I agree. I mean, I've more or less given up on all of them for this very reason. And I stuck with Smallville through the bitter end. Because even once it became as bland as hospital food, at least they still made the mashed potatoes with fresh spuds.
Here's the thing though, Buffy is itself extremely formulaic. But I think because it's such a thematically driven show that you don't notice it nearly as much - even if you're not a pretentious d-bag like me with a pathological need to dissect every little ounce of subtext and symbolism.
It's like using the same artificial Christmas tree, but each year you decorate it with a whole new set of ornaments and trimmings. The DCW shows, however, all have the same trees each with its own box of decorations labeled 'Arrow', 'Flash,' 'Supergirl' etc. And the just reuse the same boxes year after year. Though sometimes, when they want to get really crazy, they mix and match. And to extend the analogy to what I was saying before, the focus is no longer about having a family tree but building an entire nativity scene. And to that end, it works great. Those big crossover events are always amazing. The problem is they've become the main focus of the franchise and all the individual shows suffer for it.
