What are the universally praised shows that never captured you?

For me:

Breaking Bad
Mad Men
Lost
Succession
Yellowstone

Mad Men for sure. I've tried twice to get into it. The first time, I watched 3 episodes and stopped. The second time, I made it thought season 1 and quit.

I also quit mad men after season 1 and it felt like a chore to get that far

powerbelly said:

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What are the universally praised shows that never captured you?

For me:

Breaking Bad
Mad Men
Lost
Succession
Yellowstone

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Add in The Office and that list is mine as well

I also hated Entourage.

Now it makes sense that you hated the new Zelda trailer.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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jeffk said:

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I can't get into shows where every main character is a terrible person. Consequently I didn't finish Breaking Bad (although it was cool to see all the filming spots from my hometown) and Succession.

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I've always wondered why that's the case for some people.

For me, I don't care how awful people are as long as they're interesting, or funny, or both. I don't need to like someone to be entertained by them.

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As you get to different stages in life and go through different things, a lot of people don't want to watch media that reminds them of certain events or certain emotions. I had to walk out of Saving Private Ryan because my grandfather, a WW II vet, had died about 6 months earlier, and it just hurt reminded me of him too much. I never actually saw it in the theater. I watched it on TV 3-4 years after it came out

Similarly, a film like Joker which I know is largely thought of as outstanding, but deals with themes of mental illness and social awkwardness and isolation. I don't watch something that like that. I know it's going to depress me. That's why I'm not sure I'm going to go back to watching Barry, because I didn't like the dark turns that it took in the third season.

Mad Men
The Wire
Letterkenny
Veep

powerbelly said:

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What are the universally praised shows that never captured you?

For me:

Breaking Bad
Mad Men
Lost
Succession
Yellowstone

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Orange Is the New Black
The Americans
24

Buncha meh up in here.

*Edit to include 24. So, five eh shows.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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jeffk said:

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I can't get into shows where every main character is a terrible person. Consequently I didn't finish Breaking Bad (although it was cool to see all the filming spots from my hometown) and Succession.

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I've always wondered why that's the case for some people.

For me, I don't care how awful people are as long as they're interesting, or funny, or both. I don't need to like someone to be entertained by them.

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I'm not as hardline as the OP, but I get it to some extent. I like to be able to root for someone. For me a show like that is Fleabag. While I can see the appeal, I am glad it was short and I hope I never see that character again.

The Wire is probably tops. I got most of the way through the first season, and even hearing that it took a while to get going, just was not interested at all.

I tried watching Deadwood for the first time recently and can't decide if it was because it was outdated or I just wasn't in the mood. Will probably try again at some point.

I will say that Mad Men is one that didn't draw me in initially, but when I gave it another shot found a lot more success.

Lost
Arrested Development
24

Add West World and 24 for me as well.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Now it makes sense that you hated the new Zelda trailer.

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It all makes sense now, right?

Lost
*****t's Creek
Game of Thrones
Sopranos
30 Rock

I honestly don't like a lot of critically acclaimed television shows, but I love "Mad Men" and "Entourage."

cr0wbar said:

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Mad Men
The Wire
Letterkenny
Veep

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This is my exact list also.

I was bored to tears watching Mad Men. Made it to season 3 before i gave up.

I've tried starting The Wire like 5 times, can't get further than like the 2nd or 3rd episode.

Haven't actually watched Letterkenny, but i've seen plenty of clips posted here and around the internet. I don't get it. It's just people talking fast with a Canadian accent..

On paper, Veep looks like a show that i should really enjoy. And i just don't.. Watched the first 2 seasons and it just never did it for me.

jeffk said:

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I can't get into shows where every main character is a terrible person. Consequently I didn't finish Breaking Bad (although it was cool to see all the filming spots from my hometown) and Succession.

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This is pretty close to the mark for me. It's not so much if everyone is terrible, it's more if there's a true protagonist. I think I prefer traditional story structure and character arcs.

I couldn't get into True Detective and Mad Men. I used to say it was because "everyone is terrible" but I think it's more that it's a type of story that doesn't draw me in. And I thought both were heavy handed with "people are flawed."


Perhaps a good example: The Godfather is an all-time favorite movie. I just love it. There aren't really any "good guys" in The Godfather, but I still love it. Michael, while a bad dude, follows a pretty traditional hero's journey and I get invested in his transformation (even though he's transitioning from good to bad).

I don't really enjoy The Godfather Part II. I think the biggest reason is that it's this slow motion train wreck that I just don't like to watch. I appreciate the film for being a great work of art, and I think that it is a great movie, but I don't ENJOY it.


There are exceptions. I loved No Country for Old Men and it had a pretty unusual story structure and there's no real hero's journey in there. I guess these are more unlikely to draw me in, but I don't universally dislike them.

Entourage - hated it

*****t's Creek - meh

Succession - well I just have not tried it not sure why

Longmire - i watched a fair amount and just never got hooked, stopped watching

You probably don't. It doesn't get better

Friends.

I enjoyed it well enough I just don't grasp the borderline hysteria over it. It was the typical sitcom.... ridiculous situations in which everyone involved comes out at the end of the show a better person for having faced the "difficulties" of the given episode.

Mad Men
Wire

Miami vice. Too gritty and too much coke for a child first traumatized by the Scarface chainsaw scene.