Can you enjoy shows when you hate the direction it goes in?
 

What the title says, can you enjoy a series when it takes a turn you absolutely hate? How far does your tolerance go when **** happens and you feel it messes up something you enjoyed. I hate when this happens, noithing is worse than when you get into something, be it a movie or a tv series or book series, or whatever, and it takes a turn you you hate. For me it almost always spoils it completely for me. Does a ****** ending to a movie or tv series spoil an other wise good story if it hits the fan for you at the end? Can you ignore it and like other things about it if they were good or is it ruined for you. After that point? Can you like something if a character you really liked gets ****ed over in the story?

If a story has a piss poor ending it ruins it for me to the point I feel mad that I devoted 90-100 minutes of my life watching a movie, or reading a book.

I really hate when a character does something I just cannot get behind. And example of this is the Good Wife. I have been watching it lately and suddenly the main character is a lawyer who was hired after being out of work for 13 years and then suddenly she stabs her boss in the back to start her own firm under his nose. I thought this was stupid because she acts full of herself and I honestly find her to be at fault here. Her boss is being made out be the bad guy for lashing out but I cannot say I agree with her actions and I can not root for her. How can I watch something when I want the good guy to get what is coming to them? You guys ever have this happn to you?

Depends. A good example for me is "Lois & Clark". I'm a huge Superman fan and I loved Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher's portrayal of the title characters, but after Season Two it just started a long, steady slide into Lousy. Season Four in particular was awful and had probably the worst final episode of any show I was ever a fan of. I hung in there based on how big a fan of the characters I am, and how good the first two seasons were, but at times it was pretty painful.

"Roseanne" was a show I absolutely loved until the last two seasons. I tried to keep up with it, but I mostly gave up. To this day, when I see episodes from the last two seasons I avoid them.

It depends. If its a movie then yes it ruins it for me because even if the majority was good the ending is the "punchline". It should do the build up justice...or if its a bad movie, having a good ending could redeem it.

As for shows this sorta thing happened to me recently with Bones, the crime drama. It had a villain named Pelant that was built up over a couple seasons and was portrayed as almost unstoppable. I really liked him too. The actor was good but the episode where they finally kill him was very anticlimactic and he was taken out so easily it was out of character. Like they rushed through it to get it over with.

It doesn't ruin the show for me as that was just one story arc but it makes me think they might abruptly wrap up other storylines theyve built up in the future.

If a show jumps the shark and becomes terrible then no, there's no reason to force yourself to keep watching. Luckily I haven't watched many shows like this. I mean we all know Simpsons turned to crap after Season 10 but since its just a sitcom you can ignore what comes after and it makes no difference.

Depends on the context...sometimes i feel if a movie ending is not what i hoped but it keeps me thinking about it after then it did its job of leaving an impact

Of course im not talking about poorly written endings or twists that make no sense.

In terms of tv shows... If it makes no sense oo starts to get stupid ill usually ditch the show...cant stick with it

No.
If I hate its direction I simply won't watch it. But it also depends how the direction is changed and for what purpose.
And I agree with Lois and Clark. What the hell happened?

The original producer and most of the original writers left, is the short answer. There was a lot more to it but that was among the biggest reasons.

Sliders is one of the most notorious examples of fans having the paitence of saints despite the collosal s*it-stain dumped on the show after it's first two impeccably crisp and thought-provoking seasons. I have a bit of a soft spot for seasons three to five, but it is littered with inconsistencies, idiot ball plots, careless characterisation, cruel ways of dispatching popular and lovable actors, and generally going from a mix of comedy, hard science, and strong satire to brainless action/adventure shlock

^^ HOLY CRAP Sliders was pretty great. I totally forgot about that show.

Sliders was a show with such potential. i saw John Rhys Davies at a convention and he pretty much said the same thing. even so i still enjoyed most of the show as a guilty pleasure.

ps. seeing John Rhys Davies talking in person is one of the most inspirational things i've ever been to.

I usually try and stick with shows regardless. The best example that I can think of is Doctor Who. The sixth season I feel was pretty meh, with most the episodes starting off good and then being ruined by some ******** anticlimax (usually involving some form of 'the power of love'), that on top with all the River Song stuff (whom is a character I can't stand) made it a tough season for me to sit through. I'm glad I did though, as Season 7 (for the most part) was pretty good.

The only other example I can think of is Angel. Seasons 1-3 and 5 are great, but Season 4 is a little below that. The season started out great, and then, out of nowhere, we find out that Cordelia's evil. That moment just felt like they made it up as they went along as there wasn't really any build up to her being evil. THEN we get to the real ********: we find out that Cordelia's pregnant and that Connor (whom is Angel's son, and was a baby a year ago) is the father. The scenes between Connor and evil Cordelia feel really, REALLY creepy. However, I stuck with the season because I love the characters, plus some of the dialogue made it seem like it was kind of self aware of how creepy and disgusting the plot was. What's great is that, after what I consider the worst season of Angel, came the strongest (and unfortunately) it's last season.

Speaking of Joss Whedon shows, Buffy the vampire slayer lost me a little bit with Season 6, at least the second half. The first half of Season 6 was pretty good, but the other half while not terrible became way too depressing. And in Season 7, I didn't like how the potential slayers overshadowed the other characters, but the finale was good.

It depends. Lost is something that killed itself to me in Season 3 and got progressively worse. I still haven't watched the final season.

Then there's Twin Peaks, which I'm watching for the first time right now. The first season is spectacular and the first half-ish of season 2 is great, up until the conclusion of the Laura Palmer stuff, at which point the show has absolutely f*cking lost the thread. It has bits an pieces of what made it so good, but it's buried by utter sh*t. I'm going to finish it, since there isn't much left and I've heard the show ends pretty nuts, but it's a struggle to make it through some of the awful stuff they did.

I find I fall off of almost all bandwagons eventually, just because I don't have the time to keep up with everything I like. Case in point, I love Regular Show and Adventure Time, but I haven't watched either in over 6 months. So, yeah. I can't keep up with the stuff I like, let alone the stuff that get bad.

I'm the opposite in regards to Season 6. I found it, for the most part, not as good until the Dark Willow episodes. I just thought that The Trio were awful as villains. It's been a while since I've seen Season 7, but I remember enjoying it, although I agree, there were way too many potentials

I'll drop it if I'm not enjoying it. Think Heroes was the last series I gave up on. It was getting progressively worse, and when that carnie episodes started, I had to go...

Nope. If I get sick of the direction a show is going in I'll usually drop it pretty easily. But if it's something I'm super duper attached to, like TMNT, I'll give it a longer run because I still love the franchise and I WANT to be up to speed with everything and show my support. But even so, I have my limits of what kind of nonsense I'll put up with, so my attention will begin to wane. I can already feel it starting to fade now as I haven't even bothered to watch the last two episodes, but I still want to give them a try sometime. But as I said, TMNT's an exception, I'm not nearly as attached to most other shows (except for maybe Once Upon a Time and Criminal Minds), so if the direction of the plot starts to go sour I tend to move on and find something else. Don't got time to sit around watching stuff that bores me.

Ah Heroes. I forgot all about that tbh. I stuck with it until partway through the Third season, then gave up because of how overly complicated it got.

There are shows I could never stop liking no matter what happens, such as TMNT '87 and 2k3.

Also, Doug, despite all those changes in Disney's Doug, Doug's a show I will always like.

And The Legend Of Korra, I wasn't happy with what happened to Korra at the end of season 2 but I still think I'm gonna enjoy the future episodes.

As for Spongebob, I'm starting to not like it. I can't stand how Squidward always gets aggrivated about Spongebob being near him and annoying him. I would enjoy Spongebob if Squidward moved somewhere else and Spongebob stopped bothering him.

I have never done this before, but SPOILERS YOU F*CKING PIECE OF SH*T!

^^ Chill.
Even though I agree about the spoilers.

I just edited that text.

Doesn't help me, asshole.

Geez, overreact, much?


On topic, I felt that way about the last three seasons of Charmed. Once they started getting into all the mythical creatures, the gods, and all that stuff, I really lost interest.

Same goes for later seasons of Hercules and Xena.

It's funny because sometimes I thought those shows were a little too self-deprecating and irreverant at times, so when we got seasons that were much darker it tickled my fancy just a bit more. Loved the Dahak and Twilight of the Gods storylines.

Eat ALL the dicks, plz.

I'm gonna go ahead and call Sliders my all-time favorite show. And, as much as I disliked some of the decisions, I kind of just accepted them and rolled with it. I never wanted to stop watching, and a couple of my favorite episodes are in season 5.

But, generally speaking, I'll drop a show, if I don't like it. Or stop a Netflix movie 20 minutes in. I dropped The Big Bang Theory when all the girls came in and the dynamics changed. I drive my friend nuts because I dropped Firefly after 8 episodes of Firefly (which is half the series).

Totally. There were bits of the later seasons that were pretty good (I even like some post-Arturo eps in season three), pretty much the first half of season four is rock solid and five has three excellent episodes in a row at the start, then there's a bit of a lag in the middle, then picks up near the end.

No. As of late I find my self getting more and more annoyed with ******** with TV, movies or books. These mediums are an escape for me I shouldn't have to feel aggravated while trying to enjoy them. I especial;ly hate when I a character I like is given the shaft. Almost ruins it completely for me.

Charmned is a good example. Prue was written off in a cheap rushed manner and it pissed me off. She was my favorite, and season three left off on a cliff hanger. Then season four happens and I am left wondering if I missed an episode. I was so pissed off! Then I am introduced to Paige (who later become my favorite) and I am supposed to buy this new tiest they threw in to the mix?

I've got a few shows that I could end up takes stop watching cuz I just hate the way it's going...

The Simpsons : Used to love the show, all the characters used to be so lovable and fun story's, plus you could tell the characters cared about one another.

Pokemon : I dare you to watch X and Y :roll:

Scooby - Doo : Did Fred become the main character suddenly? What's with so much Fred / Daph romance these days? Takes away froma lot of the fun qualities it had :(

Phineas and Ferb : I mostly watch for Phinabella moments now, that sister is annoying and the Parry plot takes up a lot of the episode :ohwell:

Live Action...

Heroes : Claire's plot got old fast and she became more annoying as time went on. They didn't know what the heck to do with Sylar and Peter, they really missed out with that rivalry too. Funny thing, season one was great and season two was just ok after that :lol:

That's me though :P

Lost, season 1 and 2 were awesome, but by season 5 it got so silly!

I can, if I can still find appeal in the series, such as the Characters, writing and the stories. If i don't find that any of these are good, then i just give up watching the series.

It depends on the series to me. I did watch all of Heroes, but even I agree that after the whole carnival thing, it just got messed up. Hope the return of it won't be as bad and that they'll tie up some loose ends that weren't really addressed.

I'm not liking where Glee is going at the moment. The last episode had them losing Nationals and then Sue says the club is disbanded. I thought maybe she'd have a change of heart and decide to keep the club, but she didn't. And instead of Will fighting to keep it, he just sits there and accepts it. Lea Michele was on Live with Kelly and Michael, and she stated that season 6 will focus more on characters that are in New York and not on the glee club itself. So why have a show called Glee if you don't have a glee club? I'll finish off this season and check out season 6, but if I don't like it, I'm done. I hate to leave it because I've been such a fan of Glee from the beginning, but it seems like they've just lost their motivation to even keep it up. I think they should just end it after this season and be done honestly.

So, yeah, not happy at all with where they're taking it.

Depends on the show, of course. Smallville seasons 1-5 are basically an entirely different show than seasons 6-10. I didn't prefer the change but stuck with it.

Veronica Mars had to scrap their season-long-myserty in exchange for four mini-mysteries in the third season because the CW CEO wanted more jump in points for new viewers, and thats widely regarded as the worst season.

I preferred the simplicity of Beast Wars Season 1(and most of 2) before things got a little too crazy in Season 3.

I think everyone has the same feeling about TMNT 2K3 to Fast Forward...

Sometimes it shifts for the better, though. Buffy and Angel both took themselves a bit too seriously in the first season and found their footing in following seasons.

Most agree with you. But I absolutely love Season 6. Its my favourite season, beginning to end. Depressing as hell, yeah, but I thought it was fantastic.

It really does depend on the show. If I really like a certain aspect of it, I tend to stick with it until I just can't take it anymore.

Echoing others, Heroes came to mind. Loved the 1st season and thought the 2nd was ok, but I hated the 3rd and finally dropped it. I eventually went back and finished it after it had been cancelled, though. Similarly, I almost passed on the last HP book because of how much I hated book 6.

Sometimes it's a matter of how long I've been invested in said show/book series/etc. I'd been reading the Naruto manga since... oh goodness, 2001 maybe? While I'm admittedly a fair amount behind, I know I'll never actually drop it despite positively hating it for over half it's run by now. I stuck with it because I'd been reading it for so long, and I just kept hoping it would get better.

...and thinking about it, I guess the answer based on those examples is actually yes, yes I do subject myself to finishing things even if I come to a point where I can't stand them anymore. ^_^;; And now I'm seriously wondering why I do this to myself...

Supernatural and Dexter are guilty of this. Season 5 and 7 are decent despite some missteps. Season 6 was rather sloppy. Season 8 was okay until the finale, which may have been the most anticlimactic series finale in years.

How about if a character you like gets crapped on by the writers and starts being written in a way that you hate? Or they get the shaft for creative plot purposes. Does anyone have any examples of this happening in their favorite shows?

Even though I love Avatar the Last air bender I have to say I felt bad about Azula's final fate of losing her mind. It was well written and it was one hell of a way to have her character come full circle but at the same time I feel kind of bad the awsomeness that was her character got destroyed for the sake of the storyline. Though a bad guy she was hands down my favorite.

Yeah, I feel this way about Rachel Berry's sudden hate of Santana Lopez on Glee just because Santana auditioned to be Rachel's understudy. The two have been in a rivalry since then and though I thought said rivalry was finished, it cropped up again on "100" where they went at it again. I seriously hate the way they've made Rachel's character go back to her high school petty jealousy as it just diminishes her character and really makes me hate her.

Oh and I also want to add that I didn't like House's final season, so I stopped watching and then watched the series finale because I wanted to see how it all ended. Needless to say, I loved the ending.

I'd say Castiel on Supernatural. Great character in season 4 and 5, but post-apocolypse seasons... not so much.

Have you read the comics Promise and Search? This year The Rift three parter will be released and I think I heard it's the last one. Hopefully, because I don't like waiting.

Think of all the shows you've watched after fans say it has "jumped the shark". This shows that you still can enjoy it even if the quality has taken a turn for the worse. Whether its a new actor, a new character that's annoying, the death/disappearance of somebody, or a shift in tone from content to serious, it still is enjoyable provided that the writing is understandable and motivating, even if these changes can be annoying. In real life sometimes sudden shifts do in fact occur which lead to tragedy, and some series reflect such changes. But if the shift makes no sense and/or is boring (think a daytime drama), then its a good time to find something else.