Storylines and periods in a show that made you STOP watching

[Vee]

I remember this. Unbelievable and could never happen today. It was horrendous and treated as just a minor plot point to get Bo out of town to meet Melanie MacIver.

[1974mdp]

For me it was when DAYS started to turn Ben, the serial killer, into a hero. Even with all the insanity of the show's usual plots, that one was too much for me. It made all the characters involved in his story idiots: Ciara, Marlena, etc. I've never been a regular viewer since.

[Planet Soap]

B&B with the excessive Liam/Hope/Steffy repetition, especially after 2012.

GH (2015-2017) Just too many characters, no focus, stunt casting, show looked really cheap. Didn't tune in again until Jason returned. 

[Maxim]

I agree completely. My country cancelled the show after airing since 1994 after season 2013-2014. The rating was so low there were basically less than couple of hundred people watching. Liam, Hope and Steffy triangle was the last breath of the show. 

[teplin]

I thought Marlena as the Salem Stalker on Days was a real mistake for the show narratively, but I have to admit it got me to tape the show again every.

I was glad that all the "dead" residents of Salem returned, but the explanation was so nonsensical that I stopped watching again.  

[Contessa Donatella]

Well, supposedly Reilly wanted them to stay dead & they told him that couldn't happen so he had to unwrite what he'd written. At least that's why I've always thought it was weird. 

[Gray Bunny]

GUIDING LIGHT:

My first break began in the fall of 2000 with Claire Labine's work in full swing. The storylines just seemed so pointless and bad to the point where I just didn't have any enjoyment out of the show. This was when there was that underground club at Millennium that Danny was running with that May girl always saying, "cigars, cigarettes, cigarillos!". Meanwhile, Reva's job du jour was being a refugee crusader, Harley/Philip were imploding... I really can't remember the other stories at the time (San Cristobel, etc.) but I just felt it was a waste of my time and I was busier in life so I had limited TV time to spare. In hindsight, I wish I had stuck it through because I know there was some good stuff I missed in 2001 and early 2002. I finally got back into the show in June 2002 for its 50th TV anniversary. 

My second and basically final break was around August 2007. Like @althea-davis I can't recall a specific story as to "why", it was just overall an unenjoyable program again. It became a chore to watch, the stories were bad, the low budge look of the show and its limitations made bad stories look worse (I do remember Reva getting "hit" by Olivia's car, even though Reva was standing on Main Street. Oy.) 

I only checked it out the following summer when they were doing that movie recreation story of Josh & Reva's 1989 wedding, and again during the final few weeks of the show. 

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by Gray Bunny

[Contessa Donatella]

Supposedly everything Labine pitched that she wanted to write got shot down. (She pitched a love story between Holly & Olivia.) Supposedly, again with the supposedly, the only thing she created while at GL that she really liked was, yep, you guessed it! Mae, the cigarette girl in that after hours club of Danny's! I love Claire Labine, but OY!

[applcin]

I really disliked what I call uber-villains; they terrorize practically everyone to the point of absurd plots and events. In saying that...

I stopped watching OLTL when they kept bringing Mitch Laurence back. First time was when he was going to marry Natalie. I didn't return to the show until years later when Jerry verDorn joined. Then when they brought Mitch back again and he killed Jared Banks, I was done. I never watched the show again.

I was never a fan of the permanent Cassadine presence on GH and I took some time away from that but I ultimately stopped watching the show some 20 years or so ago, I think. Just had enough of the Sonny & Jason Show.
 

[Darn]

OLTL killing off both Jessica and Natalie's best love interests is still so bizarre to me.

[SamandWillowFan]

Their explanation for Diego killing Georgie was that Maxie was his intended target and Georgie came in her place. 

[NothinButAttitude]

Doesn't matter the explanation it was still stupid and short-sighted. And that explanation makes no sense as Georgie and Maxie looked nothing alike body wise, height, and hair color. Diego would've been able to tell the two apart. 

Edited November 1, 2023 by NothinButAttitude

[SamandWillowFan]

He could tell them apart. He killed Georgie because she would’ve seen him and known he was alive when she came in Maxie’s place. I agree that writers had no clue who the killer was from the start.