I Have Never Seen...

[redshifter]

Browsing through this thread, it occurred to me that we could have a thread titled 'shows I wish my spouse/significant other wouldn't watch'...

The only 'reality' show I've ever seen was Deadliest Catch, which I find interesting.
Never seen Titanic, nor do I intend to. Too many people threw out the spoiler...

Wife watches some shows that seem pretty abhorent to me. I'll chalk it up to the need for 'veg time', we all need that sometimes...as a result, I've seen bits n' pieces of:

Housewives of Orange County: A collection of the most vapid, shallow, phony, and uninteresting people I think I've ever seen. Who cares?

Desperate Housewives: Not too terribly bad characters, except when they do something completely asinine and dumb to keep the silly plot going. At least that show ran its course. Some would argue it ran its course years ago...

Various other 'reality' shows on 'Lifetime' (somebody please pull the plug on this channel...) that 'feature' more of the same type of people in Housewives of OC. I just don't see how anyone can be interested in these people.

Any 'home improvement' show on Home n' Garden: Interesting enough, but of course my wife thinks I could do some of the 'projects' featured on the show, and in the same amount of time, with the same lack of difficultly...

Shows that I didn't watch in the past but wife's enjoyment has rubbed off on me:
NCIS
Big Bang Theory
House Hunters International - I find looking at houses in various other countries very interesting. Some are quite old (several centuries in some cases) and it's neat to see what they're like

[Gillianren]

Browsing through this thread, it occurred to me that we could have a thread titled 'shows I wish my spouse/significant other wouldn't watch'...

In my case, that would be about half of what Graham watches. Also a couple of his favourite audio books. (If I never hear about the moustache of that irritating man in the Cat Who . . . mysteries again, it will be too soon.) We are, however, pretty well united in hatred of a lot of things as well. Including most of the stuff mentioned in this thread. NCIS, though, we got into on vacation (we went back to the hotel through the heat of the day, and it was on) and have quite enjoyed since then.

[Trebuchet]

Awww, Gillian, I like the Cat Who stories. At least the older ones. The recent ones, not so much. Koko is of course about 50 years old by now! (By the way, one of our cats is named Koko!)

[TJMac]

If the thread title was "I wish I had never seen...", or "I will never again watch..."

Any show that complains constantly about 'the deadline'. Huh? Shutup. Learn how to quote doing a job so the deadline doesn't loom over you. This automatically takes most of the creative reality shows out of my viewing list.

Any show where I can tell things are being done incorrectly. The one episode of that chopper show, I saw three separate instances of people using machine tools incorrectly. The one episode of the series where the crew makes up custom fish tanks that I watched... Can you really build a several hundred gallon saltwater tank, then overnight, fill it with water, and stock it up with fish? No worries about all the things us amateur fish keepers worry about when starting a tank?

Any show that feels it has to have one very abrasive and obnoxious individual in charge. In reality, I stay away from people like that. Why watch one for entertainment?

Very few series hold my attention for more than a couple episodes. Most of what I watch, is only because my spouse watches. I suspect if I lived on my own, I probably wouldnt even have cable. Maybe in March, for the NCAA basketball tourney.

TJ

[Gillianren]

Awww, Gillian, I like the Cat Who stories. At least the older ones. The recent ones, not so much. Koko is of course about 50 years old by now! (By the way, one of our cats is named Koko!)

At the baby shower I went to yesterday (I'd made a recipe from the cookbook, which is actually quite good and only mentions his moustache once or twice), we were speculating about whether the estate would have more ghostwritten now that she's dead. Consensus was, "Man, I hope not!"

[HenrikOlsen]

The one episode of the series where the crew makes up custom fish tanks that I watched... Can you really build a several hundred gallon saltwater tank, then overnight, fill it with water, and stock it up with fish? No worries about all the things us amateur fish keepers worry about when starting a tank?

Sure you can, if you don't care that they're all dead tomorrow.

[Trebuchet]

At the baby shower I went to yesterday (I'd made a recipe from the cookbook, which is actually quite good and only mentions his moustache once or twice), we were speculating about whether the estate would have more ghostwritten now that she's dead. Consensus was, "Man, I hope not!"

I hadn't even heard she'd died but given her age it isn't surprising. I second the hope on ghostwriting new books.

I also didn't know there was a cookbook! I'll have to look for that. Speaking of cookbooks, I do have one based on Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series -- Lobscouse and Spotted Dog. It's a hoot, and also very informative. Everything you ever needed to know about the foods and cooking of 200 years ago.

[Gillianren]

I have quite a few themed cookbooks; they're often better than expected. There's this really good chocolate peanut butter bar in the Friends cookbook, for example. I have the Little House on the Prairie cookbook, too, which is from the books and not the TV show--which I've never seen.

[vonmazur]

Guys: One episode of Seinfeld, "The Soup Nazi" Never saw any of the others...(Only because I actually knew the place they were making some fun of....)

Never watched Friends, along with hundreds of long gone sitcoms...

My wife is always watching the Ghost Hunters and such....I retreat out to the music room and listen to classical music...When she puts on the "Harry and Chamber Pot Of Horrors" I go out and watch trains....

The only show she likes that I can stand was "House", and after a while it got out of hand like all the others....It ended with "Along Came Bronson" and that was enough for me...no re-runs!!

I think for the last 30 years, all I ever watched regularly was Star Trek in its various incarnations....

Dale

[swampyankee]

I tried (really!) to watch Friends; the term "paint drying" immediately came to mind. I watched Big Bang once or twice; annoying. I've also started changing the channel as soon as a political professional moron pundit shows up, which means any time a political candidate is on the air. Stop sniping children; I'm not voting for people who act like over-age 7th graders.

[Cougar]

I watched Big Bang once or twice; annoying.

I know! How dare they co-opt the big bang theory as their title. Beyond that, the theory never even gets passing reference.

[swampyankee]

I know! How dare they co-opt the big bang theory as their title. Beyond that, the theory never even gets passing reference.

Oddly, I have met people who fit the engineer/scientist stereotype. Some were even scientists or engineers.

[Gillianren]

I tried (really!) to watch Friends; the term "paint drying" immediately came to mind.

I actually like Friends, though some episodes are definitely better than others. And even I stopped watching by the last couple of seasons, because I had run out of caring. I've never seen any of the last season.

[starcanuck64]

American Idol

Survivor: Anything

The Great Race

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The Real Housewives of Wherever

Mad Men

Game of Thrones (beyond 1st 20 minutes or so)

Glee

In the interests of relationship building I watched a few episodes of Survivor and Great Race with my girlfriend at the time, it wasn't worth it.

As for Buffy I didn't watch it while it was on the air, after I got into Firefly I eventually worked my way through Whedon's other series. If you're into irony it's not a bad way to spend your time.

[Van Rijn]

Meanwhile, I thought A Game of Thrones was exceptionally well done for what it was. I just don't see the point in medieval-style fantasy that doesn't have fantasy elements in it. I'd rather watch or read real history. I've liked some of George R.R. Martin's other work, but after two or three episodes of AGoT I got bored.

I've now seen a couple of episodes from a DVD I rented from Netflix, and I had a similar reaction. I rented it because I kept hearing about this new fantasy series on HBO. But, after getting through two episodes, and finding just a bit of strangeness and unlikeable characters, I was wondering if this was going to be one of those shows where they throw in a little weirdness just to make you wonder. I googled it to see if I could find out what was going on and found this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire

Drawing inspiration from historical events such as the English period of the Wars of the Roses, Martin deliberately defied the conventions of the fantasy genre. The series received praise for its realism; it subdues magic in favor of battles and political intrigue. Violence, sexuality and moral ambiguity are frequently displayed among a set of over a thousand named characters.

Great, a fantasy that avoids fantasy. And more importantly, I didn't like the characters and didn't care what happened to them. I expect that had something to do with that moral ambiguity mentioned. I don't require perfect people in stories, but I generally prefer characters that at least try to do what they think is right. If they don't care, I don't care. It was a dirty, ugly world they showed, which might have a point if it were about actual history.

Definitely not my style of a show.

[Van Rijn]

American Idol

Survivor: Anything

The Great Race

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The Real Housewives of Wherever

Mad Men

Game of Thrones (beyond 1st 20 minutes or so)

Glee

I watched a decent part of the first season of Survivor. I wasn't interested in seeing the same idea repeated.

I've seen a '60s movie called The Great Race. I'm guessing this is in reference to something else, though?

I watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episodes varied from fair to excellent, with some extremely memorable episodes, such as "Hush."

I've seen maybe a minute of American Idol, while turning the channel. I haven't seen Real Housewives, Mad Men, or Glee. I've seen enough of Game of Thrones to know I don't want to watch more.

[Jim]

... Great, a fantasy that avoids fantasy. ...

It doesn't dwell on it or depend on it, but it has several fantasy elements that are critical to the plot(s)... dragons, the Undying, the undead, demonic deaths and births... Not exactly avoiding fantasy.

As for characters with moral ambiguity, that's a description of the general population in any country you can name. I have a varying fondness for Tyrion and Bron (bad people with a sense of honor of sorts); Shae, Jon Snow, Arya, Jorah Mormont (basically good); and my favorite, Daenerys, the Khaleesi and Mother of Dragons (truly noble but can be harsh).

[Gillianren]

I don't have a problem with moral ambiguity, but I do like there to be at least one character I unabashedly like, even if the character isn't perfect. Especially if the character isn't perfect. I just have never had much interest in Game of Thrones, which means it's yet another sci-fi/fantasy Thing that I'm not as interested in as a lot of my friends. It can be so lonely, not liking Buffy or Doctor Who!

[starcanuck64]

I've never really got the appeal of Doctor Who.

[Noclevername]

I've never seen Anything: The Musical. The only thing I like that has people spontaneously break out in song and dance is The Blues Brothers, and I'd probably watch that even without the music.

[Gillianren]

It's not always spontaneous. In a "book musical," the singing is part of the plot. Yes, they're singing and not speaking, but it's not as though they're singing things that have nothing to do with anything.

[Van Rijn]

It doesn't dwell on it or depend on it, but it has several fantasy elements that are critical to the plot(s)... dragons, the Undying, the undead, demonic deaths and births... Not exactly avoiding fantasy.

After two episodes, I think dragons were mentioned. Once.

As for characters with moral ambiguity, that's a description of the general population in any country you can name.

Most people I know at least try to do what they think is right. As I said, I don't require perfect people (and I'm not even sure what "perfect" would be), but I prefer characters that at least try to do what they think is right (not necessarily what I think is right). If they don't care, I have trouble caring much about them. After two episodes, I didn't see much to care about.

[Van Rijn]

I've never seen Anything: The Musical. The only thing I like that has people spontaneously break out in song and dance is The Blues Brothers, and I'd probably watch that even without the music.

Yes, I also avoid musicals though there are a couple of movies I've liked because the story was pretty good despite the musical aspects. If I am getting into a story and then they suddenly start singing and dancing, it interrupts the story and breaks my suspension of disbelief. If I'm watching a movie on TV where they stop the story and start singing, that's usually the point where I change the channel. Of course, it doesn't help that singing and dancing have never been big interests.

One exception where I did like the musical aspects was the musical Buffy episode. Of course, that was something of a musical parody, they had an in-story justification for why people were singing, and it was actually important to the plot, so for me that was different.

[Van Rijn]

I don't have a problem with moral ambiguity, but I do like there to be at least one character I unabashedly like, even if the character isn't perfect. Especially if the character isn't perfect.

I largely agree with that. Occasionally, if the story is interesting enough, I might enjoy it even if all the characters are unlikeable, but that's rare. I prefer stories where there is someone I like and care what happens to them in the story. Agreed also that characters usually are more interesting for their imperfections, as long as there is something I like about them.

[Ara Pacis]

Tough crowd.

I like Game of Thrones and musicals. I liked Ned Stark, he always tried to do the right thing, but he was naive and... ya know.

[Jim]

I didn't mention Ned because he's, well, ya know. Ned tried to do what was right and tried to get others to do what was right. His problem was that naivety that many good people have; he thought everyone was good at heart like him and only needed a little nudge to do What Was Right.

And, well, they did. They did What Was Right for them.

[Gillianren]

I don't like all musicals--most of the really popular ones do not make my list of favourites, let us say--but I do like the genre.

[starcanuck64]

One exception where I did like the musical aspects was the musical Buffy episode. Of course, that was something of a musical parody, they had an in-story justification for why people were singing, and it was actually important to the plot, so for me that was different.

I wasn't big on season six but that was a good episode, "They got the stain out!" and the dancing sidewalk sweepers were great.

[HenrikOlsen]

Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music.

Don't really know why.

[SkepticJ]

Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music.

Don't really know why.

Mary Poppins is good. You should be very thankful you haven't seen the other.

Watching The Sound of Music is like snorting a line of Sweet'N Low.