We are living in one of the great periods in TV history.
A shows protagonist no longer had to be a good guy, or even particularly likable.
Storylines could run for months, or years.
Credit: Melissa Moseley/HBO
The Internet provided the foundation for a hyper-attentive new strain of TV fandom.
Shows likeSopranos,Arrested Development,Mad Men, andThe Wirehad set a new benchmark.
A host of new TV shows arrived, shows with sky-high ambition, shows that wanted to begreat.
And then some of those shows turned out to be terrible.
The show quickly descended into self-parody, then descended into self-parody-parody, then had a Bollywood number.
(New Yorkercritic Emily Nussbaums piece, Hate-WatchingSmashbrought the hate-watching phenomenon into the open.
How silly can the female characters be?).
Hate-Watching is NOT the same as a guilty pleasure.
You wouldnt tune in every week to hate-watch a really bad reality show thats a guilty pleasure.
Likewise, the sheer overabundance of Sorkinian dialogue givesNewsrooma guaranteed jolt.
But Im interested to hear, readers: Are there any shows that you find yourself hate-watching?
Perhaps a once-great TV series that has devolved into self-parody (Hello,Gossip Girl!)
Or an aesthetically tasteful drama that cant live up to its gorgeous set design?
Or maybe you just loved to hateGirls?
