1001 TV Shows Trollheart Could Not Get Into

[Trollheart]

As MB'ers know, I'm running a thread there called 1001 of Trollheart's Favourite TV shows, but for all the many thousands of shows I've enjoyed over my life, there are at least twice as many, I would imagine, that I began but then gave up, for various reasons. I need a show to do two things to keep me engaged: first, it has to be interesting and second I have to have some sort of empathy, or at least identify with some of the characters, if not all. There are of course other reasons shows don't click with me, but in general I'm somewhat draconian about my TV. If it doesn't resonate with me after the first episode, I either stop or consider stopping. I'll rarely go further than three without giving it up, though I have been known to slog through a series, hoping it would be better, or holding on to one small part of it that I find I like.

Sometimes, this pays off. I've watched shows that began poorly, which I was ready to dump but stuck with, and then they got much better. The Plot Against Amerika is one such: I was so bored by the end of episode one that I was ready to junk it, but then episode two kicked into life and I ended up loving it. I suppose it's a salutary lesson in not judging something too quickly, but then, when you have so many shows recorded or to be recorded, and limited space, you learn to make your mind up quickly. Maybe sometimes I get it wrong, and a show I kick to the kerb could be one that was going to get really good if I  hung on in there, but I've also had instances of doing this and finding I had wasted my time. So a rule of thumb for me is, if I don't like it by episode one, and hold on to episode two, and even maybe three, but I find I don't care about the characters, that's it.

So this then is a list of 1001 shows I never got. Maybe some of them will turn out to be your favourites, and you'll strongly disagree with me, urge me to try again. Don't bother: I won't. Once I've junked a show I'm exceptionally unlikely to give it another chance. We move on. Of course, you  may also agree with me, or you may not have seen the show and have no opinion. Whatever the deal is with you, this is my list and we start off with one for which I basically broke my own rule. Sorry that I did, in the end.

1001


Title: Lucifer
Genre: Horror/Fantasy/Drama
Year(s): 2016 - 2021
Basic premise: The Devil is roaming the Earth, looking for diversion and blah blah blah
Starring: Tom Ellis, Lauren German, Kevin Alejandro, D.B. Woodside
Seasons: 6
Written/created by: Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg
Nationality: American
How far did I get? End of season two I think
Why did I stop? Just could not take any more of that fucking smirk!
Current status: Cancelled after three seasons, renewed on Netflix for another three, now ended
Was I surprised not to be able to get into it? Yeah I was. This sort of thing should have been right up my particular boulevard, but I just could not get into it.

When I see a series beginning which follows the fortunes of the Devil on Earth as he tries to make the most of his exile, well, it should be, as you Americans say so annoyingly, a slam dunk. But there was just something about this show that irritated me like a fly buzzing around me that I couldn't squish. While I have a lot of respect for Gaiman, I can't call myself a fan, and I have to think he missed a trick calling the lead character Morningstar - which is about as unusual a name as you can get - when he could have gone for Morgenstern, which is a name in, if not common usage, than at least used, and is the German translation. That kind of always rankled with me. Who introduces themselves as Lucifer Morningstar? Might as well say "Hi, I'm Nick Devil." Right. The stories seemed generally good, and the acting was fine, but in the end it was that god-damn (or, I suppose I should say, Devil-damned) smirk Tom Ellis wore almost constantly. It was like he was mocking us, like there was constantly an arched eyebrow or something. Sure, he was supposed to feel superior to us, being, you know, the Devil (well, playing the role) but did he have to make it so obvious every fucking episode?

There were great star turns by Tricia Helfer and D.B. Woodside, but these couldn't save the show for me. There was a lot I liked about it, which is probably why I managed to struggle through to the end of the second season, and it was getting good, but I had to decide if I could take another arrogant smirk from Ellis, and I decided I could not. I also had issues with many of the roles of the female characters, and it just didn't sit right with me. So that was the end of my encounter with that particular Prince of Darkness.

[Guybrush]

I never saw Lucifer, but I can imagine how putting up with a god damned constant smirk may get annoying fast. Thanks for sharing your gripes

[Janszoon]

I couldn't get into Lucifer either, though I didn't really give it much of a chance I guess.

[Lexi Darling]

What an undertaking!

I'm not sure I've even seen 1001 TV shows I am familiar enough with to have an opinion on. I was a big TV watcher in the 90s (kids TV) and the early 2000s (lots of MTV) but since 2010 or so I've only watched in the company of friends. Even though my guy does watch TV I'm usually not sitting down and watching with him unless it's a movie or the odd nostalgic 90s cartoon. I also have ADHD and long running shows with plots are hard to keep my attention on, especially these days when I have so little free time.

You're clearly a hardcore couch potato, Trollheart. I wish you luck on this endeavor!

[Trollheart]

Well let's see. I watch a programme with my breakfast (usually about 2pm don't ask) then break for some writing. I pick it up again for my dinner, round about 10pm and watch probably another prog then it might leak into another, depending. At 12:30 I go down to settle Karen for the night, come back up around 1:30 and watch usually another one or two, do some writing, go to bed around 4. So I guess in essence I can get about 4-6 programmes watched a day. Multiply that out it's (rounding up) max of 30 - 40 per week, which makes it in the area of over 100 a month, makes over 1000 a year. So yeah, I would say I enjoy my TV but not to the exclusion of all else. I do however enjoy GOOD TV, so it needs to be something that engages my interest, is well written, makes sense and in which I have some sort of affinity for the characters.

I'm not into reality TV (other than one or two - Apprentice, Dragons Den, style of thing) and I don't watch wallpaper TV. I guess the only thing I watch as a sort of switch-off-and-just-enjoy would be Judge Judy, which I catch from time to time. Overall though I'm quite selective in what I watch. And when something doesn't click I usually know it fairly quickly and just dump it and move on.