Person Asks “What TV Show Was Amazing At First But Became Unwatchable For You Later On?”, And 30 Folks Deliver
It is astonishing how fast random opinions on the internet can ruin a person’s outlook on a given product of media entertainment.
But sometimes you don’t need some rando’s thoughts because the show beats them to it by imploding on itself through bad script writing, presentation, acting, or any combination of those three and more.
This inevitably leads to Reddit threads like this one, where folks list TV shows and series that started off very well, becoming instant hits, and then getting progressively worse for a multitude of reasons.
Scroll down to check out the best responses and answers to the now-viral Reddit thread, having over 30,000 upvotes, and why not perform all of the necessary formalities like upvote and comment and then upvote and comment some more.
Oh, and beware, spoilers!
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First few seasons were great with pretty good pacing. Later seasons devolve into telling one story at a time. They’d have a cliffhanger of a character maybe dying and do 3 weeks of other stories. By the time it gets back to the cliffhanger you have no idea what’s happening. That and it got repetitive.
I was enamored with it for the first 5 seasons. 6 only reinforced my love but I remember some cracks starting to show.
7 went downhill super fast and I refused to sully my memories with 8.
I always find this equally funny, depressing and annoying. GRR martin gave the show runners a roadmap for how the book series was going to end up. This was it. So many people are upset over the fact that the "mother of dragons" who somehow became a feminist icon, despite the many, constant hints over the fact that like the rest of her family, was INSANE. Her ending was obvious. From the point where her brother was given the golden crown and she basically shrugged. The last seasons had their flaws, but people are just pissed that they invested so much into the dragon queen without really paying attention to the very loud subtext
Grey's Anatomy 100%. The show was great, but I just can't keep up with all the twists and turns and freaky accidents anymore. It's also a lot less funny. It should have ended seasons ago.
bog--wizard said:
Once Upon a Time. The first 3 seasons were good! And then after that they just kept getting worse.
RittleMeThis27 replied:
I watched about that much til it got boring and too weird. I enjoyed them giving Disney characters a twist separate from their movie counterparts. Then something about seeing Elsa basically cosplaying the animated movie made me stop. It was more fun when they left us guessing who the new person was and not throwing it in our faces like that.
season8branisusless said:
Firefly. Second season is literally unwatchable.
Shawn_1512 replied:
Me and Abed have an agreement. If one of us dies, we stage it to look like a suicide caused by the unjust cancellation of Firefly.
Season 1 was great and fresh. Season 2 didn't know what to do with itself and just started giving everyone super powers.
By Season 3, characters were just changing motivations at the drop of a hat and it was just a huge mess of bad writing.
Pm_Me_All_The_Feet said:
Westworld, on HBO. Season 1 was amazing! By episode 3 of season 2 I was done. Damn shame...
ejpierle replied
This. Season 1 was a damn near perfect 1 season story. If they had had any balls at all, they would've stopped there and gone down in history as one of the best single seasons of all time. But some assholes at HBO backed the money truck up, and we all know how that ended...
I’ve stuck with it, but yes totally agree! Season 1 was intriguing, mind bending and quite beautiful. Subsequent seasons just don’t have the magic…don’t have Sir Anthony Hopkins either coincidence?
Not the worst offender, but That 70's Show tanked pretty hard once Eric left. He was sorely needed to make the chemistry of the group work.
Spider-Gwen_ said:
The 100.
agawl81 replied:
You are onecrew or you are an enemy of oncrew - choose.
It has some really quotable stuff, but my god, the endless self sabotage by the main character just gets so old.
Great show that lasted exactly 5 seasons. Rumors of a 6th or 7th season are lies.
fefvrisketa said:
Misfits, unfortunately.
doctor_x replied:
"Let's replace the entire cast with less interesting characters and have them never use their abilities. Lunch?"
HoraceSense said:
House of Cards.
usernameunavaliable replied:
The first two seasons were amazing. After that it started to get progressively worse.
IMO, it should have been 2 seasons of him reaching the presidency, and then 2 seasons of everything going downhill.
4 seasons total, 1 for each suit of cards. 2 for building the house of cards, 2 for making it fall apart.
Try the UK original. 3 seasons. 4 episodes per. House of Cards. To Play the King. The Final Cut. Ian Richardson's Francis Urquhart.... Superb.
nolaonmymind said:
I tried to rewatch it recently, remembered the last season, and just didn't want to.
Techerous replied:
What's especially frustrating is if they had ended the show after 4 seasons like the creators wanted to the ending everyone hated actually would have made sense because they wouldn't have proven 4-5 times that Robin and Ted don't work together.
How to Get Away with Murder. The first season had some intrigue and plot... and then they just start murdering people left and right after that.
monoloco-plus said:
Riverdale.
VeryDPP replied:
I'm not convinced the guy who writes Riverdale has ever spoken to a real teenager.
I stick this one out purely for the hilarity of it. Archie and the gang have super powers now and are fighting an evil wizard (I am not making that up).
MiZe97 said:
It's what happens when you try to make so many seasons for a show meant for only a few.
Stewba replied:
Arrows first season is dope when he is murdering everyone. I wish he never discovered the power of friendship.
DiegoDynomite said:
The Flash on CW.
Somerandom1922 replied:
Flash and Arrow both got screwed by Netflix DareDevil showing how good it could be imo.
I was into both Arrow and Flash, then Daredevil came out and I just kept noticing inconsistencies and budget issues.
But I will say Grant Gustin does make a good Barry Allen.
whiteoff44 said:
Vikings … I’m shocked no one mentioned it yet.
w1987g replied:
I haven't watched anything past Ragnar. I love me Lagertha with all my heart, but I could see the writing on the wall knowing that boneless was going to go full psycho.
Also, I'm still pissed Siggy died like she did. ASLAUG CAN ROT IN HEL!
As soon as Ragnar will killed off, I turned off. His sons (except Bjorn) were nut cases
At first it was a fresh setting for a procedural with likeable, developed characters. But then Brennan got Flanderized hard starting around S4 and it was never the same.
I was crushed when they killed Sweets off. Actually felt sorry for Daisy's character
So many loopholes and a never ending plot. I mean, the female hero (forgot her name) was wanted and had her pictures broadcast nationwide live, but a couple of weeks after she can do undercover work.
I think you just randomly selected some long running series that you have never even seen. The Loopholes are the whole reason behind this programme, wondering who Raymond Reddington really is and his relation to Elizabeth ( the name you forgot) Keen. If you had seen the series you would know why she was exonerated
By the end of filming the two main leads hated each other… and you can tell! They had to come up with whacky storyline’s to keep them apart.
The first seasons are so good and then it basically turns into "what weird monster can we come up with in between killing off and resurrecting the Winchester boys and all their friends/family?"
Like I tapped out with the episode involving Tinkerbelle. I did watch the series finale and it sure was a finale.
I feel the opposite; slow starter then it gets "Awesome".
ClockNo4364 said:
I actually think that Glee was like a fun guilty pleasure show when it first came out.
Then after like 4-6 episodes there was a writers' strike and when it finally came back it just got worse and worse until it was unwatchable.
cdenton041793 replied:
The first couple seasons were really campy and fun, and I loved that. But eventually it felt like they got to a place where they were taking themselves way too seriously, and it just wasn't working anymore. I have not watched the last season, I got like halfway through the first episode and noped out. The season or 2 before that wasn't very good either, but I really tried, because I had loved it for so long.
Once Fonzie jumped the shark, while water skiing and wearing his jacket, the show just got progressively worse.
PS, I know.
toolfanatic said:
Breaking Bad. It was great for the first several full rewatches, unwatchable after I lost my phone and my computer and TV broke.
SassySSS replied:
Hahaha you got me. I was fully ready to be like WHAT Breaking bad is the antithesis of a show that goes off the rails. Just so happen to be deep into a rewatch now after several years and I literally can’t stop saying how more shows need to be like this, the story is so tight and focused. No sprawling casts of new characters or Flanderization of existing characters. The storytelling is so well done, just remarkable television.
UgliestDisability said:
The Office limped to the finish line.
The_Sound_of_Slants replied:
It was not unwatchable for me, but you can definitely tell the writers lost their direction after Steve left. Characters started acting... well... out of character. The new characters were pretty weird. Story lines were getting stretched thin.
I am glad they did not straight up cancel the show after Steve left. I would have been mad if I did not see how some of the characters' lives progressed.
But watching the last few seasons you can definitely tell they knew the show could not go on without Steve. They were just using the time to figure out how to wrap it all up nicely. And maybe throw a few cameos along the way.
Doctor Who is getting to be that way. And I know, there's all the hate for the Chibnall era on Doctor Who, and some of that's valid--but that's not what I'm getting at. It's just not much fun anymore. When it starts feeling like a chore to watch it, it's probably time to let it go. And I have to say, this bothers me...Doctor Who was a huge part of my childhood and really my whole life, ever since the mid-80s. It sucks to have it feel this way now.
It was really cool. Then later on... Jesus Christ, the protagonist is a Mary Sue, everyone always listens to her, you can always guarantee none of her friends will die and you can always feel like the trouble she gets herself and her friends into aren't threatening. What a waste
For some reason people think I'm talking about the sitcom. Why? I'm talking about the god awful Netflix adaption. The first season was insanely fun. Everything after just felt like the most below bare minimum awful writing I have ever seen in any show.
It was actually pretty good to me then something happened and I got tried of watching it because I thought it was gonna end stupid
Was a fun watch at the start, but it just devolved into fake, staged tripe. Not sure it was ever real tbf, but at least at the start it was somewhat believable.
I hope this isn't too unpopular, but the last 2 seasons of Arrested Development were absolutely painful to sit through. The story just got unnecessarily convoluted and was just boring.
Any show from the US if it is a hit they will keep making more and more seasons. Squid game made by Americans would have nine seasons and full of love triangles with s*x escenes every 15 minutes lol
Load More Replies...UK productions treat them as stories to be well-told. US treat them like cows to be well-milked.
Big bang theory. It sank as soon as it just became about their relationship drama's.
Yet after the show ended I still watch it every time it airs on live tv. My family loves that show
Load More Replies...Any show from the US if it is a hit they will keep making more and more seasons. Squid game made by Americans would have nine seasons and full of love triangles with s*x escenes every 15 minutes lol
Load More Replies...UK productions treat them as stories to be well-told. US treat them like cows to be well-milked.
Big bang theory. It sank as soon as it just became about their relationship drama's.
Yet after the show ended I still watch it every time it airs on live tv. My family loves that show
Load More Replies...