Why do so many TV dramas start off well then degenerate into a wet fart?

[BuckyBarnesArm]

Latest is Close To Me. Ridiculous. The Tower also ended ridiculously.

DUPED into watching stuff with good first episodes and then FORCED to watch them through because I have no life til the soggy arsed end. Or am I just fussy?

I hear you. Haven't watched either of those but have you been watching Angela Black on Sundays? It's the last episode this Sunday and I'm hoping the finale doesn't disappoint.

The tower has so annoyed me,

I know, it's like the writers haven't progressed from school when you had to write a story and either got fed up or ran out of time and had to rush the ending

I tend to stop watching if I think it’s still promising and not delivering, so you don’t waste hours. I often stop watching a series after Series 1.

But The Tower got me, waited for the big plot twist and there wasn’t really one.

Just finished the chestnut man on netflix. Really great watch all the way. I really enjoyed it and i usually dont watch non english speaking shows

The quality of TV writing has absolutely plummeted in recent years. I found myself unable to watch anything on ITV several years ago other than the soaps. Now I can’t even watch them.

Completely agree! Show Trial was really promising but so many threads left undone, really unsatisfying by the final ep.
Enjoyed Ridley Road though, that was strong from start to finish.

Joining thread on the sheer strength of the title alone.

I really think they've just run out of ideas
And YES, very much like school story writing, when you just couldn't be arsed finishing it.

Foreign dramas do seem better quality on the whole: agree Chestnut Man was good.

It's like they play that game where one starts a story, folds the page over and passes it to the next, who also writes a part, passes it on etc

Final part is written by a self published author with no self-editing and delusions of grandeur.

@MondeoFan

I hear you. Haven't watched either of those but have you been watching Angela Black on Sundays? It's the last episode this Sunday and I'm hoping the finale doesn't disappoint.

Haha, I thought OP was talking about Angela Black 🙈

Yep Show Trial was another one. Good first episode then spiralled into clichéd shart territory

Oh yes. Bloody Hollington Drive. Most ITV dramas are hyped up for weeks prior to them starting, then turn out to be rubbish.

I couldn't get past the first 20 mins of Hollington Drive.

Yep Hollington Drive. Hollington Drivel more like

What I've found with US TV dramas is that they brig in amazing directors to do the first few episodes, then someone else goes the rest. The difference is often staggering.

I noticed it mostly in True Blood. That first series (directed I think by Alan Ball) was SPECTACULAR... then I hated series 2.

Different directors seem to create different moods and atmospheres.

Started watching Hellington Drivel on the strength of Anna Maxwell Martin but even she couldn't save it, sadly

I agree op.
I've been watching Angela Black and it's quite ridiculous. I will watch the final episode but it had better be good (doubtful).

This is a definite thing and needs to be addressed. Good thread.

I must admit, Albert, that I watched True Blood to the bitter end but mostly for Eric

I think they just run out of ideas and can’t be arsed any more. It’s rubbish when you get really into something and it is amazing then just deflates down to a shitty ending!

Yeah some seem to start really well and reel you in. It's the sets, the actors, the clothes etc ... But really there isn't a story and so no ending.

Stranger things sadly went the way of total arse gravy.

They come up with one good idea that entices you to watch but then realise they don’t actually have a plot. The first couple of episodes set up an intriguing premise. How can this be resolved? Answer: it can’t but hey, you’re all watching now.

@NigellaSeed

Stranger things sadly went the way of total arse gravy.

I gave up Stranger Things after season 2 as I just knew it would be downhill after that.