Your biggest TV disappointments?

[VanyaHargreeves]

For me I watch American shows almost exclusively so it's

Heroes

A near perfect first season, hit badly by the writers strike the following year and just never recovered.

Lost

The final season. Invested so hard in this show and the last series is just hours of them wandering about in the jungle with torches to reveal what you suspected in series 1

*House Of Cards
*
So great when it started.
Obviously the production was put in a no win situation by Kevin Spacey, but even making allowances for that the last season may be one of the worst series of TV I've EVER seen. Total nonsense and an absolutely shit ending.

Game Of Thrones

I was a DIE HARD fan of this series, and not even I can defend HOW bad the final series was. They just threw away everything they spent years building story wise for shock value and spectacle. Unforgivable. It was obvious that the showrunners had tapped out, and they should've passed it on rather than run it in to the ground.

Anyone else?

Another vote for Sanditon. I forced myself to watch it to the end as I thought the hours of boredom would be made up for by a nice romantic ending, but the ending wasn't romantic and was utterly unrewarding. Feel like I've wasted hours of my life.

24 - the first series was good because it was different and new. I didn't watch from series two onwards.

Homeland - I lost interest after series 3. A new series starts in January 2020.

GOT for all the reasons mentioned - so disappointing I was genuinely gutted.

Scandal - I watched every episode but the last three series were rubbish.

Can't think of anything else.

Omg how could I forget The Affair - I've watched every single episode but this final series is absolutely rubbish. But I'm gonna have to watch until the final episode.

Lost.
Furious I was/am.
Complete waste of my fucking time and effort.
Livid.
How dare they, who the fuck do they think they are wasting my precious time like that?
Fuming.

What about Home fires. I really enjoyed that then they just didn't do another series and left us hanging on several storylines.
The Royal was rubbish I know but the same thing happened there. Gordon was rushed to surgery and it was touch and go! We will never know if he lived or died !

Another vote for Gilmore Girls. I got Netflix just to watch it. (And now still have Netflix.)

Also Homeland. DH has stuck with it but I can't stand it now. The storylines are just nonsense.

Also Orange is the New Black season 5 (the riot one) was just dreadful. I enjoyed the last season though so it redeemed itself. Glad I stuck with it.

So many to reply to!

@Fantababy @pinksparkleunicorns

Where to start really?!

The community musical

The lengthy unfunny homage to the film Wild

Shoehorning in cameos from LGs various pals

Lack of Paris

Lack of Lane

The weirdness with Melissa McCarthy, it made absolutely no sense that Sookie wasn't there and there was obvious awkward politics going on behind the scenes

The politics that the Palladinos didn't write the final series and so basically ignored it

The only thing I did think on reflection DID work was that Rory was awful as an adult

When everyone around you tells you you are the most perfect girl and your grandparents clear your path financially at the point of asking of course you will grow up to be an aimless hideous adult

But altogether it had absolutely none of the charm the original was loved for and the only character that was written well was Emily.

@NurseButtercup

I haven't yet watched the last series of The Affair - I've read the concept and I was like errrmm no I don't think so

That's a show that should've stopped with one series.

24 - I think 24 had an odds and evens rule.

Seasons with odd numbers 1,3,5 tended to be good and the next poor, but it definitely overstayed its welcome

Scandal - I too watched it all, but when it veered from her "fixing" to her parents and secret spy shit.... the thing is a lot of that borrowed heavily from the JJ Abrams series Alias. Almost plagiarism with similarity.
All the actors were so great it covered for the shonky writing at times

Oh and a positive one

Why didn't BBC renew The Crimson Field the nurses in World War One it was SO good and gone after one series

I was disappointed they cancelled the excellent Home Fires too.

@VanyaHargreeves - re Rob Lowe & Bradley Whitford, I looked them up. BW is only 5 years older than RL! I didn't mind his appearance at first as it helped me stop thinking "Josh" when he appeared in The Handmaid's Tale. Then one episode he made an ironic remark that was so Josh, it was jarring.

Homeland - first series was absolutely brilliant real edge of your seat tv I think having to wait to watch it built up the anticipation. Second series was very good then it went rapidly downhill

The Affair first two series were fantastic and we found out what happened that night we didn’t need to know anymore and to add annoying characters (French woman in particular)

I liked Fortitude it really scared me second series was utter pants

@VanyaHargreeves I think Melissa McCarthy was busy contracted today film something else so she literally only had a few hours to film for the year in the life show.

Agree with your summary though, but would like to add the stupid letter? Apparently Lorlei wrote Emily a horrid letter or something but Lorlei denied she ever wrote it... this went round in circles for ages and then was forgotten.
Rory meeting with that random woman in London with the aim of writing a book for her. But they then fell it and then the woman was forgotten.
Rory has turned into an evil heartless bitch. Treating Paul like shit. Beyond shit, treating him dreadfully. Having an affair with Logan?

Lane was just back working at her mums shop. Zero development past this.

The weird musical interlude from the rich Yale boys? That added nothing to the storyline?

Yes @pinksparkleunicorns

Thats what was awkward!

They announced that Melissa wouldn't be in it because she was too busy

And then she hit back and basically said

They didn't ask me and i would have done it if they had.

👀

So then they squeezed in a cameo because it was too late to change the schedule

Embarrassing all round

I didn't know that @VanyaHargreeves. I actually wish they hadn't done the revival at all.

Was the letter the letter that Lorelei wrote as a teenager when she left home?

Forgot about Homeland - totally agree.

I'm of the generation known as "old". I was a major fan of all things sci-fi, and could easily forgive the crappy graphics, and scenery that looked like solid walls but wobbled. Blake's 7 was renowned for that.

And I watched X-Files and Buffy. And none of the plot holes or glitches bothered me at all.

But it was Lost that was the final straw. Good heavens, they had about two years to wrap up the whole story, and we got crap.

I did try watching a recent noir detective series recently, but the tropes were immediately recognisable: two detectives from different forces having to team up over a murder victim that conveniently was found exactly across the border; older male with an anguished past, and a young female newly promoted.

I've never been able to invest any energy in TV fiction since then. The only fiction I now like is Big Finish audioplays. Partly because if it's Dr Who then the fans will absolutely criticise any diversion from canon; and partly because the other stuff is so well scripted, as it needs to be where there's no long, lingering cinematography (and actors don't mumble).

I always think most American series are dragged out a series too far.

I also like series with a different story line each one. When they start getting a story or a running theme every time I get bored .

Buffy - I know people will pearl grasp at this but I got fed up with the 'potentials' and feel they ruined Willow's character. I liked the sweet geek that she was and then she ended up a murderous super witch.

Sherlock - agree about the Mary storyline. Again the one off episodes at the beginning were far superior.

Silent Witness - agree with PP. I'm generally easily pleased and will ignore most plot fails/unbelievable-ness (that's not a word is it?) but Emilia Fox running around houses being shot at - even I said 'oh come on!'. I know they have to jazz it up a bit but she seems to head for life threatening situations. Surely that job would be mainly very mundane with a lot of paperwork 😂

I enjoyed the first few episodes of Sherlock, even though I am not too keen on Martin Freeman’s style of acting (talking quickly whilst looking around a lot. Must have gone to the same drama classes as Olivia Colman..).

But it went so far up it’s own arse with incomprehensible storylines, ‘plot twists’ , being too clever for the sake of trying to be clever etc, I just gave up with it.

I think having a limit on the number of series one character can be in might be an idea. It seems that in general the first two or three series of a programme are good, then, the writers seem to think they must go one step further all the time to keep the characters progressing, it quickly falls in to either characters becoming caricatures of themselves or plot lines becoming too far fetched.

How I Met Your Mother was awful. Truly awful. Also thought that the ending to The Big Bang Theory was naff.

I’m still annoyed about the ridiculous ending to Marcella series 1, and also The Missing.

I think I’m the only one who doesn’t mind the how I met your mother ending

The way I saw it was, Ted wanted children, Robin didn’t therefore they couldn’t really be together.

Ted then gets his kids with his wife Tracey who tragically passes away years later.

He is then free to pursue Robin as a potential wife because he has the children he wanted and can still have Robin.

Oh I forgot to mention, Robin wanted to travel around the world as a news anchor which was why her marriage to barney failed.

She was ready to settle down the time Ted was looking for a new relationship so neither of them had to compromise

John Doe
Totally hooked on it from the first episode. Couldn't wait to see it each week then it had a completely rushed, rubbish cliffhanger type ending that made absolutely no sense.
I still can't look at Dominic Purcell without feeling rage and thinking how many hours of my life I wasted on it.

Home Fires and The Crimson Path, What were the channels thinking, certainly not the viewers
How dare ITV cancel Home Fires on that brilliant cliffhanger, bastards, it had a truly great cast of actresses and actors, showing life in the UK during a terrible time, the strength of women, excellent moving storyline, and the theme music was wonderful, thank goodness the writer has continued the story in book form, but in this year marking the start of World War 2 it would have been good timing to have a Christmas special, but itv would rather spend money on crap! I am still raging about it.