Series that I have left unfinished

[intrepidity]

Been thinking about why this is exactly, but I've noticed there are more than a few series--beloved series, mind you--that I have never finished watching, and wondered if any of you experience this same thing. I think it has partly to do with getting used to favorite TV shows being cancelled, so never expecting more when I've watched to the "end" at the time of viewing. And then, often years later, finding that the show continued on.

And then, I have to go back to, if not the beginning, the last season or two I'd seen, to get back into the swing of the story. And then, because it's a repeat and not as captivating, I lose interest and turn to other things, and then revisit a year later, and rinse repeat, and I never am able to finish!

Just off the top of my head, here are some of the series that fit this description for me:

Game of Thrones
Outlander.
Vikings
The Last Kingdom
The Walking Dead
Ray Donovan
Succession
Billions
The Affair
Homeland

and probably many more.

Sometimes it's simply because I let the subscription lapse while I focus elsewhere. But these are all shows I really enjoyed and would like to finish!

How common is this? How do you guys deal with it?

[Ferrets are Cool]

1. More than I can count...

The most notable, Lucifer. Most series run out of steam or go off in weird directions after many seasons.

[Pisces]

2. I stopped watching because the shows lose what

Made them great. Some shows feel like different writers have taken over.

I also didn’t finish:

Homeland
Outlander
Billions
Ray Donovan
Walking Dead

Not on your list

Handmaidens Tale

[intrepidity]

4. Oh yeah, it is on my (unpublished) list

Thanks for the reminder.

TWD is truly the only one where I just felt it had played itself out. For most of the others, I never even tried to jump back in without a review-rewatch, so not sure if the newer seasons would captivate me or not.

Maybe I'll try a new strategy and start at the most recent season, no matter how many I've skipped?

[J_William_Ryan]

3. "The Walking Dead"

Agreed.

For me:

Orzak
You
Welcome to Chippendales
1899
Manifest
Shameless
Americans
Orphan Black

[intrepidity]

5. Ooh, two more for my list

Shameless
The Americans

Pretty sure I finished Orphan Black, but who knows?

[wryter2000]

21. Same here with Walking Dead

And Shameless. I loved Shameless at first, but it seemed to be wandering at some point, and I lost interest.

[madaboutharry]

6. I gave up on a lot too.

Vikings
Carnival Row
Game of Thrones
The Rain
Occupied
Yellowstone
1923

Mostly I’ll abandon something because it either becomes too violent or the writing goes sideways.

Love Outlander and can’t wait for the next season.

[yorkster]

7. We were later than most in having access to all networks -

rural area,etc. We moved and have cable. There are a few we stopped watching, Billions for one. But we binged Homeland, West Wing, Borgias. etc. Caught up with Succession. It's a bit dizzying. I thought of keeping a short journal of what we're watching and where, so we don't lose track.

Succession was stunning tonight. Superb acting.The variety of what's out there does remind me a bit of a line from a Joni Mitchell song. The line is "None of the crazy that comes from too much choice".

[Lunabell]

8. Some of those.

Also, Stranger Things. But never The Walking Dead. I miss it and can't wait for the spin-offs. I wish they'd do an origin story of the virus/bacteria/fungus/alien invasion/whatever caused it in the first place.

[intrepidity]

11. Ah, Stranger Things on my list too. nt

[Lunabell]

13. I have an affinity for end of days apocalyptic type shows and zombies.

The Last of Us is great and I'll probably watch it until the very end too.

Like George Romero's Night of the Living Dead and The Last Man on Earth were two of my favorite horror movies.

[Bev54]

9. Netflix will drop series if a lot of people stop watching them in the middle.

They think it means people don't enjoy them.

[intrepidity]

12. If only they knew the truth

which is there's just too much to keep up with. I want to, but can't seem to do it.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

10. For me the problem is that a lot of series

simply go on a season or three after they've really told the full story.

I keep on abandoning series with little or no regret. What the Brits do much better is they do limited series that complete a story arc and then ends. We need more of that here.

[yonder]

14. I agree. Good or bad, they often get over-wrung by trying

to squeeze too much out of them. Less is more.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

15. Absolutely.

Even though I don't work in Hollywood, I think I get it that continuing a series means everyone makes more money, and I understand the money motivation. Unfortunately, that leads to crappy excess seasons.

[MyOwnPeace]

16. It's the old line "JUMPED THE SHARK."

An expression that means "a show will reach a point at which far-fetched events are included merely for the sake of novelty, indicative of a decline in quality."

They could 'run out of a story-line', or, as stated elsewhere, the story had deviated too far from the original premise, some 'characters' have left the show, or the show has simply lost its way.

I have experienced several of these examples or combinations and variations of them. I also find it interesting to see the rate of success with 'spin-offs' - do they make it or not - and why?

[intrepidity]

18. Wasn't that term coined about "Happy Days"?

When The Fonze went waterskiing and literally jumped over a shsrk?

[MyOwnPeace]

19. Indeed!

That’s exactly where the term came from!

[Lars39]

17. I have dropped series if there is no humor at all in them.

The last one I dropped was The Night Agent.

[bif]

20. I rarely watch shows. That's how I deal with it.

I mainly watch movies. I like to be done with a story after an hour and a half or so. I don't have the patience to watch most tv shows. They have to be incredible for me to watch.

[intrepidity]

22. Don't get me started on how many *movies* I've started

and not finished, for almost the same reason, not because it wasn't interesting, but because when I'm searching for things to watch, I'll often start watching for just a couple minutes so that it pops up in my "Continue Watching" list rather than my gargantuan "To Watch" list. For all their talk about algorithms, I gotra say nobody has yet perfected video content management for my purposes. Seems I have to build it myself, if I ever get around to it, unlikely. Ah, first world problems.