TV series you gave up on before the end

[Jah Womble]

...by which, of course, I mean 'having invested some hours into' (ie, not having thought 'this is sh*te' within ten minutes of the opening gambit).

I seem to recall watching nine or ten episodes of Heroes before realising that I neither liked nor believed in it or indeed any of its characters. It was pretty poor stuff all round IIRC, so God knows why it took me so long. (Admittedly I do occasionally find myself put off by the sheer volume of these things and the massive amount of one's life required to invest in them.)

(I recently stopped watching Coronation Street after four decades - which has been immensely liberating. But yer open-ended dramas [oh all right then, 'soaps'] are a whole different 'kettle of', tbh.)

[tee rex]

Homeland.

I couldn't miss the first season, it was the highlight of my TV week. Is Damien Lewis a goodie or baddie? Is Clare Danes going to love him, kill him or both? Is David Harewood's accent going to slip?

I've no idea what has happened in recent seasons, is it still going? Gave up after (nearly) everyone died in the explosion, second season I think.

[blameless]

Scandal. Mrs b and I watched the first series together, and it wasn't bad but the only thing that didn't really work was the affair between Kerry Washington's character and the creepy, wooden POTUS geezer; the actors had no on-screen chemistry at all.

Then Mrs b read that the second series focussed much more intensively on that relationship to the exclusion of a lot of the stuff we actually liked, so I bailed at that point. Mrs b got halfway through series 2 and then binned it off.

[Giggler]

Another vote for Coronation Street unfortunately, but these DVDs still keep me a little bit warm when the programme is mentioned. Some of the writing was just brilliant:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Coronation-...onation+street

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Coronation-...onation+street

In a similar vein, I loved the first three series of Shameless before it disappeared up its own rectum.

[Janik]

Homeland.

I couldn't miss the first season, it was the highlight of my TV week. Is Damien Lewis a goodie or baddie? Is Clare Danes going to love him, kill him or both? Is David Harewood's accent going to slip?

You lasted two seasons? I opted out at the end of Season 1. That was excellent, but it should never have had a sequel with the same characters. They were all burned to high heaven and continuing with them was stupid. Doing so immediately broke the suspension of disbelief.

I sort of drifted away from Breaking Bad, but that was more 'never hooked' than gave up on. I watched a handful of episodes at the start, but then missed one or two for whatever reason and the desire to catch up was never there. Not even after being given the box set as a present.

[nmrfox]

Big Brother Watched all of the first series and loved it. Watched all of the second series thinking that it was a bit dull and not as good or interesting as the first. Got about halfway through the third series and thought that it deadly dull, had seen it all before, had no empathy with any of the contestants and decided I'd better things to do with my time. Haven't watched even a bit of an episode of all of the series that followed, including the "celebrity" ones.

[Janik]

Oh yes, Sherlock. And in that case I was nearly at the end, before giving up in extreme annoyance. The last episode was so utterly stupid that I turned it off in frustration midway through and have absolutely no interest in finding out how it finished.

Whilst thinking of Moffat, I also ceased watching the Dr Who reboot somewhere around the start of the Matt Smith period.

[Sits]

Gave up on Dr. Who slightly later than that. A pity in a way as I'd like to have seen how Jodi Whitaker did. But the show is too annoying.

What amazes me still is that we got all the way to the end of Series 1 of Fortitude. Unremittingly grim and depressing, no sympathetic characters. It was just stoic determination that got us through. See also Indian Summers. Why didn't we stop?

[ian.64]

Gave up on Dr. Who slightly later than that. A pity in a way as I'd like to have seen how Jodi Whitaker did. But the show is too annoying.

I feel that way, too. I think the annoyance may come from having this 'throw the kitchen sink' feel to it, a fear of being boring which determines that something must be happening every minute of its running time. Some of the old Whos may be a bit quaint and frayed at the edges (in some cases, quite a lot) but there wasn't this breathless rush to race through a story. It let its plots carry on at their own pace, in my humble opinion.

[Ginger Yellow]

The first season of Heroes was a guilty pleasure for me. It was trash, but it was fun. I dropped it about halfway through the second episode of the second season.

I dropped True Detective after the first episode of the second season.

I gave up on Travellers after about six episodes, having only lasted that long because it was highly recommended by many people on another forum.

I gave up on The Walking Dead after the first season with David Morrisey, whatever that was (not his fault per se, I just got fed up with the show - I'm in a similar place with the comics now and have been for a while, but I've yet to actually stop).

I'm not going to keep on watching Star Trek: Discovery.

[Snake Plissken]

Castle. Midway through series 5. The thing that was powering the characters got resolved and anything after that didn't really matter.

I left Doctor Who shortly after the introduction of Peter Capaldi. I guess I ought to go back to it, and probably will with Jodie Whittaker.

[Ginger Yellow]

Oh yeah, Castle too. Can't remember which season, but something like four or five. I normally hate police procedurals, and I was only really watching because I like Fillion's schtick, and that gets old after a while.

[WOM]

Yeah, first season of True Detective blew us away. Second season...maybe we lasted one episode and half of the second. Maybe.

The Path...watched the whole first season and wanted to punch myself in the face. I told L she was on her own for season two. I think she also gave up.

Lost, of course. Thought it would just be a ten-part series...and then they announced it was going to be fifty-something eps. Bye.

Under The Dome. Again, thought it was 10 eps. Then 'coming up on Season Two...'. Bye.

The Leftovers: enjoyed season 1. Almost quit on season 2. Stuck with it and it redeemed itself with season 3...its last.

[Snake Plissken]

Oh yes, Sherlock. And in that case I was nearly at the end, before giving up in extreme annoyance. The last episode was so utterly stupid that I turned it off in frustration midway through and have absolutely no interest in finding out how it finished.

Very, very badly. (As in quality, as opposed to events.) As a fan of Sherlock in just about any form, I was practically throwing chairs at the screen in annoyance. In summary of the final series:

Episode 2 of 3: "I can predict the exact actions of the best serial killer of the last 100 years, three months in advance, while doped up on a cocktail of drugs"
Episode 3 of 3: "I forgot that I used to have a dog when I was a kid. Also: The bloke writing me has played Portal."

[caja-dglh]

I got a fair way through the first season of Breaking Bad before realizing there was no way I was going to stick with something with *that* many seasons having to watch on my own late at weekends.

In fact - this applies to pretty much every show with multiple seasons. Never tried the Wire, Sopranos or any of the big name ones as I know I can't be that bothered.

I guess I just don't particularly like TV drama shows.

[blameless]

Gave up on Dr. Who slightly later than that. A pity in a way as I'd like to have seen how Jodi Whitaker did. But the show is too annoying.

I feel that way, too. I think the annoyance may come from having this 'throw the kitchen sink' feel to it, a fear of being boring which determines that something must be happening every minute of its running time. Some of the old Whos may be a bit quaint and frayed at the edges (in some cases, quite a lot) but there wasn't this breathless rush to race through a story. It let its plots carry on at their own pace, in my humble opinion.

This encapsulates perfectly what I can't stand about New Who: the relentless relentlessness. It never stops to take a breath, and that's a major failing in a drama.

[elguapo4]

Watched the first season of "Boardwalk Empire " and enjoyed it,I missed the first couple of episodes of the second series and never got back into it, I'm generally not a fan of ongoing drama,I prefer the likes of "Law and Order " that you can dip in any time you want without needing to know a phone book of plot, like a few others here the Matt Smith years nearly killed me as a Doctor who fan but I recovered,I gave up Corrie in the mid nineties over some annoying plot that I can't remember,haven't been back and don't miss it

[WOM]

I got a fair way through the first season of Breaking Bad before realizing there was no way I was going to stick with something with *that* many seasons having to watch on my own late at weekends.

Your wife isn't a tv watcher?

[Greenlander]

Lost, erm, lost me midway through the second series.

I've no idea what the outcome was and not interested wither, but for that short while was completely addicted.

[WOM]

After I posted, I went to Wiki to sort it out. I'm seriously no better off. However, I did learn that it went on for 121 (!!!) episodes.

[Hot Pepsi]

It is liberating to realize the fallacy of sunk costs when it comes to shows you no longer enjoy.

In no particular order:

Arrow/The Flash/Supergirl/Legends of Tomorrow - It can be fun to revisit characters I loved as a kid and see what they do with them and all those shows are fairly well made, but, you know, life is too short...I'll still watch the films, probably, but even that's not a certainty. Nostalgia is only worth so much. (I am still all in on iZombie, The Magicians, and Game of Thrones, so I'm not totally averse to that sort of thing).

Every Star Trek series other than TNG - See above. “You’ve turned an enjoyable little job, that I did as a lark for a few years, into a colossal waste of time!”

Agents of SHIELD - See above, plus it was just boring. It's like if the marvel universe is Lucky Charms, the films are the marshmellows and their TV shows are the cereal part. Except without any sugar. Just bland nothing.

All of those Marvel Netflix Defender shows - I watched Daredevil seasons 1 and 2, and the first seasons of Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist, but midway through The Defenders, I realized what a huge waste of time it was and that I was throwing good time after bad. I thought Jessica Jones was vastly overrated. She's such a one note character and watching the first two episodes of season 2 didn't seem to change that. Luke Cage season 1 was pretty good, if for no other reason than its been a very long time since I've seen a show set in Harlem, but I don't see where it could go from there. Iron Fist had some ok moments, but the lead actor is terrible in the role, and the character is kinda silly. And Scott Glenn, at least in this role as Stick in all the series, is awful. Maybe he's just a bad actor or maybe it's just a dumb character that I expect more of because I fondly remember those Frank Miller comics from 35 years ago. (see above about comics nostalgia). The Punisher wasn't bad - at lot better than any of the films with that character - but not really worth the time.

LOST - Saw all of season 1. Just too much work for a show that was really about nothing. Indeed, Seinfeld made more sense.

Shooter - Season 1 was ok, but I think I watched it all just because I was in a mental health rut. It's kinda right wing bullshit.

Family Guy - I started watching early episodes of The Simpsons again and realized the extent to which FG is just a poor ripoff. Some good jokes, but a lot of really bad ones. Which reminds me...

The Simpsons - There have been a few good episodes in the past 15 years, but it's nowhere near as good as it was in the first ten, so watching it every week got to be a chore. They need to give it up.

South Park - The politics of those guys aren't great, which is an issue when they start to get preachy.

Friends - The Ross-Rachel thing wasn't interesting after a while.

Frasier - Same problem.

Boardwalk Empire - I think I watched the first season and realized it was pointless or "inessential" as critics insist on saying even though all TV is inessential. Same with Treme, which was out around that same time, but I don't think I even lasted a full episode with that.

The Wire - I may get back into it some day, but after Season 1, I felt like I got the point and that it was just going to be depressing. I don't need any more depressing things in my life, even if they are the greatest show ever made.

Any and all police procedurals - Really, I'm kinda done with any shows about serial killers. It's been done to death - no joke intended - and I wasn't all that interesting the first 1,000 times. I've never seen Silence of the Lambs and don't intend to.

Sharp Objects - Love the cast, but it's just so bleak and I can't get anything out of that right now. And it's about a serial killer.

Bosch - Season 1 was ok, but meh. Same serial killer problem. I take it that subsequent seasons are about other kinds of crime, but still...

Suits - It was fun to see how they were going to pull their asses out of the fire every week, but once the main story arc got resolved, more or less, I couldn't see where it could go after about season 6 and really it was just about rich assholes being rich assholes and Toronto pretending to be New York.

The Walking Dead - Gave it a full season. The point is that the humans are the *real* Walking Dead. I get it. I just couldn't care about what happened to those people any more, even though millions upon millions of people clearly do.


I've wasted a lot of time on this post, but not as much as I wasted on all that TV, so this has been cathartic.


Breaking Bad and Mad Men were two shows that I gave up on and then came back to and am glad I did.

[WOM]

Ah. Mad Men...one of the shows that I just never 'got'. I'm still not sure what the compelling theme was.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

I think you had to kind of fascinated with the setting. I wasn't.

For those of you who got a season through boardwalk empire, If you've managed to make it through one season, and enjoyed it, Despite the fact that it's a huge story that seems to move rather slowly, then you'd love the rest of it, which gets better as the mountainside starts sliding faster. Nucky's interactions with the presidential campaign, and the govt of Warren Harding seems oddly hyperrelevant to what is going on at the moment. But you need to have a lot of time to watch it.

[WOM]

While I enjoyed watching Boardwalk Empire, it wasn't terribly compelling for me. I wasn't dying to see those people each week - and see what happened to them - like I was with Sopranos or Wire.

[Various Artist]

Similar boat to many here with various of these:

Big Brother Watched all of the first series and loved it. Watched all of the second series thinking that it was a bit dull and not as good or interesting as the first. Got about halfway through the third series and thought that it deadly dull, had seen it all before, had no empathy with any of the contestants and decided I'd better things to do with my time. Haven't watched even a bit of an episode of all of the series that followed, including the "celebrity" ones.

Watched all of the first series and loved it. Watched a couple of episodes of the second series thinking that it was a bit dull and not as good or interesting as the first. Got about halfway through one episode of the third series and thought that it deadly dull, had seen it all before ... [repeat to fade]

Oh yes, Sherlock. And in that case I was nearly at the end, before giving up in extreme annoyance. The last episode was so utterly stupid that I turned it off in frustration midway through and have absolutely no interest in finding out how it finished.

It was beyond ridiculous, but I still watched all of it, more in hope than expectation. I'd just love them to remember what made the show good in the first place, which was them putting a fresh twist on, you know, some Sherlock Holmes cases.

Gave up on Dr. Who slightly later than that. A pity in a way as I'd like to have seen how Jodi Whitaker did. But the show is too annoying.

I feel that way, too. I think the annoyance may come from having this 'throw the kitchen sink' feel to it, a fear of being boring which determines that something must be happening every minute of its running time. Some of the old Whos may be a bit quaint and frayed at the edges (in some cases, quite a lot) but there wasn't this breathless rush to race through a story. It let its plots carry on at their own pace, in my humble opinion.

Again, I've now watched up to date, but having lost my mojo at various points in the last few years and thus had to catch up in the occasional massive binge. This does not help with the impression that everything including the kitchen sink is being thrown at the screen all of the time. I'm hoping there will be a bit of a clean slate and a change of direction with the new Doctor and production team, especially regarding the overblown series finales, but then I thought exactly the same thing last time the baton was handed over.

Lost, of course. Thought it would just be a ten-part series...and then they announced it was going to be fifty-something eps. Bye.

Under The Dome. Again, thought it was 10 eps. Then 'coming up on Season Two...'. Bye.

Was hooked on the first series of Lost, then perhaps mercifully moved abroad and didn't see any of the rest. By the time they'd added another three or four seasons with every suggestion being that it was merely disappearing further up its own arse, I'd firmly lost any inclination to catch up.

I loved the first series of Under The Dome, but yes that could have done with being self-contained (no pun intended). I recorded the second series but have never watched it, and have lost track of how much further they went after that.