# Worst recent "prestige" TV show **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-recent-prestige-tv-show/714924 "2015-03-13T17:12:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-recent-prestige-tv-show/714924/1 "2015-03-13T17:12:39Z")
There have been a spate of very highly respected TV shows recently, from **The Sopranos** to **The Wire** to **Breaking Bad** to **Orange is the New Black**. They have largely been on cable, but a few are on broadcast TV as well. Many of these shows are very good. Some are very VERY good. But a few of them… not so much. Of shows that I’ve actually watched at least 2 or 3 episodes of, there are two that particularly disappointed me: **Top of the Lake**. A murder mystery set in a small town, seemingly well written and well acted. But it spent way too much time on fabulously quirky characters and the implausibly bizarre things they were doing, and was so determined to not actually provide exposition that after multiple episodes I still didn’t know the basic relationships between some of the characters (and not because it was intended to be a mystery or a secret). Everything this show tried to do was done by **Broadchurch** , but much better. **The Honorable Woman**. Intrigue and family mystery against the backdrop of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Two main problems: (a) way too fond of its own clever artistic symbolicness, and (b) characters constantly doing INHUMANLY moronic things. What shows have disappointed the rest of you? ---
**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:** [March 13, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-recent-prestige-tv-show/714924/2 "2015-03-13T19:24:00Z")
I was so excited for **The Following** , but after watching the entire first season the best I can describe it is that it’s a Master’s thesis of a TV show. It had a good idea, and it was executed well, but it had such glaring flaws that just scream “beginner” that it took away from what could have been a great series. Then they somehow made a second and now a THIRD season out of it, and there’s a part of me that’s morbidly curious enough to want to watch them ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-recent-prestige-tv-show/714924/3 "2015-03-13T20:32:42Z")
Agree about Top of the Lake. I was also kind of disappointed by True Detective. Oh, the acting was great, no question. But the story was…not really a story. I don’t know if I’ll bother to watch the next season. But I probably will. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-recent-prestige-tv-show/714924/4 "2015-03-13T21:58:37Z")
_The Honourable Woman_ wasn’t horrid, it just failed significantly at times. Still good acting. As far as recent broadcast network shows go, the one that I watched for a while and gave up on that is semi-prestigious is _How To Get Away With Murder_. It just got progressively sillier and more overly complex. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-recent-prestige-tv-show/714924/5 "2015-03-13T22:57:56Z")
Rubicon. The show was so boring and disliked that its very few fans used the "You’re not smart enough to get it."defense. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-recent-prestige-tv-show/714924/6 "2015-03-13T23:06:16Z")
**The Man in the High Castle** was muddy looking, mumbly and dull. There’s only one episode so far and that’s fine with me. I’ll just remember the book. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-recent-prestige-tv-show/714924/7 "2015-03-13T23:14:53Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > Rubicon. > > The show was so boring and disliked that its very few fans used the "You’re not smart enough to get it."defense. On the plus side, it featured a character named [COLOR=“SandyBrown”]Truxton Spangler[/COLOR]. I’m not sure if either **How to Get Away with Murder** or **The Following** count as prestige shows. They’re dramas, but (from what I know of them) pretty self-consciously pulpy ones. Although of course there’s no clear cut distinction. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-recent-prestige-tv-show/714924/8 "2015-03-14T00:34:27Z")
Never even heard of Top of the Lake or The Honorable Woman, so I don’t know how prestigious they really are. Where do those even run? Orange is the New Black isn’t really very good. It’s certainly something compelling that you probably can’t stop watching if you start but it’s pure trash. After starting it I had to binge watch the whole series so far in a week and a half or so, but I’d sure never recommend it to someone else the way I would Breaking Bad. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-recent-prestige-tv-show/714924/9 "2015-03-14T01:41:06Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Never even heard of Top of the Lake or The Honorable Woman, so I don’t know how prestigious they really are. Where do those even run? The Sundance Channel and BBC, respectively. I’ve never actually seen Orange is the New Black, I was trying to think of an example of a “prestige” comedy, which is much less clear-cut than it is for drama.