What ruins a TV show

Rydia

Throwing rocks at emo kids
Veteran
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
3,212
Age
38
Location
The Land of the Summons
Gil
0
You know when you watch a TV show for it's first or first few seasons, and you really like it. But then suddenly it starts to go down hill because of changes?

What changes to a TV show ruin it for you? (Also called Jumping the Shark)

For me:

When a major character leaves the show. The show just isn't the same anymore and the cast feels a little empty.

A new baby is added. Usually is the last seasons, the kids in the family are all at least 12 years old, the oldest sometimes being in college, and the mom gets pregnant. After the baby is born, it usually ages about three years in a three month span. Usually the new kid is added because the former cute kid has hit puberty.

Singing: One of the major characters, often the main character, finds out that he/she has a singing talent in order to sell CDs for the show.
 
For me, it would have to be the plotlines going from fantastic to absolutely terrible. Heroes is one of the shows that I'll use as an example. It went from fantastic to great to crumbling towards the last season. Season one was the show at its height, season two went down, season three got back on its feet and the last season put in the nail in its coffin.

Another thing is the character development changing without good reasons or intentions. I'll use Finn from the last series of Waterloo Road as the prime example. He was a bad boy and did something quite drastic in the finale, but then he was brought back and wasn't up to his old tricks anymore. Things like that don't just disappear over a short amount of time. It's a shame to see that a character you love suddenly change so quickly.
 
I hate when they add impromptu 'extended family' characters. Possibly something has happened in the family that has caused someone to leave, so they try to fill that void.. and 90% of the time, it's with a Granpa character. I have seen FAR too many shows add a Granpa character and as soon as that happens, it means that the show has hit it's peak... and it's done.
 
time travel
clones
someone important leaves
making it up as you go along
 
under Normal Conditions it's when a Massive character in the Show Dies for me, Take Smallville for Example, In a season finale Jimmy the Camera man is killed by another Character (Davis) and i thought no. . . not jimmy, and i figured it would be the End of me liking Smallville, as i loved the Relationship between chloe and jimmy, but then the show remained good, it was a strange moment for me. . . okay Bad Example, but other TV Show ruiners for me has to be;
complete personality changes for no reason,
new relationship between characters who hated each other only 2 episodes ago,
New Children that go from birth to toddler in a matter of a few episodes,
Extended Family showing up by mere coincidence.
 
canned laughter. Seriously, I know when to laugh. Fuck off

Babies. Hate it. I always think it ruins it when they add babies, the typical annoying younger sibling...

...finding out the last 20 or so years was just a dream... :wacky:

when there is a character that is an absolute arsehole, and somehow, s/he ends up being likable. Billy in eastenders is about the only one i can think off top of my head. He was abusive to another character, now hes like some weedy litle comedy act. ERM, THAT STE IN HOLLYOAKS, BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF HISGIRLFRIEND, NOW HE'S A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT GUY

Caps lock issues
 
under Normal Conditions it's when a Massive character in the Show Dies for me, Take Smallville for Example, In a season finale Jimmy the Camera man is killed by another Character (Davis) and i thought no. . . not jimmy, and i figured it would be the End of me liking Smallville, as i loved the Relationship between chloe and jimmy, but then the show remained good, it was a strange moment for me. . . okay Bad Example, but other TV Show ruiners for me has to be;
complete personality changes for no reason,
new relationship between characters who hated each other only 2 episodes ago,
New Children that go from birth to toddler in a matter of a few episodes,
Extended Family showing up by mere coincidence.


Omg the smallville thing happened with me too. But they kill off many characters at random times...

I don't like it when a side character leaves or a character that used to be there all the time or slightly all the time just disappeares in later seasons without explanation.

I don't like cheesy and cliche moments in television shows. It's just so predictable and annoying. I also hate bad script and stor writing in general. It just completely turned me off completely.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Shu
When the producers shoot their wad way too early and resolve major plot points and story archs long before the show is taken off the air. Twin Peaks is a good example of this (season 2 was utterly pointless) and I don't think Supernatural ever really recovered from their season 2 finale either.
 
What ruins it for me is pretty much any character switching. Like when Ashton Kutcher left That 70's Show.
Oh yeah, also,, when a show runs out of ideas and it becomes a little too noticeable. Hate that. Makes you wonder how soaps make it so damn far :lew:
 
Oooh. Kochansky

Red Dwarf

It got unbelievably shit when they added her

well, not unbelievably but still. just adding a woman in to the mix really killed it for me

Also. I actually spelled that without having spell check issues. Go and me
 
Canned laughetr ruins a show for me. The IT Crowd is a terrible offender. Someone drops a bun, and the audience laugh themselves to death.

Musical acts that aren't in a musical show just annoy me. If a main character randomly bursts into song and is suddenly on a glittering stage and has spontaneously developed the ability to dance, I don't like it.

Villains or people we love to hate who always win. You sometimes want the cocky arsehole to lose (and sometimes, Tom should win against Jerry >_>)

Last, but certainly not least, is "My cousin from Majorca/Spain/out of state/ the UK being added in every other show. The show should be defined by its main characters. Side and guest characters are nice, but they shouldn't make up the show. -__-
 
Well, the show that personifies a lot of what I hate is One Tree Hill..

1. Suddenly most female members of the cast are singers. The show warps around that as an advertising platform for their careers.

2. Pretty much the whole cast left..and they just replace them with a bunch of strangers and continue.

And that's what I think ruins a show.
 
Characters getting into relationships - even the brilliant Frasier lost its touch somewhat once Niles and Daphne got together, one of the funniest, sweetest aspects of the show was lost. Friends started to slide downhill when Chandler and Monica started dating - and it was the start of Chandler's character (once the funniest on the show) getting worse too.

Character traits being exaggerated to the point of absurdity (as TVTropes puts it, Flanderization) - usually happens as a show goes on for too long. Homer getting more and more stupid in The Simpsons, Joey getting dumber in Friends etc

Serious moments in comedy shows - Larry David had it right when he decided on 'no hugging, no learning' for Seinfeld. I like my comedies to be funny, not to have super-serious moments. The episode of Frasier where Niles is having heart surgery is dreadful. And don't get me started on Scrubs in general . . .
 
-Horatio, we just found the victim with his penis in the peanut butter jar

-Well, it looks like our victim here, Frank... *puts on sunglasses* was fucking nuts

"YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEAAA AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! "
 
When too many famous actors start appearing in the show, it kind of ruins the believability for me. Especially when there are a few people who have to keep playing different roles within the show.

Another thing is when the writers get bored and have to start diverting from the original themes.
 
One tree hill is a perfect example of a ruined TV Show, Season's 1-3 were perfect you had the best relationships going on Brooke+Lucas and Jake+Peyton.. Jake leaving the show was a bad idea and Leyton + Lucas was a terrible idea their was zero chemistry between the two from season 4 onwards, Nathan and Haley's relationship got really boring as well.. and then when Lucas and Peyton left in season 6 two of the shows main characters that was the death. for me the show ended at series 3 though, was watching season 8 recently and it looked like a totally different show.

Major characters leaving is he main one but putting 2 people together with Zero chemistry is a No.
 
Well the thing's I think that ruin a show are

1)When they start adding other famous people or people from different show's.

2)When the writer's start repeating old joke's or plot line's.

3)They kill off a good actor in the worst way possible.

4)When a actor is just replaced by another person without warning.

That's the only thing's that I can think of at the moment that ruin a TV show.
 
1) When a character (on a sitcom) has a near fatal accident and the season ends on a cliff hanger.

2) Excessive use of fanservice (I.E., women constantly wearing revealing outfits and well built men always taking their shirts off for no reason. Not that I'm complaining about it, it just demeens the show.)

3) Dragging out a plot line for longer than a season (How I Met Your Mother is the perfect example. When's he going to meet the fucking cunt?)

4) Deus Ex Machina (Dragon Ball Z used this to NO FUCKING END)

5) Fat guys with attractive wives (used far too often)

6) Teenage characters having children.

7) Overuse of references (Family Guy)

8) Replacing a cast member but not changing the character.
 
Back
Top