When Should You Bail on a TV Show?

Nothing feel good than giving up on a TV show : the sweet release of delete a time of year ’s worth of unwatched episodes from your DVR , the Intropin flush of dropping a show from your Netflix queue , or the transcendental bliss of simply forgettingVinylexists . As the demands of peak telly put a choke confine on your leisure time fourth dimension , kick a show to the curb can make you feel powerful , like the grinder ofDaredevil– a show I stopped watching after six installment .

But how can you decide when it ’s meter to abandon that prestigiousness show that is n’t quite as guileful as it looks ? We ’ve buzz off you covered with these 10 house that you should give up on the show you sleep together .

When the original creative team gets pushed out

If every show ’s fanbase make up an internet fiefdom , the showrunner is their king . Your parent belike have popular opinion about what Matthew Weiner should do post - Mad hands , and you belike have an uncle who wo n’t barricade e - mail you David Simon op - eds with the open line , " This guy gets it ! " Maybe you have an aunt who has take up lasting residency inShondaland .

now and again , a show will buck this trend –Seinfeldstill had Hellenic instalment in its post - Larry David year , and manyWalking Deadfans did n’t even tune in to the show till after Frank Darabont ’s first time of year – but more often than not , their departure is a sign of creative death .

When your favorite character gets killed off

Where were you when Marissa Cooper got pushed off the route by Volchok and died in Ryan ’s meaty branch ? Maybe you were drinking yourself into a daze and scream , " Mischa Barton , why have you forsaken me ? " Her death is the perfect meter to lead the coarse sands of Newport Beach behind . Get out while the binge are still dry and " Hallelujah " is border in your ears .

Many shows can survive a random death – expectant show , likeThe SopranosorBreaking Bad , have high - stakes violence in their sanguinary DNA – but when your favorite character gets the ax , it ’s a good time to reevaluate your potentially toxic relationship with the show . Is it still fun ? Do you even like these fictional citizenry you devote an hour of your life to every week ? Or is Ryan Murphy playing with your emotion ?

When someone gets resurrected from the dead

This is a wily one . On science - fiction and fantasy display , resurrection is a common trope that can be used to great effect . Buffy the Vampire Slayeris one of the good show ever made , and Buffy died twice . But in Buffy ’s caseful , each death was n’t just a cheap storytelling decision – it serve a corking narrative purpose , and the consequences of her come back were explored in depth . I hope Jon Snow ’s inevitable comeback onGame of Throneswill be treated with alike gravitas .

gestation , wedding , interventions , infidelity , or have a democratic characterclone himselfare all reliable way to goose the military rating , but decease is the ultimate watercooler import . So when creators lend a characterbackfrom the dead , like when Locke died and then got resurrected onLost , it can start to feel like there are no tangible post to the dramatic play . Of course , Locke ’s body was actually being controlled by the Smoke Monster during the time I ’m suppose about , but , uh , that ’s another job altogether .

When the primary couple gets boring

The conventional wisdom is that many shows –CheersandMoonlightingin particular – ego - destruct after the intimate tensity between the central " will they or wo n’t they " couplet becomes a definite " they did and are still doing it " couple . But this is one TV cliché thatisn’t really true . Sex between two attractive leads seldom ruins a comedy or a drama . It can even be fun !

You know whatshouldmake you dump a show ? When the master couple , or at least the plotlines surrounding them , get boring . That ’s what happen in the later seasons ofThe Office , when the show tried to create stress by making you conceive Jim and Pam were go to cheat on each other . The show did n’t unravel when they got together , it sucked when they stop being interesting .

When random characters start dating

surely , in your head it ’s fun to see the lunkheaded but sweet - hearted Joey finish up with the neurotic and perpetually heartbroken Rachel onFriends , but spare it for your fan fiction . earnestly , there arewhole communitieswaiting for you .

Long - running shows only have so many selection as they soldier on toward their finales , so it ’s natural for Jackie to start date Hyde onThat ' 70s Showor Jessa to gazump up with Adam onGirls . But the characters on those shows are toy by role player who are being paid to be there . You are not . Free yourself .

When teen characters go to college

In existent life , college is a great experience to make raw champion , discover interests you never knew you had , and acquire how to construct bong out of various household token . On TV , it ’s where dramatic event goes to die . Mr. Feeny should n’t also be a college professor if he was also a high-pitched schoolhouse head .

What ’s the exclusion to this formula ? When a show starts at college , like Judd Apatow ’s canceled - too - soonUndeclared , theCosby ShowspinoffA Different World , or ABC Family ’s charmingGreek , it can fight this cliché . But for shows about mellow school ? Graduation daytime is a great daylight to say good-bye to your favorite teen shows . Give ‘em a big bear hug , hand them a few condoms , and never reckon back . They are dead to you .

When old cute kids get replaced with new cute kids

Cute children are an essential part of most TV shows , and nothing makes a finale really cook like a surprise pregnancy . But when a show starts using pregnancy as a way to just create New , cuter kids to replace the cute shaver who are getting older , à la Nicky and Alex onFull House ? That ’s malevolent and manipulative , even for Uncle Jesse .

Get out of here with that trash . Stick with the cute Thomas Kyd you come in the game with . I ’m looking at you , Cousin Oliver .

When they try toNew Classyou

After the coreSaved by the Bellcast travel on to greener pastures , NBC attempted to rebrand the show asSaved by the Bell : The New Classand introduce a whole cast of corny teens to mime human behavior while a laugh track groan over their belabored zingers . Anytime this happens , you should probably cut ties with the show faster than Zack dumped Kelly when he found out she was screw on him with Jeff .

As always , there are exceptions : Friday Night Lightsintroduced a whole crop of new untried characters in its third and fourth time of year , and they were outstanding . Except for Buddy Garrity Jr. I never figured out what the plenty was with him .

When the show is calledDexter

Everyone I know who watched this show read it has a frightful , irreclaimable ending . People regorge when I mention it . But then they go on to excuse that the first few season are actually undecomposed , and you ’ve nonplus ta watch the one with the Trinity Killer .

really , I do n’t . Because I ’ll never watch a show calledDexter . That ’s a name for acartoon scientist , not a serial slayer . Sorry , Michael C. Hall . Six Feet Underwas pretty weed , but I pre - bailed on this show before even watching it and have n’t looked back . It feels smashing .

When you don’t want to watch it anymore

Whoa ! I ’m blowing your mind , ripe ? You are an adult . Watch the stuff you wish , and when you do n’t like something , turn it off .

" We ’re dragging ourselves through shows that we do n’t like or that are n’t actually any estimable at all , because we ’ve become confident that we owe it to them , " wrote theWashington Post’sAlyssa Rosenberg in arecent reviewofHouse of Cards . This is prestigiousness TV Stockholm syndrome . House of Cardsis garbage – I bail after the first time of year – and if you stop watching , Kevin Spacey will not show up at your house to strangle your domestic dog .

The amount of paw - wringing and mentum - stroking about whether or not people should or should not be consuming mediocre television shows has become idiotic . Do you find the main character ofLovegrating , and you do n’t see where it ’s going after three episode ? Go read a book of account . Are you wash up by the increasingly unconvincing twists onHomeland ? test knitting . Do you still watchGrey ’s Anatomy ? Get assistant .

Lost, John Locke, Orange in mouth

Lost | ABC

Again : you are an adult . You do n’t have to finish doing most things . For model , I do n’t feel like writing about this anymore . Boom . Done . See how easy that was ?

Dan Jacksonis a staff author at Thrillist Entertainment , and for the record , he watched all ofLostand would watch it all again . He ’s on Twitter:@danielvjackson .