Now is the time of year when most shows go on hiatus for a few weeks—or, if you’re Glee, closer to three months. With almost nothing on TV, it’s the perfect time to assess my Watch List, which is always overstuffed and bursting. There are some shows I know are just okay but I keep watching because of the cast (Sarah Michelle Gellar and Robin Williams, The Crazy Ones) or genre (Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD), some for which not even loyalty is enough (sorry Rebel Wilson, I so wanted to like Super Fun Night), and those that I wish had 52 new episodes a year (Game of Thrones anyone?).
For the next few weeks, I will be talking about the shows I stopped watching, the shows I keep watching despite their terribleness, and the shows that I think should rank at the top of everyone’s list. So without further ado, let’s dig in to a few of the veteran shows I have cut from the list:
SPOILERS AFOOT!
Anger Management–
I don’t like Charlie Sheen so I’m not sure why I watched this for as long as I did. It might have been out of sheer curiosity—I missed the Two and a Half Men boat (didn’t catch it at the start and it never peaked my interest after) and wondered what all the appeal was with Sheen. Did Men really deserve to be the highest rated show on TV for so long?
There might have also been the desire to see if this would turn out to be as much of a media train wreck as Men turned out to be—for Selma Blair, it was. Despite my general apathy towards Sheen, I do like Blair. I think she holds a special place in my heart from her run on the short-lived Zoe Duncan Jack and Jane (eventually shortened to Zoe…). Once Selma Blair left the show, so did the last vestiges of my interest.
Revolution–
While I love this show’s concept, the characters never connected. I don’t mean just Charlie, who was particularly annoying in from the start. She was too naïve and whiny for the world she had grown up in and her brother was not much better.
And while killing off characters is often a great way to revitalize a show or develop your characters (think of Game of Thrones’ beheading of Ned Stark and Walking Dead’s death by childbirth for Laurie Grimes), and I wholeheartedly support the death of Danny who was as useless as his big sister—it did not have the emotional impact it should have. The show kind of forgot to deal with the repercussions of that death. Not to mention the death of their father in the series premiere. Plus it killed off Nora, a character who was actually exciting. (Maggie was also an unfortunate early death. Couldn’t we have killed off Aaron instead? Wouldn’t it have been more interesting to see Maggie, the kids’ pseudo-mom confront Rachel, their actual-but-absent mom?)
All this is to say nothing about the way Revolution sort of shirked its premise—a world without power—rather early and struggled to figure out how to make up for that fact by throwing in one conspiracy after another. We get it, people are power-hungry.
When I found myself at the end of an episode with no recollection of what I’d watched, I knew it was time.
Revenge–
After a spectacular first season, I stuck through a lackluster second in hopes of seeing that Season 1 fire again. Season 1 had Emily systematically crossing Hamptonites off her long list of people to destroy. Her plots were interesting and diverse. She was unapologetic and decisive. She had Noel as a fun sidekick to lighten the mood when needed.
Then the writers decided to throw in the Initiative and Aidan. Daniel became another ruthless Grayson, thereby removing some of the moral ambiguity from Emily’s plot. Before she was taking down an evil family and some innocents were caught in the crossfire, now she was taking down an evil family with only Charlotte caught in the crossfire, and let’s face it, Charlotte is just as grating as Declan was.)
Even though Season 3 has improved, it never quite recaptured my attention and when I found myself lacking time, this one was an easy cut.
So what do you think TV watchers? Which shows are lost causes?
This is just Part 1 of 3 in my Mid-Season Assessment series. Check out my Mid-Season Assessment Part 2: Shows I Wish I Hated (And Maybe Do…) and Mid-Season Assessment Part 3: Shows I’m Addicted To.
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