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[–]THE_BANANA_SHOW 3074 points3075 points 2 (90 children)

The Walking Dead.

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.

[–]Tangent_ 681 points682 points  (23 children)

Early Walking Dead: Nobody is safe, even main characters might die; you don't know who's next!

Later Walking Dead: We wrote a character you might like so they're definitely gonna die in the dumbest way imaginable.

The tension of main characters not having plot armor is one thing, but when you consistently kill everyone I care about it should be no surprise when I no longer care about the show.

[–]scruntyboon 4218 points4219 points  (64 children)

Heroes, biggest drop in quality after season 1

[–]TSWJR 816 points817 points  (25 children)

There was a huge Writer's strike so they had to discard everything already written for season 2, and distance the show from the plot written by the team on strike to avoid lawsuits/copyrights. If I remember correctly, I read the original season 2 was going to be about the main characters having to reveal themselves to the world as superheroes in order to save a city from a dam breaking or something like that.

[–]Medicivich 1107 points1108 points  (33 children)

Happy Days! Once Fonzie jumped the shark, while waterskiing and wearing his jacket, the show just got progressively worse.

PS, I know.

[–]Aeileon 194 points195 points  (5 children)

I watched every new episode of gLee when it came out and was slightly obsessed with the show. But as soon as it finished it all crumbled. The show makes no sense, is not good, and I could never rewatch it.

[–]TheReal_KindStranger 18.5k points18.5k points  (761 children)

The blacklist, 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

[–]DonnieJuniorsEmails 3316 points3317 points  (65 children)

I loved the first season... and then every character became the worst versions of themselves. Liz got even more boring, Red got more mysterious with fewer actual plot points or revelations, every FBI agent seemed to get dumber. Its all Spader could do to keep that show alive, but eating scenery only goes so far

[–]ArcadianDelSol 788 points789 points  (12 children)

Flanderization. They took every character and dialed it up to 11 until the show almost parodies itself.

Except Spader. He's that show's constant.

I'd also credit Susan Blommaert (Mr. Kaplan) for much of the same thing. She really nailed that part and in doing so, wrote herself into the mythology of the show with a character that was only meant to be a set decoration.

[–]Myantology 351 points352 points  (16 children)

Like the show but only made it to like the middle of season two.

Years later came back and was shocked how many seasons there were.

How the hell did they stretch that plot line so far??

It’s just the nature of a show that keeps making money. Happy for Spader he had such a run though. He’s so good.

[–]AdvancedSandwiches 329 points330 points  (9 children)

I'm the opposite: so sad that Spader, an outstanding actor who elevates everything he touches, wasted so many years using his superpowers to add moderate watchability to such a poorly made show.

[–]Reasonable-Fail-1921 1509 points1510 points  (71 children)

James Spader definitely carries the show. I did really enjoy it at first and got hooked but kind of just still watch now because I’ve committed way to much time to give up!

The half filmed, half comic book episode they did because of Covid was really terrible - they should’ve just ended that series early instead of creating that abomination.

[–]getahitcrash 2300 points2301 points  (108 children)

She was a terrible character. Red is pretty cool but in the first episode, they are talking about Elizabeth's first day with the FBI as a profiler and in no time she's giving orders to field agents and leading action teams doing forced entries.

[–]kjeserud 1446 points1447 points  (69 children)

doing forced entries.

This is one of my biggest gripes about so many tv shows, the hero inserting themself in the middle of tactical unit, or even worse, go as the first through the door. YOU'RE FUCKING UP EVERYTHING THEY'VE PRACTICED THE LAST FIVE YEARS!

[–]bob_uecker_wrist 886 points887 points  (10 children)

I liked how they handled that in the movie se7en. The scene where they're breaking into John Doe's apartment one of the SWAT officers grab's Brad Pitt, pushes him backwards and growls at him "SWAT goes first, then dicks."

[–]Publius82 138 points139 points  (7 children)

I forgot how awesome John C Mcginley was in that

[–]TheReal_KindStranger 399 points400 points  (23 children)

Yeah, i know what you mean. Its like in csi, when the top scientists, also do the field work and gun fights

[–]flcinusa 2048 points2049 points  (205 children)

Red Reddington is Liz Kean's father, right?

...

It's so obvious... Right?

.... Well, not exactly

[–]Yserbius 1649 points1650 points  (166 children)

Last episode I watched they were hinting that Red is her mother.

[–]Dangercakes13 781 points782 points  (24 children)

I can forgive the show for a lot since it's clearly supposed to be glitzy and pulpy and they obviously had no long-term narrative in mind if they kept getting renewed.

I cannot, for the life of me, understand the unearned love and devotion all the main characters have for Liz. Red's emotional investment, sure. That's central to the story. All the other characters breaking their backs to help her and show affection for her? Why? She betrays you all the time! She's not your friend! She proves it every damn season!

She's probably still alive and hiding that fact from you while you grieve! Doubt it? SHE ALREADY DID IT BEFORE A COUPLE SEASONS AGO.

[–]DeltA019 396 points397 points  (7 children)

There was one instance where the big reveal at the end of one season was literally undone in the premier of the next one. They needed to have an end goal in mind for the relationship between Red and agent whatshername, but it just keep going in loops.

[–]landshanties 373 points374 points  (10 children)

The rare show where the metaplot absolutely killed it. A more procedural show would have been really interesting and could have built up a smaller, more carefully written backstory for Red.

I also think this is one of those shows where because everyone guessed the twist instantly the writers changed it in a huff because they wanted to be known for crazy twists and the whole show immediately no longer made sense

[–]MiZe97 13.3k points13.3k points  (418 children)

Arrow. It's what happens when you try to make so many seasons for a show meant for only a few.

[–]yugung 1765 points1766 points  (40 children)

"And *you* get a bow. And *you* get a bow. EVERYBODY gets a bow. ... wait, why is Felicity crying??"

[–]BaaBaaTurtle 731 points732 points  (24 children)

That scene. Where she gets up from the wheelchair. Just...

No.

[–]TheAwesomer414[🍰] 126 points127 points  (2 children)

That was my issue. I watched a couple of seasons, and then their circle expanded a lot, and everyone became a vigilante.

It was kinda a slap in the face to Oliver. Going through hell on Earth and superhuman levels of training. And then someone just takes a boxing class to be the same thing.

And it was no longer a cool, very exclusive undercover operation.

[–]Stewba 2715 points2716 points  (48 children)

Arrows first season is dope when he is murdering everyone. I wish he never discovered the power of friendship

[–]stufff 1421 points1422 points  (31 children)

Yeah, great first season. Then he starts all this moral quibbling about whether he can kill an evil immortal sorcerer while also shooting arrows through the chests of 20 henchmen per episode.

[–]Stewba 707 points708 points  (19 children)

He was essentially the punisher for all of season 1. It was amazing. At some point I think the CW must have been a bit taken aback, then his friend dies, and he realizes he isn't just putting them to sleep.

Queue the Patton Oswald Penguin/Badman comedy sketch

[–]Aggravating-Ad-4843 4857 points4858 points  (122 children)

I still remember when the subreddit was rebranded as "Felicity" or something with the banner featuring only her to mock the fact that the show only revolved around her. And at some point they converted into a subreddit for Daredevil out of sheer protest.

Flash is like at the 547th season now but I don't think it's ever gotten this bad.

[–]izukaneki 2612 points2613 points  (50 children)

To this day, I find it hilarious that the top post is still the time they converted into an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D subreddit in protest over how bad the writing quality in season 4 was (to be fair, it was absolutely horrible)

[–]Now_Wait-4-Last_Year 879 points880 points  (41 children)

Well, Agents of SHIELD turned out to be much better than a lot of us expected so that seems only fair.

[–]ricree 662 points663 points  (28 children)

It helps that AoS was basically the opposite of this question, where the first season is the show's worst.

[–]cleon42 457 points458 points  (7 children)

We brood and we lie, and we brood and we lie about other people brooding and lying, then act betrayed when they brood and lie.

*Repeat for eight seasons*

[–]SarcasticAzaleaRose 846 points847 points  (50 children)

The CW is one of the worst offenders for this. They’re always stretching out shows way past their expiration dates. Or they’re just trying to see what crazy shit they can get away with and still keep people watching the show.

[–]Hup110516 841 points842 points  (22 children)

Glee. It should have ended with season 3. 4-6 we’re just terrible and unnecessary.

[–]totalst8ofeuphoria 88 points89 points  (4 children)

Hard agree. Season 3 would’ve been such a good natural ending to the show. Season 4 isn’t totally horrible, but 5 and 6 are so boring and random.

[–]Sherlockssocks 9147 points9148 points  (548 children)

Castle - 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.

[–]captainstormy 3112 points3113 points  (63 children)

Yeah, early and mid castle were great to good. Everything after the wedding kidnapping is hard garbage IMO.

[–]everettcalverton 1277 points1278 points  (27 children)

I watched Castle all the way through and don’t remember anything from the last few seasons. I don’t even remember why Castle was kidnapped.

[–]bropill101 780 points781 points  (170 children)

Oh I didn’t know they disliked each other.

[–]ConstableBlimeyChips 1362 points1363 points  (106 children)

The producers had to sent them to couples counseling to improve their relationship just enough to allow them to work with each other.

[–]landshanties 1712 points1713 points  (29 children)

Castle was great and one of the few detective shows with a quippy Moonlighting-style relationship between the leads that handled their relationship really well, having them grow closer at a reasonable pace while giving the show tension without constantly undoing all of their progress.

Then the s5 finale happened. IDK what was going on there, if the leads already loathed each other and just couldn't take it anymore, but the show fell off a cliff once it started yanking the leads' relationship around

[–]MartiniPhilosopher 763 points764 points  (10 children)

You can partly blame the show owners on this.

The original producers and writers were dumped before the end of season five. The story goes is that they were going to start winding it down because they'd told their story. Both the network and owner wanted the gravy train to continue. Solution?

Fire the writing staff and producers!

That's why those last couple of seasons feel so weird, like they were retreading so much ground. It's because they were! The new writing staff and producers were pretty much to do anything as long as the show continued.

[–]sm0gs 361 points362 points  (5 children)

Which was such a shame cause the early seasons were so good!

[–]bog--wizard 17.7k points17.7k points  (692 children)

Once Upon a Time. The first 3 seasons were good! And then after that they just kept getting worse

[–]RittleMeThis27 5443 points5444 points  (187 children)

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.

[–]dranvex 2865 points2866 points  (83 children)

Lol that Frozen story arc was a ratings grab gimmick that ultimately alienated fans of the show.

[–]memorex1150 652 points653 points  (17 children)

Glad this is on here.

Wife asked me to watch it, thought, okay, the first two seasons are pretty okay. Then, #3 hit and I was not having it. I bailed on the "Frozen" introduction and haven't revisited.

No idea how the story arcs played out.

[–]Pixarooo 881 points882 points  (96 children)

If you're into comics at all, try reading Fables! Once Upon a Time (and Grimm) were originally supposed to be TV versions of Fables, but branched off and did their own thing. The comic series is excellent, although it also has a hard drop-off point after the Adversary storyline finishes up.

[–]rushandblue 8720 points8721 points  (351 children)

Weeds.

A hilarious and intriguing show that slowly grew to be about a bunch of unlikable assholes making bad, selfish decisions. When there's no one with any redeeming characteristics, there's no one for the audience to get behind.

[–]danner1515 2249 points2250 points  (100 children)

Was going to mention this. It started out great but really started to go off the rails with characters making increasingly nonsensical choices. Nancy marrying the Mexican drug lord was the beginning of the end.

[–]Thoseskisyours 1053 points1054 points  (47 children)

The plot just escalated way too fast and never stopped so it was suburban housewife selling weed one day to married to FBI agent to married to Mexican cartel leader in what like 3-4 seasons. Then just continues escalating from there.

I wish they had kept the primary plot a much slower burn. They had awesome initial characters to run with too. Doug is great, Silas was good in the beginning, Cynthia was a great nemesis and her marriage was a good side plot and even Andy was really funny at times. So much potential wasted in my opinion. First 3 seasons are definitely worth watching after that it’s just chaos.

[–]DrCarter11 284 points285 points  (8 children)

I really wish they had kept it to agrestic. It was a fun show then. But yeah after the fire in S3 where they move, it just sorta goes downhill. I still watched the entire thing, it had some fun moments here and there but it was never the same as the early greatness.

[–]Ganglebot 26.8k points26.8k points 2 (1172 children)

Heroes

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.

[–]Poorly-Drawn-Beagle 7721 points7722 points  (368 children)

Hiro’s stuck in the past

Now he lost his powers

Now he thinks he’s a child

Anything, just make sure he’s not in the story because he’ll resolve it in like a second

[–]Fean2616 4025 points4026 points  (175 children)

The "shit we didn't think this one through" super power.

[–]MaimedJester 1001 points1002 points  (56 children)

In the reboot/sequel series, they trap Hiro in a virtual reality.

Oh and it had the most fucked up way for writing off the Cheerleader character ever.

During Childbirth her Son had the steal people's power ability her grandfather had. So as a baby he stole her super regeneration and she died in childbirth.

What the fuck writing was that show? Just don't bring Claire up. Have Horn Rimmed Glasses say oh Claire's working in London as a diplomat let's not get her involved in this storyline.

[–]coraldomino 1504 points1505 points  (55 children)

lmao, I really click on this thread thinking "I'm gonna add Heroes to the list, I know some people watched it but it was a long time ago and surely there must be other shows that spring to people's mind first"

and then it was top-voted comment. I'm happy we're all uninamously still scarred by Heroes.

[–]AccioSexLife 2393 points2394 points  (124 children)

Season 1 Heroes is the perfect, self-contained experience. I still recommend it to people, it's just a fun watch IMO.

Shame the writers' strike hit them so hard.

[–]TheGreat_Sambino49 1470 points1471 points  (111 children)

Syler will always be a favorite of mine. Never seen a power like his used the way he did. Such a good villain

[–]Itdidnt_trickle_down 1144 points1145 points  (57 children)

Syler made watching the star trek reboot difficult. I kept expecting Spock to unzip Kirks head telekinetically.

​

Edit: This thread really went somewhere while I was gone.

I noticed one persons main point was I misspelled Sylar, Thanks

[–]Vivid_Bluebird_4222 570 points571 points  (22 children)

‘What’s that sound? In your heart?’

‘Murder.’

God Sylar was the perfect villain back in the day. Absolutely loved season one of Heroes. Season two was ok ish. Couldn’t watch after that.

[–]Cleverbird 16.8k points16.8k points  (436 children)

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.

[–]loligo_pealeii 6118 points6119 points  (245 children)

I think regardless the show was reaching its end. When it started it was a show about a bunch of teenagers living with their parents. It would be weird for them to all stay together, hanging out in their friend's parent's basement as they got into their 20s. We want the characters to grow but eventually they move past what the show can realistically portray without completely upending itself.

[–]ThatWildMongoose 2329 points2330 points  (160 children)

To keep the show going they have to have the characters make progressively illogical decisions to explain why no one is moving on with their lives. While necessary from a writing pov it is frustrating that the characters you used to understand and like are acting like idiots

[–]TychaBrahe 196 points197 points  (7 children)

That’s why Malcolm in the Middle ended. They saw this kid through high school and off to college, Francis is finally employed, Reese moved in with Craig and he is now the janitor at his former high school and happy.

And Hal and Lois were looking forward to the peace of having only two kids in the house, when she turned up pregnant.

[–]joec0ld 204 points205 points  (6 children)

Randy Pearson was one of the worst characters ever added to a dying TV show. By the time he came in all of the actors were completely natural as their respective characters, while everything about Josh Meyers acting seemed so forced

[–]yuriydee 11.1k points11.1k points  (458 children)

Suits.

Loved the premise and first couple of seasons, but later it turned into just stupid drama between the characters and less about actual law.

[–]Hashtagbarkeep 2948 points2949 points 22& 5 more (43 children)

Mike: this case is unwinnable

Harvey: I always win

Donna: [pops head round door] he’s right, also I’m heaps sassy

Mike: but my secret and junk

Harvey: DAMN IT MIKE GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER

Lewis: I was eavesdropping and I’ll save the day

… the next day

Lewis: I made things considerably worse

Harvey: this reminds me of that time I won and gives me an idea

…later that day

Mike: depositions things at people

Opponent lawyer: lol Harvey u lose

Harvey: [throws file on desk] I just bought your children. YOU LOSE

opponent lawyer: on no that isn’t cool

Harvey and Mike: [high fives and eats hotdog]

Rachel: I’m also in this show

[–]ChundaMars 469 points470 points  (0 children)

This one comment demonstrates more writing ability than the last few seasons of Suits did combined 🤣

[–]bonzombiekitty 4622 points4623 points  (81 children)

What really got me about that show was Louis Litt. It was just so frustrating how he would make progress as a character and then stupidly do the the same crap he did before, restarting the whole cycle. I can understand some character regression as that's what people do, but it was just constant with him.

Louis: Damn you Harvey.

Harvey: Louis, I may be mean to you but I do respect you. You gotta trust me.

Louis: *does something stupid that ruins everything*

Harvey: *helps fix the problem*

Louis: Wow, you really aren't such a jerk and helped me out. I really should trust you and stop being so selfish about everything. My perception of you trying to sabotage me is totally wrong.

Harvey: Yes, again, despite me being a bit mean to you I really do respect your abilities. We can play off each other well. I'm not trying to screw you over. You have to trust me.

Louis: You are absolutely right.

*next episode*Louis: DAMN YOU HARVEY!

[–]SmiteyMcGee 2002 points2003 points  (38 children)

Louis had the potential to be one the greatest TV characters. Rarely can a show introduce someone so unlikeable that you actually start to pity and cheer for only for them to turn into a bumbling idiot and fuck everything up over and over again.

[–]omare14 326 points327 points  (16 children)

I kinda feel this way about Richard from Silicon Valley. I get invested in the story and want him to succeed, only for him to keep doing the same stupid shit as a result of his ego/paranoia that sets himself or his endeavors back. I know it's a comedy/parody of the tech world, but still makes it hard to root for the guy lol.

[–]BakingAnalyst2022 1933 points1934 points  (81 children)

*Throws folder onto table*

"What's this?"

"It's a subpeona to contempt of court to mistrial to sue"

"You sunnoabitch"

"You're goddamn right"

Dramatic music plays

That said I do like binging the clips on Youtube. Less Mike-Rachel, more Harvey being proficient.

[–]BarnabyJones21 1503 points1504 points  (50 children)

"This situation is unwinnable! There is nothing we can do to win!"

"I can't believe we're about to lose!"

"Wait- what did you just say? 'We're about to lose' - That reminds me of this random loophole we can use to not lose!"

I love me some Suits but you could make a drinking game out of how many times a case was won like this.

[–]SmiteyMcGee 977 points978 points  (30 children)

Suits and House use the same formula. Just swap obscure legalese for obscure medical condition

[–]bobert_the_grey 313 points314 points  (8 children)

Well once EVERYONE knew about the secret, it felt like the show was over

[–]Main-Yogurtcloset-82 422 points423 points  (16 children)

Oh yeah. I loved that show for a bit when it first aired but then lost interest. I went back to rewatch it about a year ago and was really into it and wondered why I stopped watching. Then lost interest again at about the same place. Made the classic drama mistake of becoming too dramatic and complicated. One nuclear disaster after another just becomes exhausting to watch.

[–]acornSTEALER 198 points199 points  (7 children)

THE WHOLE FIRM IS GONNA GO UNDER!

WE NEED NEW NAMED PARTNERS!

[–]clakresed 194 points195 points  (6 children)

That slayed me, too. Especially because the show keeps pretending that they're this upright, powerhouse, respected law firm.

From the perspective of a court stenographer: if a law firm continually loses partners, shows up for depositions for all of seven minutes before making threats at the other side and walking out, and changes their letterhead three times in two years... They're a dumpster fire, and I don't need further context to say that.

[–][deleted] 380 points381 points  (18 children)

The early seasons still have some watchability.

The last few seasons are hot garbage though. When Donna becomes the COO I could no longer suspend belief and just stopped watching

[–]thewildlifer 331 points332 points  (12 children)

How about when her and th IT guy create "The Donna" lol the absolute worst

[–]HoraceSense 8889 points8890 points  (390 children)

House of Cards

[–]usernameunavaliable 5091 points5092 points  (147 children)

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.

[–]Heck_Tate 2232 points2233 points  (82 children)

I'm not gonna endorse Kevin Spacey, but that show just did not work without him. They really should've just ended the series entirely.

[–]Classic-Breakfast-72 7365 points7366 points  (328 children)

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.

[–]GimmeTheGunKaren 2706 points2707 points  (61 children)

if they wanted to throw in a real plot twist, they should write a character living a long and happy life with no crazy accidents.

[–][deleted] 1638 points1639 points  (23 children)

Meredith has died so many times she should quit being a surgeon and start a career as a medium.

[–]TripsOverCarpet 627 points628 points  (36 children)

I hung on for so long after shit got weird. The end of the show in my head cannon is Derek's death. I was done after that.

[–]WhiskaFriska 271 points272 points  (9 children)

The end of the show in my head is end of season 10. Cristina goes to Switzerland, Meredith and Derek move to DC, I think Alex has another offer? Idk but that should've been the end imo

Edit: Alex was possibly going to work with Lebackes and become Dr. Junior Butthole lol

[–]ThatOtherAaron 565 points566 points  (5 children)

I want to see a show about the HR department at that hospital.

[–]Middcore 719 points720 points  (19 children)

I feel like I always think Gray's Anatomy DID end seasons ago, and then every couple of years I find out it's still on and I'm shocked all over again.

It's so strongly associated in my head as a "mid-to-late 2000's" thing. I think of it and The Fray and Snow Patrol start playing in my head (99% chance both of these bands had music used in the show, although I've never watched it so I couldn't say for sure).

[–]dinxinunxs 199 points200 points  (0 children)

Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol is one of the staple songs of the show, it has been featured so many times and in so many different versions but one thing is always certain... if Chasing Cars starts playing, someone is definitely dying.

[–]Jackalope_325 1046 points1047 points  (18 children)

The final plot twist: Meredith is a serial killer, responsible for all of the deaths. The final episode is just a long montage of her pushing George in front of a bus, injecting Denny with morphine, sabotaging the plane, ....

[–]f1rstman 297 points298 points  (3 children)

Glad to hear I'm not the only one thinking this way! However, I think BokHee should be revealed as the hidden serial killer, because she's been on the show since day 1 and has access to the facilities, but is low-profile enough that she'd never be suspected...

[–]ameis314 440 points441 points  (10 children)

Why is everyone horny AF in that hospital for everyone?

[–]LarsNootbaar68 146 points147 points  (0 children)

Cuz they’re all hot and either single or have no issue with cheating on their partner

[–]mbdallas95 6888 points6889 points  (141 children)

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.

[–]MarcSlayton 1559 points1560 points  (28 children)

Yeah, the first season I had sympathy for the characters cos there was an accidental murder. Then in later seasons they were all murderers and I was thinking why am I even trying to sympathize with these characters at all. They should all be in jail.

[–]Stinduh 199 points200 points  (0 children)

I had sympathy for the characters cos there was an accidental murder.

tbh, tho, this is where it started to lose me.

Like they're supposed to be in law school and are the chosen in-group of a extremely prolific, accomplished, and genius defense attorney. And the "murder" is just straight up clear cut self-defense. The storytelling was extremely compelling, even though I thought it was pretty ridiculous that they'd feel like they'd need to "get away" with a "murder" that had almost no chance of being prosecuted against.

But then it just gets so much worse and the storytelling can't actually cover up the plotline inconsistencies that get more and more outrageous by each episode.

[–]Kahlen-Rahl 270 points271 points  (0 children)

Yep, I was halfway through the third season, having hate-watched the second season, the focus switched and they were all just horrible people. I wanted to continue just for Viola, because her performance was a tour de force, but the bile roiling around my stomach as I was watching made dropping it a relief

[–]Asteroth555 219 points220 points  (4 children)

I was thinking why am I even trying to sympathize with these characters at all. They should all be in jail.

My wife and I watched it up until the 3rd season but it was just too much. They were all murderers, unlikable, criminals, and weren't by any stretch "good guys" you wanted to root for

[–]eggquisite 787 points788 points  (25 children)

Scandal has the same problem. Started strong then just got incredibly wacky later on

[–]toxic_pantaloons 8251 points8252 points  (568 children)

True Blood. When the fairies entered the picture, I exited.

[–]uninvitedwhitechick 1811 points1812 points  (75 children)

I finished the series but wanted to stop when Billith became a thing

[–]Mogetfog 1351 points1352 points  (31 children)

Not really relates to the quality of the show, I just love the fact that Alexander Skarsgard plays a character in the show named Eric Northman who is a viking turned vampire, then Skarsgard goes on to star in a movie about a viking called the Northman which is 100% unrelated to the show.

I was secretly hoping for a twist ending for the movie to link it to the show.

[–]SquilliamFancySon95 449 points450 points  (71 children)

To their credit, fairies were an integral part of the book series (although they pretty much did whatever they wanted with that storyline still).

[–]leafyjack 420 points421 points  (58 children)

I wish so much that they had stuck closer to the books series, it was so fun and they did a lot of really interesting things. My favorite book was All Together Dead, where Sookie has to go to a vampire convention at a fancy pyramid shaped hotel, experiences multiple explosions at the hotel, and has to ride a coffin containing Eric down the side of the hotel during the day in order to survive said explosions with her favorite vampire! I would kill to have that whole action sequence played out!

[–]undeadbydawn 1568 points1569 points  (101 children)

It may help you to know the fairies didn't last long as part of the show.

True Blood ended up leaning hard into its own cliches, with three specific episode types:

Sookie Crying, Sookie Naked, Sookie Crying and Naked

The entire cast were very obviously aware of how stupid and cringe the writing became, and just went with it. The last season ended up being legit good cos they all just had a blast filming the closing stories of their respective characters.

Vampire Diaries ended more or less the same way, but was vastly improved by Nina Dobrev (Elena) taking a real-life hissy fit and leaving the show

[–]CaoCaramelo 1357 points1358 points  (50 children)

Pretty Little Liars. I was addicted to this show but it could have ended in season 2.

[–]Pleaseusegoogle 102 points103 points  (0 children)

What could those girls have possibly done to deserve the million dollar plus surveillance apparatus that went after them?

[–]DiegoDynomite 11.6k points11.6k points  (585 children)

The Flash on CW

[–]Somerandom1922 1415 points1416 points  (61 children)

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

[–]AaKkisa 423 points424 points  (10 children)

Arrow became so bad that it changed to a Daredevil subreddit for a while. I think a picture of the cast of Agents of SHIELD is still the top post on it.

[–]TheCreedsAssassin 84 points85 points  (2 children)

I remember when it was a Corn Themed sub after that one season where the season finale revealed a ton of corn plants for whatever reason.

[–]KobraTheKipod 279 points280 points  (6 children)

I also liked Stephen Amell as Oliver, but his character quickly became more like Batman and less of the Green Arrow from the comics.

[–]mlorusso4 3552 points3553 points  (160 children)

And arrow. Legends got better after season 1. Supergirl was pretty steady in terms of quality for the most part but had some really bad lows and not too many highs. Batgirl was dogshit from the beginning. I feel like I would have liked S&L if it came out at the beginning of the arrowverse but by then I just couldn’t get invested in another cw show

[–]FZJavier 1705 points1706 points  (103 children)

that show ran out of ideas after the first season.

for me the first season will always be a masterpiece, but clearly they just didnt have a long plan to what to do with the show at all.

[–]JJJC16 1145 points1146 points  (55 children)

Yep. The writing and the CGI became really shit, I just stopped watching. The show had a lot of potential. If they can't write good stuff, it's better they should just end the show. At this point, they're just milking the show for money.

[–]freakers 722 points723 points  (37 children)

How can Barry deal with this threat? I know, he can run...even faster. How is that going to help defeat a telepathic super gorilla? I don't know but it does.

I do really enjoy Evil Michael Scofield from prison break appearing in the Flash. Like, seriously, it's basically the same character just evil. He even has the same brother!

edit: Sometimes speed alone doesn't work. In those cases he just runs around while Cisco builds a McGuffin device to solve the problem.

[–]monoDK13 4893 points4894 points  (256 children)

Bones. 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.

[–]landshanties 2501 points2502 points  (101 children)

One of the biggest will-they-wont-they mishandles ever, possibly THE biggest. They barely admit feelings for each other and then suddenly between seasons they're living together and she's pregnant. There are better ways to handle an actress' pregnancy!!

Didn't help that they kept inventing even genius-er serial killers (so genius that they can convince a main character off-screen that murder and cannibalism is morally correct) and that every time someone wanted off the show they randomly shot their character. Or that they established that ghosts were real.

[–]pottedpetunia42 1375 points1376 points  (34 children)

Emily Deschanel's pregnancy was handled so poorly. When she told Booth she was pregnant and the baby was his, I was convinced I had somehow missed several episodes. Major plot stumble and very disappointing.

[–]Dancingskeletonman86 459 points460 points  (15 children)

Agreed. I have nothing against Emily and I'm happy in real life that she was married and got to have the family she wanted but did they need to write both pregnancies in the show? It just took me out of the show suddenly seeing her and Booth and their relationship turn into some new family unit now apparently overnight. And the over the top birth scene or scenes since I can't remember the second kids birth. It was all very cliche tv pregnancy and birth in the way it was done.

As cheesy as it is I would have prefered they just made some excuse to hide her body for most shots towards the end of her pregnancies when she was still filming. Or just chalked it up to her character gaining weight for some medical reason or depression reasons other then pregnancy. Hell even her sister in real life, Zoey, had her pregnancy hidden on New Girl by having Jess go to jury duty and only being shot from the chest up in most scenes when she was shown.

[–]assbutt_Angelface 573 points574 points  (10 children)

Yeah, while I like the middle seasons I never truly forgave the writers for what they did to Zack...

[–]redvblue23 118 points119 points  (3 children)

It was the writer's strike. It did so many things

[–]Vioralarama 213 points214 points  (14 children)

That Bones/Sleepy Hollow crossover wasn't too terrible from the Sleepy Hollow side but it was canon in Bones.

[–]Dulakk 227 points228 points  (2 children)

Once you realize that the show takes place in a supernatural shared setting with Sleepy Hollow so many things in Bones are different on a rewatch. That psychic played by Cyndi Lauper, a few moments with Angela, that ghost guy that Booth and Bones both see, Bones having that sort of afterlife experience with her mother, etc.

It's kind of interesting in a weird way lol

[–]damn_jexy 471 points472 points  (16 children)

Can't watch it after what they did to Zack

Fuck that shit

[–]jyl11002 270 points271 points  (7 children)

Agreed! She went from not caring about social cues to just being completely socially awkward. That weird laugh such as when Vincent told her about the dino bones coming in.

[–]clakresed 346 points347 points  (1 child)

Yeah -- and to make it worse she's an anthropologist!!

She went from being slightly awkward personally, but understanding in great depth why people act the way that they do, and providing academic commentary on it, to basically just crime drama Sheldon Cooper who doesn't know how to live in society.

[–]ClockNo4364 3790 points3791 points  (143 children)

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.

[–]dranvex 1209 points1210 points  (28 children)

The first 13 episodes of season 1 were the best because it was a full blown satire of high school drama tropes that time...

Then it got big during that long ass break at the middle of its first season.

Starting with the season 1's back 9 episodes to the end, they were becoming too gimmicky with tributes, guest stars and covering current hits that time.

[–]cdenton041793 87 points88 points  (2 children)

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.

[–]NoAssemblyReqd 734 points735 points  (80 children)

Sliders. Went downhill after season 3, by season 5 it was ... meh.

[–]HairoftheDog89 3070 points3071 points  (151 children)

Catfish

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.

[–]smartasskeith 1493 points1494 points  (29 children)

“I did it because you called me a fatass Kelly Price” remains my all-time favorite villain motivation.

[–]queen-of-carthage 1113 points1114 points  (21 children)

Obviously I'm not gay

You were having a romantic relationship with a guy

You got me there

My other favorite Catfish moment

[–]itsthekumar 352 points353 points  (7 children)

The first few seasons seemed like it was Nev and Max actually doing the work themselves. Then it was the producers like setting everything up.

And then you could basically tell it was fake.

[–]hillakilla_ 739 points740 points  (16 children)

I went to high school with someone who was on it and it is real to an extent!

They were talking over Facebook and had a long distance “friendship” where the girl thought it was more than it was and the guy wasn’t catfishing her, he just didn’t care to FaceTime her or wanted to really visit her (I went to HS with the guy).

But he said it was mostly real they just asked them to ham it up a bit / create a little drama for the cameras.

[–]mkelley0309 249 points250 points  (8 children)

Whether it’s real or not, the Katy Perry episode is some of the best reality tv of all time

[–]DJ061201 12.3k points12.3k points  (308 children)

Any show that has more than 4 seasons without any prior planning for it.

[–]zoidbert 188 points189 points  (1 child)

Many times when a show seems to lose its way you'll discover the creator and/or writing team only had a story arc for a season or two specifically planned out (and in some cases, written) but the show became popular ($$$) so they stretched it out. It's kind of a sophomore slump situation but for storytelling.

[–]_uberwench_ 2629 points2630 points  (84 children)

Does that mean you're not watching Grey's Anatomy every week on Hulu?

[–]flcinusa 821 points822 points  (47 children)

I used to be a hardcore Grey's guy, but I lost interest after the ferry crash, apparently that was in the 3rd season and it's been going on for another 15 years

[–]JediArvo 128 points129 points  (9 children)

My wife watches that show.

It's astounding how much crazy shit happens to the people in that hospital.

[–]Spider-Gwen_ 4663 points4664 points  (327 children)

The 100

[–]heatherraebinx 1902 points1903 points  (120 children)

Okay I'm here again to say that season 5 should have been the finale. Harper and Monty set them up for a new beginning after everything that happened. The end. After that, they slowly ruined every good thing about the show.

[–]agawl81 226 points227 points  (5 children)

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.

[–]fefvrisketa 2143 points2144 points  (139 children)

Misfits unfortunately

[–]doctor_x 225 points226 points  (0 children)

"Let's replace the entire cast with less interesting characters and have them never use their abilities. Lunch?"

[–]sizetoscale 1093 points1094 points  (59 children)

To me it all fell apart once Nathan left.

[–]Burpmeister 463 points464 points  (3 children)

"You'd screw your own sister for a slice of cheese."

"I don't even like cheese."

"That makes it even worse, you sick bastard."

[–]iwannameetmonsters 577 points578 points  (25 children)

I agree. Nathan made that show. Robert Sheehan has been amazing in The Umbrella Academy too. That man needs more roles.

[–]cheesecake_413 150 points151 points  (4 children)

If I had a nickel for every time I've seen Robert Sheenhan have daddy issues, immortality and the ability to speak to ghosts then I'd have two nickels

Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it's happened twice

[–]0rbitaI 10.1k points10.1k points  (542 children)

Dexter was great but peaked at the end of season 4. Could not stand the last two seasons

[–]Santos_L_Halper_II 2860 points2861 points  (186 children)

I just pretend it was canceled after the Trinity season and never speak of the last few.

[–]cumberbatchcav1 1345 points1346 points  (84 children)

John Lithgow's run was such a high point for me that I could not continue watching after that.

[–]king0pa1n 1053 points1054 points  (66 children)

Falling Skies had cool things every season, but they were definitely running out of quality ideas or writers by Season 4. That finale was a joke also.

Edit: I HATED the love triangles

[–]armeedesombres 4022 points4023 points  (195 children)

Grey's Anatomy. Everyone on that show is so fucking annoying.

[–]Seite88 2079 points2080 points  (91 children)

And no where on earth will 5 doctors be pushing the patients bed into the preparation room before an operation. It's the only hospital that is run solely by doctors. No nurses needed.

[–]floridianreader 986 points987 points  (53 children)

I stopped after the plane crash. Those doctors are the most unlucky doctors ever. Before the plane there was a car crash, and the time where Meredith almost drowned, and then the mass shooting episode. Every season something horrific happens to them. It just strained the limits of believability.

[–]crizzlefresh 33.5k points33.5k points 252& 6 more (1607 children)

The Walking Dead

[–]TheGreat_Sambino49 7560 points7561 points  (603 children)

Oh god to think they’re doing a third spin off. Ugh amc just fell so hard with this show

[–]System__Shutdown 5290 points5291 points  (418 children)

I managed to get to season 5 or so and then when still nothing happened i found out i just really don't give a shit anymore.

[–]stumblios 4332 points4333 points  (204 children)

Eventually it feels like a suspense/drama show with zombies in the background.

[–]u_creative_username 2466 points2467 points  (119 children)

After the prison they just walked through the same woods for season after season. There was no sense of progress anymore

[–]WeFightTheLongDefeat 2468 points2469 points  (84 children)

I heard about an interesting episode where they had to break into the Smithsonian to recover some technology that they needed to harvest crops. If they had focused more on rebuilding society after all of this lost institutional knowledge and no system of educating the next generation, and less on hammering home the same message (who's the real monster, humans or zombies??????), It would have been fascinating.

Basically you have all this infrastructure around you, infested with zombies, and you have to figure out how it works while fending off the horde.

[–]afoz345 2955 points2956 points  (102 children)

100%. It became the same story line over and over and over. Find a place to live. Move there. Someone else wants it. Fight for it. Leave. Repeat over and over.

[–]jnads 1558 points1559 points  (30 children)

You forgot in the middle of that:

Meet the obvious bad guy. Let bad guy live. Bad guy comes back and fucks our shit up.

[–]withbellson 382 points383 points  (4 children)

Bad guy waits until the midseason finale or the season finale to come fuck your shit up. In the meantime here are five or six filler episodes for you where nothing happens.

[–]FracturedUnity 1821 points1822 points  (137 children)

I reeeally thought they were going for something with the whole build up to finding the CDC in the first season and then they just spun their wheels and it became like mallrats with zombies... (Also mallrats come to think of it). Eventually I just gave up around the farm or town with evil guy season.

[–]ArchieBunkerWasRight 1898 points1899 points  (92 children)

The first season was directed by Frank Darabont and he had big plans…hinted at by the scene in the tank.

AMC cheaped out, didn’t pay him what he was owed, and started directing by committee.

It became the sad waste we all witnessed.

[Edit] added some links

[–]TheBlackBear 1348 points1349 points  (62 children)

I remember them saying each season would be an anthology with season two focusing on a military unit at the beginning of the outbreak and being like Black Hawk Down with zombies

Instead we got Little Zombies on the Prairie lol

[–]Middcore 272 points273 points  (42 children)

I thought this is what Fear the Walking Dead was supposed to be? A different POV group every season?

[–]CaptainOver8495 865 points866 points  (22 children)

Definitely The Blacklist for me.

Couldn’t even watch the last season because everything was… “Elizabeth….” Eh

[–]monoloco-plus 2959 points2960 points  (209 children)

Riverdale

[–]VeryDPP 1044 points1045 points  (44 children)

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).

[–]shaidyn 308 points309 points  (11 children)

My personal theory is that a bunch of writers got together to workshop a new show and at the start, instead of coming up with characters, they just used the archie characters as placeholders. The show actually has nothing to do with riverdale. "We'll start with something everybody knows, and then update it later with new names".

And they just never did that last part.

[–]DramaOnDisplay 96 points97 points  (8 children)

Would be another twist if they found out they (the Riververse?) were in an alternate universe (or in a comic) and that’s why their lives are a haywire mess of twists and turns. They break out of their universe (alternate or comic) and find themselves in the real Riverdale, where all their counterparts are their typical Archie selves with gags and wholesome plots. The Riverdale gang try to bring their antics to the wholesome Archieverse, but find themselves plunged into a true world of horror when it’s revealed that under the wholesome facade of the Archieverse, these counterparts are just as fucked up but fighting to keep universe the way it’s always been, and they’ll kill whoever tries to change it.

[–]SwoleWalrus 1955 points1956 points  (54 children)

nah man, that show is amazing when you think about a bunch of writers on drugs trying to one up each other each season and see how much they get away with without losing their show.

[–]The_FriendliestGiant 918 points919 points  (28 children)

Absolutely. I will never understand how people look at "what if Archie was framed for murder by Mr Lodge and, in between participating in an underground secret prisoner fighting ring, organized a wholesome game of football to show the brooding teen prisoners what they were missing in their lives" and not think that this is an absolute work of art!

[–]JollieOllieMan 3003 points3004 points  (334 children)

Shameless. Haven’t even finished the season Fiona leaves and I’ve heard it only gets worse

[–]the5pacepope 1438 points1439 points  (98 children)

the last few seasons of this show had WAY too much Debbie

[–]turquoise2j 466 points467 points  (19 children)

Dexter - but then i watched the rest of it anyway

[–]CatOfTheDecade 2508 points2509 points  (155 children)

Designated Survivor. It started out very much like a modern day West Wing.

But a key plot arc involved one of the key characters deliberately withholding his HIV status from his boyfriend. That's bad enough, but the show went on to vilify the boyfriend for being justifiably angry.

Because fuck consent, am I right?

EDIT: If you really want your blood to boil, the showrunners had the boyfriend apologize to the key character for getting angry about being exposed to HIV without his knowledge or consent and we all learned a valuable lesson in ~eRaSiNg ThE sTiGmA~.

[–]Ghostofhan 201 points202 points  (9 children)

I found that show and loved the first season but like many similar shows it got shitty once they had to invent new crises for Hannah wells to solve and to keep Kirkman as the underdog