Television is the Worst

It’s gotten to the point where I almost pathologically avoid television shows. Name a popular tv show from the last 20 years and there’s a good chance I haven’t seen it. Game of Thrones? Nope. Succession? Nope. Mr Robot? Nope. Breaking Bad? I saw the first two seasons and gave up. Strangers Things? Also gave up after two seasons.

It’s been difficult for me to articulate exactly why I don’t find television that captivating. After all, I grew up on television. Name a popular tv show from the 80s and there’s a good chance I’ve seen it. Punky Brewster? Yup. Three’s Company? Absolutely. Night Court, Cosby Show, Cheers, A Different World, Growing Pains? Yuuuuup.

Perhaps it’s the format? Shows back in those days were episodic: each episode mostly stood alone. There wasn’t any stakes in missing an episode or two, except perhaps not being able to participate in conversation around the water fountain.

These days, every episode feels high stakes. Everything is designed to keep you locked in from episode to episode and from season to season.

This is where I feel it’s gone wrong: it feels like a social media algorithm. It’s not about telling a good story and needing a certain amount of time to tell that story. It’s about how long they can capture and retain attention. Filler episodes. Backstories. Cliffhangers.

Prison Break, Heroes, and Lost might’ve been the three shows that I felt betrayed me the most. Each show descended into absolute absurdity pretty much after the first season, despite starting off with a great concept. It’s like they were surprised by their own popularity and now had to figure out a way to sustain it.

Other shows, like Scavengers Reign, get cancelled, despite fantastic writing because the concepts are perhaps too eclectic to garner a big enough audience. Kaos got cancelled, too, after one season which surprised me, given the cast.

I’m also bailing on shows early and often. I liked Poker Face, The Bear, and Severance but haven’t watched the last season of any of them—for no particular reason.

There’s a high level of inertia I need to get over to get into a show.

All is not lost. Ted Lasso pulled me in with the promise of a three season arc. They delivered. Russian Doll was fantastic. I’ve watched every episode of Silo and Shrinking and Fallout, so far.

Sometimes I think I’ll wait until a show reaches its end before I watch it but inevitably feel a lack of desire in committing to multiple seasons of a show that nobody is watching anymore.

And it’s at this point where I recognize my growing and perhaps needless skepticism as I age. The world isn’t out to get me, after all. Not all stories need to have a conclusion. Closure is overrated. My disdain for television seems silly and will likely continue in classic “old man yells at cloud” form—even while I continue to consume the format.

Anyway... I started watching Pluribus and already feeling like bailing after four episodes… what else is on?