I recently decide to watch Curb Your Enthusiasm and I only really started to enjoy the show after season four.
I feel like a lot of dramas like The Americans, Dark, and Narcos take me a little while to get invested but it’s typically only a season.
ok but why did you watch 3 seasons of a show you didn’t enjoy
It’s not a show I disliked and it wasn’t a show I needed to pay incredibly close attention to so I watched it while I ate breakfast
I think the later seasons are better than the early ones.
I definitely agree. I’m working on season 6 now and really enjoy it.
I’m not too sure why. Maybe it feels a little more structured compared to early seasons.
To me, the seasons that have an overarching plot work better than the early episodes that were each self-contained
extreme boredom and “everyone seems to like it, I must be wrong” are dangerous bedfellows
That’s how I feel about arrested development.
It was just five seasons of watching horrible people be horrible people with like one funny event or joke per episode at best.
I regret the time I wasted watching that show.
You’re definitely entitled to your opinion. But I found the initial run of Arrested Development to be one of the best written sitcoms ever. Also, part of the point is that the main protagonist and his son are good people who stay and support their terrible family members out of loyalty.
I would characterize Michael more by his self-righteousness and ego-driven attempts to be good than his actual goodness; so many of the show’s hijinks stem from his savior complex bringing out the hypocrisy in his attempts to be ‘a good guy’.
To be clear I think it adds to the humor, not complaining at all. Horrible people being horrible makes great comedy and Arrested Development offers far more than just that (probably my favorite comedy show). But it can get kinda depressing, if I’m not in a great mood I can’t take more than a couple episodes at a time.
Michael being self-righteously and self-centered-ly good, and everyone else being earnestly and obliviously (and maybe even endearingly) terrible sounds about right. :)
Horrible people being horrible is a staple of great sitcoms, at least in the UK. Peep Show, IT Crowd, Black Books, Father Ted, Blackadder, Steptoe and Son, The Office, Bottom, The Young Ones, Til Death Us Do Part… the list just goes on.
I guess that’s why I find American stuff like Always Sunny, Arrested Development and Seinfeld more satisfying than stuff like Friends or Modern Family that always has to have a moral.
You know I never noticed that about the UK until you pointed that out but looking back on every British show I’ve ever watched, you are right. With the exception of Doctor Who that is pretty much all of them.
That said I will die on the hill of “Ricky Gervais is not and has never been funny”
I like the Ricky Gervais show but let’s be real that’s all Karl Pilkington.
Whether Gervais is funny in of himself, he knew how to write a great script back in the day, The Office and Extras are solid gold classics.
Sometimes there’s some elements that really shows the potential and brilliance that is interesting enough to keep pushing forward. So while it might not hit the point of must see TV right away, going in with the knowledge that it hits its stride in season X helps keep things in perspective. When I’m informed of something like that I’m willing to put up with the slow burn if the pay off is to be great, and there’s at least some redeeming qualities about the show until then.
Parks and Rec is a great show…If you just straight up skip season 1. Season one did not have its legs and I can’t really believe it didn’t get canceled before season 2.
Season 1 is terrible, they were basically trying to do a The Office spin-off but the humor fell completely flat.
Season 1 was charming but it becomes an excellent show when Chris Traeger and Ben Wyatt show up. It starts running on all cylinders. (It’s one of my favorite shows.)
I can’t really believe it didn’t get canceled before season 2.
I agree … how did it not get cancelled?
it was only 6 episodes and i guess had goodwill from the office writers? idk NBC tried to cancel parks and rec all the time at its peak so its amazing how it didnt get instantly canned
My friend who recommended it to me before I had ever seen it basically said the same, but I loved it from the beginning.
I still think it’s worth watching from season 1 - there are a couple of pretty good episodes and it sets up some stuff that comes back later on, like building the park in the vacant lot. Plus, it’s only 6 episodes IIRC.
The expanse
It’s very good, has me from very beginning, but there’s a lot going on to keep track of. My wife and I have restarted it about 4 times but haven’t made it through the first season, so we decided we need to find some time to really sit down and binge it, because if we walk away from it for a few days we lose track of everything that was going on and need to start over again.
I had such a troubled relationship with The Expanse S01 as well.
I read the novel and thought the writing was meh, so I dropped it at some point.
Then my friends were telling me the show was great, so I gave it a go but got bored at about the same point and stopped.
So other friends insisted it was great, so I tried it again with my GF. She complained about the show, but we decided to really see what this show was about and stick with it no matter what.
Turns out I thought the story was heading into some sort of “space zombies” tale, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. And the characters I thought were so bland and indistinguishable in S01 gained so much nuance that they’re now so clear in my mind years later.
It’s definitely one of my favorite sci-fi shows of all time. I guess it’s worth listening to your friends and sticking with things sometimes.
About when does The Expanse get good? I’ve tried twice and bailed.
I don’t blame you. 😁 For me, the turning point was in the very last episodes of season one. Stuff happens that really breaks expectations and sends the story in a more interesting direction. I also remember season 2 being vastly superior.
If you made it through season 2 and didn’t like it, the show might not be for you! But if you’re stuck somewhere in season 1, it’s definitely worth powering through that.
My husband and I are stuck a few.eps into season 1. I can’t believe I’m going to try again, lol, but this thread is persuasive. I’m going.to have to read some summaries.of the episodes we’ve watched to remember where we are.in the story… (My husband says the only thing he can recall is that dude’s haircut.) Third times the charm they say.
I love this. I’ve rewatched Succession more than any other show at this point. Although it’s fun to go back to the beginning and see where each of the characters started, I admit the first few eps of the show can feel slow. But god DAMN the way the characters and relationships are written is so sharp.
Around episode 8, but really season 2. I never connected with the Miller storyline, so IMO the show improves as that wraps up.
I tried watching an episode of Schitt’s Creek when it started but it just didn’t click for me. My sister convinced me to just watch through the first season earlier this year and it got so much better with each season. So quotable, great comedic timing, character development, loved it.
Going through a similar thing with Star Trek atm. Didn’t give it much attention until I passively watched a couple episodes that my boyfriend had on. Hooked on Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks now.
The SNW/LD crossover episode was one of the most anticipated things of 2023 for me and fully delivered, just the perfect loveletter to being a Trekkie whilst also building on a fair number of personal plot developments.
If you’ve not already watched it I’d check out Prodigy too - it’s probably the most underrated Nu Trek series imo being aimed at younger viewers. That said I loved it as an adult (ostensibly) and am praying season 2 gets picked up soon.
As to the topic, I can’t think of anything as even series heavy on world building/low on action at the start like Andor or The Expense drew me in from the beginning.
Yeah, I was fully expecting Prodigy to be too childish but they nailed it as an “all ages” feel that even as a miserable bloke pushing 40 I could enjoy. Really hop they get another series as that show is miles ahead of Discovery and is a great entry point for the franchise.
The wire. Think I started season 1 about 5 times. Then I stuck it out. Hands down the best show I’ve seen.
I was hooked by episode 4 when Bunk and McNulty are at the crime scene
Fuck
This was my experience as well. I ended up loving it!
The Office
I never watched much TV, and ignored the hype. Then I tried season 1 while on Netflix, and was bored. Recently I skipped season 1, and really got hooked mid-season 2. Now I have my mom and aunt hooked.
There’s only like two series and a couple of specials of The Office anyway, fourteen episodes in total I think.
I think they mean the American office. Which gets significantly better after the first season, when they stop trying to just copy the original and do their own thing.
Then they man The Office - An American Workplace and should say as such. 😉
I’m Amur-can. I can’t be expected to know all these things. 😋
British version of the Office. Still not into it.
Actually, why qualify it? Any version of the Office…
American Office is a bit of an acquired taste as Dry Humor often is…
The Office UK is where I became convinced that Ricky Gervais is one of the least funny comedians of all time, nothing has been able to change my mind.
That was my beef with it. “OK, it’s a comedy and the central premise is how not-funny someone is…”
See…
Bad Media is interesting because the ineptitude is usually comedic. It’s why I consider it a step above “Boring Media”
The problem is Bad Media that is intended to be comedic is the most toxic substance known to man. A comedy is supposed to be funny, being inept at a medium can be funny, but being inept at comedy causes the funniness of both to cancel out and create… Anti-Lulz
Ricky Gervais can generate Anti-Lulz no problem
Breaking Bad took me a good 6 episodes or so. It starts off so dark and unappealing.
BSG (the remake) took me 3-4 episodes. Same deal.
But my god, they’re both pure gold.
Breaking Bad was so depressing. I couldn’t binge it - my husband and I could only do an episode at a time once every few days, with sitcoms immediately after or in between. We finished it and it was truly well done and deserves all its praise, but it was a slog just because of how dark it was.
I made it through the first season but wasn’t enjoying it enough to continue after that. It seems extremely well executed but man is it bleak, made me sad more than anything
Truly - every few episodes is really traumatizing. But it really is worth finishing, if you can handle it.
It’s the best show i don’t wanna watch again.
Yeah, you definitely have to be in that right mood for it. I was so grossed out by the bathtub scene in episode 3 or 4 that I never got past that episode the first two tries. Every few episodes has something really traumatizing. But I took it really slow this time (only 2 episodes or so per day) and made my way through it. It definitely had an addictive feel and I found it impossible to predict, which was super intriguing.
Probably going to be Lost. I’m 3 episodes in as of 2008 and haven’t gone back yet…if I ever do, it will be the longest to get into for me by far.
In seriousness though…As others have said, The Office and Parks & Rec took me about a season to get into.
Arrested Development, I admit, took me a few episodes.
Always Sunny took me about a season…I think just to get into a groove of the style or something, I dunno.
Arrested Development, I admit, took me a few episodes.
Arrested Development took everyone a few episodes. Much of the humour is about riffing on repeated jokes set up in previous episodes - you’ve got to get through a few episodes first for these to start to click.
That’s partly why it was never successful when broadcast. It’s a show that should have been binge-watched but was released on broadcast TV, an episode a week, but tellingly it only took off in popularity with the DVD release (and later on streaming).
When you reach the point that Arrested Development is dropping punchlines several episodes before the joke, you knew it was too cleaver for normal TV.
Lost was very popular at the time, but it’s not a good show at all.
I watched the first four episodes of the Expanse, and then just skipped to the second season.
I know that’s not exactly “long”, but I didn’t want to waste my time trying to get into it and it looked promising. Very glad I did it like that. This was back when there were only 3 seasons out.
I still argue that season 3 has to be one of the best seasons of any show made. Period.
Yea … for me … peak modern TV easily.
Not me but a friend of mine recommended a show… I think it was sons of anarchy. Where they pitched it to me, with no exaggeration on my part, as “you just have to get through the first two or three seasons, then it gets really good”.
I have not watched the show.
I get a lot of anime recommendations that come with the same line
The Wire.
I downloaded the entire series in 2010, hoping I could binge-watch it while I’m still on night shift. Couldn’t get myself to finish the slow boring pilot, set it aside, and forgot about it completely.
More than 10 years later, I see it on HBO Max remastered. Managed to survive EP1, and quickly after that, I couldn’t wait to watch every other episode.
I’ve always said the best shows are the ones wherein you can name every character to even the smallest one and know why they stuck with you. The Wire is one of those and remains my favorite of all time.
Exactly the same experience for me. I have friends ready to waterboard me over this, but I still haven’t made it past ep2
I was the same way! I just finally watched it this year, after about my 5th attempt. Once I got past the first 2 episodes I was loving it lol.
It also has a very high rewatch value. Each time through you notice something you missed the previous times.
I find myself rewatching occasionally it when I introduce someone new to the series.
For some reason it took me a long time to click with Schitt’s Creek.
For me it’s “The Mighty Boosh”: https://youtu.be/FiU-oCWPhx0
I fell in love with my now ex-wife (then girlfriend) in no small part because she had great humor and I liked a lot of the shows she liked.
So when one day in 2010 she raved about “The Mighty Boosh”, of which she owned all DVDs including the live stuff, I had to check it out.
I started watching S01E01 and felt like watching someone’s fever dream trying to recreate a kid’s show. Same for the second, third etc episode.
Usually I’d have long given up on that show. But there had to be something to it, if she loved the show so much.
So I started watching season 2 (“Milky Joe” or “The Priest and The Beast”, I can’t really remember) and it clicked immediately. From there I binged all other episodes + season 3 + season 1 again - and I loved it all and couldn’t understand how I didn’t like it initially.
And thanks to that I discovered other gems from the same “circle” like “Snuff Box”, “Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place”, “Luxury Comedy” and “The IT Crowd” (some episodes haven’t aged well, but others are just filled with gold).
Breaking Bad. Watched the first 10 minutes or so of the first episode then gave up on it for over a year. Eventually gave it a second chance and couldn’t binge the whole thing quickly enough…
Yeah Breaking Bad and stranger things are those shows that everyone else loves, that I just can’t get into. I have been meaning to go back to them though.
I don’t know that I ever will.
