caught in the 'this could be a good series' tv trap

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There is too much tv available. Too much to chose from. Too much time to waste where you could be outdoors or other. While it is one thing to be glued to the HD screen or laptop monitor for shows you love, it can be downright frustrating when you find yourself catching up on a series that you no longer like or never liked.

I am sure I am not alone on this, but can not explain what drives people to continue watching something that is less than enjoyable. Things I can think of are familiarity, ritual, hope that it will get better, trying to understand what society sees in a show - like everyone that has been telling you "that show is so good", whilst you just can't see why.

Three examples of shows that I continued to watch because the first few seasons were really good - The X-Files, 24, and Prison Break. These were initially great. Then then shitty, formulaic writing, greed to continue a series, and over the-top-farfetched plots made them tedious to watch. Yet I watched them - for closure? I don't know.

One series that I thought was really very good but cancelled last spring was Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles. While repetitive in some respects, it went far deeper on some concepts of AI and morality than the action packed movies ever could or wanted. Another show that might not come back for a third season is the comedy Flight of the Conchords

Some shows recommended to me that I stopped watching after some painfully slow trial episodes were Jericho and Life on Mars. A show I am on the fence on is Fringe. It is so bad, and yet has moments that keep me entertained.

The worst offending series to me is House. Many of my friends swear by it. Yet, from episode two on I have repeatedly said and thought how formulaic the show is - "he's right, nope he's not - but he now has a better diagnosis, nope, that's wrong too, it's gonna take a genius insight, preferably at the last moment". though I do like the house-wilson dynamic. frustratingly, I somehow watched the first three seasons with little return. now though - I'm watching the fourth season and the show is actually improving?! a little. So I may get to season 5, after all, of "Less funny scrubs"

I have gotten into the show Dexter and enjoy it - though strongly feel that it is so disturbing at times (and if you do not feel this way, you might have to consider how you got so insensitized), that a lot of people should not watch it at all.

I am looking forward to Lost coming back for it's final season - and quite glad that it is the last one. End it while it still mostly good.

Basically there are a lot of bad shows I wish I never watched - atleast while evaluating music you can multitask easily - so that I could spend more time active, reading, or watching more episodes of the Outer Limits (newer version). That show always seemed decent but I have only watched a percentage of the episodes.