raisintorte | Saturday Evening Meta - What would it take for you to stop watching a show?

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Saturday Evening Meta - What would it take for you to stop watching a show?

With everything floating around the SGA fandom about casting spoilers for Season 4 I got to thinking about what it would take for me to stop watching a show.

The answer: A LOT.

I usually stop watching shows because I find them boring. First, they get relegated from "watch right away" to "watch when I have time" and then I go to clean out my Tivo To Do list for space and I have episodes over 6 months old.

For example on The Shield, or House if Vic or House left the show would probably be over. And even if it wasn't I would probably still watch an episode or two to see how they dealt with it.

I love a lot of characters but there is no one character on any given TV show that I love so much I would stop watching if she or he left. I cannot think of a single plot line that would upset me so much I would stop watching. I might roll my eyes or make a post going "well, that was odd" or "I didn't really care for THAT plot twist" but it won't stop me from watching the next week.

In recent history I've stopped watching CSI, Desperate Housewives, Law & Order (original and SVU), and One Tree Hill.

CSI got cut due to scheduling - 3 shows at 9pm - 2 recording options. We pick it up when something else we watch is in rerun, but I think we just got bored with it. I can't really point to one thing that made me stop watching. The same can be said for Desperate Housewives, One Tree Hill, and L&O. They all faded into the black hole of Tivo.

I'm still watching ER, though I quite frequently question my sanity - it's more for the mocking then anything at this point, but I'm still watching. A lot of people have complained about the last season of Gilmore Girls, and while it won't go down as my all time favorite - I'm still enjoying the show enough to watch.

I watched every episode of The Wedding Bells and Andy Barker PI even though I knew they were canceled. I may have mocked them a bit, but I didn't stop watching.

Now for the question - What would it take to make you stop watching something? What character do you love so much if they left or got written out you would no longer watch the show? What plot line would make you turn off your TV? Why?

***I think this question can be handled without spoilers, so please only speak in general or theoretical terms - I would prefer not to read a bunch of rants about how Show X is being screwed up cause Y or Z is going or coming.***

(and if you do spoil, I reserve the right to screen your comment)

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I'll talk about a past show :)

When Sam left the West Wing? I pretty much never watched it again. And it's not because Sam was my favorite character, Josh was, but because of what Sam was to the show itself. Sam was the heart, he was the moral compass. Where everyone else asked "what's the best thing to do here?" Sam would ask "what's the right thing to do here?" and I really felt the show needed that. And that no new character could have that same impact because Sam had been one of the group from the beginning.

So I think it's not only a matter of how much I love a character, but also how I think a character affects a show that is my deciding factor.

(I also stopped watching Angel after Doyle was killed off because I had issues with Wesley and didn't love Cordelia or Angel enough to bother staying. Wesley had been used as a cheap joke during most of his Buffy tenure and it irritated me then and his Angel premiere was much the same so I didn't get to see his character evolve which is a little sad for me in retrospect because I gather Angel turned into an awesome show.)

That makes sense - what a character does more than who he is. Thinking on those terms I still can't think of anyone - but I get the point.

I also stopped watching Angel after Doyle was killed off because I had issues with Wesley and didn't love Cordelia or Angel enough to bother staying.

Haha. I stopped watching a lot of shows junior year of college because I didn't have TV for a year - it was hard deciding what to catch up on. Angel got picked up in rerun two years ago. I'm so glad I went back.

When Sam left the West Wing? I pretty much never watched it again

Duuuuuude, that's what I said!!! Seriously, that's the only show I ever walked away from. LOL!!

And Wesley did grow and evolve, and it's a shame you missed it but the last season of Angel was sorta painful (in the not good way), but season 2 and 3 are meaty for Wesley.

Still can't believe TWW thing. :)

I usually don't stop watching until I've been bored with the show for quite a while. I feel like I've invested that much time in them, I should stick around and wait for it to pay off. Occasionally, I'll stop watching when I can't suspend disbelief any longer (bad acting or bad writing is the primary cause there).

I stopped watching General Hospital when I realized pretty much *all* of the characters had come full circle and were back exactly where they had been a year previous. I stopped watching ER when Abby got pregnant (although I'd been thinking about it before then). I've seen so many horrible pregnancy/birth plots that I just plain can't take another one, and frankly, ER tends to be among the worst of them.

I guess I don't tend to watch shows for only one character, so changes like that don't affect me much, unless I see them as a symptom of a bigger problem (e.g., Andromeda; it wasn't just one character who changed, it was all of them).

I usually don't stop watching until I've been bored with the show for quite a while.

That's me as well. With ER, it's like FOURTEEN YEARS. I was in middle school when that show came on the air. We watch it now just because we've invested SO MUCH TIME. It's actually on an upswing right now but we tend to joke about how all of the plots are so recycled.

so changes like that don't affect me much, unless I see them as a symptom of a bigger problem

Interesting!

Don't get me wrong. I'll *whine* about the changes, but I'm generally well invested in the other characters, too, and I couldn't possibly abandon them. ;-)

I don't, actually, watch many shows at all regularly - I'm pretty limited to Who and and Torchwood and SGA, although the recent past suggests that mainlining ten years of SG-1 lies in the foreseeable future.

To stop watching Who? I supposed it would take scripts that entirely lost the idea of who the Doctor is, at core, which seems fairly unlikely.

To stop watching SGA? While the current spoilers make me sad, there are so -many- characters I really love on that show that I'm not sure I'd -stop- watching it unless they ALL went poof, suddenly.

I almost DID stop watching Torchwood after Cyberwoman, I was that irritated with the actor playing Ianto, and felt the whole ep was just overblown, and the series hadn't quite built up enough momentum for me to shrug off an ep I didn't really care for. Glad I went back, though, and again, it's because I like all of the characters.

To extrapolate? I think it would take a complete distaste for where they took a large number of characters, or a complete shift in the cast, or maybe a complete shift in the series focus that took it away from what I enjoyed about it in the first place, but it's pretty hypothetical. :)

So you pick quality over quantity. :-)

Yeah - Who is one of those shows that just endures, and that's what I love about it.

SGA - that's similar to my attitude. I'm wary of change but I'm also excited. I love the idea of the show, and I'm okay with how they play it out.

Torchwood - I am SO glad you told me to keep watching. I probably would have stopped as well. We stopped watching Drive and Thief after one episode. I think I have slightly higher standards to get into a show, but once I'm in, it takes a lot to get me to stop.

:-)

*ponders*

I pretty much cut back on SGA after I discovered there weren't going to be any Teyla-centric episodes in Season Three. The excitement I felt in the first handful of episodes was gone, but I still watch the show. And there've been some good episodes.

If Teyla had been canned from Season Four, then I'd probably be even more sporadic about watching than I already am - right now, I've got a handful of eps I still haven't watched. One of the chief reasons I'm interested in Season Four is because they say they're going to be dealing with Teyla. Whether or not I stay interested...another matter entirely.

I drifted out of SG1 back in Season 7 but I'd been drifting for a while. Part of that was stuff they were doing in the show, but part of that was that I didn't want to deal with the fandom and it was easier to just turn around and walk out. And the end of Heroes II was a good point at which to say, "Thank you very much, goodnight!"

So I guess I tend to ease out of shows, rather than dump them.

The excitement I felt in the first handful of episodes was gone, but I still watch the show. And there've been some good episodes.

There are quite a few shows where I feel that way. The excitment is gone, but I still watch and enjoy.

I loved Season 6 of SG1 A LOT. 7 was a bit of a let down. But I came late to the party so I was just marathoning at that point anyway. I think when I'm watching a show on DVD and Tivo in large amounts there is more I'll put up with.

So I guess I tend to ease out of shows, rather than dump them.

That's what happened with us and CSI.

I marathonned SG1 from S1 to S3, watched S5 and S6 on the Original Squintyvision (30Mb downloads!), then started drifting at the start of S7. Got back in for a few eps in the middle, then drifted out again. Watched Gemini plus the last 5 eps of S8, and other than that, only The Pegasus Project, The Ripple Effect, and 200.

So, yes, I suppose you could say that I've been slightly sporadic about SG-1 of late. I do the same for BSG and Torchwood. The only show that inspires me to omg, get next episode QUICK is Heroes.

Hm. I stopped watching Angel regularly after the Cordelia's weird pregnancy thing. What was that -- season 4? Then I came back for much of season 5 because Spike joined the cast.

I've stopped watching ER because I keep forgetting it is on, and don't feel like DVRing it. Also, their constant promos of "The biggest disaster the ER has ever faced!" drive me insane.

Oh wait! I did stop watching As the World Turns for awhile. Martha Bryne left and they recast this faux!Lily who annoyed me. I came back to the show when they got rid of faux!Lily and true Lily was discovered singing in an Italian coffee bar. Or something.

Spike! I ended up marathoning Angel so I just kept watching even when it got a little odd.

ER is very into recycled plots. BUT 14 years! I've been watching so long I can't go back now!!

I watch Days of Our Lives sporadically. Soaps are good like that.

Hmm... I was kind of talking about this kind of thing, today. I think there are a lot of factors.

One is time invested. If I've put 4 or 5 years into a show, already (and there's only one show on my list right now, where I have! -- maybe two, depending how you splice it), I'll have a little more patience with an irritating storyline. But after only a season? I can let things go.

Two is: how bored am I, and is it worth the effort? Because I have to record almost every show I watch, it has to keep my attention to make it worthwhile to set up the timer. Like you, I kind of fell out of CSI, after it began to bore me, and become a little two invested in its own plot twists. It always scares me when the networks start promoting how big the twists are in a show, or how "shocking" it is. Give me a good story and some good solid writing, and I don't need the shock. Don't mess with characters simply because you 'can' or (even worse) want 'better ratings'. If a show abandons what it was to up its numbers, it can find one to replace me.

Three is when the off-camera drama threatens to overwhelm the on-camera drama. To be honest, I don't care about a celebrity's real life, I want them to entertain me.

Four is when the network screws up the schedule so much that I can't find them (which, I think is symptomatic of an even bigger problem).

Four is when the network screws up the schedule so much that I can't find them

Which is one reason why sci-fi shows never last long in Australia. The series might start off screening at a reasonable time, but will abruptly be scheduled an hour later or an hour earlier, or a day later.

And most sci-fi shows end up being shown at 11:30pm at night on the commercial channels anyway.

There's no regularity to it. And then the networks have the nerve to say that no-one watches sci-fi shows so they're not going to bother purchasing the series to to show on TV.

[/rant]

(just realized I never replied to your comment here! Sorry!)

I know what you mean about time invested. Really - ER is my perfect example of that.

Bored - main reason why I leave a show.

It always scares me when the networks start promoting how big the twists are in a show, or how "shocking" it is. Give me a good story and some good solid writing, and I don't need the shock.

I could not agree more!!

To be honest, I don't care about a celebrity's real life, I want them to entertain me.

Me either!

As for scheduling - that's why I love Tivo. 90% of the time it works so I can find all airings of shows I want.

I got to thinking about what it would take for me to stop watching a show.

A really terrible experience in fandom that devolves into personal attacks and such childish behavior that when I turn on the television and actually see the show, these events are the only thing I can think of and I get physically ill.

It happened.

That's interesting - I didn't even consider that fandom could take someone out of a show.

It's a weakness on my part, that I let them sour me on the show, but it happened and I can't change it. I haven't watched the show since the Season 1 finale because every time I do, all I can think of is how rude and nasty fandom was and how watching the show itself was no longer enjoyable.

I think, in part, it was because fandom was a big part of my experience with that particular show from the very beginning, from the series premiere (as opposed to other shows I liked before ever entering fandom). Therefore fandom was the biggest part of watching the show, for me.

So, admittedly, I'm errr...a bit touchy about my TV shows. But, specifically, it's really that I just have one or two very big buttons and when they get pushed, I'm done.

1. Bad writing and/or writing that makes not recognize the characters I fell in love with in the first place. Almost all the main characters on Gilmore Girls are unrecognizable to me now, and the characterization on BSG tends to happen on a weekly basis -- this week, they are person X and next week they are person Y and the ONLY thing that makes them the same character logically is that they're played by the same person and called the same name. I just find bad writing really obnoxious, like people can't be bothered to know what they wrote before and keep a consistant character. It's lazy and it's stupid and I find it sort of insulting to the viewers.

2. Changes in the show that, to me, feel like a manipulation of the audience somehow. Basically, I don't like shows that have a "We're going to screw with you BECAUSE WE CAN" attitude. Most guilty right now is BSG again, and, in my head, SGA. But I won't go into that.

Other than these two things, I really will stick with a show to the bitter end. I love my shows -- the ones that I choose to devote time to, anyway.

That makes sense - we've talked about this before. :-)

Really, it just takes so much to throw me out of the show but I totally get where you are coming from.

These were my main two beefs with BSG as well, which is why it found a place on my TV shows poop list. I really thought it was going to be added to the list of shows I loved initially but then walked away from. However, I'm willing to give next season a shot. I am, though, hoping it only lasts one more year.

You are kinder and more forgiving than I. I haven't exactly stopped - it's still set to tape on our DVR -- but I have, because I haven't watched like the last...four episodes or something. I ended up deleting the first two, and will probably follow suit with the others in time. I just...am tired of the BS.

I haven't seen the middle three eps of the last half of the season yet. I'm hoping that in a month or two I'll have an urge to watch them. However, as I rewatched the miniseries a few days ago I keep thinking about how good it was, and how much this season pales in comparision.

Three words.

The X-Files (http://rachelmanija.livejournal.com/406594.html).

I've heard that from quite a few people. I never actually watched the show though. :-)

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Bored is usually my only reason for abandoning a show - so that makes sense.

Much of BSG got relegated to the When I Have Time For It pile in the last while, for the second reason.

That happened to us as well.

Interesting question! For me, I think I glomp onto characters to love, so if the writers mess around with the characters, making them do OOC things, or writing plots that don't make sense, I tend to loose interest. Grey's and BSG fall into that category for me, but even then, I'll watch for awhile after I've lost interest, hoping it'll pick up again. I'm more likely to just forget about watching something, rather than make a conscious decision not to watch...if that makes sense?

For SGA, even with all of the changes, I'm still enjoying the characters who are there, so I'll keep watching! And some of the spoilers have renewed my interest. :)

OOC doesn't throw me off that much, but I tend to write it off as "evolving" instead of being stupid. :-)

I love SGA. I think I'd watch it even if the entire cast changed.

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See, I still liked WW after Sam left - but I totally get where you are coming from. That's an example of a show I didn't care for as much, yet still watched.

Sadly most of the shows I enjoy are either canceled or chose to end and most of the time *knock on wood* the episodes are always enjoyable.

I know that feeling!

(I'm going to screen your comment cause of the S4 casting mention - I don't want anyone who doesn't want to know that accidentally reading it.)

Oh god, I'm sorry. I thought that about SGA was common knowledge. I didn't mean for you to have to screen. Sorry about that.

No problem - I'm being overly cautious. I know a few people on my flist who don't read spoilers at all and don't know that.

I hate being accidentally spoiled so as a default I always just assume nothing about future seasons is common knowledge.

For stuff that I just like and watch, when it starts to feel like the same thing over and over. That's what's finally - after fifteen years or so - got me losing interest in the L&O franchise. Or when they drag out a storyline or the UST of a relationship to a ridiculous degree. That really bugs me too.

But in general, if I'm really a FAN of a show, and it's not just something I watch if I happen to catch it, they'd have to send me a cease and desist letter ordering me to remove my eyes from the screen in order to stop me. I mean, Stargate season 8. Bleh. But there I sat and faithfully watched every episode.

Or when they drag out a storyline or the UST of a relationship to a ridiculous degree. That really bugs me too.

I think something like that would annoy me, but it wouldn't stop me from watching.

I mean, Stargate season 8. Bleh. But there I sat and faithfully watched every episode.

Hehe!

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I usually stop watching by accident. I just don't remember to watch, and never really miss a show.

I think that's what happened with me and One Tree Hill.

See, I don't think I could ever get that upset about show. There really is nothing I care about.

Good example with Buffy. :-)

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Saturday Evening Meta - What would it take for you to stop watching a show?

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