# What TV Shows have you given up on lately? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 25, 2016, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-have-you-given-up-on-lately/755691 "2016-05-25T20:18:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-have-you-given-up-on-lately/755691/61 "2016-05-26T22:56:41Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Is she one of those 'strong women" who are portrayed as being strong as they never follow anyone elses orders or advice? Essentially, yeah. Strong means bullheaded in TV terms. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-have-you-given-up-on-lately/755691/62 "2016-05-26T22:57:43Z")
The Simpsons hardly count as a recent quitting for most of us, though. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-have-you-given-up-on-lately/755691/63 "2016-05-26T23:14:12Z")
Hawaii Five O. I like it but there were too many other shows I’d rather watch in the same timeslot. And one of my DVR tuners broke so I was already down on how many shows in a timeslot I could watch. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-have-you-given-up-on-lately/755691/64 "2016-05-26T23:26:20Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I forgot those two, so I’ll add a “me too” to your comments. > > Another Class Two show for me: **Justified**. I watched the first 8 or so episodes, but it was more of a bog standard “crime of the week” show than I expected so I gave up on waiting for the main story line to heat up. Maybe I need to rewatch the first season, but I don’t recall Justified having any X-of-the-week part to the writing. Maybe it just seemed that way, as they were introducing the characters? It was always fairly strongly season-long-storytelling, to my recall. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-have-you-given-up-on-lately/755691/65 "2016-05-27T00:41:57Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > I’ll second Big Bang as a class three. I didn’t start watching it until it went into heavy syndication, and I enjoyed the first 6-7 seasons, but I mostly stopped watching after that. Right now I am watching the most recent one and good lord does the cast all look really old! I mean, not _Golden Girls_ old, but certainly a lot less like the fresh, late-20s/early-30s kids they started out as and a lot more like the 30- and 40-somethings they really are. Stuart, Sheldon, and Leonard looked the worst (unsurprisingly, they’re the oldest IRL, in that order). Definitely an instance where HD video isn’t doing anyone any favors. ---
**Author:** ![HyacinthBucket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hyacinthbucket/32/3063_2.png) [@HyacinthBucket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HyacinthBucket)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-have-you-given-up-on-lately/755691/66 "2016-05-27T03:27:40Z")
CLASS THREE - I can’t believe no one’s mentioned **Downton Abbey** yet, or did I miss it? Pretty clothes and pretty locations can’t make up for sloppy, lazy writing, repetitive situations, characters whose personalities and motivations seem to change as often as Sir Julian changes his socks, and of course the endless plodding misery of the various Bates plotlines. The best bit was the untimely demise of Mister Pamuk in the first episode and things slowly started to go downhill. Even Maggie Smith’s zingers weren’t enough to save it for me. The death spiral continued until Matthew kicked the bucket. Was that Season Three or Four? I don’t even remember, I just want that part of my life back, please. After that I stopped watching for good. Reading the boards at several TV sites during the last 2 or 3 seasons showed me that I wasn’t missing a darned thing, and was a lot less painful than watching Mary’s endless parade of stiflingly boring suitors. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-have-you-given-up-on-lately/755691/67 "2016-05-27T05:58:52Z")
CLASS ONE: **Preacher** is on the fence **Wayward Pines** made 2 episodes but to me its a Class One **House of Cards** — for some reason, got turned off after 2 ep **Mad Man** —made it through one episode. This officially marked the beginning of the “binge watching” era for me **LUTHER** —to be fair, only saw ep 1 of season 2. But found it boring. **Downton Abbey** —could care less about the housekeeping staff. Im only interested in the plot lines involving the rich. CLASS TWO: **Vikings** — we get it. Bad king. Good Viking warrior, clash of values, ZZZZZZZZZ **Penny Dreadful** —notice to show runners. Not EVERY character has to be gay. **The Tudors** ----another victim of the lack of On-Demand feature, Made it through Season One, just never got to Season Two and at this point, no desire to do so. **Lillehammer** —predictable and stupid CLASS THREE: **Smallville** after season 3. Totally addicted to the show when it started, the plot just went off the rails. It was fun when it it was just a high school kid origin story, then they killed off the Dad, brought in Lex Luthers Dad, it just went haywire. **Under the Dome** jumped the shark once the Domers figured out how to escape the Dome, and come back. Got too far from the original premise. **The Last Ship** is on the bubble for me. This is a classic example of a show that could have stretched season one over 2-3 season, but hot-shotted way too fast. **The Knick** – we get it. **Deadwood** —made to about ep 2-3 of season 2. Better stuff just came along. **Homeland** —lost total interest when Brody met the crane. Can I add a CLASS FOUR? These are shows that you still intend to finish one day but better ones just cropped up and took too much of your time: **JUSTIFIED** (almost done season 2) **SOPRANOS** (I think finished up to season 4, but its been 5 years since I stopped renting it now I ca n see it on HBO on Demand) **FARGO** - saw the first 3 episodes, **THE LEFTOVERS** — left off about 3 ep into season 2, and am told the rest of Season 2 is MUST SEE **CARNVAVALE** — seen all but the final 2 episodes. Another victim of having to rent the discs 2010ish **SENSE 8** –but with reluctance ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-have-you-given-up-on-lately/755691/68 "2016-05-27T06:23:52Z")
> [@HyacinthBucket](#): > > CLASS THREE - I can’t believe no one’s mentioned **Downton Abbey** yet, or did I miss it? > > Pretty clothes and pretty locations can’t make up for sloppy, lazy writing, repetitive situations, characters whose personalities and motivations seem to change as often as Sir Julian changes his socks, and of course the endless plodding misery of the various Bates plotlines. The best bit was the untimely demise of Mister Pamuk in the first episode and things slowly started to go downhill. Even Maggie Smith’s zingers weren’t enough to save it for me. The death spiral continued until Matthew kicked the bucket. Was that Season Three or Four? I don’t even remember, I just want that part of my life back, please. > > After that I stopped watching for good. Reading the boards at several TV sites during the last 2 or 3 seasons showed me that I wasn’t missing a darned thing, and was a lot less painful than watching Mary’s endless parade of stiflingly boring suitors. Yup. I enjoyed season 1 as a posh soap opera. Then Lord Fellowes’ writing became spectacularly bad during the Great War. Lost interest when peace came but I did watch the very last episode. At least Baby Bates was not arrested… _Sleepy Hollow_ was a batshit concept that had a mostly delightful first season. Season 2 was atrocious. Season 3 feebly tried to improve but was even more boring–atrocity can amuse! I missed the last episode & planned to catch it on Hulu. After reading angry reviews I resolved to not see it & to skip season 4. Yes, it’s been renewed. (Oh, but batshit _Galavant_ is gone, _Agent Carter_ is gone & CBS is hurriedly dumping the last episodes of _Person of Interest_!) I enjoyed the first of GRRM’s _Song of Ice & Fire_ series, then enjoyed the first season of the show. The books became bloated so i thought I’d stick with the show. Which got so unpleasant that I gave up on that, too. There’s quality there but I like a \*bit \*more fun. (_Person of Interest_ makes kneecapping seem sporting.) ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-have-you-given-up-on-lately/755691/69 "2016-05-27T07:17:33Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Maybe I need to rewatch the first season, but I don’t recall Justified having any X-of-the-week part to the writing. Maybe it just seemed that way, as they were introducing the characters? It was always fairly strongly season-long-storytelling, to my recall. It kinda was. In the first season Raylan Givens was still marshalling around, going after escaped prisoners (episode 2), Alan Ruck’s fugitive dentist (episode 4), or guarding the eccentric judge nicknamed “The Hammer” (Episode 10)- With Boyd Crowder being the occasional special guest star here and there. It didn’t become an ensemble show (With, let’s be honest Walton Goggins as the main lead) with a season-long central storyline until season 2. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-have-you-given-up-on-lately/755691/70 "2016-05-27T10:21:42Z")
**Gotham**. I just could no longer find myself watching it. > [@RickJay](#): > > CLASS ONE: You give up on the show during or after the first episode. Last week we tried “Lucifer” and didn’t make it twenty minutes in. Give it another chance, gets lots better. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-have-you-given-up-on-lately/755691/71 "2016-05-27T11:28:38Z")
> [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](#): > > **THE LEFTOVERS** — left off about 3 ep into season 2, and am told the rest of Season 2 is MUST SEE It was. Leftovers was amazing last year, way better than the first season. Loved it. Must see for sure. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-have-you-given-up-on-lately/755691/72 "2016-05-27T15:02:13Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > **The Last Kingdom** - Class2. Now if it had only actually been about\* Alfred the fucking Great \*rather than some unknown fucking Viking… maybe. The books are actually fairly good- they’re historical fiction based on that period, and over time, chronicle the Viking invasions and the ascension of Wessex under Alfred the Great and Edward the Elder. They’re told from the POV of Uhtred of Bebbanburg, mostly because the character gives Bernard Cornwell a way to describe the Vikings and their way of life as well as the Saxon one. Without a hybrid like Uhtred, it would be very one-sided. And the reason Uhtred’s unknown to us is kind of a clever trick by Cornwell in the books. IRL, a Welsh bishop named Asser chronicled Alfred’s life and reign. In the books and TV show, he’s characterized as a complete dick who hates Uhtred, and basically writes him out of the histories out of spite. Basically there’s a reason- with Uhtred, he can make stuff up from whole cloth where it doesn’t contradict history, but if he centered around Alfred, he’d be much more limited in the stories he could tell. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-have-you-given-up-on-lately/755691/73 "2016-05-27T15:06:55Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Right now I am watching the most recent one and good lord does the cast all look really old! I mean, not _Golden Girls_ old, but certainly a lot less like the fresh, late-20s/early-30s kids they started out as and a lot more like the 30- and 40-somethings they really are. Stuart, Sheldon, and Leonard looked the worst (unsurprisingly, they’re the oldest IRL, in that order). Definitely an instance where HD video isn’t doing anyone any favors. Seriously? Kaley Cuoco is the one who got squarely hit by the Old Age Truck. Now I know she’s 30 now, and was 22 when the show started, but she was super-hot when it began, and while she’s still good looking, she’s not that stop-and-stare kind of hot that she was early on. ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-have-you-given-up-on-lately/755691/74 "2016-05-27T15:20:35Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > CLASS ONE: You give up on the show during or after the first episode. Last week we tried “Lucifer” and didn’t make it twenty minutes in. Last year we tried the Don Cheadle one about consultants and never bothered to watch Episode 2. Damn, you don’t like _House of Lies_? That’s my favorite show on TV right now. ☹ I’ve only ever had three Class One shows as an adult: _The Sopranos_, _The Affair_ and _Game of Thrones_. I reckon I’d classify _Outlande_r as a Class Two: having never read the books, I was intrigued by the premise, but it got a little too sadistic for me, very quickly. I’m just glad that _Castl_e was canceled before I could give up on it. Had there been a Season 9, it would have definitely been Class Three for me. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-have-you-given-up-on-lately/755691/75 "2016-05-27T15:27:13Z")
Though of another: _Legends of Tomorrow_. I stopped watching for the superior _You, Me, and the Apocalypse_. ---
**Author:** ![May\_20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@May\_20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/May_20)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2016, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-have-you-given-up-on-lately/755691/76 "2016-05-28T22:47:18Z")
Class One: **Limitless** - but it’s been cancelled. Class Two: **Rosewood** , **Supergirl** , and **Mr. Robot**. I liked the first two well enough to watch several episodes, but I lost interest. The last one was too weird for me; we made it through about four episodes before we gave it up. Class Three: **Castle** , **Royal Pains** , **Suits**. All of them lost me when they shifted too far from their beginnings. I have this season’s episodes of **Elementary** and **Scorpion** on the DVR, but I have no desire to watch them. Seriously, HGTV is a better choice at the moment. I’d give up on **Bones** if I didn’t know that next season is the last season. It’s really gone on for longer than it needed to. There are others, but since I can’t really remember them, they must not have been that important in the first place. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-shows-have-you-given-up-on-lately/755691.md?page=3)