How quickly do you quit TV shows before giving up on them?

Forums: Television, Bad Tv, Good Tv, Judging Tv, 3 Episode Rule
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How quickly do you quit TV shows before giving up on them? Barring watching the worst TV pilot you have ever seen and the series has a premise that you find intriguing, and/or the talent you admire (actors, showrunners, etc...), do you have the persistence and the patience to keep watching a television series that at the beginning ultimately DOES NOT satisfy whatever tv watching guidelines you have which you use to determine which show is watchable and/or enjoyable enough to continue watching?

For me? I try to give television series at least 3 episodes before ditching them entirely, rarely ever going back to give them a second chance. And like books, I never finish television series I which bore, annoy the hell out of me, frustrate me due to various conditions like acting, characters (specifically the protagonists), and writing. I cannot say how faithful I am to the 3 episode rule. But I try.

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Type: Question • Score: 6 • Views: 1,275 • Replies: 19

[+3] - farmerman - 05/31/2020I lost interest in "Big Bang" early because it was more or less a nasty celebration of a clueless Asperger's syndrome sufferer who had not received any training and who lacks tact ,...

@tsarstepan,

I usually look in for 2 episodes. I recall I hated the Seinfeld Chronicles before it got a bit of overhauling with the rising theme of group insensitivity, then it got good. I like "Its always Sunny in Philadelphia" for almost its entire first season, Then It got downright man spirited and I tunes out.

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If a show doesn't grab me in an episode or two I am out. I'm equally judgemental about movies.

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@edgarblythe,

I lost interest in "Big Bang" early because it was more or less a nasty celebration of a clueless Asperger's syndrome sufferer who had not received any training and who lacks tact , social skills and creativity.
Now this is just my opinion and there will be no Q&A

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@farmerman,

I rarely watched any of it. The other characters were not exactly petunias either. I gave Young Sheldon a chance but gave up on it too.

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@tsarstepan,

1. I generally make the decision to (initially) watch a tv show because of a tv trailer or a commercial I saw.

2. Sometimes, all I need to see is one episode to not want to watch it anymore.

3, Mostly, I think it probably takes me three episodes to determine that I don't want to watch it anymore.

4. If I discover that I really like a show a lot, I will watch (every) episode for years or until the show is no longer on the air.

5. There are also shows that I might think are just okay.
The shows that I think are just okay, I don't watch every episode.
The just okay shows I can watch sometimes while missing many episodes along the way.

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When Seinfeld was new I made it a point to catch every episode on first showing. It's the last one I obsessed over. I've been liking Bob/Abishola, but the last episode of it so far went off track. I'm hoping the new season can atone for that. I don't have cable. The last series I followed on Netflix was The Good Place. Never saw the final season.

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@tsarstepan,

After I watch the pilots show, I make upmy mind. It doesn’t impress me then I rarely go back to check if things improved or if I was hasty.

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I skipped the first season of All in the Family because I thought the scripts were awful. But I gave it a chance, second season and it became a favorite, all the way up until they ruined the characters of Mike and Gloria and screwed up the last season.

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@edgarblythe,

I had to give up on Ramy midway through the first episode. Well acted and professionally shot. The religious family is intolerable.

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@tsarstepan,

After watching this, I don't feel so bad when I give up on an entire series after a single episode.

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I gave up on King Gary after one episode. I was looking forward to it because I really liked Tom Davis in Plebs and Murder in Successville, but this didn’t go anywhere and it wasn’t funny.

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@izzythepush,

I can't say that I've heard of it or that person in question. But life's too short to spend on crappy TV.

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@tsarstepan,

I don't watch a lot (if any, actually) of tv (mainly I tape documentaries and whatnot), and one of the reasons is that I really liked "Lost", "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy" until the storylines got too bizarre. No sense of reality at all. Just like "Who Shot JR". Oh, it's all a dream. C'mon. So now i don't watch any of that stuff, or anything with 'celebs' (and I'm including the idiot nobody Kardashiians). I'm more into science, nature, ancestry and things like that.

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@Mame,

Just what are the Kardashiians famous for? Besides being famous, I mean.

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@roger,

That's it, kinda like Paris Hilton.

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@roger,

Shitting in a bin bag.

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@izzythepush,

I'm not sure what that means, but I bet it's accruate.

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@roger,

There’s a famous picture of her with her massive arse coming out of a big plastic bag. We call those bin bags over here.

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How quickly do you quit TV shows before giving up on them?

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