Most Overrated tv shows ever - Television Hate thread

[Stardate]

Survivor is the best simply because it was the first. Well, of course you could say that technically it wasn't, because of shows like Real World, Cops, etc. But it was the first of the game show reality shows, which is really a seperate genre (to me) than the general reality shows that don't really have a competition element (such as Dirty Jobs, Real World, Cops, etc.). Survivor revolutionized television in a way that Big Brother, American Idol, The Bachelor, and other reality game shows did not. I've mentioned before that I would not call them reality shows (stupid misleading name) but instead "adventure game shows" or "dramatic game shows" or some such title.

Anyway, Survivor may not have been the first concept in this category, but it was the first that was well advertised, popular, and high profile. And it was actually made well, with a proper budget and amazing locations. It definitely changed the way I thought about TV.

Agree. Survivor needs separate genre from other lame cheap reality shows that usually don't live longer then 2-4 seasons. I have been a Survivor fan since first episode in Season 2(Australia) and i am looking forward to Survivor Tocantins, the upcoming eighteenth season of Thursday, February 12, and i will be watching.

 

[Neroon]

My list could go on forever. But I'll do a few and put a watch instead item.

Good idea. Puts a nice spin on the conversation and distinguishes it.

 

[Deckerd]

Tigh is a what?

People who put spoilers in stuff are jerks.

Tell me about it. BSG incontinence has been the worst I've seen for ever.

 

[Jim Steele]

Tigh is a what?

People who put spoilers in stuff are jerks.

Tell me about it. BSG incontinence has been the worst I've seen for ever.

It's been over two years. Tigh being a cylon (that's right, Tigh's a cylon - did I mention Tigh's a cylon?) is NOT a spoiler.

Oh yeah, Bad Wolf is Rose and Sheridan goes beyond the rim with Lorien.

 

[Deckerd]

I wasn't meaning that one in particular, but in any case it hasn't been two years, so get your facts right. I was meaning the total incontinence that has gushed since the final episodes started airing.

 

[Jim Steele]

I wasn't meaning that one in particular, but in any case it hasn't been two years, so get your facts right.

Ok, it's less than a month away from being two years*. I stand corrected (doesn't exactly diminish the point though).

I was meaning the total incontinence that has gushed since the final episodes started airing.

Where?



*Edit: Ok, just over a month. Either way, well over 18 months, so suck it. With the greatest respect, etc.

 

[Deckerd]

Everywhere, since you ask. In BSG forum they don't even pretend to care so keeping out is my only option. Even then people have posted spoilers in titles (before the mods have removed them) just to make sure if you look at 'most recent posts' you will get it anyway. Worse than that is people posting spoilers in completely unrelated forums, like TNZ. It stinks.

Sorry, off topic.

 

[Jim Steele]

I honestly hadn't noticed. Then again I'm actually managing to keep up this year,

 

[Pingfah]

Roslin dreamed the whole thing while Adama was in the shower.

 

[Deckerd]

They don't make 'em like that any more.

 

[Barbados Slim]

It's not a spoiler if the episode has aired. That's unwritten internet law. If you haven't seen it, that's your ass.

Now, back on target.

 

[TheMasterOfOrion]

'Lost' without doubt ranks as one of the most over-rated of all time
we should settle this with a poll

We've lost one of our best tv critics

RIP jumptheshark dot com, it jumped
check out its watered down criticism of 'Lost'

Jumpthesharks Lost url re-directs to tv guide Lost Analysis

 

[Stardate]

delete

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

The Cosby Show- I had a chance to watch some episodes from a few different seasons lately and it is amazing how much of that show is just unwatchable now. The characters are cardboard; the dialogue is cringe-inducing; children are presented as morons; old people are sweet doddering simpletons who only tell stories about the old days(well that one might be true). The shows attempts to try and be "hip to the kids" were just pathetic.

Will and Grace- It became Hollywood's official gay show so critics fawned over it, but at its best the show was only cute and mildly funny. The Jack and Karen characters were so one-note that if you saw them for five minutes you saw everything they did for the whole show.

Everybody Loves Raymond- Everyone seems to think this show was light and fluffy, but I always thought the opposite. Maybe I can relate too much to having a mother like that, but I always felt this show was about very dysfunctional, unhappy people who pretended to get along on the surface, but really couldn't stand each other.

Larry Sanders- Never really got the appeal of this show. I guess it appealed to people who are fascinated by the idea that what goes on in front of the camera and what goes on behind the camera are very different.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I can't say I really give a shit about any shows I don't like. I find I don't like them? I stop watching. The ones that bother me are ones I like, and then deteriorate in to utter shash and I keep watching because I want them to get better.
24, Voyager, Enterprise, Heroes, for example.

 

[Top41]

The Simpsons

It's not funny. It's never been funny. It never will be funny.

I know I'm in the minority on this one! I hate Homer Simpson so much, and I think "d'oh!" is perhaps the dumbest expression in the English language.

 

[Angel4576]

3
Buffy/Angle - terrible shows
4
Sex in the City

I've heard of Buffy, but I'm not sure about "Angle"
Also is "Sex in the City" anything to do with "Sex and the City"?

I believe that this was the original/alternative title for what is now known as Numb3rs. They wanted something 'math' and they eventually decided that 'Angle' was a bit to obtuse, compared to the ultra straight-forward and literal 'Numb3rs'......

Disagree with Battlestar, and disagree with Dexter. The rest though, yeah, I can go with that.

 

[TheMasterOfOrion]

The Simpsons

Simpsons is weird, I used to hate it. But its kinda like having an old mongrel mutt come into the house. No mater how much you want to keep disliking it, the thing becomes part of your life, your memory. Simpsons grows on you over the years and you end up loving its jokes and the characters even if the show is highly over-rated

 

[Jono]

Seinfeld - The show about nothing never really got me interested. I didn't really like the characters and found Jerry fairly annoying.

Underbelly - It's weird, its meant to be the most popular show on Aust TV but I don't know one person who actually watches the show. Tried to watch the first season but found it a bore.

Battlestar - I was into it at the start but it grew old fairly quickly and it not coming back did not upset me at all.

Sex and the City - Can't stand it or its actors. Though I am not the demographic the show is aimed at.

Reno programs - they must rate well as there are dozens going at any one time. I just don't care about how they built a new deck or the fantastic wood they used. If I get someone to do renos for me I'm not going to watch them in real life so why would I want to see it on TV?

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

How does one measure "overrated" - by the number of people who consider it better than it is, or by the intensity with which a relatively small audience insists on its greatness?

I'm guessing that most folks are leaning toward the latter - Seinfeld excepted - because of listing shows like Angel.

In the latter case, Angel is probably one. By far the most overrated, overpraised cult TV series by a small but dedicated fanbase is Babylon 5. One fair measure of that is the degree to which the base maintains loyalty to it and fairly high visibility without the popularity of the thing actually substantially growing over the years. Early on there was the usual expectation that people would "discover" the show in reruns, DVD etc. Despite anecdotal "evidence" ("I got hooked on it in reruns, and so did my girlfriend") there's no "Trek effect" going on with the property at all. By its nature the show had a limited appeal and continues to have a limited appeal.

It's hard to think of what would constitute an overrated popular hit - a network show that pulls big numbers - because for one thing the percentage of the audience that continues to praise a really successful show highly tends to diminish over the (usually) lengthy run of the series. Fan perception and reality usually meet somewhere in the middle - with a show like E.R. for example. It's hard to say that Friends was overrated because the show never had much appeal amongst what passes for the TV intelligentia. M*A*S*H, maybe? Nah; at worst that series is a little overrated by a lot of people.

The criteria are a bit fuzzy.

I can't speak to Seinfeld from experience because I underrated it during most of its run - pretty much ignored it - and when I came around to watching it enjoyed it a lot despite my reflexive antipathy to all the praise it had received. Same with Farscape when I finally watched it with some concentration instead of picking it up occasionally.