With the news that Ugly Betty might be getting canned soon; it was pulled from TV unexpectedly and cast members are leaving the show, I thought back to some of my favourite TV shows that started off brilliantly but so completely lost their way I had to stop watching. Some of these shows are still on the air and some were, mercifully, pulled from their prime-time line-up.
Grey’s Anatomy: Grey’s is a prime example of a once good show that slowly needs to die. Early episodes made me laugh and cry in the same scenes, made me care about the original interns and didn’t rely on over-the-top medical cases all the time to impress me. Then Isaiah Washington was fired, Kate Walsh left the show, they replaced them with about 5 new cast members, Meredith drowned and was revived, Izzie fell in love with George, Denny wouldn’t die and became a ghost/hallucination and Callie became a lesbian. The show turned into a night-time soap opera and that’s around the time I pulled the plug on this barely breathing show.
Prison Break: Prison Break was finally cancelled this year, two seasons past its expiration date. The concept of a genius architect who gets sent to prison to break out his innocent brother was good for one maybe two seasons but never four. The first season was a gritty, intense and smart prison drama with a conspiracy twist. The second season had the brothers on the run from the FBI. It was a decent season and should have ended with Michael and Sara sailing off into the sunset. But instead Michael was sent to another prison. From then it became silly, farfetched and implausible. By the fourth season, they weren’t even in prison anymore and the conspiracy was so convoluted not even the writers knew where it was going. Let’s hope that spin-off in a women’s prison never sees the light of day.
Bones: I have to include this one here. I used to watch Bones regularly for the past 3 years. The allure of David Boreanaz in a lead role drew me to the series at first but my love for procedurals, the supporting cast, the perfect balance of light and dark, the will-they-won’t-they relationship of Booth and Brennan and the interesting murder cases kept me in. What eventually killed the show for me was what they did to Zac’s character. In season 3 we were introduced to the Gormogon, a cannibalistic serial killer that was terrorizing the FBI and Jeffersionian. When it was revealed the Gormogon had an apprentice doing his dirty work, no one, not even the fans, thought it would be Zac. Zac was sent to prison and conveniently forgotten, safe for helping out his team on a consulting basis once in a blue moon. The gimmick of having a new grad student every week got annoying fast, because it was obvious no one could replace Zac. If one day they release him from his jail cell, I might give it another chance.
House: Same here. While I love Hugh Laurie and his portrayal of House, the show lost me when he fired Chase and both Cameron and Foreman resigned at the end of season 3. I know most of you watch House to see Wilson and House interaction and you couldn’t care less about his team, but I did! Plus if I’m allowed to be shallow Chase was my eye candy and he was replaced by...Taub? 2/3 of the cast were reduced to 2 minute cameos in every episode. I still don’t know why their names are still in the opening credits at this point. Plus, his new team gets on my nerves, especially 13 who’s getting way too much screen time (and who looks eerily like Cameron.) Cuddy used to be this smart, tough, independent woman who tried to stop House every chance she got, this season they turned her into this silly, baby-crazed hormone bomb and ever since Amber died Wilson's been too mopey, it’s depressing.
Dishonourable mention; Dexter: The first two seasons were brilliant and I still re-watch them from time to time. This is a show that has a serial killer as the protagonist yet still makes us sympathize with him and wish he could outsmart the police all the time. Past seasons were darkly humorous, witty, bloody and intense, but this year’s was a major letdown. We were subjugated to Dexter getting domesticated by getting engaged to Rita and becoming a father. His friendship with district attorney Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits) took up way too much time that could have been better invested in the main case of the season, the Skinner. In the end, the finale didn’t pack the same punch because Dexter couldn’t care less about the Skinner. The only glimmer of hope for next year is Debra finding out the secret of Dexter’s biological mother. Dexter doesn’t deserve to die just yet, but another season as ho-hum as season 3 and America’s favourite serial killer might just have to turn himself in.
Grey’s Anatomy: Grey’s is a prime example of a once good show that slowly needs to die. Early episodes made me laugh and cry in the same scenes, made me care about the original interns and didn’t rely on over-the-top medical cases all the time to impress me. Then Isaiah Washington was fired, Kate Walsh left the show, they replaced them with about 5 new cast members, Meredith drowned and was revived, Izzie fell in love with George, Denny wouldn’t die and became a ghost/hallucination and Callie became a lesbian. The show turned into a night-time soap opera and that’s around the time I pulled the plug on this barely breathing show.
Prison Break: Prison Break was finally cancelled this year, two seasons past its expiration date. The concept of a genius architect who gets sent to prison to break out his innocent brother was good for one maybe two seasons but never four. The first season was a gritty, intense and smart prison drama with a conspiracy twist. The second season had the brothers on the run from the FBI. It was a decent season and should have ended with Michael and Sara sailing off into the sunset. But instead Michael was sent to another prison. From then it became silly, farfetched and implausible. By the fourth season, they weren’t even in prison anymore and the conspiracy was so convoluted not even the writers knew where it was going. Let’s hope that spin-off in a women’s prison never sees the light of day.
Bones: I have to include this one here. I used to watch Bones regularly for the past 3 years. The allure of David Boreanaz in a lead role drew me to the series at first but my love for procedurals, the supporting cast, the perfect balance of light and dark, the will-they-won’t-they relationship of Booth and Brennan and the interesting murder cases kept me in. What eventually killed the show for me was what they did to Zac’s character. In season 3 we were introduced to the Gormogon, a cannibalistic serial killer that was terrorizing the FBI and Jeffersionian. When it was revealed the Gormogon had an apprentice doing his dirty work, no one, not even the fans, thought it would be Zac. Zac was sent to prison and conveniently forgotten, safe for helping out his team on a consulting basis once in a blue moon. The gimmick of having a new grad student every week got annoying fast, because it was obvious no one could replace Zac. If one day they release him from his jail cell, I might give it another chance.
House: Same here. While I love Hugh Laurie and his portrayal of House, the show lost me when he fired Chase and both Cameron and Foreman resigned at the end of season 3. I know most of you watch House to see Wilson and House interaction and you couldn’t care less about his team, but I did! Plus if I’m allowed to be shallow Chase was my eye candy and he was replaced by...Taub? 2/3 of the cast were reduced to 2 minute cameos in every episode. I still don’t know why their names are still in the opening credits at this point. Plus, his new team gets on my nerves, especially 13 who’s getting way too much screen time (and who looks eerily like Cameron.) Cuddy used to be this smart, tough, independent woman who tried to stop House every chance she got, this season they turned her into this silly, baby-crazed hormone bomb and ever since Amber died Wilson's been too mopey, it’s depressing.
Dishonourable mention; Dexter: The first two seasons were brilliant and I still re-watch them from time to time. This is a show that has a serial killer as the protagonist yet still makes us sympathize with him and wish he could outsmart the police all the time. Past seasons were darkly humorous, witty, bloody and intense, but this year’s was a major letdown. We were subjugated to Dexter getting domesticated by getting engaged to Rita and becoming a father. His friendship with district attorney Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits) took up way too much time that could have been better invested in the main case of the season, the Skinner. In the end, the finale didn’t pack the same punch because Dexter couldn’t care less about the Skinner. The only glimmer of hope for next year is Debra finding out the secret of Dexter’s biological mother. Dexter doesn’t deserve to die just yet, but another season as ho-hum as season 3 and America’s favourite serial killer might just have to turn himself in.
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