When You Give Up On A Series...

[pmottaz]

Everyone anywhere near a television or movie screen in the last 20 years understands the term "jump the shark," but it seems to me that many of those people are like me--even though we recognize the best years are behind us, we still stay loyal to the series.

I just finished getting through the first season of "Battlestar Galactica," and while I've been puzzling over whether to continue or jump to something else, I started to wonder what other series I've stuck with through to the end, and what series I've just said, "That's enough."

I was on board with "Alias" from very early on, caught the early episodes on re-runs, but left it in the early part of the 4th season. The show had never really gotten any better since the second-season cliffhanger, and the direct comparisons to its same-night buddy "Lost" were not helping matters.

On that note, I'm still on board with "Lost," if for no other reason than the fact that they've set an end date. At least I know what I'm getting into and for how long.

I never saw the end of "X-Files," and I don't know what I'm missing, if anything.

I saw all the Star Wars movies, but I know some who either gave up after Episode I, or managed to not try the prequels at all. I have one friend who dropped out of Harry Potter (the books, mind you) after the 3rd one, and on and on and on.

So what about you? What are some series you felt compelled to see all the way through, and what are some others which made you say, "Aw, screw this" and leave in the middle? It could be books, TV, movies, comics, anything.

[Gene George]

Twenty-fucking-Four I just got tired of it in the middle of season three maybe?

[Ian Brill]

I'm not a big Star Wars fan so I after seeing Episode I I never saw the other prequels.

I still like The Simpsons but I haven't considered it appointment television for a few years. I have seen some new episodes on Hulu and has a few chuckles, though.

With Battlestar Galactica I watches the DVDs for Season 1 and Season 2.0 but never bothered with anything else. Honestly, with like a lot of thing I gave up on, it's just a matter of my attention being caught by something else. Well, that and none of the characters really thrilled me (except maybe the English dude).

[MikeHilinski]

Lost. I forgot which season it was. But when the black priest guy got slammed to death by the cloud, I clocked out.

Then when I heard they had offed the heroin hobbit, there was no chance for return.

[scamboogah]

I'm fairly stubborn when it comes to tv, and I've been known to stick with a show for as long as they put it on no matter what.

One exception was the show 'Bad Girls' on Oxygen. After watching the first two episodes, I thought it was the greatest thing that's ever been televised, but then they kicked the crazy drunk girl off (and they kind of had to, for her safety and everyone else's) and the show just became this dull, predictable mess. I still gave it about 5 more episodes, but then checked out for good.

Lost came real damn close a couple of years ago. For awhile, they were asking about 10 questions each episode and answering about 1 every month if you were lucky. There were discussions about abandoning ship, but I'm really glad that I didn't.

[isoS]

Alias got so fucking bad I had to stop. In retrospect I can't believe I stuck with it for as long as I did (three or four seasons? I know it started turning into the Da Vinci Code and/or a Tomb Raider movie by the time I stopped). In fact, the show was doomed as soon as they pulled the rug out from under the original "double life" premise of a college girl moonlighting as a spy (ie. when all her "regular" friends turned out to be spies).

[isoS]

Oh, I also watched 90210 all the way through the college years, but could not handle seeing the gang enter adult life (yes, there was a season -- maybe even two -- after college). The original cast was decimated, and the whole show was adrift in bad ideas (Steve runs a newspaper! Kelli and Donna open a clothing store!) and overcooked romantic subplots.

[Cameron]

I am currently really close to giving up on Weeds. I'll probably stick it out the rest of the season, but if it doesn't improve quite a bit by the end of the finale then I won't be back for season 5.

[dan telfer]

I gave up on Simpsons about 5 years ago after much dedication.

I am giving up on Dexter. Season 1 was so great and Season 2 was so bad, I don't have any faith in Season 3.

God how I wish I bailed on Six Feet Under during the second to last season. The last 1.5 seasons were so, so horrible.

Big Love took about 4 episodes.

Finally gave up on American Idol last season. Didn't watch a single episode. It had become both boring and a train wreck at the same time.

[Embiggen]

Heroes lost me somewhere during Hiro's ancient Japan adventure. The show was always ridiculous, but the second season took it to a new level. It also didn't help that the overall tone of the show did a 180 from the first season.

Really I should have given up in season one as soon as a time-traveling hero was introduced, because I should have realized the writers would have to do an unsatisfying dance around the fact that his power should supersede all others, since he can always go back in time to before anything bad ever happens and easily prevent it.

[darrylduffy]

God how I wish I bailed on Six Feet Under during the second to last season. The last 1.5 seasons were so, so horrible.

good to know. i got 3 seasons in and just sorta quit.

[squeek]

The Office (US). I was completely on board the first two seasons of it, but now it's stale and far too silly in a very bad way.

[smartbunny]

The X-Files. After Mulder left, I couldn't care less.

[man124]

I also gave up on heroes. However, for me it was the Claire and that guy are all romantic and instead of using her powers to do anything entertaining, they decided to fuck with another cheerleader.

Also, I gave up on veronica mars after season 2, but not because I didn't like it. I was watching it on dvd and I heard that there was no forth season and the third season ended with a severe cliffhanger. I still think it is one of my favorite shows of all time though.

The show Greek was another one, although I doubt anyone her watched it. I loved every part of the show, except for the gay guy. I mean there are only so many times that a character can learn that he only needs to worry about his own opinion of himself. But apparently the writers disagree, as he learned that lesson literally every episode. I am considering going back to that show as I heard that it got better during the second season.

[karyrogers]

Twenty-fucking-Four I just got tired of it in the middle of season three maybe?

24 does get a bit repetitive in the sense of HOW EXTREME CAN IT GO?! But season 3 was my favorite, it was the first time I truly felt nobody was safe. Characters that had been on multiple seasons were in danger and with most shows you say "they won't kill that character." But after the intense shit that went down during that season, you could not know if someone would live or die and if you cared about the character it was compelling television.

I liked Medium and Crossing Jordan at first but Medium never went anywhere and Crossing Jordan dropped the story lines that I found interesting. They were removed from the Season Pass.

As a kid on Saturday mornings I woke up early to watch the Smurfs. It was a great start to 6 hours of cartoon watching. And I stuck with it when they introduced Baby Smurf. And I stuck with it when Father Time's clock created the Smurflings. I could even tolerate when Grandpa Smurf showed back up years after skipping out on everybody to travel around the world to find himself. But what I could not stomach, my friends, was the lame-ass time crystals in season 9. What was that? I don't know and that's when me and the Smurfs parted ways.

[Cameron]

I
God how I wish I bailed on Six Feet Under during the second to last season. The last 1.5 seasons were so, so horrible.

I can't believe I just read that.

SFU is undoubtedly my favorite show of all-time and can't fathom how someone can be displeased with the final season. The way the show ended and how everything led up to it was damn near perfect.

Admittedly season 4 was the series' weakest, but it was still by no means bad. And it included one of the most intense hours of television in "That's My Dog."

[derekthedrummer]

The Simpsons stopped being always interesting right about the turn of the century for me. The first two seasons were a little shaky, by the third they were consistently funny and occasionally heartwarming, 4th through 9th is freaking gold. If I were to send one thing on a satellite for alien cultures to see it would be 4th through 9th season. Season 10 is kind of inconsistent and everything since has just seemed like a parade of mediocre celebrities, sideshow bob rehashes, and pointless tangents with half hour episodes devoted to Comic Book Guy (jeff alberston, if you're as big a nerd as me) or Disco Stu, who was introduced as a one note joke, that's what was funny!! Don't do a show for these punchlines. Sorry, I digress.
The only other shows that jumped the shark for me were Family Guy, which I still tune into regularly I just don't hold out the hope that I did before the series renewal and Sealab 2021 who dropped off in the middle of 3rd season (how do you come back from murphy's voice dying anyway?) and whose 4th season was just painful.
My wife also was an obsessive X Files fan and tells me all the time about how it jumped the shark in the middle of the 5th season.

[Hated Milk Machine]

Entourage is a dumb, dumb show for dumb, dumb people, but I watch it anyway JUST TO HATE IT.

[Cameron]

Entourage is a dumb, dumb show for dumb, dumb people, but I watch it anyway JUST TO HATE IT.

Superficial? Yes. Dumb? Not really.

[rabbitandox]

Alias blew my mind in the first season, but it got pretty dumb as soon as the second season started. Once they took down Sd-6, it became completely pointless, but I still watched every freaking episode until the end. Somehow I couldn't give up, so I kept hoping it would get cancelled so I wouldn't have to watch it anymore.

I'll never be able to give up on The Simpsons, even though it has lost its soul. (Earlier today I was watching the episode where they go to the beach and Lisa "forgets" to pack so she can reinvent herself, and I was nearly in tears by the end.) I guess I don't mind watching a soulless comedy as long it still has some good jokes, which it does.

Gilmore Girls jumped at the beginning of the 4th season, despite a couple of good eps at the end of that season when Jess returned and Luke/Lorelai started dating. The reason for the jump might be that Rory separated from Lorelai to go to Yale, but I attribute it more specifically to an attempt to make Rory "grow up." Unfortunately, GG's idea of growing up was to become shallow and materialistic, rather than wordly and intellectual. However, I stuck with the imitation Rory until the 7th season, when it became too soap-opera-like to be watchable.