What does a TV series need to do or not do for you to give up watching it?

I toss a show aside when it becomes repetitive. Either by repeating the exact same storyline or when it just rearranges the storyline, so now character A is the protagonist instead of character B.


I also need to see character development, if that isn't happening then, I reject the show.

Another is when a supposed sitcom or drama starts in constantly writing up plots which are absurdly farfetched.

Also known as "Jumping the shark." What was the most recent show that annoyed you enough to drop watching it?

I know it was recent (within the last year), drawing an annoying blank right now. This may be partially due to my mostly having stopped watching television lately, the quality of writing has become so dreadful. Switched over towards Netflix for movies and their shows, as well as their raising up of shows of the past.

By the way, Sharknado 4, sucked big time. Couldn't be bothered after the first mind numbing 15 or so minutes. That's an example of movie sequels which I abandon. If they go with a 5, I doubt I'll bother with it at all.



...oh now I remember! It was while watching an episode of Shameless on Showtime. The character of Frank has ceased being a character and is now a caricature. It's distressing in part because William H. Macy is a good actor but is succumbing to the tragedy of poor writing. (Hoping he isn't contributing to the content, as actors with star power are often wont to do.). At any rate, haven't watched it again.

I remember giving up on Once Upon a Time (2011) after 2 and a half seasons because they were adding too many really bloody annoying characters. And the making the protagonists so idiotic.

You can only have the villain stab the protagonist in the back then be forgiven (and temporarily be seen as a protagonist) then stab the protagonist in the back (ad nauseum) so many times before they become hopelessly pathetic.

I gave up on the Walking Dead two seasons ago. They just seemed to have run out of ideas.

I completely stalled out on The Walking Dead. Hearing bad things about the current season as well how the previous season ended and pained much of the preexisting fanbase, I watched the first episode of that latter season a month or so ago... and find it difficult to go back.

I guess I was burnt by the antihype the show is been under recently.

I gave up on that show the first season.

I can't recall the name of a series that was about people escaping future Earth by building settlements in prehistoric times. So here they were with an entire unexplored planet and the two factions were totally incurious and waged war on each other for no good reason.

My criteria is pretty simple, basically when it stops entertaining me I drop it. But I find that it also depends on what else is on to watch (given my limited time). If I'm bored I'll go back to shows I've previously dropped, or simply keep watching the one I'm on (even if it's getting boring).

The last TV series I've watched were Lassie and Fury.

Edit: and Bonanza

I give up on a show when it seems to be straining for plots and ends up being incredible.

When I still had my tv, I had gotten down to just watching the Tour d'France and the Giro d'Italia bicycle races (primarily for the scenery), the yearly Westminister dog show, and that's about it, except back then I did use it to watch some movies via vcr or dvd. Mostly I still kept the tv for when my niece would travel upstate to stay with me for a week.

I watched tv for a long time as a kid, but after I turned sixteen and got an after school and weekend job, I tended to prefer reading once I got home and did my homework. I did like Bonanza though, whenever that was.

I also preferred movies in theaters, and husband and I really got into "art house" theaters for a bunch of years.

On when I would stop watching something, back when I did do tv, I would act on my impatience easily. My father and mother and my larger family were involved in the movie and tv business, so that might have been part of it.

On a series that I liked and still almost remember - The Glittering Prizes, a British series with the actor Tom Conti; the author was Frederic Raphael. There was a book too.

The Glittering Prizes (TV Mini-Series 1976– ) - IMDb
www.imdb.com/title/tt0073999/
Drama · Twenty years in the lives of some Cambridge undergraduates, who all find that the real world of a changing Britain is a hard place.

I think I managed about two seasons of Shield, none of the characters are any good, and I only watched the first two because my son was into it, but he wasn't interested after two seasons. The same with Arrow, although I lasted three seasons with that, but I was never grabbed by either series from the beginning, watching them started to become a chore.

Having said that I think Gotham is really good, and unlike the above was very good from the off. I'm looking forward to the next season, same with Walking Dead and probably Westworld when I've finished season 1, (only started watching on Sunday, been watching an episode a day with three still to go.)

I think if it really grabs me from the beginning I'll stick with it regardless, but if I'm watching in expectation it will get better, (pilots aren't always that good, too much to explain, so I count the beginning as the first 3 episodes,) I'll usually lose interest.

As a rule I get tired of TV series, especially those where the story continues endlessly.
Good ones I remember was "Upstairs, Downstairs" and a Danish called "Matador".
It will rerun again for the??? time. It is about a small town during WWII and has top actors and top caracters.
I like Inspector Barnaby and Lewis.
I do not want to be dependent on being at home at a certain time to watch something on TV - there more interesting things to do.

I don't give up easily, but at some point they all become repetitive.
"Walking Dead" is a great example.

The longer they go the more chance there is for the well paid stars to demand "dramatic" scripts. This killed a great many series including "Castle"

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"What does a TV series need to do or not do for you to give up watching it?"

There should be some development or evolution of a character. A case in point is Sheldon in "The Big Bang Theory." I watched that show for a couple of years and liked it, but enough is enough. This is a narcissistic character that nobody could stand being around for any length of time, and he never evolved an inch. Even Archie Bunker evolved a little bit. Hyacinth Bucket in"Keeping up Appearances," a British sitcom that's been on forever (repeats), is just as disturbingly narcissistic as Sheldon, but everybody knows that she's a fool and avoid her when possible. The characters on Big Bang Theory for some reason put up with Sheldon, but I will not, and I'll never watch that show again.

Coming back later

Doesn't he have Aspberger's? Do you really arc away from that?

He does. But can't people with Aspbergers/on the autism spectrum evolve socially and emotionally (in a limited sense)? Or would that sort of character development be too subtle for a sitcom of Big Bang Theory level?

As for the rest of the show? The characters have evolved in certain ways but the stories aren't the most compelling.

I own seasons three, four, six, seven, eight on BluRay and haven't ever watched a single season when it initially aired. I buy them when they on deep sale at Best Buy (which is why I don't own season one, two, and five).

Plus I haven't seen any season 9 or the current season 10 episodes.

The show still is funny but in a popcorn/guilty pleasure way for me. It's good with moments of sheer comic brilliance. But if I never watch an episode again? It wouldn't hurt me. I'll still grab up any BluRays if they're cheap enough.

For this series? I'm happily on the fence. I can go either way and not mind it at all.