Trapped in a Box

Sometimes it’s hard to recognize when you have worn out your welcome.

You look back in protest and say 'but I was popular, before when...' and then make a vague reference to some brief moment from the distant past.

A fleeting and short moment, but you hang on to it like some flea-bitten old dog hangs on to a bone.  Refusing to acknowledge that it really is time to go.

But for the rest of us, we know.  We possess the clarity which the other lacks.

We know that it's now time to 'Pull the Plug' whether it be on some dying hospital patient taking up valuable resources or a crappy TV series which is taking up valuable air time.

Both need to go.  And that's what my topic is today.  TV series which have now over-stayed their welcome.  Good or even great at one time, but now just shite, pure & simple.

I think I may know a little bit about over-staying ones' welcome as I suspect that this blog may be guilty of this very offense.  But that will be a topic for us to discuss later on in the year.

As for today though, I want to stay focused on TV.

Now before I begin my list, let it be known that I don't watch a lot of television in general however I do know what I hate.  So maybe I am arguably a better judge then another individual who will obediently watch pretty much anything that the networks tell them to.

So leave your feelings of nostalgia at the door as I list these once great series which have unceremoniously fallen into disrepair.. Realize these shows are now no longer what they once were. 

I will look to your insightful comments on these shows to provide the true definitive answer.
(and yes, silence or no comment means complete & total agreement with me!)

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The Office (U.S. version)

As this show winds down on its' seventh season, it is blatantly clear that it should end forever.  Kill it, I say.

The lead actor Steve Carrell realized this already and has just run out the door, leaving this stinking, sinking ship.

The show had been pretty solid for the first 5 seasons but then starting last year the plots really became less interesting, the writing had noticeably deteriorated, the acting became way 'over the top', where the characters were playing for cheap laughs, much like a senile old clown who was well past his prime.  Overall the show became completely unbelievable.  It got bad fast.

I am not exactly sure as what caused this noticeable deterioration however I speculate that hitting the 100 episode mark may have had something to do with it.

The last episode of Season 5 was the infamous 100th episode, which means it was then viable for syndication.  It also meant that the writing staff and actors would continue to receive paycheques for these syndicated shows long into the future.  That was about the time that It looks to me that when everyone pretty much gave up and turned on the auto-pilot button. Money for nothing.

Let’s hope they put this show out of its misery so we can all be put out of ours.

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Two and a Half Men

WTF!  Mr. Demi Moore cannot replace the lead character on this popular show or any other.  At best he is a supporting actor and in my opinion, not a very good one at that.  To believe he can take over from Charlie Sheen in any capacity is ludicrous.

Although the writing for this show has been traditionally at a high standard, the writers can only do so much with so little.  It is too bad the egotistical producer fails to see that point and feels the need to hold his petty grudge with Sheen and continue to squeeze a few more dollars out of this show before he kicks it to the curb.  A tragic ending to a pretty good series.

Once the viewers get over the initial curiosity factor, I think we will all agree this show must now die.

The new unofficial name I am giving it is 'Two and a Half Episodes' which is approximately how much longer this will go on before it’s gone!

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American Idol

Wow!  Do you believe this show is just finishing its' tenth season?  Not sure how it has been 'flying under the cancellation radar' for so long.

The two main judges, Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul have long ago jumped ship to leave the tasks up to a revolving door of self-appointed music aficionados.

I think the show has some minimal entertainment value only in the early episodes of each season as we watch the horrific tryouts of some really bad contestants.  It's like a train-wreck each week in your very own living room.  But aside from that, the show is now stale and dull, real dull.

I think any reader would be hard pressed to name the past winners of this 'contest' as they all pretty much sound the same and almost immediately after the series, all end up in oblivion where I am hoping this show will go.

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Saturday Night Live

36 seasons & over 700 episodes this show has run.  Pretty impressive.  The show is responsible for making loads of TV and movie stars out of its' cast.

Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyed, Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers, Chris Rock, Chris Farley, Chevy Chase, Adam Sandler - and that's only just a few of them.

It's been a great show with many great casts however that is no longer the case.

The cast now (and for the past couple of years) are weak and unfunny.  Oh sure, they still have an odd moment and will do something comical making us laugh but really, so does my neighbours annoying, elderly blind cat when it falls down the stairs or walks into a wall.

The point is that these moments are now too few and way too far in between.  Recurring boring characters, weak skits and very repetitive punch lines tell me the viewer, that the cast is uninspired and bad, the scripts are unoriginal and crappy and the show itself is now displaying mold.

Toss it out before it really stinks - which we are pretty close to now.

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Whether you are the annoying drunk who refuses to accept the fact that 'the party’s over' or just some hack TV writer who is now just mailing it in, you sometimes need to be told when the time has come, when it is the time to go.

Consider this that notice.