What are your Binge Watch Fails?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

I.e., television shows that you sat down and intended to watch in their entirety but somewhere along the line just lost interest in?

Mine would have to be Sons of Anarchy. Several people had raved about it to me, and I was in need of a show to binge so I checked it out.

Unfortunately, I just found it to be somewhat of a slog. The biggest problem was that all the main characters--i.e. the members of the biker gang--I just found to be rather boring and one-dimensional, and I really didn't care about their stories. I did find some of the side characters to be more interesting, like the girlfriend and the sheriff, but they could only do so much. I made it through the end of the second season and basically gave it up.

Maybe I was wrong and the show took off after two seasons, so if anyone can tell me if it's worth getting back into, I'll be more than happy to reconsider. But I just wasn't captivated by it like I hoped to be.

[JDC]

1. Punisher, Haunting of Hill House, DareDevil, countless others

SOA, Etc.

[bluedye33139]

2. I kept with Haunting of Hill House and regretted it

[JDC]

6. I wanted to like it and pushed it further than I should have

Nothing ever happened. It didn't even cliff-hang. It was just me wanting something to happen and assuming that naturally it would. "It has to" kinda thing. Gave up.

Mindhunter on the other hand went the other way for me. I Started off thinking nope, then poured through them. Gritty though.

[mopinko]

3. mad men.

couldnt make it through the first episode.
lived through enough of that shit, dont need to revisit it.

[Control-Z]

14. Yes.

I've heard so many rave reviews. Couldn't stand it. Never got through the first episode.

[smirkymonkey]

26. I couldn't get into it either.

I didn't live through it, but I didn't want to live through it vicariously either. Just too depressing.

[Cartoonist]

35. I made it through the first episode

I may have skipped the end credits. Skipped all the rest of the shows and returned it to the library.

[Kurt V.]

4. i got the full dvd set of mad men for xmas one year. the production was good but didn't care for it

overall. i watched all of SOA also. kinda predictable i thought. Except the end. lol.

[frazzled]

5. Fleabag

The British comedy that the critics couldn’t stop raving about. But we gave up after 2 episodes.
I mean, I was watching films that broke the fourth wall back in the 1960s. This show, for me, at least, seemed neither novel nor funny ... just kind of affected and irritating.

Maybe I didn’t give it enough time, but hey, life is short, and there’s plenty of other stuff out there.

[hlthe2b]

11. Yes, that one (one episode only), Catastrophe (after s2, e1 when they callously kill/dispose of dog)

Handmaid's Tale (one episode only--too dark, too dystopic, too close to real), HBO's Succession (one episode--just couldn't get into it), Westworld (one episode--genre issues for me), Entourage (two episodes--meh).


Quite a few others. If the first two episodes don't "grab" me, I usually quit.

[emmaverybo]

32. My gosh. Me too! That's when I quit. Over their attitude to the dog. My daughter, a dog lover,

thought I should let that go. I could not have been the least concerned about them after they nonchalantly discarded their emotionally vulnerable family member. Like we are their world and they are like young children! Bah. Writers should have known.

[Peregrine Took]

55. So agree. Not funny, not clever only crude humor.

The only funny thing was her charging so much for her London sandwiches. Whatever her outstanding bill was, that was the amount of your sandwich.

[dawg day]

57. Yeah, I feel like whatever everyone else loves about "Fleabag" escaped me-

She was boring in her incompetence, and the vaunted voiceovers where she talked to the viewers weren't funny.
But it sure got great reviews, so I probably missed the greatness.

[flibbitygiblets]

75. same here - I thought it was just me

Couldn't get through the 3rd episode. None of the characters are likeable, and even though her friend/business partner accidentally/on purpose killed herself, I still don't feel sorry for her. I think when she put on a hood and pretended to be an intruder with a knife while her weenie boyfriend was in the shower did it for me. WTF?

[TygrBright]

7. Downton Abbey. The remake of Forsyth Saga. Ditto of "Poldark".

Also: Orange is the New Black, that thing about the suburban housewives dealing weed (can't remember the name), the sci-fi thing with the six people who wake up without their memories (can't remember that name either), and a bunch more- mostly detective/thriller series that spend more time in soapy exposition about the Terribly Flawed Protagonist and/or their Impossible Life.

tiredly,
Bright

[Control-Z]

12. Orange is the New Black

Another I was never able to watch. Couldn't get through the first episode.

Pot, housewife - Weeds? I liked the first few seasons. Couldn't go on.

[FakeNoose]

46. When Downton Abbey was first broadcast, I couldn't keep up

I kept missing episodes and I tried to watch them out of order. It was so frustrating that finally I just quit on the series. But this summer I downloaded all of them - all 6 years - and watched the entire series in order.

It's enjoyable to binge watch when you already have all the episodes. Not having to wait for the next one, not having to wonder what happened when you miss one of them. It's actually a wonderful series with great characters and stories. I'm excited that they're coming out with a Downton Abbey feature length movie in a few months.

There's something to be said for binge watching shows that have complicated interwoven plot lines. I prefer to binge watch such shows that have a story arc.

[Peregrine Took]

56. Couldn't abide it! Poor man's "Upstairs, Downstairs" (the original)

Every cliche in the book and then some. Ugh

[Control-Z]

8. Stranger Things

I've tried. I've really tried. I can't even get through the first episode.

Total and complete binge watch fail.

[hlthe2b]

13. Yeah, me too. One episode.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

17. It took me a while to get into it, so I can understand.

I liked the second season a lot better. The third season was okay, but I seemed to be gravitating towards some of the older characters rather than the kids, who are supposed to be the main focus.

[lark]

77. I just love how people are so different.

The hubby and I are hardcore SciFi fans and we love Stranger Things! Of course, I was an HP Lovecraft fan as a teen, so obviously like really strange stuff.

[Nay]

34. Yeah, I managed 4 or 5 episodes and couldn't go on. Just really tedious and not

innovative at all.

[RobinA]

42. This

EVERYBODY told me I would love it. Even though it's not my kind of show, this was the exception, they said. Halfway through the first episode and I was done. Dead To Me was another one that way highly regarded. I was actually fine with it until the first plot twist.

[happybird]

73. Yep.

Made myself finish the first season in hopes it would get better, then only made it through 2 or 3 episodes of the second season before giving up.

[ret5hd]

9. SOA, Boardwalk Empire, Peaky Blinders

[smirkymonkey]

25. I tried to get in to Peaky Blinders because a friend recommended it to me.

It just didn't take for some reason. I gave it a good shot, but it just bored me.

[Backseat Driver]

10. The Originals

endless threads of nonsensical vampire, werewolf, witch rivalry and violence, all swelling up for a little slurp of blood. Just got tired of all the palm slicing, neck nibbling, and shape-shifting, and really silly nec-romancing.

[mokawanis]

15. I also gave upon Sons of Anarchy

for the same reasons you did - one-dimensional characters. I watched one season and then quit. Another show I tried to watch was Better Call Saul (because I loved Breaking Bad) but I gave up before the end of season one. Not sure why, just wasn't doing it for me.

[solara]

16. Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, Fleabag

Lucifer, Grace & Frankie, Marvelous Mrs Maisel, SOA, Vikings,

I'm sure there's more.. of course it could just be a sign of my deep depression which seems to be increasing with every day the tyrant trump is in the oval office.

[IrishEyes]

18. Game of Thrones.

I hated it instantly but my friend and I watched two episodes to give it a chance. I also watched one episode of Sons of Anarchy but I really didn't like it. I also tried two episodes of Orange is the New Black but I couldn't stand the main character and I was bored.

I made a list a couple of days ago of shows that friends have suggested I try to binge watch. I need a really good show to watch.

[targetpractice]

19. OMG, I found someone who agrees with me re: GOT!!

Thanks, IrishEyes! I've tried at least three times to watch Game of Thrones, but couldn't make it through two episodes. AND, I am a total sci-fi and fantasy fan... I think there were too many characters, too quickly for me... And, I have had a lifelong difficulty of picking up character names when watching stuff (ADD, I think.)

[IrishEyes]

24. I'm a sci fi nerd.

I watched it with my geeky friend. Neither of us liked it.

[Farmer-Rick]

40. I read his shorts in Analog and Asimov years ago....before the books

I knew everything that was going to happen in GOT except for the last couple of episodes.

But I never read his books because he was too fantasy for my taste. So, he either wrote the books as shorts first...one of those writers who write the same story over and over again...or I'm psychic.

[smirkymonkey]

27. I never gave GOT a shot, but I heard a lot about it and it just didn't appeal to

me. Who knows? Maybe someday when I am really bored I'll give it a try.

[Skittles]

29. I hated Game of Thrones too

I thought it was sickening

[hunter]

44. One of our children loathed Game of Thrones but continued to watch it in the same way...

... some people keep a close eye on Trump here on DU.

You don't have to like it, but maybe you have to know what it's about to understand U.S.A. culture.

I've put "Trump" on my ignore-by-keyword list here on DU.

There isn't any way to watch HBO in our house. Near everything on HBO, Bill Maher included, is according to our children in the "Mom would hate it!" category. That's one of the things I love about my wife.

I think dark fiction, especially dark science fiction and fantasy, is too common and too easy. I avoid horror fantasies entirely. I've never made it more than a quarter way through a Stephen King novel or movie.

Nevertheless I did enjoy Norseman as an absurdist comedy.

[qazplm135]

52. yeah me too

caused an argument with a now ex-girlfriend who loved it.
I sat through four or five episodes but the constant palace intrigue was absolutely boring to me.

And the fact that at some point, some folks fought with swords really wasn't going to make me want to slog through that to watch it.

[TexasBushwhacker]

74. GOT was way too violent and misogynistic for me n/t

[targetpractice]

20. Partial Fail: The Wire...

Took me three times to get through episode two, but on the third try I inhaled all seasons in a marathon when I had the flu.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

21. Most series are good for a season or three at best,

but then lose their way somehow or another.

However, the biggest fails were "Breaking Bad". Watched the first episode, about ten minutes of the second and decided it was dumb beyond words.

"Stranger Things". I think I watched part of the first episode.

Many of the others already mentioned I have zero interest in.

I've watched the first two seasons of "Handmaid's Tale" but am not going to continue. It's gone beyond what I'm willing to go along with.

I've been watching "Veronica Mars". I've made it through fifteen episodes of season 1 but I'm stopping because again, I cannot go along with some of the plot details. For instance, in the most recent episode Veronica drops in at another high school, not the one she attends, and passes herself off as a new student. Everyone at the school simply takes her at face value. No one asks her what classes she's in or offers to show her around. Really?

I did like almost all of "Mad Men". I likewise lived through that era and they got most of it right. I do recall that a few times I was very disturbed by something they got wrong, although I don't recall the specifics. This is another series where you'd be best off skipping the final season. The last episode in particular is simply not believable.

[IrishEyes]

37. I love Veronica Mars but that episode was pretty dumb.

[Shrek]

22. The Walking Dead

I was pretty engrossed for the first 3 seasons.

I've tried to watch the season 4 premiere several times but I have yet to make it to the end.

[Aristus]

28. I lasted three episodes.

It was just incredibly boring.

I remember there was a tank in the first episode. That was cool. I was hoping it was going to be an ongoing part of the show; just a different take on fighting zombies. But they let it drop.

And, as usual since the Pentagon won't let film companies use our M1 Abrams-series tanks without heavy script approval, they substituted what I imagine was a German-made Canadian Army Leopard I.

'Prison Break' is another one I dropped; this one a couple of episodes into the second season. It just got ridiculous.

[Codeine]

62. Three seasons was my limit as well.

After that I was just done.

[virgogal]

23. Blacklist! I was actually wishing Elizabeth Keen would meet a sad end.

[irisblue]

70. I tried watching that in real time

Reddington was much much better a villian then Kean made an FBI profiler.

[stonecutter357]

30. Stargate Universe - Eli's Beginning (Season 1 Ep. 1

[912gdm]

48. same....

I was a BIG Stargate franchise fan and that just disappointed the heck out of me

[qazplm135]

51. it improves in the second season

actually the last few episodes and the last one in particular of the second season were quite good.

I think if renewed it would have had a pretty decent third season.

[rwheeler31]

31. Jamestown PBS

[House of Roberts]

33. Anything that I have recorded on the DVR.

Once I can procrastinate, I never get around to watching something.

[missingthebigdog]

36. Lost.

I tend to see things through, for better or worse, once I start watching them. I managed Dexter in its entirety, even though I hated it after the second season. All of Breaking Bad. But I just couldn’t make myself watch Lost after the first several episodes. Ditto Prison Break.

[Demovictory9]

39. Lost was stupid.nothing was ever explained

[Upthevibe]

38. Wild Wild Country (I think that was the name)...

Based on a true story about a cult in Oregon (I think). Friends that know me and my taste said I'd love it. I tried at least three times and just couldn't get into it. And others that have been mentioned here I already knew weren't my genre so I didn't even have an interest in starting (G.O.T., Handmaidens Tale, etc.)...

[IcyPeas]

43. I found Wild Wild Country kind of fascinating...

it happened so recently (80s) and I was totally unaware of it. there are still some rajneeshies around. I was glad someone recommended it to me because the name of it Wild Wild Country makes it sound like a western.

[Upthevibe]

45. I haven't given up on giving

it another try....For me, sometimes it's my mood, what's going on in my life, etc....

[bluedigger]

41. The Originals and The Magicians come to mind.

I wanted to like The Originals because I lived in the French Quarter for awhile, but it and The Magicians are clearly intended for the Twilight tween viewers.

[Dagstead Bumwood]

47. Westworld.

As a kid, the cheesey movie from the early 70s was one of my favorite sci-fi movies. So, when the show debuted it was so exciting. And, the first season was good, and the wife and I gobbled it up. Then, some time passed before season two came about, but we recorded it and settled in for the first ep. Uh, yeah. She fell asleep halfway in and I lost interest soon after. But, the episodes continued piling up. Occasionally I'd see them on the DVR, like some homework assignment that wouldn't go away. Until, I finally found the fortitude to erase them. Maybe one day, after I'm retired, I'll go back to it. But, probably not.

[Ron Obvious]

49. Topics like this make me miss the old Jump the Shark website.

Most shows run out of steam at some point, and that was a great place to go.

For me Stranger Things also lasted only until the end of ep1, though I still love the soundtrack. But I did always wonder if it ever picked up again.

[Laffy Kat]

50. Believe it or not, "Breaking Bad." I just couldn't. nt

[Polly Hennessey]

53. I loved Game of Thrones when it first aired.

I was watching it when no one else had heard of it. I never watched it after the third season. I often wonder why. Did not get past 15 minutes of Jamestown and knew it was awful.

[muntrv]

54. The Walking Dead could be one for me.

Especially after Rick Grimes left the series and they fast forward into the future.

[dawg day]

58. I like some of these fails! :) But my fail is Battlestar Galactica, which everyone around me loved.

The central motif that the Cylons were somehow monotheists and the "humans" who could have been 21st C Americans were polytheists... made no sense to me. And that some humans were really Cylons and didn't know it. I'm sure this is all explained in the show somehow, but it was too sloggy for me to keep focused, though the spouse watched it voraciously.

[Generic Brad]

59. Luke Cage

It started out with such promise. The actors are top notch. It had some stunning moments. But it sort of unravelled near the end of season one and became gibberish to me by season two. Did it get better and finish strong? I will never know....

[EarlG]

60. Legion and Preacher spring to mind

I enjoyed the first seasons of both shows but the second seasons for both were a real drag (IMO). I reluctantly started season 3 of Preacher and didn’t make it past the first couple of episodes. Never started season 3 of Legion. I may go back to them one day, especially since both shows are over, so I know I’m not going to be slogging through a dozen seasons.

I also never started season 3 of Jessica Jones or season 2 of The Punisher, now that I think about it. I really should watch those one day though since I made it through all the other Defenders shows (even Iron Fist lol).

[Iggo]

61. Can I get a ruling? Does one episode per day qualify as binge-watching?

If so, I'd say Stranger Things.

That one's kinda on me, though. I knew going in that I hate shows where the children are the heroes (pathological?), but it came so highly recommended by the person who turned me onto The Wire, Sons Of Anarchy, Breaking Bad, and later, Mindhunters and Billions. So I gave it a shot. No go. I'm not sure if I made it through the third episode.

(By the way, Sons Of Anarchy starts out good, turns bad, then gets worse and worse and oh so much worse until the laughable end. I kept watching it for the comedic value, but that's it.)

[Tommy_Carcetti]

67. My "binges" are always one episode a day.

I don’t see the allure of spending an entire day shut in watching one show, unless I’m sick or the weather is terrible. Even then I prefer some variety.

[Codeine]

63. Almost everything.

I’ve started a billion series and I’ve finished very, very few. I think too many choices has ruined my ability to really focus on something long enough to finish it.

I have finished Mad Men, Breaking Bad, BSG, Fleabag (very short, to be fair), The Wire. . . and that’s about it. The era of binge watching isn’t one I’ve really managed to embrace.

[Ilsa]

64. Watching a dark comedy on Amazon Prime called Patriot.

A NOC for the CIA is trying to run an op in Luxembourg by getting employment as a process engineer with a US manufacturer. (He had to manipulate the hiring process.) The overall objective is to stall out Iran's nuclear capabilities.

But he frequently gets bad info from the CIA, causing him to have to improvise, which can lead to dangerous situations. He has a recent past that catches up with him at the craziest moments. He plays folk songs he's written to deal with the stress, but sometimes he riffs, spilling too much information about his spycraft.

Anyway, I'm really amused by the surprises.

[Iggo]

65. Rock, Paper, Scissors.

[Ilsa]

66. In the stockings and skirts dept!

"Twins creep me out."
In unison: "Daddy, Mommy says dinner is ready."

[Iggo]

69. Weird show. I do love it.

Haven't got around to season two yet, but it's on my list.

[sakabatou]

68. Oh, there are plenty

Agents of Shield, Luke Cage, Legend of Tomorrow, Voltron, Gundam Seed/Destiny, Gravity Falls and others.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

71. Lots but at the top of the list is Orange Is The New Black! 🤮

[Kaleva]

72. Orange is the New Black is the only fail so far.

[lark]

76. Parks & Recreation

I really wanted to love this show as Amy Poehler is so funny - but no. By the time I'd watched 4 shows I was bored out of my mind, the writing is just not good and it's pretty banal to me. I ended the binge that night and tried again a week later, I watched episode 5 and that was it, no more. Too bad.