I like MODERN FAMILY and have watched it for years, but this year notice that ten episodes have been recorded that I haven’t watched. I decided to catch up and found myself watching the Christmas episode. I think it’s time to say goodbye to MODERN FAMILY. I notice that SHARK TANK episodes are starting to pile up. Not a good sign. THE DAILY SHOW is no longer saved daily. And Jesus, I still have some AGENT CARTER’S.
So my question today, dear readers, is what shows had you been recording that you now have discontinued? What series that once were must-see are now must-save-space-for-other-stuff? And why? Most long running shows overextend their welcome by a season or two. Even shows I loved like THE GOOD WIFE clearly gasped to the finish line. What about the shows you loved now make you say "meh?"
Having been fortunate enough to be on numerous long-running series I know it’s incredibly difficult to keep coming up with new stories, keep finding ways to make the show seem fresh, and keep the actors happy. And there’s always that shark beckoning to be jumped. So I feel for the creative team.
But…
As a viewer I sometimes just have to get off the train.
So again, which shows do you no longer watch regularly and why? This will be a day where the comments are way more interesting than the post.
Thanks!
The season premiere of the Middle was fantastic; the second episode less so, so I'm wondering if it, too, is drawing to a close.
ReplyDeleteBrooklyn Nine-Nine is no longer a must watch for me, especially after that New Girl crossover. Agents of Shield is becoming a real struggle to get through and may be on the way out.
ReplyDeleteHomeland - stuck with Carrie through Season 4 but frankly couldn't bear her by the end of it. Claire Danes did a great job but the character (and the increasingly ludicrous plotlines) got boring.
ReplyDeleteA couple of shows. First, there was The X-Files. When The Sopranos started, both shows were on Sunday at 9 p.m. The Sopranos begin its first run in January of 1999. I heard good things, so I skipped the X-Files reruns. Fell in love with the Sopranos and decided to watch its full run, figuring I could always catch up with the X-Files in reruns. The next X-Files I watched was the final episode, and I was lost. To be frank, I was getting tired of the conspiracy. You can only stretch out the mystery so long before it loses its alure. When I watched the finale, I didn't know who most of the characters were. Didn't even bother watching the six episode revival earlier this year.
ReplyDeleteThe second show was E.R. Man, I used to love that show. Me and 40 million other people. Then George Clooney left after his contract ran out. They made his girlfriend Carole, played by the Good Wife herself, pregnant and give birth. Yet Clooney's character was not seen. Did not like that piece of character writing. Killed the show for me. But they managed to muddle on for another decade without my presence.
My husband and I are rather addicted to British panel shows.(And The Great British Bake Off, of course. But today's the last episode of that.) So we generally watch those.
ReplyDeleteAs far as American television, we have Timeless storing up, but haven't gotten around to watching it yet. And are looking forward to The Librarians. And the new Gilmore Girls, but that probably doesn't count, as it's on Netflix.
I gave up on Once Upon a Time ages ago, and I think that was the last real 'must see' network show I bothered with.
No longer watching:
ReplyDeleteModern Family
Marvel's Agents of Shield
Shark Tank
Blackish
Once Upon A Time
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ReplyDeletethis season, I've already lost interest in Timeless. I have 2 dvr'd and probably won't watch. It just feels like it's missing something. Episodes end and I feel like nothing was accomplished. Apparently, I'' the only one who feels that way.
ReplyDeleteThis is a little off topic, since I don't watch much contemporary TV, but...
ReplyDeleteConcerning this line: "Most long running shows overextend their welcome by a season or two": I wanted to congratulate you, Ken, that Cheers and Frasier were exceptions to this. I've re-watched all the Cheers and Frasier seasons in the past couple of years, and they still hold out as superbly written comedies. They did not overextend their welcome, and I wish there were shows on right now that were half as good. Job well done, Ken, as a writer or creative consultant or sugar daddy or whatever you were!
One answer to your actual question just occurred to me, because it's so obvious: The Simpsons. It used to be must-see viewing, but I haven't watched it in years. Once in awhile a clip goes viral so I'll watch that, but the magic is long gone and I wish they'd pull the plug.
I was never able to catch up with Season 2 of SHIELD, so I've taken it off my list for this year. I forgot to categorize Scorpion (which I loved 1st season) as a series for Season 2, and realized that it was only saving the last 6 eps. at Christmastime -- so I dropped it, since I wasn't watching anyway. And I lost the last 3 eps of the 6 ep X Files miniseries. (Of course, I dropped out of XF after Season 5.) This season I never managed to find the time for Designated Survivor, and to be honest, I enjoyed Speechless at first but it's kind of getting stereotypical. Will give it until Christmas.
ReplyDeleteShark Tank is always good to have on the DVR to watch while eating dinner or folding laundry, since you can watch it in 10-15 minute segments and not have to commit to watching the whole thing. My wife and I keep a few on the DVR for that reason, but definitely thin the number out when episodes start piling up. It's not like you really miss anything (I'm sure when Mark Cuban finally punches out Kevin O'Leary, ABC will advertise the hell out of it).
ReplyDeleteOther than that? I'm with you on Modern Family, Ken. I actively skip it when I program the DVR for ABC's Wednesday comedy lineup now. For some reason, the show has never changed despite the fact that the kids have grown up and everyone has spent all this time together. The adult characters never seem to change.
I seem to give up on shows that I feel I "need" to see but don't have the energy to watch because they're so heavily dramatic. There are also shows that go unwatched because I am never in the mood for dark and depressing TV. The Leftovers and The Night Of fell into these categories.
I also stopped watching "Modern Family". Found myself laughing less and less and cringing more. Also, Phil devolved from being the goofy parent who wants to be their kids' friend type of character to being the stereotypical sitcom "Dumb Dad". I hate those type of characters.
ReplyDeleteI stopped watching "New Girl" awhile back and don't think I've missed much. I also no longer watch "Brooklyn Nine-Nine". While a lot of the supporting cast can be interesting and funny, I found the Jake and Charles characters more and more aggravating that I was hitting the "mute" button so I wouldn't start getting annoyed.
Some shows I used to watch have ended (either on their own or were cancelled) and I haven't really picked up any new shows. Most just aren't worth my time. Too many shows posing as comedies rely on anti-humor and try to show how clever they are and fail miserably.
Melissa, Timeless is still fun for me so far. (I do enjoy time traveling themed shows.) But, I agree with the "nothing was accomplished" feeling. It needs to pick up the pace.
ReplyDeleteNice to know it's not just me. While Quantum Leap always ended making me feel like Sam had done wonderful things, and I couldn't wait for the next ep, nothing about Timeless makes me feel that way. There may be something interesting with the villan and the guy recording the others conversations but they are being too subtle to keep me interested.
DeleteI haven't watched THE FLASH at all this season - most of last season was a chore to sit through - and I quit THE WALKING DEAD three years ago. I'm also losing interest in FRESH OFF THE BOAT and quit CODE BLACK after one season.
ReplyDeleteKevin -- I hate to agree about the second episode. The Sue line was a bit of a stretch, but made up for it at the end. I still love the show, but I'm not sure about a ninth season -- although Axl graduating college and in the real world would be interesting.
ReplyDeleteJim -- I saw no problem with the Clooney/Margulies storyline. She left ER a year and a half after he did and reunited with him in the final episode. And they appeared again in the final season.
Ken -- I think "The Good Wife" was great until the end.
MODERN FAMILY is in its eighth season, and it has been an uneven show since season 3. I'm going to finish it anyway. I'm hoping this will be the last season. Supposedly, the actors' contracts expire at the end of season 9.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I may just quit NARCOS this season. I'm struggling to finish season 2 with three episodes to go. If a story can drag like this with only 10 episodes in a season, imagine if Narcos was produced by a network....
I can only imagine how many people might be dropping WALKING DEAD this year. I've read nothing but complaints about its controversial cliffhanger and repetitive storytelling.
i'm finding the explosion of new tv to be daunting, and after the BlueJays were eliminated, i've been watching old Star Trek episodes from various series. i think i'm catching up on things i missed or re-watching old favourites these days because there's a limit to how many fictional realities i can truly invest in within a year or so. i'm waiting for better call saul, the americans to return.
ReplyDeletethe one exception is 'the romeo section', a new chris haddock show on CBC in Canada. he's had a few good crime series based in Vancouver, and also wrote on Boardwalk Empire. season 2 just kicked in.
cheers, everybody! happy viewing.
I am losing my enthusiasm for Shameless.
ReplyDeleteFriday question: MASH season one ratings were not that strong (only ranked in mid-40s of all shows). I know this was before you started working on it, but do you know whether there was a lot of network pressure to make changes as a result?
ReplyDelete"Shameless" (the Emmy Rossum/William Macy U.S. version) . Lost my enthusiasm for it season before last. Never caught up.
ReplyDeletewatched the Daily Show a couple times after Stewart left, didn't laugh once.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea if the ratings are good or bad, or if the quality's good or bad, but it's amazing to me how an established show like that can now have ZERO buzz, especially in an election year.
I never hear anyone mention it.
I never see a funny clip online.
it's like it disappeared.
Two shows come to mind. One is "The Walking Dead." And no, it has nothing to do with all of the hype and controversy around this season's premiere. I actually quit it a couple years back when they were still in the prison. I liked it at first. It was well done, well acted and interesting to watch. Once I slowly began to realize that a) they were never going to explain what caused the zombie plague (not that at ultimately matters but I wanted an answer!) and b) things were never, ever going to get any better for our heroes (and in fact were going to continue to get worse and worse, darker and more grim, week after week), I began to lose interest. I get that it's the zombie apocalypse and it's supposed to be grim, but I also think you have to give the audience some glimmer of hope that mankind will make it through this otherwise what's the point? It becomes a boring, repetitive, and depressing slog toward the end of humanity. We have this election for that. Also it probably didn't help when Frank Darabont left as show runner.
ReplyDeleteThe other show is a bit more obscure, but as a Terry Brooks fan I was excited to see "The Shannara Chronicles" on MTV. Yes, MTV. Sadly, the show just couldn't hold my interest and the episodes piled up on my DVR until I finally deleted them. Part of it was because it had been so long since I read the books I couldn't remember a lot of the specifics of the story and the characters.
I'm finding that this year's new TV crop has very little I'm interested in. THE GOOD PLACE looks like it's about to get interesting; I like SUPERSTORE, YOU'RE THE WORST (which will end its season soon), and I'm looking forward to the new season of MOM and even LIFE IN PIECES (great cast) this week. I still watch THE BIG BANG THEORY even though it's long past its good years because every once in a while they still put out a decent episode (usually season premiere, season end, and sweeps). I wish I liked DESIGNATED SURVIVOR (great idea; poorly executed) or MADAM SECRETARY (desperately boring). PITCH and THIS IS US I haven't given up on yet, but they're both so soapy that it's only a matter of time even though again the concepts were promising. TIMELESS didn't make it past the second episode. I don't watch BLACK-ISH consistently, but I think the show is very smart and well-done. (I'm not big on family shows in general is why I don't watch it regularly; ditto for THE MIDDLE, which I always like when I do see it. Besides, good to leave something I can watch on planes.)
ReplyDeleteThe last year of HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER taught me to be much more ruthless about jettisoning shows. I dropped ONCE UPON A TIME partway through season 2; ditto PERSON OF INTEREST, GRIMM, HOMELAND, BONES. A lot of shows I never got past the pilot. Samples of MODERN FAMILY were enough. NEW GIRL was always unwatchable for me. I love James Spader's work but dropped THE BLACKLIST halfway through season 1 after a particularly enormous blood explosion (plus his co-lead is like a blank spot; what were they thinking?). I not only dropped SCANDAL in season 2 but declared a ban on anything by Shonda Rimes, whose shock-twist tactics make her characters seem psychotic to me.
I am really, really fed up with obnoxious anti-social geniuses who solve crimes and superheroes. And it's very hard to find comedies I like right now.
The result is I'm struggling to find new stuff to watch, in the middle of a extraordinarily rich period for TV drama. But time will pass and there'll be THE AMERICANS, BETTER CALL SAUL, and, sometime further off, more of TRANSPARENT.
wg
TIMELESS dropped off my schedule after one episode. Blindspot, Blacklist and every incarnation of NCIS are now on the bubble. 'Not even sure I can watch the rest of the World Series.
ReplyDeleteOh no. I've become a curmudgeonette.
We've pulled the plug on THE BLACKLIST. I know, I know...what took us so long? Well, I think we were hoping for a return to the original idea...James Spader as a brilliant psychopathic criminal using the FBI to help him whack his enemies. What started out as a sidebar (who is Agent Keen, really?) has taken over the whole show and it's become a soap opera. We struggled through the first three episodes of this season and even Spader seems demoralized.
ReplyDeleteI watched the first season of Flash, Supergirl and 3 seasons of Arrow. But I have proven that I'm the wrong demographic for those shows. I just don't care to keep up with the cr-aaaa-zy story lines. I like the characters and I want the actors to keep their jobs but.... I can't watch any longer.
ReplyDeleteI gave up on OITNB after the first season - those cr-aaaa-zy characters were so over the top I couldn't take them any more.
Orphan Black, Ken, just quit me after one season for the same reasons you stopped watching.
I think Conviction might be the new Castle so I'm stockpiling at the moment for back up when things get really boring.
When I was still working I read and worked on so many pilots that had plot lines which were oners. Once that story wrapped up where were they gonna go? I couldn't care less about those characters. When I read and worked on the pilot of HOMELAND I was mesmerized and COULDN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT CAME NEXT!!!!!!
I quit watching that show with the angry orange man who is trying to be president. The story dragged on too long and the female protagonist is too unsympathetic.
ReplyDeleteWhen I watch Modern Family I find myself looking for something to laugh at during most of the show. They need to change things up there or get ready to wind it down next year. I think the Middle is a smart show, not just in it's writing, but because they did not explode out of the box and they have a limited cast of characters who people watching actually care about. Modern Family seems like it is a side job for the actors between features or voice over jobs or commercials.
ReplyDeleteAgree with you also on Shark Tank. When the people come into the room I already know who is going to pass, who is going to give them a hard time and why, and who might throw some money at them.
I wish I was excited about Colbert... but I am not. Kimmel has the only monologue that is unpredictably funny.
I liked @midnight because they pack a lot of jokes in ... but now I can't watch it because of how many jokes they pack in. The host speaks so fast it is a chore just to understand him.
On satellite radio I can't get excited about Howard Stern. I never thought he would cool in old age but he has done so to an extreme extent. Blah.
I'm only even current on one show: HELL'S KITCHEN. I guess that comes with the territory of not having live TV anymore; it's hard to stay current when Netflix is a season behind. But I was surprised to find out that THE MIDDLE was still running. I gave up on that one partway through the first season, when I realized that it was by and large the same few jokes over and over again. I can only assume, since it hasn't been cancelled, that it's gotten better since then.
ReplyDeleteAbout three years ago, I rewatched FRASIER from start to finish, over a few months. Didn't regret a moment of it. Tried the same thing with THE X-FILES, and couldn't bring myself to keep going when the mythology episodes were getting stupider and more obviously written on the fly. The constant retcons didn't help.
I used to watch THE SIMPSONS religiously, when I was a kid. I kinda didn't find myself looking forward to it as much during season 12, and this apathy only grew over the coming years, to the point that when the movie premiered (which I did see), I hadn't watched the show in years. I enjoyed the film and thought I'd give the show another try... boy, that was a mistake. There's a show that needs to spend less time setting up its punchlines, less time on Lisa, and far less time on guest stars if it wants any shot at being good again. Or maybe just a new showrunner, since looking back, the clear line when it started to go downhill was when Al Jean took over as sole showrunner.
I used to follow COMMUNITY pretty closely. During its first season and much of its second, I adored it. But as it got more surreal and experimental, I found it harder to watch. It became so reliant on gimmicks that I started to find it actively frustrating to watch. Meanwhile, the characters were becoming so flanderized that it was beginning to feel like a parody of itself.
Stopped "You're The Worst" for good. First season was great, because the chemistry between the two dysfunctional main characters who found themselves in a new relationship was brillant. Second was meh, because the toxic element (Gretchen's depression) was much weaker than that of the first season. Third season seems to have forgotten the formula, lacks any sense of direction and meanders around pointlessly. Pity.
ReplyDeleteUnderstand that I'm not necessarily proud of admitting to watching these shows in the first place:
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I gave up on "Once Upon a Time" at the end of last season. In short, it had just become too dumb. Plots were too convoluted, characters' actions made no sense based on their histories and relationships, and retcons got retconned into reretcons. It also got sloppy--characters who were in scenes last episode were suddenly missing without explanation in the next one. We were done.
I'm out of the New Improved Hawaii Five-O. Maybe it was the 500th time they beat a confession out of a shackled suspect--these are supposed to be the good guys?--or the time the season's Big Bad fell out of a five-window, caved in the top of a car with his bloody body, and managed to walk away before the cops got downstairs. Despite the beauty shots of Hawaii it just stopped entertaining me even at the level of Silly Cop Show.
Used to love Antiques Roadshow; got bored.
The one that still seethes was The Mentalist. Fun show with an appealing cast, and I was with them through the episode in which Bradley Whitford did a terrific job as Jane's serial-killer nemesis Red John. First episode of next season: No, Whitford wasn't really Red John, just a random psycho kidnapper. Don't jerk me around, show.
On reflection, I'll stick with a show through a lot, but I always quit when I feel like they're not playing fair--when characters act out of character, when big plot twists feel arbitrary and unearned, or when they bait-and-switch a premise from what I signed up for. I don't like it when I can tell the showrunners are just making shit up as they go. Don't ask me to be more invested in your show than you are.
Last Man on Earth - Season 1 was compelling and fresh. I loved the chemistry between Will Forte and Kristen Schaal, and as they added more survivors to the show, it broadened the scope of the storytelling. I was looking forward to season 2, but then it felt like the show was then forced to service all the characters they had created, and the uniqueness of season 1 felt lost. Too bad too, I really like the cast (even January Jones, which surprised the hell out of me).
ReplyDeleteModern Family - I loved this show for so long, and I believe Season 1 is probably one of the most consistently funny and inspired seasons of a sitcom in a long time. But I noticed strains around season 3 and 4, and I stopped watching completely in fall of 2015. I never bought into the cop-out that shows jump the shark once the little kids grew older, but in this case, I do feel that Luke and Manny's respective shticks stopped being charming once their voices cracked.
Conan - I used to record his show every night for years, starting with "Late Night" around 2003, continuing into his ill-fated "Tonight Show" stint, and right into his current TBS gig. But I stopped recording it around mid-2014. Don't know why, really. I still love him and his style of comedy, and I think his inspired stupidity is still unique among the current crop of late night shows. It's just...I don't know...maybe I feel like his lack of heat in the late night races is affecting my desire to watch? Regardless, Conan's still one of my favorite people and I will gladly defend him to any and all naysayers.
Late Show with Stephen Colbert - this pains me too, as I was a huge fan of "The Colbert Report", but his new show is way too bland and uneven. Yes, he has started to gain attention as of late for his political segments, but even those seem a little too "Report"-ish, when his team should be trying to bring about new segments and tones to his political pieces. I find the attempts to do what he did on the old show (i.e., "The Werd" versus his old "The Word") smacks of laziness. It doesn't help that there is (in my opinion) an over-saturation of late night hosts doing political humor (when, really, Colbert and Stewart held the monopoly on that type of show for so long), and folks like Oliver, Bee and even Meyers are gaining more traction than Colbert it seems.
Geez Ken, I really needed this, thanks! It felt like a therapy session in which I needed to rationalize why I broke up with exes whom I loved at one time.
To me, Conan hasn't been his truly funniest since before the 2007 WGA strike.
DeleteI quit Once Upon a Time a few seasons ago, right around when Frozen became a thing, though I had been wavering for a while.
ReplyDeleteI also stopped watching Grey's Anatomy. To be honest I'm not sure why I stuck around as long as I did on that one, but I quit once they killed off Derek.
Agents of Shield has been piling up for a while now, though I finally finished last season, it wasn't that interesting. So far not impressed with the two episodes of this season I've seen.
I stuck with THE BLACK LIST for two seasons mostly for James Spader, but I can't even follow the plot(s) any more. Also, (SPOILER ALERT) I wasn't the least surprised when Elizabeth came back from the dead.
ReplyDeleteKen, you've got to hold on to the AGENT CARTER episodes simply for Hayley Atwell and her accent.
ReplyDeleteI used to watch The Walking Dead, American Horror Story and The Big Bang Theory. I don't have a cable TV subscription so I was buying an Amazon TV Pass for those shows. I think I just got bored with watching the first two and might just wait until this season's Big Bang Theory is over and watch it on DVD or not at all. Netflix originals like the Marvel shows and the re-runs like Cheers and old TV shows and pilots on YouTube, plus my own DVD/BluRay collection work just fine for me.
ReplyDeleteFrom 2013 to early 2016, my TiVo piled up and piled up and ran out of hard drive space. I watched less and less of anything. In June 2016 I noticed I hadn't watched anything live in 2 years, and hadn't watched anything at all recorded less than 4 months old. For this I was paying ~$50/month cable plus my annual TiVo fee. So I pulled the plug on everything. Series which I hear are good, I borrow on DVD from the library (THE NEWSROOM, for instance), and if I like them, I buy the series on DVDs. As a result, I own 6 seasons of BIG BANG and all 3 of THE NEWSROOM. And that's all I've found worth watching since 2014. And no, I don't have NETFLIX.
ReplyDeleteTV just generally sucks these days. Ken, I try things you like -- because your opinion has a LOT of value for me -- but nothing has caught and kept my attention as yet.
But I am currently watching Season 3 of THE WEST WING.
My wife still watches ONCE UPON A TIME, so that means I still do, too, but I lost interest in that show years ago. I'm struggling to stay interested in MARVEL'S AGENTS OF SHIELD, but it's definitely losing its luster. I'm already starting to lose interest in THIS IS US. AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE is funny, but the main character really, really annoys me. Everything she says is said in a sarcastic, high-pitched whiny voice kind of way, and if I'm already annoyed by it two episodes in, how am I going to stick around for the rest of the season?
ReplyDeleteI like TIMELESS, but the logic of his jumping annoys me: one week he goes to the 1930s, and then the next week he goes to the 1860s. Why? How does he know that the jump to the 1860s won't completely change things so much that the world is completely different by 1930, negating his reason for jumping there in the first place? It's illogical to jump to random events like that without knowing how it will affect future events you would want to change. And the whole show is predicated on the idea of the butterfly effect, so I'm waiting for the episode where they make it back to the present and the people there have no idea who they are or why they just appeared out of nowhere.
Shameless is sitting there with 3 shows left from last season and a new season is already started. I like the show a lot but...there
ReplyDeleteit sits.
The only show I've been watching and am close to dropping is THE LAST MAN ON EARTH. I liked the offbeat premise, but they don't seem to be finding many new things to do with it, and I don't think the character development is strong enough. Kristen Schaal is delightful, though.
ReplyDeleteIn the opposite direction, I had been watching no other current shows, but I tried out the 2nd season of SUPERGIRL, which I hadn't seen before, and found it charming and well-written. I'll probably stay with it for a while. And I've been watching THE GOOD PLACE, which I think is excellent. They should just hand Ted Danson the Emmy now (did Ken say that in a post?), and the actress who plays Janet is wonderful.
I'm with you about Modern Family. It's notable because it used to be so funny and now some of the episodes are almost unwatchable. And the children don't seem to be getting to be better at acting, unlike the kids on The Middle who are terrific.
ReplyDeleteDon't watch Blacklist as much as I used too. And now that you mention it, I'm not looking forward to watching it again.
On a whole I guess I have lowered my expectations enough that I can ride through a couple bad episodes of my favorite shows and still stay loyal.
Still have to watch, Blackish, Elementary & The Middle. This Is Us is new to the list.
Aloha
Current shows I've given up on, Simpsons, Last Ship, BBT. Older shows I gave up on, Friends (still can't watch in reruns, which it seems to be on all channels), X-files (until final season, and enjoyed it's reincarnation), Moonlighting.
ReplyDeleteThis post brings up a Friday question, why does Hollywood/TV hate me? Whenever I get interested in a show(good shows), it gets canceled? Sports night, Trophy Wife, Heroes, Voyagers, Journeyman, Dirty Money, Forever, Police Squad, Freaks and Geeks, etc. IT happened even before I was a nielson family. What do they have against me? 2 Broke girls, Kardashians and crap like that remains. What did I do wrong? What can I do so they like me again?
For me, it's been L&O: SVU. Still love the cast, but too many episodes in recent seasons have been about one or another of the officers being accused of misconduct. When it becomes a recurring theme across seasons, it gets tiring, especially since there are only two outcomes -- they were falsely accused, or did something kinda bad, but not enough to get them fired (because they want to keep them on the show).
ReplyDeleteI agree about X-FILES. I gave up during the last few seasons because I didn't give a damn about the "mythology" episodes. And Chris Carter admitted finally that he was just making the whole thing up as he went along.
I'm also a hard sell on serialized shows in general, although I do watch some, like the Marvel Netflix shows. My frustration is that it doesn't pay to go back and watch an episode by itself -- it's watch the whole thing again or nothing. Whereas if I come across a STAR TREK or MASH or CHEERS, I can watch an episode that's self-contained.
The Strain, Arrow, The Odd Couple (Matt Perry version) are still being recorded, but not watched. Ive been in and out of all three over their runs.
ReplyDeleteI still keep the 3 most recent @Midnight, but really only watch for guests I specifically want to see.
I really enjoy the comic book shows. Marvel, DC, I don't really care. I am enjoying and pretty current on all of them.
ReplyDeleteExcept Gotham. I watched about 2 seasons of the show and simply stopped. I'm not incredibly sensitive to violence on television and I don't really have a stake in the black-lives/blue-lives argument.
But it seemed in nearly every episode, some rando cops just got machine gunned down. The collateral damage of not only cops but bystanders was just ridiculous.
I do miss some of the performances in the show, but it just seems like lives were used like toothpicks on the show and it got too annoying.
Yes, yes, I know Arrow and Agents of Shield and blah blah also have collateral damage, but for some reason Gotham just got super annoying.
Man, I wanted Vinyl to be great, but it became vile. Stopped watching and recording after episode 4 of the 10 that were made. While the music biz can be nasty, people just don't want to see that it's all miserable all the time. Total bummer.
ReplyDeleteLate night talk shows. I can't warm up to any of the hosts and the insanely enthusiastic audiences make me want to chuck a shoe at the screen.
ReplyDeleteI watch TV but not TV shows, if that makes sense. No dramas and only one comedy (The Middle). I do watch sports and small claims court shows, storage locker auctions, that sort of crap. I'm not tuning it American Pickers like I used to. And get off my lawn!
Most of my t.v. viewing is either sports or competitive cooking shows with my wife; about the only sitcom I used to always make a point to watch was Modern Family, but I agree with Ken about its decline. It's almost painful to view now. Julie Bowen and Ed O'Neill are two of my favorite actors in the world. I tune in rarely just to get my fix of them, but that's it. Kind of wish it had ended two or three years ago. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI've still got 4 episodes of Max Headroom to watch. On VHS. I never throw anything out. I loved the visual design of the series and promised myself I'd watch every episode, but the plots got boring.
ReplyDeleteI also dropped out of Modern Family about a season ago. I didn't even think the show got all that bad; I just stopped caring about the characters. And after watching The Big Bang Theory for 2-3 seasons, I finally gave up because I just got tired of watching it.
ReplyDeleteThat's usually what happens. Looking back, I can't believe how long I kept watching the freaking Michael J. Fox Show because that show was the most boring thing I've ever seen.
We bailed on TIMELESS after ep.1 - lame. Likewise ARROW got too over the top & was ditched after the last season. ONCE UPON A TIME is getting way too insipid. We still watch way too much teevee though not 'reality shows' I'm pleased to say...
ReplyDeleteOh boy, where do I start?
ReplyDeleteI dropped The Walking Dead 3 years ago. At first, it was well acted and written, but it became obvious that there was no hope, and it has become a show that pushes how far it can gross us out now. I'm glad I dropped it when I did.
Modern Family used to be a staple in our house, but we dropped that over a year ago. It just wasn't funny anymore, after being brilliant for its first few seasons.
The same thing goes for Big Bang Theory. It's still on my DVR, and I'll occasionally watch it, but it's not the must see TV that it used to be.
NCIS took a big hit with the departure of Michael Weatherly. I just can't get into the new characters, and I have no use for the softening of Gibbs. Also, it bugs me that when a female regular leaves the show, she always (eventually) gets killed off.
As someone else mentioned, there is nothing on TV now that compares to Frasier. We still watch a few episodes a week on Netflix, and are amazed just how good even the episodes from the later seasons are.
I stopped watching Sherlock after that post season 3 special. When it was on, I stopped watching Sopranos after a few seasons.
ReplyDeleteThe blacklist seems to be trying to put a global warming message into their show, just like Scandal.
THE BIG BANG THEORY
ReplyDeleteGREY'S ANATOMY
Both of these shows seemed to evolve into different shows. I imagine the cast changes accelerated this (especially GA). I will occasionally check out a new episode of TBBT, but I find myself not laughing as much as the earlier shows.
SHARK TANK
FAMILY GUY
These shows definitely jumped the shark.
KEVIN CAN WAIT...I wanted to like this show, but after watching the first two episodes, I am not eager to buy VHS tapes to "DVR" it as it has aired at a late time for me.
BLACKLIST is very close to getting the axe-- except Spader is still very good in it
ReplyDeleteBIG BANG THEORY would have gotten the axe last season- but my wife likes Mayim
MODERN FAMILY is just boring right now-- the young asian girl is the only funny one
ONCE UPON A TIME got the axe in the 1st season (I had high hopes based on the writer)
I am hoping BROOKLYN 99 turns the corner soon.
I gave up on MOMS last year-- my wife still watches it
We only have seen 1 episode of TIMELESS so the jury is out (the others are on the DVR)
"Episodes", because it's no longer on. Won't watch the new Mat Leblanc show on CBS either....
ReplyDeleteI've got a four tuner TiVo with a 4TB hard drive. It's amazing the number of shows you can let record, and recognize that you aren't watching by the number of episodes piled up. I watch way too much TV.
ReplyDeleteI was watching Brooklyn99 and realized it was doing a crossover with New Girl. This was at least a couple of hours after it aired, so I couldn't easily catch New Girl.
Are crossovers a good idea in the modern DVR era?
I've heard that the NFL is down in viewership this year. I know that I'm spending less time in front of the TV during NFL these days.
Shows I used to watch that are currently piling up:
* Arrow
* Blindspot
* Supernatural
* The Blacklist
* The Flash
* Agents of Shield
* Supergirl
New Shows I started but are now piling up:
* Designated Survivor
* Frequency
* Timeless
* Lethal Weapon
* Bull
* The Good Place
Shows I'm still watching:
* South Park
* The Daily Show
* Superstore
* Blackish
* Dr. Ken
* The Big Bang Theory
* Brooklyn Nine-Nine
* NCIS
* Lucifer
* Family Guy
* Bobs Burgers
* The Simpsons
I'm much more likely to quit watching hour long shows than half hour shows. I feel like with a half hour show, I can always find time to binge three or four of them on a lazy Saturday or Sunday and still have the rest of my day be productive.
ReplyDeleteI looked at my TiVo and found about 2 seasons worth of Walking Dead. I finally just deleted them all and cancelled the season pass. The show was always bleak, but something in my brain just said "It's never getting better for these people" and I stopped watching it. Ironically, the same week I did that I bought the Barney Miller complete set and watched it almost straight through. Even Fish.
Same with iZombie. Had two seasons backed up and just deleted them all. I rarely actually watch the Daily Show or the Tonight Show any more as the best bits will be on YouTube and the rest is usually unfulfilling. But I still have Season Passes, they just get deleted daily.
There are shows that I can't believe I watch every week and haven't missed an episode. I pride myself on being a consumer of quality television and yet every week I watch Hawaii Five-0. And as a lifelong Democrat, I can't believe I've never missed the Republican love letter that is Blue Bloods.
Starting to like: Superstore
ReplyDeleteNo longer watching: Big Bang, The Goldbergs
Starting to wonder about: The Middle
Still liking: Fresh off The Boat
Don't watch Homeland, American Horror Story or Modern Family anymore. As a matter of fact, I just had the Halloween episode of Modern Family on and didn't laugh once. The two boys are just so awkward and unfunny at this age. The whole cast just seems tired but I guess that happens. I was a big fan of the Roseanne Halloween shows. (Sorry) Looked forward to it yearly and even had them all on tape for my kids at one point. Janice B.
ReplyDeleteI stopped watching Modern Family last year when I literally couldn't make it through a single episode without falling asleep. That's not unusual for me; I work strange hours and often start to doze if a show doesn't hold my attention. But usually I wake back up, back up the DVR, and finish it. With Modern Family, I could no longer make it through a show, and when I woke up again, I never had any interest in finishing it.
ReplyDeleteI think The Middle is still sharp, but they've had a lot of trouble figuring out what to do with the kids now that two of the three are legally adults. That's a tough place to be in a family sitcom.
I used to never drop shows. I stuck with THE X-FILES to the bitter end and saw ER go from groundbreaking to pretty good to average to terrible and then back to fantastic. Then a few years ago I finally started cutting shows that were no longer giving me pleasure.
ReplyDeleteI have two seasons of ORPHAN BLACK still sitting unwatched on my DVR.
I dropped ONCE UPON A TIME about two seasons ago after it was clear the writers were more interested in playing with their newest toys each storyline rather than developing the longtime regulars. The FROZEN story was the last straw, but it was the OZ plot that really killed my interest.
LAW & ORDER: SVU was a show I'd stuck with from the beginning, largely because of affection for Munch. (I was a huge HOMICIDE fan.) They had some decent eps for a while, but it never equaled the original series for me. I could say I left when Munch left, but it was really a particularly brutal ep just before that where Benson was held captive that finally drove me away.
MODERN FAMILY is close to getting dropped for me. It's become background noise while I do other things. With regret, that's been THE SIMPSONS for me for most of a decade.
I'm trying to think of any show still on the air I followed and drifted away from. For much of my adulthood, pre-VCR and even after, missing one or two episodes for whatever reason broke the spell. Now I tend to favor short-run series, like ANOTHER PERIOD and SOUTH PARK.
ReplyDeleteA while ago I was binging on ARCHER repeats, having stumbled over it a couple of seasons in. Then I drifted away. That seems to be my new pattern. After tripping over FOYLE'S WAR I caught all I could on PBS and ended up buying the first six seasons; I haven't followed Foyle into the Cold War.
I apologize if this ends up posting twice, but I submitted it yesterday and it never appeared. What I said then:
ReplyDeleteI decide pretty quickly whether I like something or not, and if I can make it to episode 5 or 6, I usually stick with it to the bitter end, like a bad habit. I stayed with "House" through all its ups and downs, but it was the only first-run TV drama I watched. "Big Bang Theory" is the only current network sitcom I still make it a point to catch. I VCR'ed Conan's Late Night debut on NBC and still DVR his TBS show every night (I used to watch/DVR all the late night shows, but his is the last one that I find funny, original, quirky and not overly political. I'm burned out on politics. I used to watch Kimmel's monologue every night until it became seven minutes of Trump bashing followed by one other story, then a commercial. Maybe I'll come back after the election.) And I'll still catch "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy" if I'm home on Sunday night. But I couldn't get burned out on "Modern Family" because I didn't like it from the get-go and never watched. I'm just too busy writing to watch much TV.
Off-hand, I can think of only a few shows I watched regularly then gave up on. For instance, "Community" lost me when it became too self-consciously meta and downright weird. And I tuned out "Last Man On Earth" when the cast started expanding and it betrayed its entire premise, as stated in the title. Will Forte's character isn't even the last man in Malibu.
The Flash & iZombie (both in Season 2), and The Big Bang Theory (finally). Modern Family is headed for the list, as well. Agree with David G. Whitham's NCIS comments, but the current season is still a trainwreck I haven't looked away from.
ReplyDeleteI'm on the verge of giving up on "Dobie Gillis."
ReplyDeleteOnce Upon A Time
ReplyDeleteThe Late Show. I gave Stephen a chance, I really did. I can't watch the new show. I miss Dave.
ReplyDeleteHey Ken,
ReplyDeleteThe timing of this couldn't be better- Designated Survivor just dropped off my list yesterday, Shark Tank has dropped off this year- if I catch it, I catch it- if not, no biggie. Same goes for New Girl, I could care less if I miss it- don't even bother anymore. The wife sometimes watches. I can't speak for others but, anything HBO or SHO I watch mobile. Bill Simmons, The Circus, Westworld- I watch on my phone/tablet during my commute. Which is how I watch a lot of shows.
The ONE show we both watch when it's on- This Is Us.
--LL
When John Lithgow killed Dexter's girlfriend/wife (who he found dead in S4's final scene) that pretty much did it for me. I tried a little of S5 - but found I'd lost interest.
ReplyDeleteA friend gave a big thumbs up for West Wing when that was current. I tried a couple episodes but was put off by the speech-making (do political staffers, of any stripe, really justify their beliefs and policies to one another like that?) I recently picked up a late season on DVD and watched all the scenes with Lizzy (Zoe) Moss (Bartlett) - pretty much the same way I watch the Adrienne (Carol) Barbeau scenes on Maude.
(The other night I saw the one Maude/Archie episode of All in the Family - I suspect I would have liked that battle better without having first seen the spinoff)
I watched most of The Simpsons S1, but quit during S2 when it became apparent that Homer would never be less stupid.
I'm finding that the occasional episode of The Jeffersons is pretty good - it doesn't hurt that the actresses are mostly beautiful.
(this is starting to sound like a plug for Antenna TV)
I'll close with a plea for a DVD feature we don't get. I have better than half of the Mad Men episodes on the DVR. Mostly this is because it's convenient, but also for the 'recently on' montage before Don Draper falls past all those billboards.
Does the NFL count as a show?
ReplyDeleteIf not, MODERN FAMILY, AGENTS OF SHIELD, and I could not make it through the 2nd season of DAREDEVIL.
I still enjoy RAY DONOVAN...might have jumped the shark....BASKETS was extremely funny...like to see it's return...MR. ROBOT still has 10 episodes in DVR...cable dramas seem to be the best for me...Network dramas are weak...Guilty pleasure though is BLUE BLOODS.
ReplyDeleteWhy did USA begin airing Mod Fam non-stop and STOP airing original shows ? (??) Mod Famn became a dud when it reached it's peak, season 3. Your're The Worst has been a fav of mine from pilot. Most Network Tv Shows are BORING, same plot, same actors from other sitcoms and no UNIQUE pizazz. SUPERSTORE IS AWFUL. I do wanna see the new Mandy Moore show, lots o buzz, so it will prolly be canceled soon. LOVED Bloodline, Excited for 2017. Canceled Cable, bought the 10.99 rabbit ears, now surfing TV through WIFI via free trials, saving $120 a month and mucho happier! Love Your Show Ken....Short Time Reader, Long Time lover
ReplyDeleteWhy did USA begin airing Mod Fam non-stop and STOP airing original shows ? (??) Mod Famn became a dud when it reached it's peak, season 3. Your're The Worst has been a fav of mine from pilot. Most Network Tv Shows are BORING, same plot, same actors from other sitcoms and no UNIQUE pizazz. SUPERSTORE IS AWFUL. I do wanna see the new Mandy Moore show, lots o buzz, so it will prolly be canceled soon. LOVED Bloodline, Excited for 2017. Canceled Cable, bought the 10.99 rabbit ears, now surfing TV through WIFI via free trials, saving $120 a month and mucho happier! Love Your Show Ken....Short Time Reader, Long Time lover
ReplyDelete"Mr. Robot". I just couldn't imagine how a second series would develop in any way. It would be more of the same (boring), or if it was less of the same it would be pointless.
ReplyDelete"Mad Men" I bailed after series 3, then binged all three subsequent series one weekend(!) Only just worth it for the cute ending.
On the other hand, I am toying with the idea of visiting Vince Gilligan to get him to hurry up with "Better Call Saul" 3.
I read through the comments trying to find a show that I CAN watch. I've been so uninterested in almost everything recently, and I love TV. I have an extensive collection of TV shows to prove it. I have all but given up on the Big Bang Theory. It's just so boring. I have forgotten to catch up on Fresh Off the Boat, which I think is largely because I wasn't that interested in the first few episodes I saw this year. Also, Brooklyn Nine-nine-- which is a show I "watch-ish"--meaning I don't really care about it, I don't make time for it, but when I need something to watch while I do something else, I might think of this and catch up. So, far, like Fresh off the Boat, I forgot about it during the baseball break and I'll get back to it...someday...I guess. Lucifer was sort of interesting last season, but I've had a hard time paying attention this season. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteWhat I have watched the most is With All Due Respect (online). Every evening. But it's going away. The last season of Rectify is good. I tried "The Ranch" on netflix and won't be continuing. I watch John Oliver's show. Other than that, I'm going through my dvds.
I miss the Daily Show and Colbert Report--used to watch during workouts. I hope Colbert finds a new show someday that I want to watch. His new one has its moments--honestly, I just check out the most popular clips when he makes "news." But I'm still rooting for him to find his niche.
So far my new TV-workout-buddies have been: the last two seasons of Bob Newhart, Welcome Back, Kotter, and Ned and Stacey. It's been more fun than you'd think.
I loved Psych when it was one, but really grew to hate it during seasons 6 and 7. I'm thinking enough time has passed to go ahead and watch the last one for completeness. But I think it's going to a chore.
THIS IS US lost me a few episodes into season 3. It became so melodramatic and soapy that I just couldn’t take it anymore. GLEE I also gave up midway through season 3 when it seemed to become so issue driven and less story focused. I don’t generally watch political shows because politics has gotten so unpleasant and I get hounded by it every day on TV news, social media, newspapers, etc. For example, most of late night, I can’t stand. LETTERMAN became unwatchable his last few seasons as he became more and more political, Colbert and Daily Show, forget about it. Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon tend to be ok and Craig Ferguson always was. James Corden too occasionally, but except for MADAM SECRETARY, which is amazing, I never watch political shows so GLEE lost me. NCIS: L.A. is the latest. It just is a shell of itself and I find myself having trouble keeping interest when I try to watch it. I’m sure there are others but those are the examples that come to mind reading this post.
ReplyDelete