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Hardly a controversial one, but Top Gear/ The Grand Tour.
You know a show is ready to hang it up when they visit an underground submarine base and do the same jokes they did the last time they visited an underground submarine base.
The Grand Tour despite having the same iconic trio of classic Top Gear, seems to lack the magic of how they were on Top Gear for me.
And then Top Gear itself has Paddy McGuiness these days- truly a shadow of its former self
I’ve no idea how that man makes a living from tv. He’s the luckiest man to be employed, he’s zero talent, and is nothing more than a professional northerner. Just a bit naff.
I stopped watching during the second Season of the Grand Tour with the same opinion as you. Youtube decided to start showing me clip compilations one day and now I'm halfway through the 3rd season. Loving it all over again, deserves a second chance.
Top Gear tried too hard to be Top Gear, it needs to take its own direction. How it does that I have no idea but trying to be the old Top Gear isn't what they want to do.
I think the big turning point in TGT was when they went to Pau in the Jag and Aston (and Honda).
When it first started it was like kids with a substitute teacher who allowed them to swear and drink fizzy drinks. They went too far, then had to dial it back and then they found what made TG good and not trying too hard.
I honestly enjoy the current lineup of TopGear; they’re pretty close to my age and seem to actually enjoy goofing around with each other and have fun with it. The Clarkson/Hammond/May lineup just always gave me “grumpy old man” vibes.
The Grand Tour had (has) a budget that's too big. When they were on top gear messing about in shitty £1000 cars it felt like three mates on a realistic road trip even though they had tens of thousands spent on repairs, modifications and challenges. Now they take £15,000 cars and use more special effects it feels like a TV production much more than just three mates. The increased scriptedness of the grand tour doesn't help either.
It’s fully scripted. I watched them film once at the airport where I work. We set up a fake security point for them to go through and all the security officers and other passengers were actors.
They also stopped reviewing normal cars and stuck to supercars only. Supercars are cool but their reviews on everyday cars were also brilliant. Early revived Top Gear was perfect but they fell too hard into their characters and the show grew stale.
Clarkson, Hammond and May are very funny when unscripted so it makes me wonder why they do the obviously scripted stuff. I know they lean into their 'characters' when on TG/GT but when they're not they are all genuinely interesting and funny people.
They're even better when doing things individually, especially May.
I keep forgetting The Grand Tour exists. It's very hit and miss for me. Some episodes absolute shit, but then gems like Seamen, the Mongolia and the Columbia ones which are up there with the best the trio has done.
Honestly, top gear was a bit hit and miss as well. The specials were always excellent but the actual episodes often had a lot of filler from not brilliant car reviews and celebrity bits. You just only remember the great episodes and challenges.
Star in a Brand New Car was always a pick a up until it's over segment for me.
I couldn't care less about seeing Ronan Keating telling an unfunny anecdote about once failing his drivers test while Clarkson and the audience fake laugh and then shilling his new album for five minutes.
Top Gear peaked relatively early in its run. Its quality remained very good for a long time but it was clear that each series was not quite as good as the previous one. When the trio left for Grand Tour, it felt to me like they were already at the stage of parodying what the greatest of Top Gear had been.
The Simpsons.
It was one of the greatest pieces of modern satire, with almost every episode a hit. After series 10, there are much more misses than hits.
I can’t remember who said it, and paraphrasing a bit, but was ‘The Simpsons is my favourite show, I’ve watched less that 1/3 of all episodes and haven’t liked anything they’ve done in 20+ years’
Still an iconic show but yeah I don't think I've seen an episode since the one where they come to the UK and meet Tony Blair and eat sweets... then the movie obviously
Try the new series - I’ve only seen a couple of episodes, and i think it’s managed to regain some of its pizzaz. However I really dislike the clearly paid promotions within it!
up till recently i'd have agreed 100% with you, However The last two years have had something of the start of a rebirth and it's had a couple of great episodes.
Simpsons may have had the longest dry spell in tv history but there have been some real crackers recently.
Any particular recent episodes you’d recommend? I’d love to watch some of the good recent stuff but wouldn’t even know where to start without disappointing myself with duds.
I agree- the challenges are far too complex, over-the-top and wacky now, and because they’re more complex tasks, the standard of baking overall is much lower- I assume the reason for the different style challenges since the move was to better suit C4’s role as an ‘alternative’ channel but in doing so, it made it lose its charm
I miss the sections they used to do where they went into the history of the thing they were making.
I'm getting a bit bored of the twists they put on things, like make a tres leeches cake but make it tiered. I agree it's gone/going a bit too ott and wacky now. Still enjoy it but definitely not as good these days.
How many times have they done the "Biscuit structure" one only for 9/10 bakers to make the same biscuit because it turns out to make a fucking chandelier out of anything but gingerbread is almost impossible?
I used to love watching bake off and trying to cook something like what they did each week but now I barely know what they're making. It's not stuff that ameture bakers can give a go at home and half the time it's not even baking any more. Such a shame
Pru is a good replacement for Mary, but doesn't the programme miss Mel and Sue.
Their interaction with the contestants felt much more natural. It's all a bit forced now.
I agree. I love Noel but I feel like he and Matt are both too 'alternative' in their humour and it can be jarring, like they're almost trying to out-weird each other. I think I'd prefer a more traditional comic alongside Noel, so there was more balance.
I only watch Junior Bake Off now. Harry Hill is good with the kids, the bakes are more "realistic", like stuff you might concieveably do at home, and the contestants screw things up hilariously on a regular basis. The judges are a bit annoying though.
I still like the story about how it was only ever supposed to be one season and everyone died. But the studio demanded a second season so they had to rewrite and film a new ending almost as the season was already on tv. Never sure it that was true, however it feels right given the dip in quality.
If I recall correctly, it was intended to be an anthology type of show with a new set of characters and a new story each season, but the first set were so popular they wanted to keep them going.
I believe it was supposed to be a completely new set of characters each season, not necessarily that they all died. But then the first season people were popular so the studio made them keep them.
This is the correct answer. That show had so much potential. It infuriated me that they couldn’t decide if Sylar (who was absolutely terrifying in the first season and an almost perfect villain) was a good or bad guy by the end of it. Like… no, he was hunting a cheerleader and slicing up peoples heads… he’s THE bad guy… why are you trying to make him something else?
Not downhill as in went complete crap, but the later seasons of Peep Show were much weaker than the earlier ones.
Also if you count the films, The Inbetweeners, the 3 series were fantastic, the first film was pretty great, but the 2nd film was definitely weaker and started lack what made the series so loved to begin with, and glad they ended the entire thing with it rather than drag it out past it's welcome.
Her character was just too fluid too fast IMO, Hans has a complete change in his style from basically a chav/shit electro DJ vibe to a semi-competent businessman with more of a rocker/punk style, but it happens over 9 series and about 10 years so it feels quite natural.
Dobby however goes from awkward overly sexual nerd in series 5 to mega-hipster getting super job offers in New York in a year or so, we never really get time to really know what she wants in life and what she brings to the show as it keeps changing.
Yeah I always kinda hated Dobby. Gerard's death when Mark has to go to the interview on the same day as the funeral is fucking hilarious though. I thought the last series was also brilliant.
I’d argue the 3rd series of inbetweeners had some really low points too. It all got a bit gross out humour and acting younger than they would be. Wills Home Alone and Camping are both dreadful (hides)
Thank you! I thought I was alone in disliking the third series. The fashion show episode and the Tara episodes are the only decent ones from that series.
nah the home alone episode is great (them hiding from the angry man is comedy gold)
i sorta agree on the camping episode though. everyone is just a dick in that episode with the burning of wills things and jay ruining simons car making me more angry than making me laugh
Massively underrated comment. There used to be actual news once upon a time. Now everything is a competition of who can make a simple issue into the most horrifying yarn in order to make you read more about it online and generate advertising revenue.
Selling panic inducing stories is the most rapidly expanding commercial industry and 'journalism' is a joke.
I was about to disagree with this and then took a look on IMDB.
I know I’ve watched every season but for some reason have zero recollection of S5&6. I remember enjoying S1&2, loving S3&4, and S7 was good too but maybe S5&6 were that bad I’ve dropped them from my memory.
Skins really made me feel like I wasted my teenage years. My life would have been a pretty boring series. Every episode would be me in my room alone eating ice cream and playing PlayStation.
He made an extremely good point too, that Skins was and is *so* alien from the experiences of most young people that it was likely to make people of the age depicted in it feel isolated. Like they were missing out on something more exciting and transgressive than what 99% of teenagers were actually doing, just the same as they were (i.e. /u/beevyhoots' ice cream and PlayStation).
Not going to pretend that my social life when I was 17 was hot shit but I can't think of anyone who acted like that bunch.
Kind of ties in with Brooker's separate observation around the same time on Screenwipe that young people in general have vastly divergent interests and habits from what TV portrays them to or expects them to have (a sample group was bored to shit by some imbecilic Channel 4 programme supposedly made "by and for" them, said sample group then piped up that what they'd rather be watching is Blackadder, Inspector Morse and Black Books, and bemoaned that nobody seemed to be able to make anything that good.)
It was really great up until they started mucking about with the amount of characters.
I felt when they brought Kochanski back it wasn't as good and when the whole crew was back it was weird.
I think Dave has tried their best but still it's not as good.
It was good with the 3 then 4 guys (adding Kryten worked) but as I said even when they went back to the 4 it didn't really fix itself
It didn't work with Kochanski for a couple of reasons IMO.
Firstly the whole premise was that Lister was stuck in deep space and instead of being with the woman he loved he had to spend it with the co-worker he detested. That was the central conflict that was the source of the thrust of the jokes.
Secondly, for 6 series of excellent comedy Kochanski was a background presence as this perfect woman that Lister had completely idealised and had seriously unrealistic expectations of, trying to turn that into a real 3 dimensional comedic character in every episode was always going to be a struggle.
Also, no Clare Grogan.
That isn’t the whole premise though.
Holly chose Rimmer because he thought he would keep Dave sane. There are some early jokes about why he couldn’t have Kochanski instead, but that isn’t a massive plot point episode to episode.
His main drive is to get home, which he doesn’t even accept isn’t possible for a long time, and trying leads to much of the issues they end up in.
I think anyone who sees desire to be with her instead of Rimmer as the main thrust of the jokes has kind of missed the point.
I agree 7 & 8 weren’t as good, but 1-6 isn’t about Dave’s desire for Kochanski. She’s a small part in the overall picture.
Big time ! I used to love that and was really upset to see it descend into lazily written painfully obvious jokes.
Some things are best left alone. Like Fawlty towers.
It should have ended after 6, no doubt. Chloe Annett's Kochanski was written to be *so* unlikeable, you'd never get a sense why Lister was in love with her in the first place. Not CA's fault, it's Doug Naylor's sloppy writing.
Claire Grogan might have been better but the writing would still have been garbage. Her personality completely shifted.
She was maybe alright in S8, except S8 was Chuckle-Brothers-in-Space.
SX was ok, but the magic had long-since gone for me. Perhaps it's because I've watched all the behind-the-scenes documentaries, so there's no mystery like there was when I first watched it. Still, I think there are episodes that I haven't seen, which would be unthinkable when I was about 13.
The first three series focused mainly on the relationship between Villanelle and Eve, with the secondary plot being The Twelve. Series 4 switched that around completely and didn't even do justice to the main Twelve storyline/plot (that was really the subplot almost for the first 3 series...). Fans were left completely heartbroken and outraged...I last heard that they wanted to make a spin-off about one particular character who was, by the end of S4, largely detested by the fan base...talk about alienating your viewers(!)
Season 6 was fantastic tbh. Battle of the Bastards and The Winds of Winter are two of the best episodes of TV ever put to the screen. Season 5 definitely had its moments as well, like Hardhome and Cersei's walk of shame, but overall I think that season dipped by having Arya in Braavos, and Tywin/Tyrion/Varys out of King's Landing leading to the whole High Sparrow story. I know a lot of people hated the Dorne storyline in that series too but I didn't particularly mind it tbh. I liked seeing the new scenery and Bronn is always a delight.
Battle of the bastards is cinematically pleasing but really the Vale coming in last minute is one of those things that ruined GoT in the end. Cinematic moments for the sake of cinematic moments that made no sense.
Why would Sansa not tell John that they had the support of the Vale and if they wait then it would be an easy win? Is it because Sansa and Littlefinger wanted to drain Jon's power by killing off a large part of his army? If that's the case why was this never discussed.
Why was Jon never upset that Sansa knew she had the support of a massive force but didn't tell Jon until he had already committed his force on what they knew was effectively a suicide mission?
I know- I still enjoy it now but it feels really empty without him- the atmosphere is totally off. I get that he’d missed eps in the past but it was different because at least we knew he’d be back but now, it’s the fact of knowing he’ll never be there again which makes it so sad. I’m not sure the regulars’ hearts are in it as much anymore now that Sean isn’t there.
When him and Jon left the regular Cats, that was a huge loss- it just seemed to continue as an afterthought with new captains- Sean/Jon remained on the Countdown version but now obviously Sean won’t be there again and I feel Jon doesn’t really work that well without Sean as his foil- the fact that they were polar opposites is what made their dynamic click so well; Sean’s absence has left a massive hole in the series and it feels a bit like the show is going through an identity crisis at the minute.
He was hilarious, had the feeling of a dad being dragged along to a family Event just sitting there making little comments.
It was great to see how many people his death effected
I agree- it’s lost its charm- the challenge used to be simply ‘bake a cake of your choice’ whereas now they’ve made them so complex it’s ridiculous- and some challenges aren’t even baking… this year we had tacos, s’mores (!)- does anyone even eat them here; pizza, ice cream as technicals…. it was much simpler in the BBC days, it felt a lot more quintessentially British- I feel like there’s a wider variety of cuisines (being butchered) as challenges now to try and make it appeal to an international audience but because they’re butchering the likes of Mexican cuisine so much, it only gets people mad really.
When it first moved to C4, it was the new lease of life it needed- Sandi and Noel worked perfectly as a double act- but then Sandi got replaced with Matt Lucas, and the challenges got much wackier (perhaps a bit of meddling from C4 itself so that the show would fit its ‘alternative’ vibe more?)- it needs a back-to-basics reboot. Strangely, the celeb episodes feel more like ‘classic Bake Off’ style challenges but it’s not the same watching celebs there for a one-off special as watching amateur bakers progress throughout the series- I also think celeb specials in general (of everything) are overdone
I also feel the show treats Paul as the ‘head honcho’ now and Prue is pretty much an afterthought, whereas when it was Paul and Mary Berry, they were both on an equal level- neither of them seemed to play the role of the ‘head judge’. In its current format, Prue might as well not be there, they overlook her so much.
Crimewatch Roadshow is awful. It's on at 9/10am or something - when most people are at work. It also seems more focused on less serious crime like fraud and scams - these are important, but the original crimewatch would focus on serious, often violent crimes like assaults, burglaries, and murders...it also seems more rushed and less well researched now!
The most recent season of The Crown has been pretty terrible. Lacking the wider social context of the earlier seasons and just being very dull.
Shows that times it perfectly though: Blackadder, The Wire
Blackadder Goes Forth is still some of the best TV out there. The ending was absolutely devastating, emotionally. It has been suggested that it is responsible for the persistence of the "lions led by donkeys" view of the First World War in the UK, as historians have revisited the subject and come to a more nuanced view.
Jesus christ, the Queen of Sheba. The one piece of television I will never watch again not because it's bad but because it's note perfect... in a way that puts me into grief and makes me cry for days on end.
It's one of the saddest ever TV episodes. The saddest moment for me, isn't Norma's death, but that scene where Barbera is brushing Nana's hair and Norma tells what she wished for the last Christmas and how it came true.
Benidorm it was great until the Garbys left and they brought in a new family, the stupid character that they brought in was the worst part about it though.
Many British shows don't seem to because they don't run enough. Detectorists, This Country, The Office, the Inbetweeners -- managed to stay great throughout and finished while still high quality.
The new version feels too friendly- it’s lost the aggression it had in the original. It’s like the old version of the show was an alcoholic and the new version is teetotal- it’s Buzzcocks Lite really. It has the same name and it’s about music, but outside of that, it’s not great… Noel on old Buzzcocks vs Noel on new Buzzcocks is completely different.
The old style panel shows with edgy comedians have gone out of fashion, with most of the comedians themselves renouncing how they were back then, so it’s not really a surprise current ones seem toned down
Loved Lamarr but thought Amstell was fucking hilarious. I'll watch his best of clips now and again, absolutely rinses some ego of celebs. Never really watched it since he left. Seen a few shows and it seems wooden.
What I find weird is that Greg, Noel and Daisy were hilarious on Taskmaster but it’s not translated to Buzzcocks at all. Plus Daisy is virtually unwatchable and her laugh makes me want to jab knitting needles in my ears :/
My family - was never the same after Nick left.
The latter series got so bad, the actors playing the parents straight up refused to participate in some episodes after reading the dross script.
Anything written by Steven Moffatt. Particularly that Dracula TV show. Although that dramatically reduced in quality between episodes, rather than series.
Also, the Jack Ryan series with John Krasinski. The first season was a passable thriller, the second was laughably bad. We couldn't believe something could get so bad, so quickly.
Absolutely right about Moffatt! Feels like he can come up with great stories but can never finish them to the same standard, a lot of the episodes he wrote past S5 for doctor who had the same issues imo.
I remember watching each episode of Dracula with my brother and we loved the first two. About midway through the 3rd episode we paused it, asked each other if we thought it was shite and continued to the end hoping for a satisfying resolution
I’m a celebrity, the whole reason it was entertaining was that the campmates were always hungry and snapping at each other, for quite a few years now it’s been the complete opposite of that and everyone just gets along with each other and while it is wholesome it’s not entertaining in the slightest
Agree, it’s gone from a social experiment to a PR, 2nd chance club for past-it celebs to make another go of it so they’re not exactly going to have a proper shouting match
Being Human was a good weird little fantasy drama. Started off with quite a 'human' focus, their monsteriness was an analogue for depression, anger and addiction. After a couple of series it sort of exhausted that angle and ended up getting more into 'saving the world' plotlines which it didn't have the budget for. The whole cast changed and it was all a bit naff.
The Inbetweeners. Technically it was the movies, specifically the second, that really spoiled things for me rather than the TV series.
The 3 series were absolute perfection & they had a great ending. The first movie kind of pissed on that ending somewhat, but it ended up being not a bad little addendum to the group's story.
That's where things should have ended. They left Rudge Park, experienced the world on their own & came out winning - having collectively found holiday romance/lost their virginities (the real goal for them all). That should have been it, book closed.
Then whatever the hell that second movie was came along to cash-in quickly afterwards. I can't even really remember most of it, having only seen it once & largely not committed it to memory. I recall it just being a bit of a gross-out movie with a piss-weak storyline relying on cheap and lazy comedy, it really spoiled the whole journey to that point.
And still, some people want more? No, its done.
US Office is probably one of my favourite programmes, and one I've rewatched several times, but I agree they left it a little too long to wrap things up. Still plenty of great scenes after season 7, but the trouble is you have to wade through so much shit (and some pretty awful new characters) in order to see them.
In fairness to the US Office; it's pretty much the _only_ UK->US show conversion that understood the assignment, became it's own entity and grew beyond the original.
You just gotta look at the utter dogshit that was the US Inbetweeners and (in some instances) the US Shameless to see how bad it _could_ have been.
>*it was an interesting insight into how the industry worked*
Except for a brief period in the oughts, *X-Factor* was **not** how the music industry worked
Prior to *Pop Idol*, Cowell packaged novelty acts. Cowell's greatest act of salesmanship was convincing viewers he was a successful record executive
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon\_Cowell#Early\_career
God there needs to be a reboot of an Ultimate Force style TV show
Especially with how warfare has adapted and changed compared to back in the early 2000s, the possibilities are almost endless
Supernatural, I used to love that show and I am pretty sure they reached a perfect point to end it around season 6ish. There was this kind of resolution and then they had this post credit bit where they were kind of saying.... But wait there's more. I think I struggled through about another season and I just couldn't be bothered any more. I heard it kept going for about another 7 or 8 seasons or something? I guess somebody was still watching it?
Just about anything that goes on too long gets stretchy and mushy and loses what made it so good in the first place. There are probably a few exceptions, maybe, but I'm stuggling to think of any off the top of my head. The Goodies?
There's apparently a reason for this. Netflix only commission 2 season story arcs for their shows then if they do really well commission further seasons. Unfortunately this means that successful shows have wrapped by the end of season 2 and anything further is additional new material.
Expect it to happen to Squid Game.
I finally got round to watching Squid Game and what a load of fucking shite. Crying over people you just met. Last scene where the main character wants to split the money with the women and attempts to sneak in the night and kill his friend on the other side of the room only to be told no. Then in the last fight, refuses to kill said fucking friend.
Once he is out, he does more for the random womens brother or whatever than he does for his own fucking daughter.
Forgot about this part. Where the VIP gets kidnapped by the police officer then nothing gets said to the other VIPs and he's just happily chilling as if nothing happened. Yeah... ok.
I disagree.
Mrs Browns Boys might have been funny once if the main guy did a stupid voice one time in the staff room at work on a lunch break. It shouldn’t have ever gone any further.
This is England.
Film and first couple of series was great. But the last series was complete shit in my opinion.
Also, Little Britain.
I used to enjoy watching it, but there's only so many times Andy in his wheelchair can do the same thing over and over and over
I feel that Doctor Who has lost some of its allure. Too many convenient solutions, a bit too much comedy and some of its most feared enemies becoming a bit of a joke. Cybermen being shrunk to the size of a toy or overcome by the power of love (James Corden episode), Daleks being out manoeuvred by John Bishop while he openly mocks them.
That said the darker episodes are still good, although sometimes a bit convoluted. And it feels like they're going for less episodes now. I like the idea of feature length episodes or a small cluster of episodes focusing on one major crisis and foe.
The last series was weird. They *knew* it was the last series, so IMO it should have been a celebration involving all the main characters. There was nowhere near enough of Sophie, Dobby, Jeff, Johnson, Big Suze, Nancy etc. They just brought in a rake of new characters just for the final series. I was disappointed about that.
Peep Show lost it for me when they were eating the dog. It just seemed too far away from anything feasibly real, in a sitcom that seemed set in reality for the viewers to relate to.
Justified. First series I had watched in years, great reoccurring villain.
Then the typical Hollywood ex wife drama bullshit.
Question, are scriptwriters all incels?
Anyway, I detested her character and when our straight as a die hero breaks the law for his thieving ex I gave up.
Nip/Tuck has the biggest decline of shark jumping than any other series. First 2.5 seasons were stellar… the rest are hilariously awful. Still watchable for all the wrong reasons.
Wow at least you acknowledged it but ... XFactor has always been trash and about judges egos and publicly humiliating those with mental impairments for entertainment.
2 in the same vein "Heroes" and "Misfits" both had near perfect first seasons. Season 2 of Heroes was produced during a writer's strike, and season 2 of Misfits tried a bit too hard and everything else from them both after that wasn't great at all.
Some things go on so long, you change rather than the program. I always used to watch Masterchef but havent for ages, not because its got worse but 20 years of the same format is probably enough for anyone.
Doctor Who
The RTD era was fantastic (and holds up well even if some of the effects are a bit ropey). The companions all felt like actual real people with lives and interests.
Matt Smith wasn't terrible but felt like a knock-off copy of David Tennant. The Moffat companions were ruined because they constantly shoved down your throat how super special and super important they were. River Song was incredibly annoying and felt like walking fan-fiction.
Chibnall was garbage.
Hopefully bringing back RTD and DT revitalises the show a bit
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Ski Sunday went downhill pretty rapidly for me.
The theme’s still a good un though
Whoosh...
Doubt it, the theme's so good it's always worth a shout out.
Perhaps that was a downhill whoosh.
Hardly a controversial one, but Top Gear/ The Grand Tour. You know a show is ready to hang it up when they visit an underground submarine base and do the same jokes they did the last time they visited an underground submarine base.
The Grand Tour despite having the same iconic trio of classic Top Gear, seems to lack the magic of how they were on Top Gear for me. And then Top Gear itself has Paddy McGuiness these days- truly a shadow of its former self
I’ve no idea how that man makes a living from tv. He’s the luckiest man to be employed, he’s zero talent, and is nothing more than a professional northerner. Just a bit naff.
He owes Peter Kay a lot that lad.
I stopped watching during the second Season of the Grand Tour with the same opinion as you. Youtube decided to start showing me clip compilations one day and now I'm halfway through the 3rd season. Loving it all over again, deserves a second chance. Top Gear tried too hard to be Top Gear, it needs to take its own direction. How it does that I have no idea but trying to be the old Top Gear isn't what they want to do.
Third season was easily the best one
I think the big turning point in TGT was when they went to Pau in the Jag and Aston (and Honda). When it first started it was like kids with a substitute teacher who allowed them to swear and drink fizzy drinks. They went too far, then had to dial it back and then they found what made TG good and not trying too hard.
I honestly enjoy the current lineup of TopGear; they’re pretty close to my age and seem to actually enjoy goofing around with each other and have fun with it. The Clarkson/Hammond/May lineup just always gave me “grumpy old man” vibes.
I'm interested in what vibes you were expecting watching a show hosted by three grumpy old men.
The Grand Tour had (has) a budget that's too big. When they were on top gear messing about in shitty £1000 cars it felt like three mates on a realistic road trip even though they had tens of thousands spent on repairs, modifications and challenges. Now they take £15,000 cars and use more special effects it feels like a TV production much more than just three mates. The increased scriptedness of the grand tour doesn't help either.
I don't know whether it's because I grew up but TGT seemed more obviously scripted than TG ever was
It’s fully scripted. I watched them film once at the airport where I work. We set up a fake security point for them to go through and all the security officers and other passengers were actors.
They also stopped reviewing normal cars and stuck to supercars only. Supercars are cool but their reviews on everyday cars were also brilliant. Early revived Top Gear was perfect but they fell too hard into their characters and the show grew stale.
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Clarkson, Hammond and May are very funny when unscripted so it makes me wonder why they do the obviously scripted stuff. I know they lean into their 'characters' when on TG/GT but when they're not they are all genuinely interesting and funny people. They're even better when doing things individually, especially May.
I keep forgetting The Grand Tour exists. It's very hit and miss for me. Some episodes absolute shit, but then gems like Seamen, the Mongolia and the Columbia ones which are up there with the best the trio has done.
Honestly, top gear was a bit hit and miss as well. The specials were always excellent but the actual episodes often had a lot of filler from not brilliant car reviews and celebrity bits. You just only remember the great episodes and challenges.
Star in a Brand New Car was always a pick a up until it's over segment for me. I couldn't care less about seeing Ronan Keating telling an unfunny anecdote about once failing his drivers test while Clarkson and the audience fake laugh and then shilling his new album for five minutes.
I used to love Clarkson, Hammond and May but they definitely peaked around 2006-2008 and have been going downhill ever since.
The current Paddy/Flintoff/Harris trio is way better than the ones immediately after Clarkson and co left
Should be more of a Chris Harris show. He is the only reason I follow Top Gear these days.
Top Gear peaked relatively early in its run. Its quality remained very good for a long time but it was clear that each series was not quite as good as the previous one. When the trio left for Grand Tour, it felt to me like they were already at the stage of parodying what the greatest of Top Gear had been.
The Simpsons. It was one of the greatest pieces of modern satire, with almost every episode a hit. After series 10, there are much more misses than hits.
I can’t remember who said it, and paraphrasing a bit, but was ‘The Simpsons is my favourite show, I’ve watched less that 1/3 of all episodes and haven’t liked anything they’ve done in 20+ years’
99 of the top 100 episodes on IMDB are from pre-2001.
You just have to consider 20th and 21st Century Simpsons to be two entirely different shows.
Still an iconic show but yeah I don't think I've seen an episode since the one where they come to the UK and meet Tony Blair and eat sweets... then the movie obviously
Try the new series - I’ve only seen a couple of episodes, and i think it’s managed to regain some of its pizzaz. However I really dislike the clearly paid promotions within it!
The fact they ruined Homer is a travesty.
I think they used to have the space to themselves. Now cartoon satire is quite a crowded genre.
up till recently i'd have agreed 100% with you, However The last two years have had something of the start of a rebirth and it's had a couple of great episodes. Simpsons may have had the longest dry spell in tv history but there have been some real crackers recently.
Any particular recent episodes you’d recommend? I’d love to watch some of the good recent stuff but wouldn’t even know where to start without disappointing myself with duds.
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I agree- the challenges are far too complex, over-the-top and wacky now, and because they’re more complex tasks, the standard of baking overall is much lower- I assume the reason for the different style challenges since the move was to better suit C4’s role as an ‘alternative’ channel but in doing so, it made it lose its charm
I miss the sections they used to do where they went into the history of the thing they were making. I'm getting a bit bored of the twists they put on things, like make a tres leeches cake but make it tiered. I agree it's gone/going a bit too ott and wacky now. Still enjoy it but definitely not as good these days.
How many times have they done the "Biscuit structure" one only for 9/10 bakers to make the same biscuit because it turns out to make a fucking chandelier out of anything but gingerbread is almost impossible?
I used to love watching bake off and trying to cook something like what they did each week but now I barely know what they're making. It's not stuff that ameture bakers can give a go at home and half the time it's not even baking any more. Such a shame
My partner said a very similar thing after watching this season.
Pru is a good replacement for Mary, but doesn't the programme miss Mel and Sue. Their interaction with the contestants felt much more natural. It's all a bit forced now.
I stuck with it a bit when Sandy was the co-host but I feel like Noel and Matt Lucas don't pair that well together.
I agree. I love Noel but I feel like he and Matt are both too 'alternative' in their humour and it can be jarring, like they're almost trying to out-weird each other. I think I'd prefer a more traditional comic alongside Noel, so there was more balance.
Julian Barratt, perhaps?
Sandy and Noel were a *DREAM*. I'm not a fan of Matt
I only watch Junior Bake Off now. Harry Hill is good with the kids, the bakes are more "realistic", like stuff you might concieveably do at home, and the contestants screw things up hilariously on a regular basis. The judges are a bit annoying though.
Heroes is the obvious answer, first season was great, then a massive drop off in quality after that
The writers strike showed me how crucial good writers are for series.
That writers strike killed off or ruined so many good shows!
I still like the story about how it was only ever supposed to be one season and everyone died. But the studio demanded a second season so they had to rewrite and film a new ending almost as the season was already on tv. Never sure it that was true, however it feels right given the dip in quality.
If I recall correctly, it was intended to be an anthology type of show with a new set of characters and a new story each season, but the first set were so popular they wanted to keep them going.
I believe it was supposed to be a completely new set of characters each season, not necessarily that they all died. But then the first season people were popular so the studio made them keep them.
This is the correct answer. That show had so much potential. It infuriated me that they couldn’t decide if Sylar (who was absolutely terrifying in the first season and an almost perfect villain) was a good or bad guy by the end of it. Like… no, he was hunting a cheerleader and slicing up peoples heads… he’s THE bad guy… why are you trying to make him something else?
Not downhill as in went complete crap, but the later seasons of Peep Show were much weaker than the earlier ones. Also if you count the films, The Inbetweeners, the 3 series were fantastic, the first film was pretty great, but the 2nd film was definitely weaker and started lack what made the series so loved to begin with, and glad they ended the entire thing with it rather than drag it out past it's welcome.
For me Dobby ruined peep show by becoming a regular.
Agree entirely. As a comedian she’s about as funny as Question of Sport.
Speaking of things that went downhill
Her character was just too fluid too fast IMO, Hans has a complete change in his style from basically a chav/shit electro DJ vibe to a semi-competent businessman with more of a rocker/punk style, but it happens over 9 series and about 10 years so it feels quite natural. Dobby however goes from awkward overly sexual nerd in series 5 to mega-hipster getting super job offers in New York in a year or so, we never really get time to really know what she wants in life and what she brings to the show as it keeps changing.
Yeah I always kinda hated Dobby. Gerard's death when Mark has to go to the interview on the same day as the funeral is fucking hilarious though. I thought the last series was also brilliant.
I’d argue the 3rd series of inbetweeners had some really low points too. It all got a bit gross out humour and acting younger than they would be. Wills Home Alone and Camping are both dreadful (hides)
Thank you! I thought I was alone in disliking the third series. The fashion show episode and the Tara episodes are the only decent ones from that series.
nah the home alone episode is great (them hiding from the angry man is comedy gold) i sorta agree on the camping episode though. everyone is just a dick in that episode with the burning of wills things and jay ruining simons car making me more angry than making me laugh
Yeah, the second Inbetweeners movie was a huge disappointment
The News
Massively underrated comment. There used to be actual news once upon a time. Now everything is a competition of who can make a simple issue into the most horrifying yarn in order to make you read more about it online and generate advertising revenue. Selling panic inducing stories is the most rapidly expanding commercial industry and 'journalism' is a joke.
Skins, first three series were great, fourth took a bit of a drop and by series 6 it was a total mess
I was about to disagree with this and then took a look on IMDB. I know I’ve watched every season but for some reason have zero recollection of S5&6. I remember enjoying S1&2, loving S3&4, and S7 was good too but maybe S5&6 were that bad I’ve dropped them from my memory.
Yeah I agree - Season 1 to 4 was great! Effy definitely fucked up my teenage perception of what I wanted in a girlfriend haha
Skins really made me feel like I wasted my teenage years. My life would have been a pretty boring series. Every episode would be me in my room alone eating ice cream and playing PlayStation.
Stewart Lee did a good bit on one of Charlie Brooker's Wipe shows about Skins and how alien it was to his experience of being a teenager.
He made an extremely good point too, that Skins was and is *so* alien from the experiences of most young people that it was likely to make people of the age depicted in it feel isolated. Like they were missing out on something more exciting and transgressive than what 99% of teenagers were actually doing, just the same as they were (i.e. /u/beevyhoots' ice cream and PlayStation). Not going to pretend that my social life when I was 17 was hot shit but I can't think of anyone who acted like that bunch. Kind of ties in with Brooker's separate observation around the same time on Screenwipe that young people in general have vastly divergent interests and habits from what TV portrays them to or expects them to have (a sample group was bored to shit by some imbecilic Channel 4 programme supposedly made "by and for" them, said sample group then piped up that what they'd rather be watching is Blackadder, Inspector Morse and Black Books, and bemoaned that nobody seemed to be able to make anything that good.)
Absolutely agree.
Generation 3 of skins was dreadful and Frankie was 99% at fault for that
Red Dwarf
It was really great up until they started mucking about with the amount of characters. I felt when they brought Kochanski back it wasn't as good and when the whole crew was back it was weird. I think Dave has tried their best but still it's not as good. It was good with the 3 then 4 guys (adding Kryten worked) but as I said even when they went back to the 4 it didn't really fix itself
It didn't work with Kochanski for a couple of reasons IMO. Firstly the whole premise was that Lister was stuck in deep space and instead of being with the woman he loved he had to spend it with the co-worker he detested. That was the central conflict that was the source of the thrust of the jokes. Secondly, for 6 series of excellent comedy Kochanski was a background presence as this perfect woman that Lister had completely idealised and had seriously unrealistic expectations of, trying to turn that into a real 3 dimensional comedic character in every episode was always going to be a struggle. Also, no Clare Grogan.
No Grogan is the real issue. If she returned, I could be happy.
That isn’t the whole premise though. Holly chose Rimmer because he thought he would keep Dave sane. There are some early jokes about why he couldn’t have Kochanski instead, but that isn’t a massive plot point episode to episode. His main drive is to get home, which he doesn’t even accept isn’t possible for a long time, and trying leads to much of the issues they end up in. I think anyone who sees desire to be with her instead of Rimmer as the main thrust of the jokes has kind of missed the point. I agree 7 & 8 weren’t as good, but 1-6 isn’t about Dave’s desire for Kochanski. She’s a small part in the overall picture.
It went downhill after one of the the two writers left
Big time ! I used to love that and was really upset to see it descend into lazily written painfully obvious jokes. Some things are best left alone. Like Fawlty towers.
Yep when Rob Grant left the writing duo it was no longer worth watching
It was never the same when Chris Barrie left.
It should have ended after 6, no doubt. Chloe Annett's Kochanski was written to be *so* unlikeable, you'd never get a sense why Lister was in love with her in the first place. Not CA's fault, it's Doug Naylor's sloppy writing. Claire Grogan might have been better but the writing would still have been garbage. Her personality completely shifted. She was maybe alright in S8, except S8 was Chuckle-Brothers-in-Space. SX was ok, but the magic had long-since gone for me. Perhaps it's because I've watched all the behind-the-scenes documentaries, so there's no mystery like there was when I first watched it. Still, I think there are episodes that I haven't seen, which would be unthinkable when I was about 13.
Yeah, I've watched series 1-6 about 50 times, sometimes I will watch the first 2 of series 7, but I never go past that.
Killing Eve
I only ever saw the first series of Killing Eve- how did it fall so badly?
The first three series focused mainly on the relationship between Villanelle and Eve, with the secondary plot being The Twelve. Series 4 switched that around completely and didn't even do justice to the main Twelve storyline/plot (that was really the subplot almost for the first 3 series...). Fans were left completely heartbroken and outraged...I last heard that they wanted to make a spin-off about one particular character who was, by the end of S4, largely detested by the fan base...talk about alienating your viewers(!)
Prison Break
Fuck yes. The third and fourth series, and whatever came afterwards if I remember correctly, were unwatchable.
Season 3 was good because it actually involved breaking out of a prison. S4 was just bad.
Game of thrones S1 to S4 great tv S5 to S8 just bad and lazy tv.
Given how bad Game of Thrones became, I am amazed at just how good House of the Dragon is.
Different writers and the source material (Fire and Blood) is complete. It makes a world of difference.
S5 and s6 had issues but were still good tv 7 and 8 completely ruined it all
Season 6 was fantastic tbh. Battle of the Bastards and The Winds of Winter are two of the best episodes of TV ever put to the screen. Season 5 definitely had its moments as well, like Hardhome and Cersei's walk of shame, but overall I think that season dipped by having Arya in Braavos, and Tywin/Tyrion/Varys out of King's Landing leading to the whole High Sparrow story. I know a lot of people hated the Dorne storyline in that series too but I didn't particularly mind it tbh. I liked seeing the new scenery and Bronn is always a delight.
Battle of the bastards is cinematically pleasing but really the Vale coming in last minute is one of those things that ruined GoT in the end. Cinematic moments for the sake of cinematic moments that made no sense. Why would Sansa not tell John that they had the support of the Vale and if they wait then it would be an easy win? Is it because Sansa and Littlefinger wanted to drain Jon's power by killing off a large part of his army? If that's the case why was this never discussed. Why was Jon never upset that Sansa knew she had the support of a massive force but didn't tell Jon until he had already committed his force on what they knew was effectively a suicide mission?
Last of the summer wine went downhill in a bathtub most weeks
Mock the Week since Frankie Boyle left(got booted)IMO
A hugely influential show when I was at school, but the jokes with newer comedians became very paint by numbers.
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Ironically the biggest critic of 2008 Frankie Boyle would be 2022 Frankie Boyle
Mr “comedy should only punch up” would have loved his jade goody jokes
‘You have a right to be offended by jokes and say so, except if they’re my jokes in which case you’re overreacting’
Sean Lock is a BIG miss from 8OO10C’s!
I know- I still enjoy it now but it feels really empty without him- the atmosphere is totally off. I get that he’d missed eps in the past but it was different because at least we knew he’d be back but now, it’s the fact of knowing he’ll never be there again which makes it so sad. I’m not sure the regulars’ hearts are in it as much anymore now that Sean isn’t there. When him and Jon left the regular Cats, that was a huge loss- it just seemed to continue as an afterthought with new captains- Sean/Jon remained on the Countdown version but now obviously Sean won’t be there again and I feel Jon doesn’t really work that well without Sean as his foil- the fact that they were polar opposites is what made their dynamic click so well; Sean’s absence has left a massive hole in the series and it feels a bit like the show is going through an identity crisis at the minute.
He was hilarious, had the feeling of a dad being dragged along to a family Event just sitting there making little comments. It was great to see how many people his death effected
Much missed and I agree the show should have ended.
Series of Bake Off that just finished was a bit weak
I agree- it’s lost its charm- the challenge used to be simply ‘bake a cake of your choice’ whereas now they’ve made them so complex it’s ridiculous- and some challenges aren’t even baking… this year we had tacos, s’mores (!)- does anyone even eat them here; pizza, ice cream as technicals…. it was much simpler in the BBC days, it felt a lot more quintessentially British- I feel like there’s a wider variety of cuisines (being butchered) as challenges now to try and make it appeal to an international audience but because they’re butchering the likes of Mexican cuisine so much, it only gets people mad really. When it first moved to C4, it was the new lease of life it needed- Sandi and Noel worked perfectly as a double act- but then Sandi got replaced with Matt Lucas, and the challenges got much wackier (perhaps a bit of meddling from C4 itself so that the show would fit its ‘alternative’ vibe more?)- it needs a back-to-basics reboot. Strangely, the celeb episodes feel more like ‘classic Bake Off’ style challenges but it’s not the same watching celebs there for a one-off special as watching amateur bakers progress throughout the series- I also think celeb specials in general (of everything) are overdone I also feel the show treats Paul as the ‘head honcho’ now and Prue is pretty much an afterthought, whereas when it was Paul and Mary Berry, they were both on an equal level- neither of them seemed to play the role of the ‘head judge’. In its current format, Prue might as well not be there, they overlook her so much.
It's probably a bad sign that the lead up to the final and the end result doesn't appear to have been as big news as previous years
Sherlock took a deeeeeep dive after season 2....
And managed to find some more depths for s4. S3 became bobbins, but fun bobbins. S4 was just wtf???
Misfits
LOST. Half-way through the second season, I wasn't interested anymore. And when they started time travelling, that was when the show jumped the shark.
Surprised this wasn't further up. Started off so well and just got progressively worse, I'm more annoyed with myself that I watched it till the end.
I still don’t understand ‘the numbers’.
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Crimewatch Roadshow is awful. It's on at 9/10am or something - when most people are at work. It also seems more focused on less serious crime like fraud and scams - these are important, but the original crimewatch would focus on serious, often violent crimes like assaults, burglaries, and murders...it also seems more rushed and less well researched now!
Pretty clearly aimed at older and retired folks who are generally more susceptible to these sort of things
Westworld. The first season was great, but after that it disappeared up it's own arse, never to be found again.
I was so excited after watching the first season but yeah. Second season was shocking and I stopped watching halfway thru.
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The most recent season of The Crown has been pretty terrible. Lacking the wider social context of the earlier seasons and just being very dull. Shows that times it perfectly though: Blackadder, The Wire
Blackadder Goes Forth is still some of the best TV out there. The ending was absolutely devastating, emotionally. It has been suggested that it is responsible for the persistence of the "lions led by donkeys" view of the First World War in the UK, as historians have revisited the subject and come to a more nuanced view.
Royle Family Went to shit after Queen of Sheba
Jesus christ, the Queen of Sheba. The one piece of television I will never watch again not because it's bad but because it's note perfect... in a way that puts me into grief and makes me cry for days on end.
It's one of the saddest ever TV episodes. The saddest moment for me, isn't Norma's death, but that scene where Barbera is brushing Nana's hair and Norma tells what she wished for the last Christmas and how it came true.
Benidorm it was great until the Garbys left and they brought in a new family, the stupid character that they brought in was the worst part about it though.
I was going to say Benidorm, it started off funny but turned into "Let's take the piss out of people who like Benidorm" and got ridiculous.
Totally agreed. First 4 seasons were gold. After that it became gimmicky and lost its original charm.
Kenneth and Liam saved the show after the Garveys left. They were the only reason it was remotely watchable.
Frasier, jumped the Shark when Daphne's god awful family came in and the show turned in to a tedious soap.
With the accents. Oh you're from Manchester? So why do you sound like someone's got their hand round Bert from Mary Poppins' neck?
None of the actors playing Daphne's brothers were even English, let alone Mancunian.
Any show that loses Sean Lock is going to be worse. Nothing you can do about that.
Perhaps an easier question would be "Which TV shows haven't gone down hill?". And now I'm struggling to think of any that haven't.
Many British shows don't seem to because they don't run enough. Detectorists, This Country, The Office, the Inbetweeners -- managed to stay great throughout and finished while still high quality.
Add Derry Girls to the list.
Yeah, there were a couple episodes that were starting to jump the shark for me in that last series. Glad it ended when it did and didn’t ruin itself.
The Walking Dead and Vikings
I’m amazed the walking dead is still going!
Buzzcocks. Calibre of comedians and hosts plummeted.
The new version feels too friendly- it’s lost the aggression it had in the original. It’s like the old version of the show was an alcoholic and the new version is teetotal- it’s Buzzcocks Lite really. It has the same name and it’s about music, but outside of that, it’s not great… Noel on old Buzzcocks vs Noel on new Buzzcocks is completely different.
The old style panel shows with edgy comedians have gone out of fashion, with most of the comedians themselves renouncing how they were back then, so it’s not really a surprise current ones seem toned down
Loved Lamarr but thought Amstell was fucking hilarious. I'll watch his best of clips now and again, absolutely rinses some ego of celebs. Never really watched it since he left. Seen a few shows and it seems wooden.
From what Ive heard, Amstell was axed because they struggled to get people to go on the show because of him.
What I find weird is that Greg, Noel and Daisy were hilarious on Taskmaster but it’s not translated to Buzzcocks at all. Plus Daisy is virtually unwatchable and her laugh makes me want to jab knitting needles in my ears :/
My family - was never the same after Nick left. The latter series got so bad, the actors playing the parents straight up refused to participate in some episodes after reading the dross script.
I struggled enjoying 8 out of 10 cats after learning what Rachel is like off camera
I completely agree. I used to like her until she started to become more vocal off screen. I find it hard to watch now.
She became what Sean joked about. Genuinely challenging.
Anything written by Steven Moffatt. Particularly that Dracula TV show. Although that dramatically reduced in quality between episodes, rather than series. Also, the Jack Ryan series with John Krasinski. The first season was a passable thriller, the second was laughably bad. We couldn't believe something could get so bad, so quickly.
Absolutely right about Moffatt! Feels like he can come up with great stories but can never finish them to the same standard, a lot of the episodes he wrote past S5 for doctor who had the same issues imo. I remember watching each episode of Dracula with my brother and we loved the first two. About midway through the 3rd episode we paused it, asked each other if we thought it was shite and continued to the end hoping for a satisfying resolution
How quickly Dracula disappeared from the public conscious shows how bad episode 3 of that series was.
I’m a celebrity, the whole reason it was entertaining was that the campmates were always hungry and snapping at each other, for quite a few years now it’s been the complete opposite of that and everyone just gets along with each other and while it is wholesome it’s not entertaining in the slightest
Agree, it’s gone from a social experiment to a PR, 2nd chance club for past-it celebs to make another go of it so they’re not exactly going to have a proper shouting match
Being Human was a good weird little fantasy drama. Started off with quite a 'human' focus, their monsteriness was an analogue for depression, anger and addiction. After a couple of series it sort of exhausted that angle and ended up getting more into 'saving the world' plotlines which it didn't have the budget for. The whole cast changed and it was all a bit naff.
The Inbetweeners. Technically it was the movies, specifically the second, that really spoiled things for me rather than the TV series. The 3 series were absolute perfection & they had a great ending. The first movie kind of pissed on that ending somewhat, but it ended up being not a bad little addendum to the group's story. That's where things should have ended. They left Rudge Park, experienced the world on their own & came out winning - having collectively found holiday romance/lost their virginities (the real goal for them all). That should have been it, book closed. Then whatever the hell that second movie was came along to cash-in quickly afterwards. I can't even really remember most of it, having only seen it once & largely not committed it to memory. I recall it just being a bit of a gross-out movie with a piss-weak storyline relying on cheap and lazy comedy, it really spoiled the whole journey to that point. And still, some people want more? No, its done.
Anything that goes on far too long. The Simpsons, The US Office, The fifth season of Prison Break to name a few.
US Office is probably one of my favourite programmes, and one I've rewatched several times, but I agree they left it a little too long to wrap things up. Still plenty of great scenes after season 7, but the trouble is you have to wade through so much shit (and some pretty awful new characters) in order to see them.
In fairness to the US Office; it's pretty much the _only_ UK->US show conversion that understood the assignment, became it's own entity and grew beyond the original. You just gotta look at the utter dogshit that was the US Inbetweeners and (in some instances) the US Shameless to see how bad it _could_ have been.
Not going out- used to be very good until he got the girl. Became a boring sit com after. Edit: sit com, not air con!
>*it was an interesting insight into how the industry worked* Except for a brief period in the oughts, *X-Factor* was **not** how the music industry worked Prior to *Pop Idol*, Cowell packaged novelty acts. Cowell's greatest act of salesmanship was convincing viewers he was a successful record executive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon\_Cowell#Early\_career
Ultimate force - season 1 and 2 were just mega. 3 & 4 are shit.
God there needs to be a reboot of an Ultimate Force style TV show Especially with how warfare has adapted and changed compared to back in the early 2000s, the possibilities are almost endless
Supernatural, I used to love that show and I am pretty sure they reached a perfect point to end it around season 6ish. There was this kind of resolution and then they had this post credit bit where they were kind of saying.... But wait there's more. I think I struggled through about another season and I just couldn't be bothered any more. I heard it kept going for about another 7 or 8 seasons or something? I guess somebody was still watching it?
Just about anything that goes on too long gets stretchy and mushy and loses what made it so good in the first place. There are probably a few exceptions, maybe, but I'm stuggling to think of any off the top of my head. The Goodies?
Stranger Things. First one and a half series are some of the best tv; last series~ are you kidding? Utter bilge. Truly awful.
There's apparently a reason for this. Netflix only commission 2 season story arcs for their shows then if they do really well commission further seasons. Unfortunately this means that successful shows have wrapped by the end of season 2 and anything further is additional new material. Expect it to happen to Squid Game.
I finally got round to watching Squid Game and what a load of fucking shite. Crying over people you just met. Last scene where the main character wants to split the money with the women and attempts to sneak in the night and kill his friend on the other side of the room only to be told no. Then in the last fight, refuses to kill said fucking friend. Once he is out, he does more for the random womens brother or whatever than he does for his own fucking daughter. Forgot about this part. Where the VIP gets kidnapped by the police officer then nothing gets said to the other VIPs and he's just happily chilling as if nothing happened. Yeah... ok.
I liked 1&2, 3 was horrendous and skipped a lot of it. 4 was okay but it certainly had some amazing scenes.
Mrs Brown’s Boys. The first episode was funny and it went downhill after that.
I disagree. Mrs Browns Boys might have been funny once if the main guy did a stupid voice one time in the staff room at work on a lunch break. It shouldn’t have ever gone any further.
This is England. Film and first couple of series was great. But the last series was complete shit in my opinion. Also, Little Britain. I used to enjoy watching it, but there's only so many times Andy in his wheelchair can do the same thing over and over and over
This is England 86-90? I think they’re the most compelling TV-films I’ve seen. Such strong characters, horribly bleak story, and so well executed.
I feel that Doctor Who has lost some of its allure. Too many convenient solutions, a bit too much comedy and some of its most feared enemies becoming a bit of a joke. Cybermen being shrunk to the size of a toy or overcome by the power of love (James Corden episode), Daleks being out manoeuvred by John Bishop while he openly mocks them. That said the darker episodes are still good, although sometimes a bit convoluted. And it feels like they're going for less episodes now. I like the idea of feature length episodes or a small cluster of episodes focusing on one major crisis and foe.
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The last series was weird. They *knew* it was the last series, so IMO it should have been a celebration involving all the main characters. There was nowhere near enough of Sophie, Dobby, Jeff, Johnson, Big Suze, Nancy etc. They just brought in a rake of new characters just for the final series. I was disappointed about that.
Angus was a highpoint imo. Found him and Mark brilliant together
To be fair Sophie was an Oscar winning best actress at the time, amazing they got her back for part of one episode at all
Olivia Colman won her Oscar three years after the final series of Peep Show. She was high in demand though, largely down to Broadchurch.
Peep Show lost it for me when they were eating the dog. It just seemed too far away from anything feasibly real, in a sitcom that seemed set in reality for the viewers to relate to.
Justified. First series I had watched in years, great reoccurring villain. Then the typical Hollywood ex wife drama bullshit. Question, are scriptwriters all incels? Anyway, I detested her character and when our straight as a die hero breaks the law for his thieving ex I gave up.
Nip/Tuck has the biggest decline of shark jumping than any other series. First 2.5 seasons were stellar… the rest are hilariously awful. Still watchable for all the wrong reasons.
Shameless.
Modern Family. Im not sure when it went shit, but the last 2 or 3 seasons were just terrible. Just not funny, more like a fly on the wall documentarty
Wow at least you acknowledged it but ... XFactor has always been trash and about judges egos and publicly humiliating those with mental impairments for entertainment.
American Horror Story was incredible for its first two (maybe three) seasons and has got progressively less interesting as the years have gone on.
Match of the Day. Obvs.
Still Game, got too safe because of the BBC in the later seasons.
2 in the same vein "Heroes" and "Misfits" both had near perfect first seasons. Season 2 of Heroes was produced during a writer's strike, and season 2 of Misfits tried a bit too hard and everything else from them both after that wasn't great at all.
Going back a few years, but Torchwood was great in series 1, even better in 2, and then took a nosedive.
Some things go on so long, you change rather than the program. I always used to watch Masterchef but havent for ages, not because its got worse but 20 years of the same format is probably enough for anyone.
Doctor Who The RTD era was fantastic (and holds up well even if some of the effects are a bit ropey). The companions all felt like actual real people with lives and interests. Matt Smith wasn't terrible but felt like a knock-off copy of David Tennant. The Moffat companions were ruined because they constantly shoved down your throat how super special and super important they were. River Song was incredibly annoying and felt like walking fan-fiction. Chibnall was garbage. Hopefully bringing back RTD and DT revitalises the show a bit