{TV - I have quit watching - after sticking with it for a while} Abandoned mid-run/partway in: a TV series I HAD to stop watching as it sadly became/turned out to be such rubbish! :-(
[ RE MY STAR-RATING of a series on this list :
1. Any IMDb star-rating - that I have given to a series on this list - that is high is because I rated the series BEFORE the programme went downhill! For example: 'Midsomer Murders' (1997+) still has my star-rating of 10/10, though the programme has now dropped in my estimation to nowhere near that rating. I have left that star-rating in place, as I simply haven't the time - at the moment, at least! - to rerate (i.e. downrate!) the series. Now a TV programme is not worth any of my viewing time, I simply haven't the energy to spend time rerating such a programme.
Hopefully I might(!) find the time to rerate these programmes at a later date. Or, even better, maybe IMDb will change its rating policy! It would be great if IMDb allowed viewers to rate a TV programme per series/season, rather than per the whole programme. This would work especially well with long-running series like 'Midsomer Murders', a drama that has now been playing out for nigh-on 25 years!! As the bulk of the programme has been excellent, I could uprate those series, leaving the downrating for just the series of a lesser quality. That way a more fair rating would be given, overall.
2. Re some series: I have a feeling that the style of some of the series in this list is just a style - or genre - that is not to my liking. That's why I don't like them. So I am critiquing that, rather than whether the programme is well made. And oh dear! I feel that type of critique is NOT the best option.
Thus I think it's a shame that IMDb's star-rating won't let a viewer just veto/negate the rating of a series without actually rating it with any stars. :-/ If I could just mark a series with a setting of rating-is-vetoed, then that way I could leave the job of rating to those viewers who normally DO like that style/genre of drama. Those viewers could thus give - perhaps more fairly - a critique as to the programme's quality! ]
3. {N.D.} {see note}
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I have abandoned these programmes altogether.
Some of these series became worse over time; a few turned out not to be as good as expected, almost from the programme's outset. But I persisted in my viewing for some time.
Then each of these series became so poor that I realised I was no longer enjoying the viewing. So I decided not to bother watching the series any further. At some point in the programme - partway into a series or in the middle of the programme's overall run - I gave up on each of these series.
Occasionally I persisted a little longer than I wanted to; e.g. 'Magnum P.I.' (2018+). I really wanted the remake of this series to work - as I was such a fan of the original series - so I sat through the entire 1st series. But by Episode 7 I was already bored by the banality of the programme's style. So it wasn't long before I was only half-watching an episode - while the other half of my attention was utilised doing something more productive! ('Productive' as in: ". . . Hmmm, must do that shopping list . . ." - LOL!)
Most of these programmes left me largely at a loss as to what had been allowed to happen to such a good concept . . .
Such a shame! :-(
1. Any IMDb star-rating - that I have given to a series on this list - that is high is because I rated the series BEFORE the programme went downhill! For example: 'Midsomer Murders' (1997+) still has my star-rating of 10/10, though the programme has now dropped in my estimation to nowhere near that rating. I have left that star-rating in place, as I simply haven't the time - at the moment, at least! - to rerate (i.e. downrate!) the series. Now a TV programme is not worth any of my viewing time, I simply haven't the energy to spend time rerating such a programme.
Hopefully I might(!) find the time to rerate these programmes at a later date. Or, even better, maybe IMDb will change its rating policy! It would be great if IMDb allowed viewers to rate a TV programme per series/season, rather than per the whole programme. This would work especially well with long-running series like 'Midsomer Murders', a drama that has now been playing out for nigh-on 25 years!! As the bulk of the programme has been excellent, I could uprate those series, leaving the downrating for just the series of a lesser quality. That way a more fair rating would be given, overall.
2. Re some series: I have a feeling that the style of some of the series in this list is just a style - or genre - that is not to my liking. That's why I don't like them. So I am critiquing that, rather than whether the programme is well made. And oh dear! I feel that type of critique is NOT the best option.
Thus I think it's a shame that IMDb's star-rating won't let a viewer just veto/negate the rating of a series without actually rating it with any stars. :-/ If I could just mark a series with a setting of rating-is-vetoed, then that way I could leave the job of rating to those viewers who normally DO like that style/genre of drama. Those viewers could thus give - perhaps more fairly - a critique as to the programme's quality! ]
3. {N.D.} {see note}
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I have abandoned these programmes altogether.
Some of these series became worse over time; a few turned out not to be as good as expected, almost from the programme's outset. But I persisted in my viewing for some time.
Then each of these series became so poor that I realised I was no longer enjoying the viewing. So I decided not to bother watching the series any further. At some point in the programme - partway into a series or in the middle of the programme's overall run - I gave up on each of these series.
Occasionally I persisted a little longer than I wanted to; e.g. 'Magnum P.I.' (2018+). I really wanted the remake of this series to work - as I was such a fan of the original series - so I sat through the entire 1st series. But by Episode 7 I was already bored by the banality of the programme's style. So it wasn't long before I was only half-watching an episode - while the other half of my attention was utilised doing something more productive! ('Productive' as in: ". . . Hmmm, must do that shopping list . . ." - LOL!)
Most of these programmes left me largely at a loss as to what had been allowed to happen to such a good concept . . .
Such a shame! :-(
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- StarsHugh QuarshieRosie MarcelJaye JacobsThe everyday lives, professional and personal, of the doctors, nurses and patients who find themselves, for various reasons, in the wards of the frenetic cardiac unit of Holby City General Hospital.
- CreatorSydney NewmanStarsJodie WhittakerPeter CapaldiPearl MackieThe further adventures in time and space of the alien adventurer known as the Doctor and his companions from planet Earth.This was my viewing of the NEW version of Doctor Who - i.e. from Christopher Eccleston in the lead role, onwards.
Ended watching the 2005+ series after a while. For a myriad of reasons. - CreatorFrank DarabontStarsAndrew LincolnNorman ReedusMelissa McBrideSheriff Deputy Rick Grimes wakes up from a coma to learn the world is in ruins and must lead a group of survivors to stay alive.
- CreatorJ.J. AbramsJeffrey LieberDamon LindelofStarsJorge GarciaJosh HollowayYunjin KimThe survivors of a plane crash are forced to work together in order to survive on a seemingly deserted tropical island.
- CreatorNick SantoraStarsElyes GabelKatharine McPheeEddie Kaye ThomasAn eccentric genius forms a team of super-geniuses who are tasked with being the last line of defense against complicated threats to National Security.
- CreatorBill ChaisKevin FallsStarsMark-Paul GosselaarBreckin MeyerReed DiamondLawyers and lifelong friends Jared Franklin and Peter Bash are recruited by a large firm's major partner after winning a high-profile case.
- CreatorJon Robin BaitzStarsDave AnnableCalista FlockhartRachel GriffithsThe story of the drama surrounding a family's adult siblings.
- CreatorAaron KorshStarsGabriel MachtPatrick J. AdamsMeghan MarkleOn the run from a drug deal gone bad, brilliant college dropout Mike Ross finds himself working with Harvey Specter, one of New York City's best lawyers.
- CreatorDavid CraneJeffrey KlarikStarsAndrea AndersJon BernthalLizzy CaplanA 27-year-old is reunited with his childhood friends.
- CreatorJane EspensonD. Brent MoteStarsEddie McClintockJoanne KellySaul RubinekPete and Myka, U.S Secret Service agents, are deployed in South Dakota's Warehouse 13 with a new assignment from an authority above and outside the government.
- CreatorAlex GansaHoward GordonStarsClaire DanesMandy PatinkinDamian LewisA bipolar CIA operative becomes convinced a prisoner of war has been turned by al-Qaeda and is planning to carry out a terrorist attack on American soil.This series was taken off free-to-view TV here in the UK, & for some reason I never even got to record the end of Series 1. Annoying! ,-)
I always meant to get the rest of that series - & future series - on DVD. But by the time I did I feared/had heard the drama had 'lost the plot'. (And I had seen how this appalling tactic has, in the past decade or so, RUINED so many other TV dramas.) Plus lovely Damian Lewis had already left the series! ,-)
And I just couldn't be bothered to spend my time watching it. Too much else to do with 10 years of a series! ,-) - CreatorStephen ChboskyJosh SchaerJonathan E. SteinbergStarsSkeet UlrichLennie JamesAshley ScottA small town in Kansas is literally left in the dark after seeing a mushroom cloud over nearby Denver, Colorado. The townspeople struggle to find answers about the blast and solutions on how to survive.
- CreatorEric KripkeStarsJared PadaleckiJensen AcklesJim BeaverTwo brothers follow their father's footsteps as hunters, fighting evil supernatural beings of many kinds, including monsters, demons, and gods that roam the earth.
- CreatorShonda RhimesStarsEllen PompeoChandra WilsonJames Pickens Jr.A drama centered on the personal and professional lives of five surgical interns and their supervisors.
- CreatorMatt CormanChris OrdStarsPiper PeraboChristopher GorhamKari MatchettFresh out of the farm, Annie Walker must adapt to the challenging life of a CIA operative under the guidance of her handler, Auggie. But soon she realizes her recruitment might have to do with her last boyfriend rather than her talent.
- CreatorAnthony E. ZuikerStarsWilliam PetersenLaurence FishburneTed DansonIn Las Vegas, a squad of forensic investigators are trained to solve crimes by meticulously examining the evidence. They employ advanced technology and their rationality to detect the perpetrators.
- CreatorAnn DonahueCarol MendelsohnAnthony E. ZuikerStarsGary SiniseCarmine GiovinazzoHill HarperForensic scientists and investigators of the New York City Police Department unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths.
- CreatorAnn DonahueCarol MendelsohnAnthony E. ZuikerStarsDavid CarusoEmily ProcterAdam RodriguezAn elite unit, led by an ex-homicide cop, which is linked to the Miami-Dade Police Department, uses all possible resources and skills at their disposal to solve complex crimes in cross-cultural Miami.
- CreatorDick WolfRick EidStarsJerry OrbachJesse L. MartinDennis FarinaNew York's finest police detectives and prosecutors fight to make the city a safer place. With integrity as the guiding force from investigation to verdict, the teams weigh every perspective in their commitment to finding justice.
- CreatorRene BalcerDick WolfStarsKathryn ErbeVincent D'OnofrioJamey SheridanThis series focuses on the NYPD's Major Case Squad, a force of detectives who investigate high-profile cases, while also showing parts of the crime from the perpetrator's point of view.
- CreatorDick WolfStarsMariska HargitayChristopher MeloniIce-TThis series follows the Special Victims Unit, a specially trained squad of detectives in the New York City Police Department that investigate sexually related crimes.
- CreatorJonathan GlassnerBrad WrightStarsRichard Dean AndersonMichael ShanksAmanda TappingA secret military team, SG-1, is formed to explore other planets through the recently discovered Stargates.
- CreatorMike KelleyStarsMadeleine StoweEmily VanCampGabriel MannAn emotionally troubled young woman sets out to exact revenge against the people who wronged her father.
- CreatorJonathan NolanStarsJim CaviezelTaraji P. HensonKevin ChapmanAn ex-CIA agent and a wealthy programmer save lives via a surveillance AI that sends them the identities of civilians involved in impending crimes. However, the details of the crimes, including the civilians' roles, are left a mystery.
- CreatorRussell T. DaviesStarsJohn BarrowmanEve MylesKai OwenThe members of the Torchwood Institute, a secret organization founded by the British Crown, fight to protect the Earth from extraterrestrial and supernatural threats.
- CreatorGary GlasbergStarsScott BakulaRob KerkovichCCH PounderFollows an NCIS team that investigates criminal cases involving military personnel in The Big Easy, a city known for its music, entertainment, and decadence.Finally gave up on this - whilst watching series 3 - in November 2018
- CreatorDonald P. BellisarioDon McGillStarsDavid McCallumSean MurrayMark HarmonFollows the Major Case Response Team (MCRT) from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), as they get to the bottom of criminal cases connected to Navy and Marine Corps personnel.In all honesty I think I had just outgrown this series. I had been watching it since series 1, although had NOT micro-managed my viewing (i.e. I missed a few episodes, & sometimes watched episodes out of order). So that was nearly 10-15 years of the drama.
For me, it became a case of same-old, same-old . . . & I just wasn't interested any more.
So I skipped from Series 10'ish, straight to the last appearance of lovely 'DiNozzo' in the last episodes at the end of Series 13. To give me a nice neat point at which to DEPART the series.
Adios, comrades! - CreatorMaureen JenningsCal CoonsAlexandra ZarownyStarsYannick BissonHelene JoyThomas CraigIn the 1890s, William Murdoch uses radical forensic techniques for the time, including fingerprinting and trace evidence, to solve some of the city's most gruesome murders.By Series 10 I realised I was definitely no longer enjoying this drama programme. But it took me a while to work out the single most important reason for my lack of interest. Then I realised the 1 thing that was definitely missing for me: that there were few inventions any more.
These clever little creations were one of the key reasons I was first drawn to the drama: a USP of the programme. I had loved the clever extramural ingenuity of 'Inspector Murdoch'. That feature, added to the neatly put together stories of each episode, with great characters that used to blend together well - touching & true - were what gave it its 'va-va-voom'.
But by Series 11 the storylines had also lost their way; they seemed sloppily put together. Little of the plot made sense or was scoped out well. And the characters appeared thin & unbelievable. The result was an apparent grasping at straws by the production team to give the key characters a story within each episode. The series seemed to be straining to keep its 'voice'.
And some of the last episodes that I watched had such DAFT plots that I began to think the creative team were perhaps testing the water or something: to see just how much rubbish they could get away with!
I persisted in watching as far as the end of Series 12. I was delighted in that decision to find a moment of serendipity: that one of the last episodes in this series - S12 E13 "Murdoch and the Undetectable Man" - saw the return of the character viewers met in the first ever, superb, episode: electric current (AC) inventor Nikola Tesla! How fitting then that one of the best episodes (S1 E1 "Power") was homaged at the very end of my viewing!
Then it was . . . sayonara, 'Murdoch'! - CreatorJeff DavisStarsKirsten VangsnessMatthew Gray GublerA.J. CookA group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) using behavioral analysis and profiling to help investigate crimes and find the suspect known as the unsub.The episodes became a case of same o', same o'. And all began to feature decidedly unpleasant crimes. The plots began to frequently appear somewhat too gratuitous in their nastiness.
- CreatorShane BrennanStarsChris O'DonnellDaniela RuahLL Cool JNCIS's covert operations team go undercover to investigate cases involving terrorism and National Security.
- CreatorEric GuggenheimPeter M. LenkovStarsJay HernandezPerdita WeeksZachary KnightonAn ex-Navy SEAL returns from Afghanistan and uses his military skills to become a private investigator in Hawaii.I only coped with this as far as the end of Series 1. Although in fact I started 'tuning out' at about episode 7 . . . I found I had started mentally preparing next week's shopping list, rather than concentrating on the episode I was 'watching'! ,-) It was that dross. :-(
With only a few neat touches, & just a handful of original concepts, this was largely formulaic, formulaic, formulaic; no different to so many other US action TV programmes of this century. Even a few nice homages to the original series didn't give it that 'kick'.
It's not exactly bad, but it just isn't good enough to spend time watching!
Bring back Tom Selleck's great 1980s' version . . . - CreatorPaul AttanasioPhil McGrawStarsMichael WeatherlyGeneva CarrJaime Lee KirchnerBrilliant, brash, and charming, Dr. Bull is the ultimate puppet master as he combines psychology, human intuition, and high-tech data to learn what makes jurors, attorneys, witnesses, and the accused tick.I WISHED this to become better, but it just never did. So I finally gave up in my persistence to watch this, partway through the 2nd series.
- CreatorCaroline GrahamStarsJohn NettlesJane WymarkBarry JacksonA veteran Detective Chief Inspector and his young Sergeant investigate murders around the regional community of Midsomer County.[Notated while watching series 22, which started broadcast in April 2021:]
I finally stopped watching this series in April 2021, a long 24 years after I started viewing the drama programme!
In all honesty I think I had just outgrown this programme's concept. I had been watching this TV drama since the very start of series 1. So that was over 2 decades of the series. Loyalty indeed! ,-)
However, not only had I changed in those 24 years, but so too it appeared had the drama itself. The episodes seemed, over the past few series, to have lost a lot of their good qualities: a lack of credibility was now apparent in episode storylines, and the script was at times so simplistic it was infantile. As were the plots! Frankly I felt sorry for (the new) 'Barnaby' & his sergeant, having to deal with such puerile schematics! ,-)
I persisted in watching as far as the second episode of Series 22. (At April 2021 the next 4 episodes of this series haven't yet been broadcast.) That was 'The Stitcher Society'. Fortunately this last viewed episode wasn't such a bad 'un, in comparison to the previous few episodes. So there was some delight in our final viewing experience of the series. But, still, it was time to move on . . .
So it was finally: bye-bye 'Barnaby's 1 & 2!!
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P.S. In the end I (albeit temporarily) changed my mind re this halt in viewing, I decided to carry on watching S22, beyond ep 2.
This was due to the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic etc. upsetting the broadcast schedule.
As in the end the entire set of S22's episodes took from April 2021 to August 2023 to be broadcast on terrestrial TV (the ITV channel). That's 3 years!!
There was little else to watch over this time, and in any case I thought I'd give the next few episodes a chance i.e. see if the series reverted to its previous standard. After all, I HAD enjoyed the drama for decades, up till this point, so I would have liked to see it improve.
Fortunately the remaining episodes of S22 were by then all uploaded onto the ITV Webplayer, so I could access them all. I watched them, from what I remember, in early 2022.
And I even watched S23 and S24. By the time these were available it was spring 2024, and 3 years since I'd decided to cease watching the drama, and a year since I'd seen the rest of S2. I found that because of the gaps in viewing, I'd forgotten how awful the programme had become! ,-) ( . . . Clearly this was a case of wishful thinking, that it was sill a good TV programme!) So I mistakenly started watching the newer series.
Oh dear! The 2 new series were no better than S22.
A few episodes worked, but the programme is still flimflamming all over the place.
So it's off I go again. To find something to watch that's better put together. Ta-ta 'Midsomer Murders'! - StarsBrenda BlethynJon MorrisonRiley JonesWith her caustic wit and singular charm, DCI Vera Stanhope leads her team as they face a series of captivating murder mysteries set against the breathtaking Northumberland landscape.[Notated while watching series 11, which started broadcast in August 2021:]
I am now only watching this just to support a UK detective series, as there are so few new TV dramas of this type on our television broadcast output. But I am now watching each episode with little real interest: it's really just moving wallpaper, while I rest on the sofa over a nice cup of tea! :-(
The drama series used to be fleshed out & realistic. With team discussions in the police rooms, by a unit of police detectives & their support. Believable & candid. With a different order of sets & scenes used, that made each episode appear original. Well-crafted stories meant it felt some effort had been made for the viewer.
Now, however, it's as formulaic as a 'Mills & Boon' novel! The same scenes are used in each episode, in practically the same order; the same characters are always sitting in the same place in the police room (& are seldom allowed to move from their chair throughout the episodes!); the good old 'Vera' character is made to strut around barking the same lines - or so it seems! ,-); and her sidekicks are allowed little more that a brief homily to their 'job' as police staff.
Now I feel I'm watching something that has been made for the non-UK market. And stories that have been pushed out by the production team 'as is', because they feel they CAN produce half-finished episodes. I can almost see the subtitles . . . - StarsStephen TompkinsonJack DeamAndrea LoweTenacious and stubborn DCI Alan Banks unravels disturbing murder mysteries aided by his young assistants, DS Annie Cabbot and DI Helen Morton.Some features were good. Some features - too many - were just bad . . . too bad for me to carry on watching the programme.
- CreatorRobert ThorogoodStarsElizabeth BourgineDon WarringtonDanny John-JulesCultures collide when British Detective Inspector is transferred from England to the Caribbean island of Saint Marie to head the island's police department.After 10 years, this series has subsided in quality; or perhaps my interest has just waned.
The loss of style/quality that I am sensing, isn't helped by the fact that the cast has been reduced in each episode. This means that there are now only approx. 3 (or if you're lucky 4) likely suspects. This is not only a thinning out of the plot, but grates with me as it seems to be based upon nothing but a cost-cutting exercise by the production department. Less cast members obviously means less financial output. Shame, as if instead they'd stuck with the same number of suspects as before, but with fewer episodes, they'd have still saved money - & saved the quality of each episode as well! Sadly, more £-saving by a TV studio, to the detriment of what was once a good & fun detective series. - CreatorM.C. BeatonStarsAshley JensenMatt McCooeyLucy LiemannThe Cotswolds-based PR guru turned amateur sleuth returns for a series of comedic murder-mysteries based on the books by M.C. Beaton.Too over-stylized. It used to be quirky; now it's just camp, & to an irritating level.
I have watched all episodes of all 4 series (to 2022), but shall watch no more . . . - CreatorPete McTigheStarsRakie AyolaLaura FraserJulie HesmondhalghDrama series telling stories of the secrets people keep and how far someone would go to protect those that they love.If I feel it's unwatchable, I can quit a long-running series. But there aren't many MINIseries that I give up on. It seems such a shame, when there are only so few episodes to sit through.
But this IS one of the few miniseries I just couldn't bear to waste my time on any more, when I realised it wasn't to my liking . . .
This was a 5/10 for me; but . . . I have a feeling that the style of the series is just not to my liking. [See section at top of this webpage re the description of this list: "RE MY STAR-RATING of a series on this list".]
Too much whiffle-waffle in the characters' script lines. I felt I was listening to a bunch of lowbrow housewives chattering over a garden fence. Which is a shame as when I worked out the initial concept of the drama, I was pleased to be watching a tale about when-bad-things-happen-to-normal-people, rather than the usual rather unbelievable convoluted high-octane thriller.
Not even the presence of Jason Hughes as one of the husbands could entice me to carry on watching this, ahem, near-drivel. :-( I finally ended my association at the end of the fourth episode, but had in fact nigh-on tuned out during the previous episode.
Quick solution to the all-important facts of the story: who did it & why?! . . . I got my OH - who had decided they really wanted to find out the identity of the crime-doer, so persisted watching to the end - to kindly tell me that all-important 'whodunnit'. Now THAT'S an effective use of my time - and true speed-watching! ,-) - CreatorJulian UnthankStarsMartin TrenamanJulie GrahamSarah WoodwardThree crime-writing sisters and their 28-year old niece use their extensive knowledge of crime to solve whodunit style murders in the picturesque English village of Wildemarsh.Much the same flaws as the 'Agatha Raisin' TV series. And I stuck with THAT series longer than this later 2019+ programme.
Too over-stylized. Over-quirky & camp, & to an irritating level. Juvenile dross. And the narrator feature is just plain annoying.
I have watched all episodes of both series (to 2021), but shall watch no more . . . - StarsBrenda BlethynBlake HarrisonVictor McGuireA working-class woman who runs an old-fashioned café in a neglected seaside town develops a strong, if sometimes volatile, friendship with an asylum-seeking African doctor.Stopped watching midway through Series 2.
- CreatorMarston BloomStarsIoan GruffuddIvanna SakhnoGrégory FitoussiAn elite prep school frozen in the snow. Three friends linked by a tragic secret. One girl taken by the night twenty-five years ago. The girl's body was buried in the gymnasium wall, the same wall that is about to be demolished.Oh dear, this is one of the few miniseries I just couldn't bear to waste my time on any more, when I realised it wasn't to my liking . . .
Even for a series of just 6 episodes, it wasn't worth the time I'd have spent watching the programme to the end.
This was a 5/10 for me. The series generally seemed poorly made - infantile, even. The characters were all too often one-dimensional, the script was banal, and the storyline veered all over the place. The plot seemed more & more dramatic the longer the series went on - and not in the right way. It became more dramatic & yet less in control, the more episodes appeared. Which was a shame, as the basic plot - the premise of the tale - is very intriguing.
I HAD - at the end of the first episode - been very drawn to the basic plotline. At that point I had thought I might at the end be giving the drama a 7 or 8 out of 10, if it continued at the standard I was seeing. But by the third episode my rating had dropped to a sad 6. And thereafter down to a 5. Such a shame. Maybe I will have to get a copy of the book from which the drama was adapted, & try that instead . . . It's by a best-selling author. It's such a tragedy to see a novel badly represented on screen.
It didn't help that the lead - Ioan Gruffudd - had cast as his parents, two British stalwarts in the acting world that I already knew/guessed were only a few years older than Gruffudd: the two actors looked much the same age as their on-screen 'son'! It was peculiarly disconcerting to watch. (Silver hair does NOT an old face make!) When I checked the two actors' actual age at IMDb, I found I was right: the 'mother' is only 2 years older that her 'son'! And the 'father' actor only older than Gruffudd by 10 years. This lack of careful casting was irritating: their ages made the interaction between the three actors/'family members' seem unbelievable; even grotesque.
It seemed lazy, on the part of the production team, to give these two specific actors these roles, when they looked more like their 'son's' sister and brother! When laziness in casting comes into play like this, it is fairly certain it will run into other aspects of the production . . . Which it did.
The lack of continuity between the scenes smacked of amateurism. 'Ta-da' moments didn't ring true. Disconnected scenes were confusing. Information required for a new viewer was missing. There was little explanation as to the motivation, of several characters, for their actions. At times the series seemed to have been written by 14-year-olds (. . . no offence intended to 14-y-olds!). High dramatic ploys - such as evil Russian gangsters - were brought in with no subtlety. Over-lingering by the camera on players' faces often made the programme feel more like a soap opera that a carefully put together prime-time drama. Little nuance was deployed at any time. Nearly all of the characters were only thinly developed, if at all.
Not even some good combined factors and craft work - the presence of several good players, clever camera shots, great scenery, and the lead (Gruffudd) doing a super job with the material he had - could make me enjoy this poor production. :-(
I finally realised I wanted to end my association at the end of the fourth episode, but had in fact already nigh-on tuned out during the previous episode. So I had deduced all the shortcomings & over-exaggeration of the production by the end of episode 4. That's two-thirds of the whole story to make me realise that, sadly, this is one of the few miniseries I just didn't want (read: couldn't bear!) to waste any more of my time on . . .
Even for a series of just 6 episodes, it wasn't worth the hours I'd spend watching the programme to the end.
But . . . I chose to persist in watching all of the 6 episodes. I just felt I had to commit to it, come what may. But, that being said, watching the last 2 episodes took me a hiatus of, first, a month, till I watched episode 5, then another month till I watched the last episode. That is, I had to stop watching the series for weeks, because dragging myself through each episode quite literally felt like my teeth were being pulled.
The only relief, after that last 4-week holiday, was finding that so much was explained in the last episode. This meant that the over-stylised melodramatic approach to the drama was almost lost amidst all the bare facts of the story. What joy! ,-)
So at least the solution of getting to the all-important final facts of the story - who did it, what exactly, & why?! - was relatively painless to live through.
But the overall sensation I got from the series was an inflated sense of self-worth by the production team. A preposterous style ruining a good story. An overwrought drama does not result in a GOOD TV drama. And this was several hours of my life I would like to have back!
The essence of the story - a team of friends, a conjoined educational setting in their past, secrets and lies, and its retro-leaning plot - reminded me rather of an excellent novel I read years ago: 'The Secret History' by Donna Tartt. What a shame someone hasn't set THAT in celluloid, yet! . . . Pass it on, someone . . . ! - CreatorJed MercurioStarsMartin CompstonVicky McClureAdrian DunbarDrama series following the investigations of AC-12, a controversial police anti-corruption unit.Superb. And series 1 was quite the game changer for cop dramas.
But . . . Quit after the end of Series 5. Just TOO much conspiracy in one police force. What a joke! And to watch it, series after series, was just too depressing. - CreatorNeil CrossStarsIdris ElbaDermot CrowleyMichael SmileyJohn Luther is a brilliant homicide detective with a knack for getting inside the minds of murderers. Unfortunately, his unconventional methods and personal demons put him at odds with his team.An excellent series, from the get-go.
But quit after the end of Series 4. Just TOO dark a tale. Nastiness abounds, and smothers the world. And to watch it, series after series, was just too depressing. - CreatorRachel FlowerdayTahsin GunerStarsMark WilliamsJohn BurtonSorcha CusackIn the early 1950s, Father Brown, a Roman Catholic priest based in the fictional Cotswold village of Kembleford, uses his distinctive skills to solve various crimes.For many years a great fun series. Watched for 12 years.
But quit after the end of Series 10. The cast changes - three main characters/actors were lost; & where too is the loveable 'Sid'?! - greatly changed the nature & style of the drama. At least there was some element of continuity: the super lead Mark Williams, of course; and Tom Chambers recouped his role as the irascible but begrudgingly compliant lead cop.
But frankly the plot manoeuvres, written by the production team into this series, annoyed me. I don't care if lovely Tom Chambers ends up with 'Mrs Devine' or not. It all seems far too engineered, from cast to content; including the 'Mrs Devine' character suddenly mentioning - in the last episode of the series - a son, about whom the viewers had as yet not even been informed. The producers, trying to entice the viewers back for the next series, methinks . . .
No. As per the name of the latest series' first episode, 'The Winds of Change' have indeed occurred . . . and I as a viewer have been blown off course.
So it's "Ta-ra, lovely village Kembleford & all!".
. . . I just hope [now I am permanently in absentia as a viewer ,-) ] that 'Sergeant Goodfellow' has his 'day' and gets sent on to a nice village posting somewhere, as a newly promoted inspector! :-) - CreatorLucy GannonStarsBen NealonRobson GreenJerome FlynnDrama following the life of the officers and men of the King's Own Fusiliers regiment, during their home lives, training exercises and battles.I never watched this drama when it was first broadcast. So I stated watching it way later, in c. 2020.
The first few series were super (hence the 8-star-rating I've given the drama at IMDb). But by the beginning of series 6 it has lost its 'zing' for me. So I gave up two-thirds of the way through that series. No characters were drawing me in, the ever-loveable Robson & Jerome had both left at the end of series 5, & the two new supposed leads looked like kids in uniform. No appeal at all. - CreatorTracy TorméRobert K. WeissStarsJerry O'ConnellSabrina LloydJohn Rhys-DaviesA boy genius and his comrades travel to different parallel universes, trying to find their way back home.I never watched this drama fully when it was first broadcast; I just watched a few episodes whenever I caught it on TV. As I had really enjoyed those episodes, I started watching it fully way later, in c. 2020.
The first few series were super (hence the 8-star-rating I've given the drama at IMDb). But by the beginning of series 4 it has lost its 'zing' for me. So I gave up midway through series 4. Severe cast changes at the end of series 3 greatly influenced the feel of the newer series. And the storylines changed. The episodes had previously centred on the characters experiencing alternative worlds with vastly different societies & lifestyles. The drama had at that point offered some original & thought-provoking ideas. It had been a very original premise for a drama series, and groundbreaking in a programme that was aimed at 'youngsters'. Who would have dreamt of a parallel world where men not women get pregnant, or where time ran in reverse, plus other superb world concepts! All of a sudden the storyline became too 'Buffy'-esque, all about vampires & monsters & other aliens. No appeal at all. - CreatorDan FogelmanStarsMilo VentimigliaMandy MooreSterling K. BrownA heartwarming and emotional story about a unique set of triplets, their struggles, and their wonderful parents.From what I recall, I watched the best part of series 1, or even to the end of that series; but watched no further.
Right from the start I got hints from this series of 'Thirtysomething' (1987–91). A strange sense of deja-vu! I couldn't think why, except that both dramas were made in the USA, and were about families and the extended connections. I had loved those episodes of 'Thirtysomething' I had caught years before. So it was a pleasant surprise when I found out that Ken Olin, one of the stars of 'Thirtysomething', had not only co-produced the new programme, but had also directed many episodes of this 2016+ series!
Nonetheless, despite the Olin flavour being repeated in this 2016 series, it was not enough to keep me hooked. The programme is just too schmaltzy and American for me to fully connect. So, soon after I started watching 'This Is Us' in c. 2018, I ceased my viewing time. There are far too many other things in life to try. Far too many other projects to spend my life on! - CreatorJeremy BrockPaul UnwinStarsDerek ThompsonTony MarshallSuzanne PackerThe everyday lives of the people frequenting the frenetic Accident and Emergency department of Holby City Hospital.For many years a great series. Watched for approaching 2 decades!
But quit after nearly twenty years: the sexy leads are gone, the likeable role models are gone too, and the core staff look about 21 (and their characters behave that age too!).
Not a valid viewing option for me any more.
I have already, long ago, canned my viewing of the satellite programme 'Holby'. Now it is the turn of 'Casualty'. Bye-bye, Bristol! [ or its new filming location in Cardiff ,-) ]
P.S. I made this decision to move on, just pre-the advent of COVID-19. And thus pre- the 1st COVID-19 lockdown. This means I shall miss having a TV programme that I USED to enjoy, to watch. It would be good to still be able to look forward to my Saturday evening recordings of 'Casualty', during these difficult times of the pandemic. But I just cannot look forward to the now dross TV series any more. It is time to find a new favourite! - CreatorTim KilbyShelley EriksenStarsJason PriestleyCindy SampsonBarry FlatmanFormer professional hockey player Matt Shade partners with private eye Angie Everett to solve crimes around Toronto.Series 1 was not too bad.
But . . . Quit after the end of episode 1 of the 2nd series. Like the 1st series, the 2nd series was too fast-paced, and to a ludicrous level. I could hardly follow the story of each episode! It is almost as if the programme is made NOT to be properly followed by the viewer, & is just for viewers to be able to get the gist of each story. But IMO that is a lazy production choice. :-(
Maybe that feature matches the viewing style/attention span of viewers in the USA, but over here in the UK I like to be able to actually follow a storyline. From what I have seen of US soaps, the style of this programme seems somewhat similar: no real attention to detail, and almost hopping between scenes that thus at times seem disconnected. Truly a case of moving wallpaper! Maybe, then, this series is marketed toward the same viewers??
Shame, as the premise of the drama - & the connection/chemistry between the two P.I. characters - seemed quite appealing at the start. - CreatorPaul MarquessStarsHugo SpeerSharon SmallBailey PatrickDrama series following the detectives of an elite murder investigation squad in London.Watched as far as the end of series 3.
I am fairly sure this drama has been written with a certain low-brow style purposely in mind. It is infantile in its approach, & far too easy to follow; yet seems to be pretending to be far cleverer than that . . . so annoying. - CreatorChris MurrayStarsMarc WarrenMaimie McCoyDarrell D'SilvaA Dutch detective takes on criminal cases in Amsterdam using insightful human observation and his natural street smarts.Quit after E1 of S3.
Bland and over-simplified. I think this programme was written to be dubbed/sub-titled for foreign language countries. - CreatorChris DowneyJohn RogersStarsTimothy HuttonGina BellmanChristian KaneA crew of high-tech crooks attempt to steal from wealthy criminals and corrupt businessmen.Quit after the first episode of S3.
I think the production team are getting lazy in their writing. It now seems glib & poorly put together. Shame, because for the first two series it was harmless fun. - CreatorMickey FisherStarsHalle BerryPierce GagnonGrace GummerAn astronaut struggles to learn how she became pregnant while on a thirteen-month-long solo space mission.We watched the first 10 episodes of series 1, and halfway through episode 11 . . . and then watched no further.
The series had started with a sharp style that promised good things. Excellent photography, good casting, a neat feel to the storyline, plus a good dose of mystery to interest the viewer. Yes, some of the features have been seen in a lot of other sci-fi dramas/films, but that didn't lessen the programme's strength. And until about episode 8 this panned out well.
Then it started . . . what I now call the delaying effect! We see it too often these days in TV dramas. The storyline began to meander all over the place; extra characters were suddenly introduced who then misleadingly became major players; key characters were lost through death; plus extra backstories of the characters were suddenly introduced and then played out as a main feature in the drama . . . In other words it looked like a hundred other storylines were being introduced just to keep the viewer hooked.
There was no longer any purpose to the story, or clarity in its vision. The plot became more & more convoluted. Some of the characters - who had been at least basically believable - started to do stupid things that didn't fit their nature, or their job level/IQ. And something the US studios love to subsume viewers with in their dramas: conspiracy of the worst type . . . the endless type!
Steven Spielberg notwithstanding, there was no way we could carry on watching this production.
I had intended, after episode 10, to watch to the end of the first series, and THEN decide if I wanted to carry on viewing into series 2. But I couldn't stand watching it to beyond halfway into episode 11, let alone to the full 13 episodes of series 1!
I think this is a first for me, not to watch even a full episode before I quit watching a TV programme! But at episode 11 I could see that the growing fears I had sensed earlier - of rambling, misleading story threads - were coming true. And that was it. We switched off mid-episode. With (sad) relief. What a lost opportunity. For what could have been a good - and succinct - drama. - StarsPeter DavisonGraham CrowdenBarbara FlynnThe various misadventures of Stephen Daker, a young doctor who works for the health centre of a modern British university.We watched this series 37 years after it was first broadcast. And we liked it from the outset: it had style and originality, intelligence and warmth. But then we quit: after the third episode of S2.
The programme altered very much after series 1. The drama changed from being witty, satirical, and sassy . . . with supreme black comedy but at the same time being intensely enjoyable. It offered great political comment, had the usual pithiness of a campus drama, and had several likeable characters . . . It made us laugh.
But by series 2 it was overly dark, with a deeply manipulative character as the new romantic interest. Her bullying - at times near-sociopathic - of our lovely lead actor was shocking. An ex-boyfriend to said woman (a new lady lecturer to the uni) began roaming the uni grounds, physically assaulting her right in front of the viewer, i.e. on camera. What's funny about that sort of violence? Of course, the lady lecturer character might soften as the series goes on, but I didn't want to wait and see . . .
There were more changes. The female doctor changed her nature between series 1 and 2, from being flirtatiously coercive to being aggressively conniving. She was now actively damaging other uni staff, and abusing her position of trust with both the female and male students. Disgusting behaviour for a medical professional . . .
And the V-C of the uni was recast as a new person, and as a moneymaking obsessive. This Americanisation of the uni would have been funny had the two lead female characters been played as more likeable. Instead we got two - nay, three (including the US V-C) - horrors of predatory uni staff. We had lost the previous V-C of series 1, who was an academic and though greedy and devious was more 'normal' than the new V-C.
Then by episode 3 sex workers were being employed in the medical department by one of the lead doctors. Too much nastiness . . . not enough wit and amusement. So episode 3 was the end, for us. We DID decide to skim-watch the remaining episodes, just to see (i) what happened to our lovely likeable hero, and (ii) in case the series remedied itself. We even skim-watched the 1-off ('series 3') special set in Poland. But didn't watch post-S2E3 with any real absorption. Ay caramba! . . . we realised we HAD make the right decision to dump this drama after that 3rd episode of series 2!!
I would have given the programme an 8-star rating after watching series 1, but after series 2 showed its colours my rating plummeted. As the two series of the programme were so strikingly different in their style and appeal. I've still given it a 7, though, as 6 seems too low.
Shame, because for the first series it was intelligent and edgy, but also offered likeable fun. - CreatorDaisy CoulamStarsRobson GreenTessa Peake-JonesAl WeaverA Cambridgeshire clergyman finds himself investigating a series of mysterious wrongdoings in his small village of Grantchester.Quit after the last episode of S7. Well, not so much quit, as I thought that WAS the final episode!
That lovely episode was an apposite end to the whole programme, and I thought it WAS the last ever episode. The episode storyline nicely tied up so many loose ends, and all ended well for the characters. Which was great. It had all been said. over 7 super series.
. . . Then they had to decide to flog a dead horse by creating a new - 8th - series. Extraneous to say the least. So I shan't be watching this drama any further.