Series You Initially Loved, Then Abandoned and Never Finished

[Bright Eyes]

JOAN OF ARCADIA - The first season was appointment tv for me. A fascinating concept to me at an age (early teen years) where I had so many questions. And it also introduced to me to Jason Ritter. But the only thing I remember about the second season is a random episdoe where Hilary Duff didn't know what cake she liked.

[Khan]

RE: "Joan of Arcadia" -- To this day, I'm convinced CBS interfered, because the show got a whole lot more darker in S2, and frankly, more weird.  Moreover, Barbara Hall attempted to defend S2's darker direction, but ended up rankling viewers more with what they perceived as arrogance on her part for not appreciating her intent.  (Rule #1 in dealing with your show's audience: if the majority is not okay with the direction of your storytelling, the LAST thing you want to do is make them feel like it's their fault.)  As it was, the S2 (and series) finale seemed to be setting up some big showdown between Joan and another individual (a guy, I think) who also could talk with God, but had more malevolent intent (they even used "Sympathy for the Devil" in one of his scenes); and as I said at the time on TV Without Pity, "'Joan the Adversary Slayer' is NOT the show I signed up for."

[DRW50]

Parks and Rec - Sometime in seasons 4 and 5 I had started to barely laugh at anything and noticed that the writing was much more interested in recreating the same "moments" over and over between characters like Ron and Leslie than in writing comedy. They seemed almost ashamed of comedy, aside from repeating the same scenes over and over with Tom and Jean-Ralphio, both of whom (especially the latter) were about as funny to me as a Bleak House marathon. The constant verbal and emotional abuse of Jerry, which we were supposed to find hilarious even as the show kept getting patted on the back for being so "nice" and "warm," made my stomach turn. It became a show of bullies, a deeply deluded show of bullies.

 

Everybody Loves Raymond - the last years of the show became so nasty, with Patricia Heaton in particular going from being a funny and warm wife to sneering and snarling her way through the episodes. I think one of the reasons most of the cast aside from those who already had careers never went on to bigger or better roles is because they were so typecast in such ugliness. I also wonder if that's why this went from being, at the time, a wildly overhyped show critics kept trying to call one of the best sitcoms of all time, to a footnote. 

 

Becker - I lost interest when Terry Farrell was fired. 

 

Nip/Tuck - sometime during season 2, when that creepy son became a focus and the show became obsessed with his sex life...namely the pointless, grimy plot of the two lesbian girls who started sleeping with him and one fell in love with him and it ended in tragedy, blah blah blah. Ryan Murphy, as misogynist, homophobic, and anti-lesbian (anti-bisexual - anti-anything that isn't about what he can perv on) as usual, just couldn't stop writing nasty stories about lesbians existing for men and "turning" for men.

[SoapDope]

Becker.......I agree about Terry Farrell being let go. They brought on Nancy Travis who has had several short lived and failed series. I'm sorry, but I never got her appeal. It as if the networks tried to make her happen and viewers weren't having it.

 

She reminds me of Robert Urich in the fact that they would stick him in a series, it would last one or two seasons. Then it would get cancelled and the following fall he would be back in an all new series they had created to keep him on the air. 

[amybrickwallace]

I loved Coach until the setting was changed from Minnesota to Florida. I stopped watching after the move to Florida.

[Soaplovers]

Friends (got tired of the ross/Rachel merry go round...and hated they reunited at the end of the show)

 

Two broke girls (funny with an interesting premise at first...but became one note pretty quickly)

 

 

[Khan]

 

You can use "vagina" as the punch line to a joke only so many times.

[juppiter]

 

I wish I had. If I ever rewatch it, I will rewatch only the first two seasons and then bail. The vast majority of the last four seasons are just not worth it.

[sivad40]

Supernatural- I feel like the show ran its course 4 or 5 seasons ago.

Orphan Black I bailed on it during the middle of season 3 and I made the mistake of watching the final season.

[MichaelGL]

One Tree Hill

Everwood

 

[Vee]

 

She walked out over pay, IIRC. A bitter reminder of Hollywood norms that are beginning to change, especially since she apparently left Star Trek over harassment (sexual and otherwise) and belittling by then-franchise head Rick Berman (and didn't tell her story to anyone - including the Deep Space Nine showrunners - for years).

[amybrickwallace]

 

That show is still on????? 😨

[sivad40]

13th season and counting. It's the longest running CW show. 

[amybrickwallace]

 

Wow.

[P.J.]

 

*raises hand* I thought it was so unique when it first began. Then somewhere along the way, it lost steam. I forget exactly when it became more of an obligation than pleasure, but between killing off characters randomly and like a 9 month/year hiatus, I gave up. 

 

All the long running procedurals--- L&O, NYPD Blue, NCIS, CSI. They either lose cast members, or you realize your tired of the formula.