# What's the fastest you've gone from really liking a new series to hating it/abandoning it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [October 26, 2020, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966 "2020-10-26T18:45:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![BigDfromLA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@BigDfromLA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigDfromLA)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966/181 "2020-12-03T08:02:24Z")
Dark Angel was great Season One. I thought Lydecker was a fascinating villain, played brilliantly by John Savage. Killing him off in episode 2 of season 2 was a huge mistake. The show changed completely and I lost interest. It was interesting to hear in the S1 audio commentary Jessica Alba and Michael Weatherly “imply”/admit that S2 wasn’t very good in their comments. Jessica did look amazing back then! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966/182 "2020-12-03T09:30:30Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > **The Tick** : To this day I consider the first episode _the_ best first episode of any show I’ve seen in my _life_ . Crammed to the gills with humor, energy, wit, and action, _and_ it manage to fit a complete plot into it. The later episodes didn’t quite measure up, of course, but it was still pretty funny and had plenty of colorful characters I loved to see butt heads against each other. Then the “adult” crap took complete control, and everything went to hell and never returned. I’m fairly certain the shark-jump moment was trying to make Josef Stalin a comedic foil. 🙄🤦‍♂️ The recent one with Peter Serafinowicz? I loved that. But then I am quite, quite immature, as demonstrated by the fact that I’m about to do this: > [@minor7flat5](#): > > Had the same problem with “American Chopper”, where it started pretty darned awesome, > [@mtnmatt](#): > > But then it veered into a guy trying to restore what he lost at circumcision, with detailed visuals of his “program.” I am a bad person. On ST: Discovery - I’m still trying very hard to like this show and am sticking with it because it’s doing a good job of world-building and character-building. It’s a pity that the plots are mindbogglingly awful (“Oh look - Michael has saved the ship/Federation/known universe _again_”) and that the current season has been about 95% exposition. And also that the answer to “what caused the Burn” was immediately obvious, thus making the tedious handwringing about it worse. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966/183 "2020-12-03T14:01:13Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > > [@ParallelLines](#): > > > > The first is the probably long forgotten ‘Monster Garage.’ The basic premise is fun, get a bunch of petrol heads, mechanics and metal artists, give them a crazy vehicle build, and a very limited budget, one week, and the requirement that the vehicle still looked stock. There were a bunch of crazy improvisations, and just as importantly failures in the first season. > > By the second, as the show had become popular, there were tons of ‘donations’ from manufacturers so the budget was rarely an issue, and they became increasingly lax about looking stock. So it became all about the conflict between the host and the guests, and any fun of seeing a scrounge or MacGuyvering of old equipment to fit a new need was lost. I stopped watching about halfway through the second season. > > I really liked “Monster Garage” in the beginning. It was fun to see people working through all kinds of issues to put together a crazy car that did some secret thing. > Then it began to be more about the host’s capricious attitude and the typical meddling by the producers to interject drama and conflict. > Ugh. I think that turn was about three or four shows in, and I stopped watching. > > Had the same problem with “American Chopper”, where it started pretty darned awesome, then it became clear that Discovery Channel was telling everyone to yell at each other more. I’m sure plenty of people watch for that, otherwise they wouldn’t do it that way. > Surely there are some workplaces where shouting is the norm, but they are not as common as reality TV implies This is exactly why SyFy’s late _Face Off_ - a competition between makeup and special effects artists - is the only reality TV I’ve ever watched regularly. Never found out too much about the artists’ personal lives, never any interpersonal conflict - the artists commonly stepped in to help each other when something went wrong, and each episode ended with the eliminated contestant getting a big group hug. They did all live together in a large house in Los Angeles, but we only ever saw it on the first episode of the season, and glimpses afterward; the action took place in the workshop. The judges were stern but fair, and always offered constructive criticism in explaining their decisions. The drama came strictly from the work - would she be able to get her paint job finished in time? Would the judges approve his stylistic choices? Can she get her mold unstuck, without damaging the appliance within? The focus of the show was the art, not the artists, and it made compelling TV for 13 seasons. Even without shouting. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966/184 "2020-12-03T18:48:26Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > The recent one with Peter Serafinowicz? I loved that. But then I am quite, quite immature, as demonstrated by the fact that I’m about to do this [I think he’s talking about the cartoon](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BlfAdrCuG6M/maxresdefault.jpg) - I don’t think Josef Stalin showed up in either of the live versions. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966/185 "2020-12-08T08:05:41Z")
Oh shoot, yes, I do need to be really specific about these multiple-run properties. (Next time I have something to say about The Punisher or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I’ll remember that. 🙂) Yes, I meant the cartoon. Did see maybe a couple episodes of the later live action show (the one where Die Fledermaus was renamed “Bat Manuel” and Red Scare is a robot), but I found that one mostly forgettable. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966/186 "2020-12-08T09:01:17Z")
I enjoyed the cartoon (and it had the best theme tune of the three incarnations - _dop dweeeeee dop dop dop dwee dow_) but the latest version was still the best (and cancelled too soon - curse you, Amazon!). ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966/187 "2020-12-08T12:32:27Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > Oh shoot, yes, I do need to be really specific about these multiple-run properties. (Next time I have something to say about The Punisher or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I’ll remember that. 🙂) Yes, I meant the cartoon. Did see maybe a couple episodes of the later live action show (the one where Die Fledermaus was renamed “Bat Manuel” and Red Scare is a robot), but I found that one mostly forgettable. Even that needs qualifying. There has been three The Ticks so far, an animated one in 1994-96, three seasons starring [Townsend Coleman](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0171243/), The 2001 one starring [Patrick Warburton](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0911320/?ref_=tt_cl_t1), one season and the 2016 two season one starring [Peter Serafinowicz](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0784818/?ref_=tt_cl_t1). ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966/188 "2020-12-08T16:51:02Z")
**She Spies** started out fantastic. Three gorgeous women in an almost spoof of Charlie’s Angels, with lots of jokes both recognizing that fact and referring to other, more serious examples of the source drama. Solid comedy bits, and decent action. Then in the second season the suits must have decided that it needed to go in a more serious direction. Gone was the bumbling-yet-good-hearted male handler, replaced with a potential love interest for the lead agent. Suddenly, the humor and light-heartedness was gone, turning the show into yet another glitzy spy mystery of the week. I saw the first episode and half an episode of the second season and never watched it again. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966/189 "2020-12-09T02:33:49Z")
its more than one show but the minute an “evil” character shows up out of the blue in a later season … like in sliders or quantum leap… ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966/190 "2020-12-09T02:58:00Z")
I utterly hate “cringe TV” where the whole humor is what cringe-worthy incident can the main character get into and that’s it - that’s the humor. Everyone point and laugh. Needless to say _Parks & Recreation_ was turned off about halfway through the second episode. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966/191 "2020-12-09T03:05:38Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > **She Spies** started out fantastic. Three gorgeous women in an almost spoof of Charlie’s Angels, with lots of jokes both recognizing that fact and referring to other, more serious examples of the source drama. Solid comedy bits, and decent action. > > Then in the second season the suits must have decided that it needed to go in a more serious direction. Gone was the bumbling-yet-good-hearted male handler, replaced with a potential love interest for the lead agent. Suddenly, the humor and light-heartedness was gone, turning the show into yet another glitzy spy mystery of the week. > > I saw the first episode and half an episode of the second season and never watched it again. Yes!!! That first season is priceless\*; I bought it on DVD. The second season? Terrible. \*I particularly love the guy who hires ninjas the way other people hire day laborers: the ninjas are standing around a parking lot and he pulls up and chooses a few. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966/192 "2020-12-09T03:05:50Z")
That’s too bad. Parks & Recreation was a really great show, and not all “cringe TV”. It did take a while to get in groove, though. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966/193 "2020-12-09T03:10:24Z")
I quit watching “Trinkets” on Netflix when it turned out to be all relationshippy and not nearly enough shoplifty. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966/194 "2020-12-09T03:17:38Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Parks & Recreation was a really great show, and not all “cringe TV” I am rewatching it and it did get better, but you can’t say that the first season wasn’t centered around “cringe at what Leslie Knope did”. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966/195 "2020-12-09T03:29:15Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > **The Amazing Race** : Right up to the end of season 3, I considered this an extremely contrived and goofy but still compelling contest where the best team would win in the end. Then I saw the winner. Never watched another minute since. Don’t feel like I missed much. Bad decision there. **The Amazing Race** is probably the best “reality” program out there, certainly the best competition show. I don’t remember season 3 but they are currently running season **32**. Some seasons are better than others (the family season was terrible and the current one is also pretty bad) but as each one is a completely new race with new people (except for the All-Stars seasons) you can’t judge one based on another. The show has also changed so much since then, that was almost 20 years ago! ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966/196 "2020-12-09T03:37:30Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > To me it’s series. End of “13 Reasons why” (actually 7 reasons why and 5 spacefillers), I felt absolutely no reason to watch a second season do it all again. That’s one that I wish I had stopped after the first season. Season 2 will leave you fuming with rage at everyone involved and the idiotic decisions made by the writers. I did actually drop that show after the turd that was Season 2, and didn’t watch Season 3 when it first came out. This year when they released the final season 4, I decided to go back and watch #3 just so I could finish it and dammit I should have stuck with my first instincts because season 3 was somehow even worse. Apparently the takeaway we’re supposed to learn is “Rapists are people too, and we should feel bad foe them.” 😒 ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966/197 "2020-12-09T09:07:59Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Apparently the takeaway we’re supposed to learn is “Rapists are people too, and we should feel bad foe them.” I think I kind of saw this coming. Parts of the first season didn’t really make sense post revelation and I suspect it wouldn’t hold up to scrutiny afterwards. A few of the people who were “the reasons why” were at most a bit shitty, and yet they were protecting virtually an unapologetic rapist as if there was a super dark secret. But the reality was it was bad writing. I could see that then, and decided that was it for me. Sounds like a good call. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966/198 "2020-12-09T09:21:56Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I utterly hate “cringe TV” where the whole humor is what cringe-worthy incident can the main character get into and that’s it - that’s the humor. Everyone point and laugh. Yeah, “comedy of embarrassment” is not really my thing, although I get why other people like it. I stopped watching _Modern Family_ for the same reason - not because the show was bad but because I don’t like that style of comedy. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966/199 "2020-12-09T19:01:38Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Yeah, “comedy of embarrassment” is not really my thing, Yeah, I dont like cringeworthy or people acting stupid. There are too many stupid people in the world for that to be funny. There is some Brit chick that does interviews where she acts stupid and some people think that is hilarious, but to me it is not funny at all. Same for Borat- altho I do appreciate the actor and how he gamed Rudy. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966/200 "2020-12-09T19:11:44Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Yeah, “comedy of embarrassment” is not really my thing, although I get why other people like it. I stopped watching _Modern Family_ for the same reason - not because the show was bad but because I don’t like that style of comedy. I hear you. For me, the low point of _Modern Family_ was Phil wearing this t-shirt. (I’ve seen people on Reddit say that this was their favorite episode.) [![](https://i.imgur.com/a7evP4l.png) ](https://i.imgur.com/a7evP4l.png) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-gone-from-really-liking-a-new-series-to-hating-it-abandoning-it/923966.md?page=11)