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
extreme boredom and “everyone seems to like it, I must be wrong” are dangerous bedfellows
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 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.)
Season 1 is terrible, they were basically trying to do a The Office spin-off but the humor fell completely flat.
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 can’t really believe it didn’t get canceled before season 2.
I agree ... how did it not get cancelled?
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 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.
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
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.
British version of the Office. Still not into it.
Actually, why qualify it? Any version of the Office...
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
It's the best show i don't wanna watch again.
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).
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.
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.
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…
I finally started GOT when season 7 started. I got to season 5 when season 8 ended. I didn't finish watching the show after that.
Succession. This show was so boring I didn’t even bother to watch the final ss.
West Wing. When it came out years ago, (24 actually...) I saw a couple episodes and it didn't interest me. But about 8 years ago I ended up watching every episode on Netflix and loved it. But wow, if I had to slog through to season 4 of a show to enjoy it, I would never get there.
General discussion about movies and TV shows.
Spoilers are strictly forbidden in post titles.
Posts soliciting spoilers (endings, plot elements, twists, etc.) should contain
[spoilers]in their title. Comments in these posts do not need to be hidden in spoiler MarkDown if they pertain to the title's subject matter.
Otherwise, spoilers but must be contained in MarkDown as follows:
::: your spoiler warning
the crazy movie ending that no one saw coming!
:::
Your mods are here to help if you need any clarification!
Subcommunities: The Bear (FX) - [!thebear@lemmy.film](/c/thebear @lemmy.film)
Related communities: !entertainment@beehaw.org !moviesuggestions@lemmy.world