There are actually more than 6 horror and sci-fi shows I lost interest in but these are the top that have been on my mind lately. Though I’d like to make it clear that any show featuring aliens or monsters in it I consider them to be part of the horror genre.
There have been so many times I have started to write a post like this. Sometimes it’s because I saw someone’s post on social media mentioning a show I had lost interest in and it made me want to tell the world why I don’t watch it anymore. Other times it’s because a show got cancelled and I wanted to rant about what I believe really killed the show.
What I came to realize is that it’s mostly the same thing time and time again that causes me to lose interest in a show. Below are the 6 shows that stand out the most to me at the moment. As you will see, for the most part each show made the same mistake.
6. Lost
I didn’t start watching Lost until the first season came out on DVD but I was hooked on it! The first few episodes were riveting, fascinating and a pure joy to watch. Then around the middle of season 3 it started to lose its way and by the final season, it was just so wrapped up in its own bullshit that it was completely laughable. I still watched it to the bitter end but it became grueling.
Lost seemed to start out as a story about a people tapped on a mysterious island. There was something fucking huge and scary in the forest and there were Polar bears too. This made the show magical, scary and a lot of fun. Then the Dharma Initiative came along and ruined it. I didn’t think Dharma had ruined it at first. But, it did. Instead of them being some strange organization with answers to the islands mysterious nature it was just a tool take us further away from islands mystery. Then there were the Others. Another dive down the rabbit’s hole of nonsense.
So much potential to create something amazing and fascinating and instead it got turned into fucking weird show about conspiracies and corporations and two immortal guys in the last season that seemed to control everything and then it all ended with a big, “WTF was that about?!” A good show that lost its way because it got too wrapped up in its own mythology.
5. Supernatural
I know, I know, how can anyone not like this? Well, it’s easy. I gave this show about 4 and a half seasons and I just couldn’t take it anymore. It started off so strong. Good scary stories that were interesting. However, it very quickly became silly and lacked any kind of sophistication in its storytelling. It committed the ultimate sin in my eyes. Supernatural became more about the backstories and the characters than about the content. Once that happens it turns into a soap opera and I don’t like soap operas.
In the beginning it told really fun and haunting stories. I don’t mind the occasional backstory but that’s all the show became about. It got lost in its own mythology and never seemed to come out of it. Instead of the leads investigating and solving supernatural shit each week it turned into a never ending story about the brothers and the ghosts and demons took a backseat to the storytelling.
Instead of a show about two brothers fighting evil each week it became about long drawn out stories about their dad. About being stuck in Hell. It lost its focus of telling really good ghost stories and instead became a show about two brothers and everything else took a backseat.
Supernatural became a show that was no different than any teen drama. What I mean by that is you could plug the two brothers into any other teen drama and they would fit. It just as easily could about two brothers struggling survive in a world of competitive weight lifting or mixed martial arts. If you replace the ghosts and demons with Baseball or football and it’s pretty much the same show. That’s the problem. And, because of that, I stopped watching it.
4. The X-Files
I own every season of the X-Files on DVD. I have seen every episode and many of them I have seen twice. I love the idea behind the show. But, again, this is another show that lost its focus. It was a great show about investigating some really fun and creepy shit. Aliens, monsters, ghosts all kinds of fascinating stories. I liked the character’s back stories. I didn’t mind the occasional dive into them. Those stories can make for a good arc. But, when they never get resolved and go on season after season with bullshit conspiracies that never lead anywhere, I grow tired of it.
The X-Files all too soon became about Fox Mulder’s search or his sister and government conspiracy crap. It ruined the show. The only reason I kept watching was because at least every once and a while they would offer up a great standalone episode about some weird shit and Fox Mulder and Dana Scully would go all Scooby Do and solve the mystery or not solve it and leave some doubt. Either way those few and far in-between episodes were always fun and always interesting.
When they recently came out with another season, I was thrilled! Couldn’t wait! I barely made it through the first episode. It wasn’t interesting. It started out in full on Alien government conspiracy bullshit. I have all those epodes saved and I plan on watching them but I am in no hurry. The first episode gave me no reason for me to look forward to the next episode.
3. Stargate SG-1
I loved this show so much. I don’t have it all on DVD but my kids do and I have borrowed it many times. That being said, it too turned into a soap opera. It’s a whole show about having this amazing Stargate that can take them to the most amazing places and yet they spend way too much over season dealing with the fucking Goa’uld. They were the most boring, insignificant characters ever and season after season was about having to fight off these moronic, immature and pathetic fake gods. Drove fucking nuts.
It eventually got the point where I considered just skipping episodes that dealt with the Goa’uld but I didn’t, just on the rare chance I might need to know about this turd of an episode in a future episode. Such an opportunity for them to explore the galaxy but instead they kept writing stories about the fucking idiotic Goa’uld. Those episodes were so boring and they really kept that show from becoming the next Star Trek. Sure SG-1 was successful but it won’t have the longevity that Star Trek did. We won’t be talking about it 40 years from now.
2. True Blood
I have read several of the books and love them! I really enjoyed the first season of the show. In fact, I managed to stay with the show up until about halfway through season 4. It just seemed to be getting so ridiculous. It’s been so long since I watched it, I can’t honestly list the exact reason I stopped watching it. All I can really say is that it just seemed to stop capturing the heart and soul of the books.
When a show or movie is based on a book, I expect there to be some changes. You just can’t put everything that’s in a book onto the screen. I loved the first season of True Blood and it deviated in many ways from the book. For example, as I recall, Lafayette dies at the end of the first book. He didn’t die at the end of season 1. I am okay with that. TV shows need to do their own thing to keep it as fresh as possible. I get that. As long as the can capture the spirit of the show, I am happy. It just seemed to me that True Blood had lost its way.
I plan to finish watching the remaining seasons of True Blood someday. But, there’s a whole lot of other shows I will go through first.
1. The Walking Dead
I never read the comics. I was never big into comics. They always bored me. What sold me on The Walking Dead originally was that Frank Darabont was involved. With the exception of The Mist, I’ve loved everything he’s done.
I was okay with the series at first. I tolerated their ridiculous cliffhangers because I always wait for the first episode of the following season to come out before I dive into the previous season. I even stayed with the show when Frank Darabont departed the show. I was hooked.
But, over the last few seasons, it seems to me that the show has become more about dicking with the viewer’s emotions instead of telling good stories. I fucking hate cliffhangers but as mentioned I can tolerate them as long as the story promised is completed. Season 6 of The Walking Dead didn’t complete the story. They promised a conclusion that never came and then left us all to wonder in fucking disgust as to whom just met their tragic end.
The writers tried to defend their bullshit manipulation by saying it was never about who Negan killed with his bat. I believe it was Scott M. Gimple who tried to say the ending was about coming full circle with Rick’s storyline. That was such a fucking hot, steaming pile of bullshit. They advertised and teased us all season long with the reveal of Negan and who dies at the end of his bat and left us fucking hanging.
To make us suffer through that 80 minutes of slow building doom and then fade to fucking black leaving us with no answer? It was nothing more than hearty “Fuck You!” to the fans. I can appreciate a good cliffhanger. I hate them, but I can appreciate it when it’s done well. This wasn’t done well. This came off like they had no idea who to kill off so they decided to take a few months off and think about it. I call bullshit.
Sadly, I will probably still turn back into the show next season though I know I shouldn’t. But, I’ve invested years into these characters now and the best I can hope for is that the writers do something to make up for that steaming fucking turd they laid for us with that season 6 finale.
Sure dragging storylines out can keep a showing on the air for a longer time. But, in most cases it doesn’t. People grow tired of that shit and it kills the shows. If you’re going to turn your show into a soap opera, then kindly wrap it the fuck up at the end of the season so you can then start a new next season. Heroes did that at the end of the first season. They started a storyline and they finished it at the end of the season. Then the left us with a tease into the second season. Very well done. Of course the show kind of went to shit after that but they nailed that first season. That’s how you do it.
