# What in an otherwise decent TV series made it impossible for you to watch? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 21, 2019, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023 "2019-08-21T20:48:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023/21 "2019-08-22T12:19:19Z")
I really wanted to get into the Flash series but every time the Flash had trouble from people moving at normal speed it took me right out the action. There was one episode where here took a couple of villains out of a crowded room (from the villains standpoint is was like they had been instantly transported) and then proceeded to have a fight with them where they seemed to have the upper hand. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023/22 "2019-08-22T12:54:28Z")
I refuse to watch _ **Futurama** _, because the one I did watch was about Fry’s dog, and the ending left me so upset that I refuse to give them the chance to do it again. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023/23 "2019-08-22T13:01:09Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > I refuse to watch _ **Futurama** _, because the one I did watch was about Fry’s dog, and the ending left me so upset that I refuse to give them the chance to do it again. A point about one of the future episodes. Due to time-travel shenanigans the dog actually does get to live the rest of his life with Fry in the 21st century ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023/24 "2019-08-22T13:06:13Z")
Couldn’t stand the annoying white DJ on Treme. Otherwise I would’ve watched more than one episode. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023/25 "2019-08-22T13:10:35Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I tried watching the German TV series “Dark” on Netflix, but it was so humourless that I was forced to give up. It’s a show centered around missing and dead children. I think a humorless tone is about right. (Fantastic show, imho). ---
**Author:** ![SamuelA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@SamuelA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SamuelA)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023/26 "2019-08-22T13:13:23Z")
> [@Sir\_Prize](#): > > I really wanted to get into the Flash series but every time the Flash had trouble from people moving at normal speed it took me right out the action. There was one episode where here took a couple of villains out of a crowded room (from the villains standpoint is was like they had been instantly transported) and then proceeded to have a fight with them where they seemed to have the upper hand. The flash certainly is inconsistent about this. I will say that every now and then there will be a portion of an episode where he really takes advantage of his speed. And searches a whole building in a fraction of a second or teleports people into handcuffs in the back of his step dad’s patrol car. ---
**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:** [August 22, 2019, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023/27 "2019-08-22T13:16:13Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Or the converse: American actors doing foreign accents badly. Are there no British/German/French/Italian/Greek/Asian actors in Hollywood who could play such roles? Corollary: American and British actors doing horrible foreign accent voice-overs in documentaries. Faux Russian accents are absolutely the worst. Also, the actors might want to at least learn the correct way to pronounce words borrowed from the languages whose accents they’re mangling. ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023/28 "2019-08-22T13:40:38Z")
I loved the original, UK version of _Life on Mars._ When I watched it on TV. So I downloaded it to my iPad and tried rewatching it on a plane. There is a character who constantly chews gum with his mouth open. With my superb Bose headphones, this made watching it impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023/29 "2019-08-22T13:42:51Z")
I tried several times in their early years to watch **The Big Bang Theory** , but what, to me and many others, was an overly-loud laugh track (whether laughs were genuine or artificial is immaterial) just made me turn it off within 5 minutes each time. Eventually, maybe around their fifth year, I started to grin-and-bear-it; the characters are stupid\* and they wear the same clothes every episode, but the dialogue is outstanding. I stayed for the witty dialogue. - not a reflection on the actors; that’s how they’re written ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023/30 "2019-08-22T14:27:43Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > “The Ranch” on Netflix with Ashton Kutcher, Sam Elliott, and Debra Winger. Great show with a lot of dark humor and some drama, but the laugh track is really off-putting and un-needed. Does not make it impossible to watch necessarily, but is irritating. Thank you! I was just coming in to say this exact thing. I keep trying to watch it, but the laugh track is so distracting that I quit after one episode. It’s been 2 years since I started the series and I’m still on the first season maybe about the 5th episode in. I tell myself, it couldn’t be that bad. Let’s try it again. And I just can’t get past it. I’ve watched plenty of shows in the past that have laugh tracks and I’ve been able to ignore them, but there’s something about this one that is really off-putting. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023/31 "2019-08-22T15:58:09Z")
Dr. Smith on Lost in Space is definitely a good one. Baltar on the newer Battlestar Galactica is also supremely annoying. Also, Barney on The Andy Griffith Show. It’s a great show, a slice of Americana, with a great cast including Don Knotts. But the Barney character was just so bumbling and awkward that I often find it hard to watch. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023/32 "2019-08-22T16:02:26Z")
I keep hearing what a great show \*\*Dexter \*\*is (was) and how much I’d like it. I tried twice to watch it but never got past the first episode. I found the character of his sister too incredibly irritating to endure. mmm ---
**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:** [August 22, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023/33 "2019-08-22T16:04:25Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Barney on The Andy Griffith Show. It’s a great show, a slice of Americana, with a great cast including Don Knotts. But the Barney character was just so bumbling and awkward that I often find it hard to watch. I feel the same way about _ **The Beverly Hillbillies** _. I used to love the show, but I now find it absolutely painful to watch. The Clampetts lived in California for nine freakin’ years without learning a thing. When the show ended, they were exactly the same as when it started. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023/34 "2019-08-22T16:07:06Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I feel the same way about _ **The Beverly Hillbillies** _. I used to love the show, but I now find it absolutely painful to watch. The Clampetts lived in California for nine freakin’ years without learning a thing. When the show ended, they were exactly the same as when it started. The characters on _Gilligan’s Island_ never grew much either. ---
**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:** [August 22, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023/35 "2019-08-22T16:37:39Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Some animated series lose me just due to their character designs. Bob’s Burgers for example. This is mine too, see also Adventure Time, Rick and Morty, et al. To me it just screams that the show has cheaped out on their animation/art design and budget. It is the Hannah Barberra business model. It’s a shame, because there is a lot of voice and writing talent buried under the unwatchable art/animation. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023/36 "2019-08-22T17:07:14Z")
What? Nobody bitchin’ about Wesley Crusher? As soon as I see him in a TNG episode, it’s time to switch the channel. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023/37 "2019-08-22T17:09:24Z")
> [@Raza](#): > > I tried several times in their early years to watch **The Big Bang Theory** , but what, to me and many others, was an overly-loud laugh track (whether laughs were genuine or artificial is immaterial) just made me turn it off within 5 minutes each time. > > Eventually, maybe around their fifth year, I started to grin-and-bear-it; the characters are stupid\* and they wear the same clothes every episode, but the dialogue is outstanding. I stayed for the witty dialogue. > > - not a reflection on the actors; that’s how they’re written BBT is mine because I cannot stand Sheldon. Every other character is hilarious and the bits of the show that weren’t him were always hilarious, but I could not get over the fact that anyone who acted the way he did IRL would never have friends. I understand sitcoms are basically reality times ten, but he was just too much. ---
**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:** [August 22, 2019, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023/38 "2019-08-22T17:16:48Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > This is mine too, see also Adventure Time, Rick and Morty, et al. To me it just screams that the show has cheaped out on their animation/art design and budget. Not necessarily a bad thing. The producers of _ **Rocky and Bullwinkle** _ did this to their advantage. The problem is, few cartoons are as good as they were. ---
**Author:** ![Rough\_Draft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@Rough\_Draft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rough_Draft)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023/39 "2019-08-22T17:17:14Z")
The character Gina on _Brooklyn 99_. Why they let her dominate the plots on that show is incomprehensible to me. The good news is that she seems to have left the show, at least temporarily. Let’s hope she’s gone for good. I feel the same way about Adrian Pimento (though thankfully he’s only on sporadically). But as soon as he shows up all the other characters might as well take the day off, because the rest of the episode is going to be 100% Pimento and his “hilarious” antics. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2019, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023/40 "2019-08-22T17:19:38Z")
Laugh tracks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-an-otherwise-decent-tv-series-made-it-impossible-for-you-to-watch/839023.md?page=3)