A supposedly great thing that I'll never watch again- Great media that left you cold

[pukunui]

Why did you feel the need to share this in a "I don't like this supposedly great thing" thread?

I don't know.

I didn't like GoT or Sherlock, but I wouldn't say it was so much the writing or acting so much as the themes. I also like more episodic content instead of feeling like I'm watching a movie that lasts for literal days.
Series I do like include Cobra Kai, Stranger Things, and The Mandalorian.

Yes, I'll admit something I didn't like about Game of Thrones was the way most episodes of a season were just setting up for the big payoff at the end. That kind of television can get frustrating, especially when you can't binge watch it. I like shows that have a mix of standalone stories with an overarching narrative. I think The Mandalorian does a pretty good job of this, although the overarching narrative is perhaps a bit too thin at times. The X-Files did a good job of it at first as well, though I think it had kind of lost its way by the end and sort of petered out with a disappointing ending.

 

[ccs]

Speaking of the X-Files....
Yeah, that one I never really got what everyone else saw in it as a series. Still don't.

Joker.
It came out & everyones like "it's sooo good!"
Never quite got around to seeing it in the theatres (always something better to see/do or it played at inconvenient times).
So sitting around this spring under Covid lockdown I streamed it.
That's it? That's what everyone was all excited about?? Yeah, definitely won't watch again.

 

[Campbell]

I cannot seem to get into the Mandalorian. It just feels so plotted to me. Great cinematography and some decent acting, but the characters just feel like the writers' playthings and not like people. Game of Thrones was similar to me.

 

[pukunui]

I wasn’t able to finish the Wheel of Time series. Got too repetitive with too many samey characters and too many minor characters who got their own chapters and so on. I think I only made it halfway through book four.

 

[Zardnaar]

I wasn’t able to finish the Wheel of Time series. Got too repetitive with too many samey characters and too many minor characters who got their own chapters and so on. I think I only made it halfway through book four.

I made it to 7 and gave up. Just read the wiki to find out what happened.

Didn't end up caring about any of the characters.

 

[Ulfgeir]

Some of the stuff I just can't stand..

* The Big Bang Theory. I absolutely hate that kind of sitcoms. And no, despite it supposedly being about nerds, doesn't make it better. It is still laughing at the nerd, not with them.

* Southpark. I watched the first season, but I found it lacking. Didn't like the artstyle nor the scatological humour.

* The old man and the Sea. We had to read this for an English-course I took at university. Must say it is the most boring and overrated book I have ever read. The myth about Hemingway > his work.

I have tons of others, but they have been pushed to the back of my mind so thoroughly that you need an archaeological expedition to find them.

 

[pukunui]

OK here’s a controversial one: the D&D cartoon.

I was born in ‘81 and didn’t discover D&D until I was 12 or 13. I borrowed a friend’s DVD box set recently and tried watching it with the girls. Wasn’t impressed and gave the DVDs back without bothering to watch the rest.

I’m assuming it’s so popular because of the nostalgia factor?

 

[Zardnaar]

OK here’s a controversial one: the D&D cartoon.

I was born in ‘81 and didn’t discover D&D until I was 12 or 13. I borrowed a friend’s DVD box set recently and tried watching it with the girls. Wasn’t impressed and gave the DVDs back without bothering to watch the rest.

I’m assuming it’s so popular because of the nostalgia factor?

80s kids.

I liked it but can barely remember the details. I was born 78.

But yeah 4 years makes a big difference, I can remember stuff my wife can't and she's an 80s kid.

Alot of stuff has aged terribly eg Transformers which is a glorified toy ad (that's still better somehow than Michael Bey movies).

I remember the 80s but wasn't an adult so miss a few things that older people didn't.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Only thinking of things a lot of people like:

Rogue One - the bits that are good aren't original and the bits that are original aren't good. It's carried by the tone of a war film and more Empire Strikes Back porn than JJ Abrams uses of ANH in TFA
The Big Bang Theory - I've heard it described as a "Geek minstrel show"
The Avengers films - I've a soft spot for the first. But they are a confusing mess with too many characters and contrived storytelling. I've special hate for the way Thanos is never shown to be wrong, just less powerful
Joker - another film where the bits that are good aren't original and the bits that are original aren't good.
South Park - I didn't like edgy 90s nihilism even back in the 90s. And it's aged badly.
Gone with the Wind - I'm not sure which is worse; how little I like the leads or how little I like the setting
Tiger King - car crash TV about a bunch of horrible people
The Mandalorean - I've mixed feelings about this one. It's weapons grade nostalgia (hey, I own Smash Ultimate) with a good premise, good acting, and about as much progression as an 80s TV series. Each episode is fine as long as you watch them a week apart and don't binge.

Also there are a number of things where I'd recommend people see one work by the author and stop there. Joss Whedon springs to mind (I'll recommend Buffy S1-5), as does JJ Abrams (for me his best is Alias S1-2 but that's also the first I saw), as does Aaron Sorkin (although The West Wing really does not hold up) and Stephen Moffatt.

Dishonourable mentions for being targeted nerd porn (although without onscreen sex): Chuck and The West Wing. I can watch both of them but am well aware I'm being pandered to and it makes them feel slightly icky.

On preview the parts of Transformers that aged well were the UK Gen 1 comic series (which is pretty intricate and continuity heavy) and the original movie. The one where there are actual consequences, starting with the death of Optimus Prime, callbacks, conceptual sci-fi like the Universal Greeting, and a discussion of leadership and how it means going forward in the face of adversity, complete with Devo's Dare To Be Stupid as a theme song. Also I didn't realise the D&D cartoon was popular.

 

[Umbran]

Recalled a couple of others..

Warehouse 13 - This should have been a no-brainer for me. Saul Rubinek as a quirky curmudgeon watching over the collection of weird supernatural and super-science artifacts? Sold! Unfortunately, the casual misogyny by one of the main characters was too annoying to watch.

Battlestar Galactica - I watched for a while, but two things got me - alien (robot) baby that can cure cancer and... the total despondancy of it all. The main characters never caught a win, ever, and they did not establish a solid justification for them to not just use their own sidearms to blow their own brains out. I can accept dark and dire shows, but this was grimdark to the point of my having to gird my emotions up to watch each episode... so I stopped.

I'll join the list of folks who couldn't take Big Bang Theory. I'm okay with comedy poking fun at nerds and nerdy things (like, say, Galaxy Quest) when it is done from a position of caring, but BBT wasn't.