What are you NOT watching?

[Fazor]

Inspired by the fact that I'm stuck here with 'Make it or Break it' on tv. In fairness, Tara was going to spare me but I said it was fine since I was on the laptop anyway.

We have a lot of threads about things we like to read, or movies and television we enjoy watching. But me? I like to complain, dag'nabbit! So what about television shows we absolutely cannot stand. I don't just mean bad -- many of us already think the *majority* of television is bad. I want to know what everyone thinks is the cream of the crap. The sultans of stink. The Brittany Spearses of the tube.

I have three that Tara watches that I absolutely hate. The aformentioned 'Make it or Break it' is one. Like the title, it's contrived. It's poorly written and even more poorly acted. And worst of all, it's a high-school girl drama!

Yet this is the least offending of the three. The other two are probably a tie. She watches 'Toddlers in Tiaras' which litterally enrages me at how most of those parents are completely screwing up their kids. She thinks these little three and four year olds throwing "Diva tantrums!" is funny; it's like she doesn't understand that these are the exact kids that end up being the self-important, obnoxious, entitled wastes that plague our youth. She says "Yeah, but their not my kids" -- she doesn't seem to make the connection that we still end up having to deal with them every day. Argh!!! And the parents! I can't even talk about them without getting myself banned here . . .

The second is 'Ghost Whisperer', which thankfully has been on hiatus for a while. Bad acting. Repeatative plots. Bad acting. Shallowness of character. Bad acting. Repeatativeness. Bad acting. It's repeatative. And the acting is bad. I hope I got my point across! UGH!

Okay, I feel a little better now. And likely there's someone out here that likes one or more of these shows. Don't worry; I won't hold it against you! (Or I secretly will, but really, what does *my* opinion matter?)

So what shows do you all hate?

[LaurelHS]

Ghost Whisperer isn't on hiatus, it's cancelled. I hope this news doesn't upset you...

[danscope]

Some stuff on television is simply poisonous. Do we really need csi ...(you fill in the city ) and soap opera ?
Oh welcome, welcome Public Television .
Frankly , I can enjoy a good book, and often listen to Pandora ...which I can program myself and screen that which I dislike. Maybe we should do that with television .

Dan

[Solfe]

I stopped watching Caprica and Stargate Universe. They both had the potential to be good, but didn't get there fast enough for me. Neither was horrible, just not good enough to keep me coming back.

I watched some of Dual Survival in the hopes it would have ended like the Donner Party. No luck; I will never get those 15 minutes back.

My wife forces me to facebook while she watches Dr. G, Medical Examiner. Dr. G autopsies blur, someone has to do it I guess.

Solfe

[Fazor]

Ghost Whisperer isn't on hiatus, it's cancelled. I hope this news doesn't upset you...

You've just made my year. Thank you.

[Swift]

She watches 'Toddlers in Tiaras' which litterally enrages me at how most of those parents are completely screwing up their kids.

The only time I've seen any of it is from bits on The Soup, but even those bits are beyond creepy. Its like watching child molestation in action.

I can't abide any of the the "Real Housewives" shows, though my wife likes to watch them sometimes. "Get a life" doesn't even come close to what any of those women need.

[Atraveller]

So what shows do you all hate?

Aside from virtually any fiction (shallow, repetative plots have already been mentioned, but any show where some one is murdered is going to be derivative...) the worst crap on the tube has to be the "Reality" shows - suvivor, idol, dancing, apprentice, and the big one here in OZ is masterchef - could there possibly something more mindless than a reality survivor style cooking show?

You!! Off My Island!!!

[Spoons]

Aw haw haw haw - island, like in the kitchen. I get it!

Yeah, I avoid all that reality stuff. And the tv shows.

The annoying housemate loves all those reality shows, like the Tori Spelling one (wow, rich girl has rough day, has to buy new earrings for the babyshower - interesting!), Jersey Shore, or is it Jersey Boys? (hairy guys ham up their ethnicity - jeez, that's so interesting. Wait, no, I mean tedious), Friends and Will & Grace (lobotimized studio audiences rock! those two get bonus points because they're repeated endlessely and no matter how many times the episodes air they MUST be watched every time - more of a beef with the housemate, I guess).

There are too many to rattle off actually. That's why I pay for Foxtel here - even though there's only 1 in a hundred shows I want to watch at least that means I can usually find one thing I like.

[Atraveller]

There are too many to rattle off actually. That's why I pay for Foxtel here - even though there's only 1 in a hundred shows I want to watch at least that means I can usually find one thing I like.

You forgot "two and a half men" which never seems to end.... and I think the boy is bigger than Charlie Sheen...

[Noclevername]

At this point I'm regularly not watching any show that doesn't start with "Myth" and end with "Busters".

[Spoons]

Can't wait for the exciting comeback of MythDarma and Gregbusters!

[vonmazur]

Waiting for House. Watching Beisbol...Atlanta Braves, Avoiding things like Ghost Hunters which has to be the worst example a pareidolia in the universe..

Dale

[The Backroad Astronomer]

Let us wave our electrical detectors around a house with wires and jump to least likely thing it could be.

[Buttercup]

I agree with you, Fazor, regarding the shows you've criticized; have never watched them but have seen advertisements. We're 10 years solid into "reality TV" and I still don't understand the appeal of it. While working in offices I'd had enough of dramas and petty stuff; who wants to go home and watch it on TV too?

Basically we stick to History Channel, Discover, TVLand, American Movie Classics, Weather Channel, Tru TV [particularly like "Forensic Files" and similar], CNN and MSN. Gameshows "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune." Mostly serious stuff.

[Larry Jacks]

What am I not watching? Well, for starters, anything about vampires. After Buffy ended, I just don't care anymore. Second, I don't watch anything on network TV because I have not found anything worth my time.

Lately, I've enjoyed watching the old World at War series on the Military Channel. That, along with Mythbusters and The Deadliest Catch* are about it.

*I spent a year in the Aleutians. The weather was vile. That men go out in those waters in small fishing boats is something I can appreciate. I've never looked at crab in a restaurant the same way after watching that show.

[Swift]

We're 10 years solid into "reality TV" and I still don't understand the appeal of it.

Me three. I also find ironic that they are for the most part less realistic than fictional shows. From what I understand, many are so edited or otherwise manipulated, if not flat out scripting, that they really are fiction.

I'm still waiting for a realistic reality show, with people working boring jobs, going to the bathroom, stuck in traffic, looking into the refrigerator wondering what to make for dinner, etc., etc.

[Buttercup]

'Toddlers in Tiaras' which litterally enrages me at how most of those parents are completely screwing up their kids. She thinks these little three and four year olds throwing "Diva tantrums!" is funny; it's like she doesn't understand that these are the exact kids that end up being the self-important, obnoxious, entitled wastes that plague our youth. She says "Yeah, but their not my kids" -- she doesn't seem to make the connection that we still end up having to deal with them every day. Argh!!!

Another comment: I totally agree with you here as well. Awhile back I had to (briefly) deal with a woman about my own age, who apparently had been very spoiled and indulged as a child. She was like dealing with a bratty passive-aggressive 10 year old, constantly. Unfortunately she was also the head-honcho's wife. In fiction she'd be "a colorful character," fun to hate and lampoon, good for a laugh. But this was real life and she was a total pain; I'm rarely tempted to violence, but did once think of popping her in the nose. Judging by others' reactions, they felt the same way. Fortunately my association was voluntary and I soon departed; thank goodness it was not a workplace situation (although I think she'd have been fired).

[closetgeek]

Reality shows and gossip shows make my skin crawl. I don't even have the dead raccoon on the side of the road-type morbid curiousity to watch a day in the life of some famous person reality shows. The absolute worst, IMHO, are the 'way to many kids for a set of parents to possibly be able to handle' and counting shows. I am sorry your life is chaotic, I am really sorry that your house isn't big enough...STOP HAVING KIDS!

[Spoons]

These types you just mentioned are candidates for the first human farms.

"Ol' Bessie here has had one hundred and sickty twoooo!"

[TJMac]

I have a few basic rules, with rare exceptions. If it has a laugh track, its not watched. If it's about "real" people living life, I don't watch it, I dont care if you are a midget, or have too many kids, or live in the playboy mansion. Any show that keeps complaining about a "deadline", to finish something, not watched.

I saw preview the other day for some "chef" show, with one guy's face inches away from another's, screaming at him. Real world, I would head butt that guy in a second, and probably stomp him when he went down.

I am really, really getting tired of "we hunt serial killer" shows. That's not entertainment, in reality, that is sick and terrifying stuff. Remind me again why it is entertaining to watch people being killed and tortured?

And WifeSwap.... good grief. Words fail me.

"What would you do?" Another stupid, imo, show.


I am about down to only watching Dr. Who.

[Fazor]

I am really, really getting tired of "we hunt serial killer" shows. That's not entertainment, in reality, that is sick and terrifying stuff. Remind me again why it is entertaining to watch people being killed and tortured?

We started watching 'Criminal Minds' last season (and caught up on most of the older season(s?) through re-runs.) I liked it at first because the cast is good (IMHO), but I have a very hard time watching the graphic depictions of violence. I'm getting more and more tired of being reminded that, while relatively rare (serial killers), these kinds of murders happen as isolated incidents every day.

I saw preview the other day for some "chef" show, with one guy's face inches away from another's, screaming at him. Real world, I would head butt that guy in a second, and probably stomp him when he went down.

Sounds like Gordon Ramsey's 'Hell's Kitchen'. I like a lot of cooking competition shows, but not for the competition 'drama'. For the food. I get a lot of neat ideas on stuff to make or try, and I also enjoy mentally playing along to the challenges and coming up with dishes I'd make. Hell's Kitchen, however, is not a show I even remotely enjoy. It went from mildly entertaining to a once-a-week, hour-long swear-fest as the "hardass" Gordon faces off against over-inflated egos of the contestants. Cooking is incidental; it could be a knitting competition at this point and I don't think a viewer would notice.

The sad thing here is, Gordon really does (or did?) have a great personality. I loved the 'Kitchen Nightmares' series -- when it was a British show. He was still "Mr Tough Love", but he never yelled or screamed at anyone who didn't need it, and you could see he honestly cared about helping these restaurant owners to turn their businesses around. When they brought the show over to the states, in typical US style, they decided that stupid Americans just want (manufactured) drama and swearing. It was immediately obvious that the 'resistance to change' and fighting between the owner and Gordon was scripted, and instead of any real help it was just a shouting match to show how much of a tough guy Gordon is. So basically, the two American shows were one in the same. I don't know that 'Kitchen Nightmare' is still around though.

[The Backroad Astronomer]

This is the first time I have seen "Hell's Kitchen" and to me it seems they have half the crew that seemed to know how to cook well enough for Ramsey and the other half that seemed to how to cook but were just out of there league. I have to admit I did get sucked into the drama a little. I have seen "Kitchen Nightmares" and Ramsey's caring side does come out better there. I think much of the scripting Fazor is talking about comes mostly from the editing room. There is another series called "Master Chef" where they have people with no cooking background compete for the title of Master Chef whatever that is.

[Fazor]

There is another series called "Master Chef" where they have people with no cooking background compete for the title of Master Chef whatever that is.

I saw the previews for that last night, but didn't end up watching it (it's new, if you didn't catch that. Last night was the first episode.) I watch 'Top Chef', 'Next Food Network Star', and 'Chopped', though I've long since given up on 'rooting for' anyone on those shows because it's always painfully obvious that despite performance in the later stages, winners are picked "behind the scenes" based on things like what will create the most 'drama'. For instance, the one underhanded, totally unlikable, mean person will always make it to at least the final three, because that generates the "Oh, I hate so-and-so soooo much! I hope they get 'voted off' this week!" hook to keep viewers talking. If everyone like every contestant and agreed on who was the best, there'd be no reason to watch. On the one hand, you can't blame the network. On the other, it can be very annoying. But I love to see some of the creative ways to use various foods and techniques.

[redshifter]

Tough to pick out of the crop of horrible TV shows, but I'll go with just about any reality TV show, esp. any reality show with the word 'housewives' in the title.

With three foster kids in our home, the TV hasn't even been turned on in weeks, except for an occasional DVD.

[danscope]

Yes. In my opinion, they do a genuine disservice to our beloved housewives without whom civilization would crumble quickly. Fact.

[The Backroad Astronomer]

Another show I don't normally watch but watching this summer is "America's got Talent" just for this group.

[NEOWatcher]

Another show I don't normally watch but watching this summer is "America's got Talent" just for this group.

Yeah, that was mentioned on another thread. Although; thanks for bringing it up here since it's a better place for some of my comments.

After watching that segment, I'm still not interested in watching. Particularly because of the response of Sharon Osborne.

"Too Technical"? Huh? what the heck does she mean by that. It's not like you have to understand anything technical to be entertained by it.

Based on the fact that she buzzed before they got to the arcing tells me she was just covering herself for buzzing too soon. (although; I do think they had way too long of an intro to the arcing)

As far as the band... I'm not sure if it's the selection that they had, but I didn't notice any music coming from the tesla coil. It was either overshadowed by the other instruments, or was only there for the visual.

[The Backroad Astronomer]

Well Sharon was the swing vote this week and decided to go with arc attack.

[NEOWatcher]

Well Sharon was the swing vote this week and decided to go with arc attack.

I actually didn't click on the OP here thinking it was the same performance as the other thread. ( Other link to the audition ). She hated the initial music, buzzed, then looked absolutely agape when the coil started, and said it was fabulous, then still rejected it.

This one, they started off right away with the coil. It was a much more impressive performance.

[SkepticJ]

The Colony - it's not "real" reality TV, it's fake reality TV.