What Shows/Movie Franchises have you "Rage Quit"?

[GHT]

Gretchen Mol.... oh, my.....

My happily married Godson was a gibbering wreck after seeing her naked in a sex scene in Broadwalk Empire.
I've never even heard of Broadwalk Empire. What a sheltered life I live.

 

[Worf]

Things I WANT to "Rage Quit" but haven't found a way to shake loose of... YET!

"The Flash" - Grrr... talk about rinse and repeat. Love stories so one dimensional as to cause diabetes.

"The Arrow" - See above but throw in the most vapid father son relationship I've ever seen.

"Gotham" - Jim Gordon... the poor man's Batman along with Alfred... T.V.'s favorite punching bag.

"My 600 Pound Life" - Barnum would be proud about how they've taken the freak show mainstream.

Worf

 

[Just Jim]

I think I've "rage quit" TV in general.

This is it, in a nutshell. I basically stopped watching TV when they did the ATSC switch-over. If a show lasts long enough--and has enough quality--to be worth bothering with, I'll buy the DVDs. Maybe.

I don't care about sports, I can pick up news online (and in my preferred print format), the only reason to watch TV is entertainment. And for most TV, the entertainment value just wasn't there.

 

[Herb Roflcopter]

I was a fan of South Park until Mr. Hankey showed up...

...something in me just snapped. I seldom get offended by my entertainment choices, but man! I quit cold turkey, and never went back.

There's a few other series that I didn't exactly "rage-quit", but just became disinterested and drifted away:

-The Lord of the Rings: Made it through the first two films, elected not to bother with the third one. (For the record, I was bored with Fellowship, and really liked Two Towers... but I felt like I didn't need to finish the story after Towers ended. In fact, I've done the same thing with the books as well.)

-Doctor Who: Watched the original run when I was a young teen, caught the 1996 TV movie, and eventually got around to viewing the new series... I just can't get into it. i watched the entire first season with Christopher Eccleston, and David Tennant is fun, but I cannot bring myself to finish the rest after watching just two or three episodes of the second season. Just seems like sheer drudgery.

 

[Bushman]

I was a fan of South Park until Mr. Hankey showed up...

...something in me just snapped. I seldom get offended by my entertainment choices, but man! I quit cold turkey, and never went back.

But, Mr. Hankey appeared in the first season.

 

[belfastboy]

"Rage Quitting" is when a show or franchise does something soooooo incredibly stupid, you throw your hands up and disgust and vow to never spend another minute or second watching it ever again. Prime example being "Da Fonz" Jumping the Shark. Here's a short list off the top of my head:

1. "The Walking Dead" - After Glenn managed to hide from a horde of Walkers in the most implausible manner... leading millions to think him dead, only to have him magically reappear I threw up my hands in disgust and haven't been back since.

2. James Bond Franchise - When they hired "The Saint" I left, till Craig took over.

3. "Lost" - They clearly lost their way so I immediately lost interest.

4. "Fear the Walking Dead" - When the teen girl stupidly told murderous pirates exactly where they were because she was mooning over some voice on the radio at the end of season one... I checked out and haven't been back since.

5. "Star Wars" - After 10 seconds of Jar Jar Binks I swore they'd never get another dime of my money. I saw the first film in this last reboot and retook my vows.

Worf

A funny Happy Days story. My friend a would be actor in Hollywood at the time they were casting for Happy Days. He was eager and spent his days knocking on doors, going to auditions that went no where. He did everything right. He was somewhat similar to Henry Winkler but less overtly "Italianate". He landed very few roles outside of soap commercials. Henry Winkler on the other hand was a lazy slob, sat in his apartment in his underwear, not bothering with auditions.....AND had the Fonze part handed to him because he so much fit the vision of the producers. My friend is bitter to this day at the unfairness of life and you don't dare mention the Fonze or Happy Days in his presence.

 

[Herb Roflcopter]

But, Mr. Hankey appeared in the first season.

 

[Harp]

My happily married Godson was a gibbering wreck after seeing her naked in a sex scene in Broadwalk Empire.
I've never even heard of Broadwalk Empire. What a sheltered life I live.

I caught a few episodes of Boardwalk Empire. Looked good, what I saw.

Gretchen Mal was in The Notorious Betty Page a few years back, 2004 I believe. I was living in an
apartment on LaSalle Street several blocks up from Betty Page's old apartment building where they
were shooting the film. Had the street roped off a bit, older 1950s cars deliberately parked outside.
Never met her nor seen the flick but I do recall Betty Page from adolescence.

 

[Edward]

A funny Happy Days story. My friend a would be actor in Hollywood at the time they were casting for Happy Days. He was eager and spent his days knocking on doors, going to auditions that went no where. He did everything right. He was somewhat similar to Henry Winkler but less overtly "Italianate". He landed very few roles outside of soap commercials. Henry Winkler on the other hand was a lazy slob, sat in his apartment in his underwear, not bothering with auditions.....AND had the Fonze part handed to him because he so much fit the vision of the producers. My friend is bitter to this day at the unfairness of life and you don't dare mention the Fonze or Happy Days in his presence.

Shades of Rick Dalton...

 

[Touchofevil]

"Rage Quitting" is when a show or franchise does something soooooo incredibly stupid, you throw your hands up and disgust and vow to never spend another minute or second watching it ever again. Prime example being "Da Fonz" Jumping the Shark. Here's a short list off the top of my head:

1. "The Walking Dead" - After Glenn managed to hide from a horde of Walkers in the most implausible manner... leading millions to think him dead, only to have him magically reappear I threw up my hands in disgust and haven't been back since.

2. James Bond Franchise - When they hired "The Saint" I left, till Craig took over.

3. "Lost" - They clearly lost their way so I immediately lost interest.

4. "Fear the Walking Dead" - When the teen girl stupidly told murderous pirates exactly where they were because she was mooning over some voice on the radio at the end of season one... I checked out and haven't been back since.

5. "Star Wars" - After 10 seconds of Jar Jar Binks I swore they'd never get another dime of my money. I saw the first film in this last reboot and retook my vows.

Worf

Pretty much the same feelings for 1, 4, and 5. Stopped watching although I think about checking them out every once in a while.

 

[ChazfromCali]

Recently I intended to watch as much of the 11 seasons of The X-Files as I could just to see what I missed. I haven't seen it since it was on TV in the 90's and I was not regular viewer.

First observation of the overall experience: I saw a lot more episodes back then than I thought I did. Was familiar with a lot of them.

Second: No way they should have had 24 episodes per season. Way too many, hard to maintain quality. Seemed to me like there were six or eight cutesy "throwaway" episodes per season. But other than that, very strong writing.

Other observations:

The show got too formulaic. A great formula to be sure, but still....

I got frustrated with Mulder always being welcomed back at the FBI so quickly after whatever bizarre experiences he has. Kidnapped by aliens, missing for an extended period of time. Dying and coming back to life ;-) Sheesh!

Much less than that, I would think after getting shot there's a long administrative process of getting approved / vetted to be allowed back on duty. But not even 20 seconds devoted to that.

Robert Patrick was way better than I remembered him. I.M.O. he saved the show for a couple seasons. It was getting really dumb but he managed to keep it interesting.

I really liked the Lone Gunmen.

Along about season 8 they had an episode called Jump the Shark. Maybe the writers were expressing they had run out of ideas? But it wasn't that particular episode that made me throw in the towel. It was the Brady Bunch House episode. Skinner doing back flips in the air in the FBI office.

And there were THREE more seasons after that!

So after watching every episode up to that point - towards the end of season eight and the beginning of nine I bailed. Don't get me wrong, I love this show but they milked it for ALL it was worth. And it did jump the shark.

Which leads me to consider that pretty much all of episodic TV suffers the same fate.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Stopped watching Babylon 5 after a while, back then. Stupid 90s trash.

 

[Edward]

Recently I fully intended to watch as much of the 11 seasons of The X-Files as I could just to see what I missed. I haven't seen it since it was on TV in the 90's and I was not regular viewer.

First observation of the overall experience: I saw a lot more episodes back then than I thought I did. Was familiar with a lot of them.

Second: No way they should have had 24 episodes per season. Way too many, hard to maintain quality. Seemed to me like there were six or eight cutesy "throwaway" episodes per season. But other than that, very strong writing.

Other observations:

The show got too formulaic. A great formula to be sure, but still....

I got frustrated with Mulder always being welcomed back at the FBI so quickly after whatever bizarre experiences he has. Kidnapped by aliens, missing for an extended period of time. Dying and coming back to life ;-) Sheesh!

Much less than that, I would think after getting shot there's a long administrative process of getting approved / vetted to be allowed back on duty. But not even 20 seconds devoted to that.

Robert Patrick was way better than I remembered him. I.M.O. he saved the show for a couple seasons. It was getting really dumb but he managed to keep it interesting.

I really liked the Lone Gunmen.

Along about season 8 they had an episode called Jump the Shark. Maybe the writers were expressing they had run out of ideas? But it wasn't that particular episode that made me throw in the towel. It was the Brady Bunch House episode. Skinner doing back flips in the air in the FBI office.

And there were THREE more seasons after that!

So after watching every episode up to that point - towards the end of season eight and the beginning of nine I bailed. Don't get me wrong, I love this show but they milked it for ALL it was worth. And it did jump the shark.

Which leads me to consider that pretty much all of episodic TV suffers the same fate.

I loved the X-Files when it was first out. For me it dropped in quality when it shifted away from the 'monster of the week' format and went full on with the alien conspiracy. The biggest change wasn't so much that in itself, but that it went too far for me in confirming the existence of the 'other' . The joy of the show for me was always that I wanted to embrace Mulder's romantic notions of the strange - "I want to believe" indeed - but it was never possible to discount Scully's rationalism. Of course, once they got deep into the alien stuff it became impossible to keep that up, she'd seen too much to credibly be always the sceptic. Bringing in another agent - a new sceptic - partially addressed that, but I think the whole alien thing rather spiralled out of control. I think I missed most of the last few series, if they screened at all here. I certainly didn't see the revival of a decade or so ago. The first film was disappointing; the second I thought a bit of a return to form. Would be open to going back and rewatching it all, though.

The Lone Gunmen were great. (I loved the joke in the name.) They made a superb counterpoint to Mulder's belief in the other by being totally off at the deep end, creating an impression of the full spectrum of 'believers', something you can see in pretty much any subculture, very much something with which I could identify.

 

[ChazfromCali]

I loved the X-Files when it was first out. For me it dropped in quality when it shifted away from the 'monster of the week' format and went full on with the alien conspiracy. The biggest change wasn't so much that in itself, but that it went too far for me in confirming the existence of the 'other' . The joy of the show for me was always that I wanted to embrace Mulder's romantic notions of the strange - "I want to believe" indeed - but it was never possible to discount Scully's rationalism. Of course, once they got deep into the alien stuff it became impossible to keep that up, she'd seen too much to credibly be always the sceptic. Bringing in another agent - a new sceptic - partially addressed that, but I think the whole alien thing rather spiralled out of control. I think I missed most of the last few series, if they screened at all here. I certainly didn't see the revival of a decade or so ago. The first film was disappointing; the second I thought a bit of a return to form. Would be open to going back and rewatching it all, though.

The Lone Gunmen were great. (I loved the joke in the name.) They made a superb counterpoint to Mulder's belief in the other by being totally off at the deep end, creating an impression of the full spectrum of 'believers', something you can see in pretty much any subculture, very much something with which I could identify.

Too much alien stuff. I can see that. And the alien type stuff never really resolved much.

That phrase Monster of the Week has a special meaning for me. I used to be on Grimm on NBC. I was a regular background person for 3 1/2 seasons in the police station office. It filmed in Portland, (I lived in Oregon for 13 years). During one episode on a break I was chatting with one of the grips in the hallway while they shot a scene, and he used that phrase Monster of the Week to describe the show.

It deflated me tremendously, lol. I had been really getting into the show, the whole experience of it, etc. I learned a lot about TV shows and how they're done. It was fun. I realized it was just a job to him. A good paying steady job to be sure since at that point I think Grimm was one of the most popular shows on US Television.

Him saying that kinda destroyed the illusion for me ;-) After that I could take a wider view of just how silly it actually was. But hey, people loved that show.

 

[Salmosalar]

For me, True Detective - I really loved the first season but what came after was utter, utter bilge…I managed 1.5 episodes of season two but it was time I could have spent more enjoyably with a spot of root canal surgery…I gave up at that point and never went back to finish it off.

 

[Edward]

Too much alien stuff. I can see that. And the alien type stuff never really resolved much.

That phrase Monster of the Week has a special meaning for me. I used to be on Grimm on NBC. I was a regular background person for 3 1/2 seasons in the police station office. It filmed in Portland, (I lived in Oregon for 13 years). During one episode on a break I was chatting with one of the grips in the hallway while they shot a scene, and he used that phrase Monster of the Week to describe the show.

It deflated me tremendously, lol. I had been really getting into the show, the whole experience of it, etc. I learned a lot about TV shows and how they're done. It was fun. I realized it was just a job to him. A good paying steady job to be sure since at that point I think Grimm was one of the most popular shows on US Television.

Him saying that kinda destroyed the illusion for me ;-) After that I could take a wider view of just how silly it actually was. But hey, people loved that show.

Totally get where you're coming from. To be clear, of course, I use the term as a short-hand for 'weekly, self-contained episodes each about a different aspect of the paranormal', but it's a fair point to raise that not everyone in the industry feels sees it as non-derogatory!

In terms of having your bubble popped which can sometimes (as your anecdote implies) be good for us, I recall my first year teaching a popular undergraduate module I put together. For several weeks half a dozen bright students had been there for the 9am session when I arrived at 8.45, and there was I thinking they were so keen on my class..... only to then realise that they were showing up early because there was a shortage of sockets in the room and they needed to plug in their laptops (laptop batteries back in 2008 not lasting the way they do now).

 

[MisterCairo]

The only show I've "RAGE QUIT" was Game of Thrones. I lost interest after the "red wedding" episode. Mostly cause I draw the line at killing kids.

Killing the pregnant wife did not happen in the book.

One of those tv "we can make this even more grotesque" stunts.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Many people talked about Game Of Thrones, over years, a while ago.

So, should I know this show, as a 37yo person? Was there something special?

 

[Edward]

Many people talked about Game Of Thrones, over years, a while ago.

So, should I know this show, as a 37yo person? Was there something special?

If you're into mediaeval stuff that isn't historical but a bit more 'fantasy lite' than Tolkien, it might be worth checking out. I've only seen about half of it so far. I know folks who didn't enjoy the final resolution at the end (notably, after they ran out of books to adapt because the author clearly lost interest somewhere around the fourth book). Not seen that myself, but a friend made sure to carefully spoiler it for me (apparently spoilers don't count if you "don't care enough" to watch it the first instant it was available in the UK. On a subscription packed that cost more per month than an entire series DVD box set....). TBH, I liked the sound of it. I'll get around to watching the rest some time.

 

[Doctor Strange]

I always strongly recommend Game of Thrones TO PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T READ MARTIN'S BOOKS.

My kids read the books. They really liked the show at first, but once it started really diverging from the books, they got angry about it. They got even more angry when the series' plotting went beyond the published books, and despite the whole Martin-discussed-the-future-plotting-with-the-showrunners thing, they hated it. My son stuck it out, watching the series with me. My daughter quit entirely after the third or fourth season.

But if you haven't read the books to compare, as I haven't, I think Game of Thrones is some damn outstanding television. It's got a huge, very talented and charismatic cast, excellent production values, almost Tolkien-level detailed worldbuilding, and a dense political plot about the various aristocratic families fighting for power. The series is especially good at surprising the viewer with unexpected, often unexpectedly spectacular, plot developments from out of left field that leave your jaw on the floor. (If you manage to avoid spoilers!)

While I think it's great TV, it's far from perfect. There are some serious pacing problems: in particular, the second act drags on much too long. This may be less of a problem bingeing it now than it was watching in real time over seven seasons, because waiting yet ANOTHER year for the stuck plotlines to finally move was frustrating. With so many plot threads, it's often unclear when cutting between them whether or not they're taking place at the same time. And after spending a lot of episodes in the early seasons to establish how big the world is, how long it takes for characters to walk or ride from one locale to another, by the end, it seems like those distances no even longer exist. (Again, because it's often unclear when cutting between characters whether it's happening on the same day or two months later.) There are also some character turns in the last couple of seasons that seem questionable; and some of the final season climaxes are headscratchers or cheap shots.

But I mainly enjoyed the heck out of it. High fantasy for adults, with all the sex and brutality that implies, with fascinating characters, rich plotting, and stunning production values/action/effects. An instant classic.