TV Shows You Gave Up On

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

I was flipping around the world of TV this weekend and realized how long it's been since I've even tried to watch any new episodes of the Simpsons. I've seen plenty of people on here say that they've got frustrated with The Office and I saw something this morning that said it's first post-Carrell episode took a major hit in the ratings department.

My luck with TV shows is that anything I become a fan of rarely lasts too long. The last big time network hit that I watched was 24, and I actually couldn't bring myself to watch the last season knowing that President Taylor would be back and that those assholes probably wouldn't have the decency to kill Kim Bauer once and for all.

So with less than usual to do this Monday morning I thought I'd take the question to Spurstalk: what shows have you quit watching? What does it take for a show to lose you?

[CuckingFunt]

I'm loyal to a fault when it comes to TV watching, I'm afraid. Unless it gets horrible, I tend to stick with a series until its end. This isn't the case for all shows, mind you, only the ones that were weekly watchers; there have been plenty of shows that I watch only an episode here or there, but in which I never become more invested.

"The Simpsons" is a show that I probably should give up on at this point because the entire last third of its run has been disappointing (not completely lacking in humor, but certainly not up to its first 13 seasons), but I literally have not missed a single episode and can't imagine not watching it now. Every week since I was 11, there it's been.

"South Park" is a show I gave up on once before and will again if this season doesn't improve. Turns out the last time I abandoned it was shortly before four of the show's strongest seasons.

"ER" was another show to which I was too loyal. Stuck with that one to the bitter end, despite a string of bad seasons. Ditto "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel," though I've liked both shows' later seasons more in re-watching them than I did when they were new.

Other than "South Park," to which I eventually returned, the only show I can think of that I fully gave up on was "Homicide: Life on the Streets." The first few seasons were genius and are the reason that series is one of my all time favorites, but when that show started to suck it went from zero to unwatchable in an instant.

[JudynTX]

1) The Office
2) The Event
3) South Park - have given up about 73.24566%
4) Chuck

[Whisky Dog]

I'm actually just starting to look around for hit shows of the last 7 years to watch as I haven't watched anything over that time span at all except Curb and Sunny. Scouring Netflix as we speak

[spursfan09]

Lost

And most recently, Desperate Housewives.

[BlackSwordsMan]

chuck
south park
big bang theory

[IronMexican]

Boardwalk Empire.

[leemajors]

I'm loyal to a fault when it comes to TV watching, I'm afraid. Unless it gets horrible, I tend to stick with a series until its end. This isn't the case for all shows, mind you, only the ones that were weekly watchers; there have been plenty of shows that I watch only an episode here or there, but in which I never become more invested.

"The Simpsons" is a show that I probably should give up on at this point because the entire last third of its run has been disappointing (not completely lacking in humor, but certainly not up to its first 13 seasons), but I literally have not missed a single episode and can't imagine not watching it now. Every week since I was 11, there it's been.

"South Park" is a show I gave up on once before and will again if this season doesn't improve. Turns out the last time I abandoned it was shortly before four of the show's strongest seasons. I probably watched Numbers and CSI too long. I quit watching CSI when Fishburne came on, but it was more background watching than anything else. I like to watch TV like that while reading a book.

"ER" was another show to which I was too loyal. Stuck with that one to the bitter end, despite a string of bad seasons. Ditto "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel," though I've liked both shows' later seasons more in re-watching them than I did when they were new.

Other than "South Park," to which I eventually returned, the only show I can think of that I fully gave up on was "Homicide: Life on the Streets." The first few seasons were genius and are the reason that series is one of my all time favorites, but when that show started to suck it went from zero to unwatchable in an instant.

Wow, I quit watching the Simpsons after the Armin Tamzarian episode. I couldn't take it anymore. That being said, I don't mind watching bad shows at all. I was enjoying the Cape quite a bit.

[oh crap]

I was enjoying the Cape quite a bit.

well, shit. and here i thought i was the only one. :lol

[Venti Quattro]

CSI, because I have no time to watch anymore.

[Death In June]

The last 10 seasons of the Simpsons have destroyed it's legacy. It's gotten to a point that referential humor, celebrity appearances, and product placement are the central themes of the show. It's garbage now. I wish I could say I gave up on Lost, but I stuck with it to the bitter, unsatisfying end. I've also given up on parks and rec. The second season had some genuinely funny moments, but the writing to start the third is a travesty.

[Kermit]

The Killing.

Happened last night when I realized that the acting wasn't going to get any better, and neither was the story.

Plus, watching the grieving process unfold brings up a shitload of repressed memories. Can't do it anymore.

[mrsmaalox]

I can't follow more than a couple shows per year and even that gets difficult. Totally gave up on True Blood after the first season and more recently the Mildred Pierce miniseries---I wanted desperately to like it, but it was just soooo baaad.

[Spurminator]

I didn't necessarily give up on The Simpsons... but after a while it quit being appointment viewing for me and I pretty much just lost interest. The same thing is happening with 30 Rock. I now have 7 episodes on my DVR and very little motivation to watch them.

I quit on 24 after Season 6... Too many formulaic plot twists and "surprise" guest appearances by characters from previous seasons.

[Isitjustme?]

I'm loyal to a fault when it comes to TV watching, I'm afraid. Unless it gets horrible, I tend to stick with a series until its end. This isn't the case for all shows, mind you, only the ones that were weekly watchers; there have been plenty of shows that I watch only an episode here or there, but in which I never become more invested.

"The Simpsons" is a show that I probably should give up on at this point because the entire last third of its run has been disappointing (not completely lacking in humor, but certainly not up to its first 13 seasons), but I literally have not missed a single episode and can't imagine not watching it now. Every week since I was 11, there it's been.

"South Park" is a show I gave up on once before and will again if this season doesn't improve. Turns out the last time I abandoned it was shortly before four of the show's strongest seasons.

"ER" was another show to which I was too loyal. Stuck with that one to the bitter end, despite a string of bad seasons. Ditto "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel," though I've liked both shows' later seasons more in re-watching them than I did when they were new.

Other than "South Park," to which I eventually returned, the only show I can think of that I fully gave up on was "Homicide: Life on the Streets." The first few seasons were genius and are the reason that series is one of my all time favorites, but when that show started to suck it went from zero to unwatchable in an instant.
Gr8 essay.

[David Bowie]

I was obsessed with Smallville in high school, but the show has completly changed and I haven't seen it in a very long time.

I also used to love South Park, but it's just not interesting anymore.

[lefty]

LOST, in the middle of season 2

[Sec24Row7]

Heroes

[Wild Cobra]

The last season of Weeds I watched was real lame compared to the previous ones.

[ChumpDumper]

I can't believe anyone watched 24 after the nuclear explosion. Don't watch any CSIs anymore.

I didn't give up on Homicide even when it became The Jon Seda Hour; I should have. Should have done the same with Criminal Intent last season; they even screwed up the return of the original detectives. Go back and forth with South Park; a shitty individual episode can turn me off it for awhile. I have given The Simpsons too much of a pass in that respect, but I have missed big chunks of the last few seasons without much regret.

[Spurminator]

True Blood and Heroes for me as well.

[JudynTX]

LOST, in the middle of season 2

You're still hatin on LOST? :lmao


The last season of Weeds I watched was real lame compared to the previous ones.

Word! Show went to shits when she met Esteban.

[Tinystarz]

House
&
Breaking Bad


are the only shows in recent memory I actually watched and gave up on.

[CuckingFunt]

Wow, I quit watching the Simpsons after the Armin Tamzarian episode. I couldn't take it anymore.

An almost universally hated episode, but there were still a few years of funny that came after. Things really got bad with season 14 with very few bright spots since then, and yet I still watch...



The True Blood and Weeds mentions are interesting. I've stuck with both shows, but don't know if I would have if I'd watched either when they were broadcast. All three seasons of True Blood, and the first five of Weeds, were watched marathon style.

[oh crap]

Breaking Bad


how the hell does anyone give up on Breaking Bad??! season 3 was the best one yet.

[spursfan09]

NBA games

[CuckingFunt]

I didn't give up on Homicide even when it became The Jon Seda Hour; I should have.

Could be the subtitle of the first three episodes of Treme this season...

[Sisk]

Not a TV show really, but

The Pacific

Watch the first few episodes and gave up. Heard it got better after that but never took the time to watch them.

[Dark Gable]

Jersey Shore

[4>0rings]

Not a TV show really, but

The Pacific

Watch the first few episodes and gave up. Heard it got better after that but never took the time to watch them.
Forgot about that show... pirate bay I come.

[4>0rings]

how the hell does anyone give up on Breaking Bad??! season 3 was the best one yet.
Exactly, BB is one of the best damn shows out there right now.

[baseline bum]

Wow, I quit watching the Simpsons after the Armin Tamzarian episode. I couldn't take it anymore. That being said, I don't mind watching bad shows at all. I was enjoying the Cape quite a bit.

LOL. That was right about the time the show became unwatchable for me too, though I still finished out the season. Amazing that what looked like the best show in the history of TV has now become truly awful for the majority of its run.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Principal_and_the_Pauper#Critical_reviews

In his book Planet Simpson, Chris Turner describes "The Principal and the Pauper" as the "broadcast that marked [the] abrupt plunge" from The Simpsons' "Golden Age", which he says began in the middle of the show's third season. He calls the episode "[one of] the weakest episodes in Simpsons history", and adds, "A blatant, continuity-scrambling plot twist of this sort might've been forgivable if the result had been as funny or sharply satirical as the classics of the Golden Age, but alas it's emphatically not." Turner notes that the episode "still sports a couple of virtuoso gags", but says that such moments are limited.

Many others agree that the episode signaled a decline in the series. In a 2007 article in The Guardian, Ian Jones argues that the "show became stupid" in 1997, pointing to "The Principal and the Pauper" as the bellwether. "Come again? A major character in a long-running series gets unmasked as a fraud? It was cheap, idle storytelling," he remarks. In a 2006 article in The Star-Ledger, Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz cite the episode when asserting that the quality of The Simpsons "gets much spottier" in season nine. Alan Sepinwall observes in another Star-Ledger article, "[The episode] was so implausible that even the characters were disavowing it by the end of the episode." Jon Hein, who coined the term "jumping the shark" to refer to negative changes in television series, writes in Jump the Shark: TV Edition, "We finally spotted a fin at the start of the ninth season when Principal Skinner's true identity was revealed as Armin Tamzarian."

[baseline bum]

Married With Children got really bad when they introduced 7, when Bud started getting laid, and when Kelly became an old waitress.

[IronMaxipad]

The Office
Chuck - after the 3rd season
Dexter - Season 3 was fucking terrible. Season 4 recovered a bit and from what i heard season 5 is also terrible.

[HighLowLobForBig-50]

Heroes

[DJ Mbenga]

simpsons 5 years ago. i gave breakout kings a shot. probably because i liked the blond. gave up the sopranos after season 1 just because i dont have the time to watch the entire season. , same with shield.

[ploto]

Finally gave up on One Tree Hill this season. :depressed

[Capt Bringdown]

Heroes - the second season was a disaster.

I've pretty much given up on series TV, there's too many good movies to watch.

[leemajors]

Heroes - the second season was a disaster.

I've pretty much given up on series TV, there's too many good movies to watch.

That's a shame, a lot of good stuff out there TV series wise and Netflix is perfect for binging on whole seasons.

[IronMaxipad]

Heroes - the second season was a disaster.

I've pretty much given up on series TV, there's too many good movies to watch.

Missing out son. TV has been awesome this past decade.

[leemajors]

Missing out son. TV has been awesome this past decade.

The only thing that sucks about a good TV series is catching up, and having to wait for new eps :lol

[Wild Cobra]

The only thing that sucks about a good TV series is catching up, and having to wait for new eps :lol
That's why I buy them on DVD, then finish a season a week. Or the Netflix on demand.

[ChumpDumper]

Not a TV show really, but

The Pacific

Watch the first few episodes and gave up. Heard it got better after that but never took the time to watch them.Jon Seda: The Miniseries.

That was a disappointment after Band of Brothers, and that might be unfair though it is the same dudes making it after all. I've said elsewhere it's possibly due to disparate stories and source materials.

I also watched the first few seasons of Weeds in a marathon, but didn't get past the first episode of this last season.

[benefactor]

Heroes
:tu

[AmericanPsycho]

The Good Wife

[scampers]

Weeds was pretty good for the first couple seasons then went batshit crazy.

Stargate: Universe. Gave up after half a season. What a piece of shit show.

I gave up on Lost after a couple seasons. Finally went back and watched it all recently. Not as bad as I remembered still pretty meh.

Gave up on Battlestar Galactica during the 3rd season. Which really, really disappointed me because the show is still one of my favorites for the first two seasons.

[Summers]

Lost because it didn't make any damn sense.

House because it was the same plot every episode, although I've been told it's good this season.

[phxspurfan]

Many of the ones already mentioned, like Heroes, Jersey Shore, the Simpsons and The Pacific. For old shows it would be

Alias
Star Trek Voyager
X-Files
Smallville
all sitcoms after Friends

[MsMcGillyCutty]

Glee. Just didn't stick.

[robino2001]

Fringe and Heroes are the ones that stick out to me. Chuck is VERY close to getting the ax. I almost gave up on The Pacific but the last episode made the series worth it.

[BlackSwordsMan]

dexter after a certain someone is found in the bathtub
my wee little heart couldnt take it

[sonic21]

Heroes (after the 2nd season)
Prison break (after the 2nd season)
X files my fav show when mulder left
weeds
Alias
Simpson

only show i watch now: dexter and house

[Texas_Ranger]

South Park- after 8th season
Dexter - after first season
The Pacific - after 5th ep.
House - after 6th season ( I'm pretty sure I'll watch season 7 when I'll have some time)

[TE]

For now,


House
Family guy
Simpsons
Dexter


I haven't had the appropriate time to watch any episodes this season with the exception of a couple of House episodes.

Will get to it during the summer when I'll have some free time.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Just remembered a pretty big omission from my OP list: ER. I think I watched maybe five or six episodes from the rest of its run after they killed off Mark Green and pretty much every episode made me sure I made the right choice.

[leemajors]

I didn't have a chance to give up on Mercy Point, and it's not on DVD:

kK8TAF6K80A