic twist. But the angle I really liked was that of a family trying to cope with Mom’s unusual “gift.”
Trouble was, there wasn’t much growth or change along the way, and I grew tired of the formula. After Allison’s stroke they had the chance to take the show in some interesting new directions, but instead basically hit the reset button, and I hit the “Cancel Season Pass” button.
Desperate Housewives.
It was silly, soapy fun for a while, but when the plane crashed on Wisteria Lane, I was out.
I thought the first episode was OK but stopped after about 4.
I think it must have had something to do with the fact I heard it was going to last 7 seasons.
I just wasnt prepared to commit to that amount of time.
It also looked like there was not going to be a straight forward answer/solution but more of a sci-fi/lost/twin peaks ending.
Heroes. The first season was good. But that’s apparently all they had.
Grey’s Anatomy. I watched a couple of seasons but always felt guilty about it.
Prison Break. I watched the first episode of the third season and then quite. They’d wrapped up the story and were just prolonging it because the ratings supported it. But it was really over.
It was the same with me, but Season 4 did it for me. Samuel wasn’t much of a threat and it shouldn’t have been that difficult to find the carnival. The resolution was anti-climatic.
For my addition, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” Yes, it’s fiction, but I think Elliot Stabler would have been transferred by now or outright fired IRL.
Another was “ER.” It dealt with the rotating casts well, but near the end it just fell apart. People would appear, you think they’re the next “Dr. Carter” and then leave.
Family Guy. I watched the first-run episodes, and one day I was watching a rerun when I realized I was completely bored and didn’t need to see it again. I did see the first episode of the revival but I didn’t think that was funny either. Haven’t watched it since.
I got into Aqua Teen Hunger Force for a while but stopped watching just as quickly. I don’t remember if anything in particular made me lose interest.
We’re perilously close to giving up on Big Love. I don’t know if I’ll bother watching it again when the new season starts. If my girlfriend watches I may end up doing the same.
Numb3rs. The first season was good, with an especially good job of integrating mathematics into the plots. As time went on, though, the math was just tacked on randomly. It was harder to find a new mathematic principle for each show and it devolved into CSI: Math.
Also I grew tired of their constantly moving camera and constant tinkly background music – the style was far too mannered so that over time it became painful to watch.
Desperate Housewives fell apart in the beginning of the second season and I stopped watching.
I stopped watching The Office when they programmed it against CSI. It just wasn’t interesting enough to go to the trouble of watching any more.
Family Guy – grew tired of their hit or miss approach and McFarlane’s penchant for stretching out a joke until it completely stopped being funny.
I was a big fan of the early seasons of The X Files, Survivor, Amazing Race, 24, and Lost. They lost their novelty, succumbed to formula, or became too boring/overly convoluted for my tastes.
Flash Forward and V are the two I gave up on most recently. I’m not a big TV watcher but for several years I tried to catch L & O SVU. THe past few times I watched I thought it was just horrible. Don’t know if it’s improved but I try to limit TV to 2-3 hours a week so I’m sure I’m better off not checking up on it.
I’m starting to feel that way about House, which is sad because I love him, but the show has gotten so ridiculously cliche I can hardly bear to sit through it.
We loved the Simpsons, stopped watching some years ago after about three horrendously awful episodes in a row. I don’t know if it got better since.
I was disappointed in Flash Forward, too, watched it a few times, got lost, and then lost interest.
American Idol, this year. Last year there was the drama of Adam Lambert up against whats-his-name. This year, AI was such a huge disappointment I gave up. Can’t even tell you any of their names, the only one I recognize is Bowersox. Meh.
Do re-runs count? I think Roseanne was one of the greatest series ever made and watched it faithfully when it was on. Now there are re-run marathons on cable all the time, but somehow I just can’t seem to get into them again. I still think the show is great, but its like its time has come and gone. (either that or I’d spend even MORE idle hours zoned out in front of the teevee than I already do…)