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A List of Things I Know I'm Supposed to Like But I Just Don't

As someone who absorbs as much pop culture as humanly possible, I find myself occasionally force-feeding my brain stuff I don't actually like all that much.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm justified in not liking it, or if I'm simply missing something about whatever it is that makes this thing so enjoyable.

Most of the time, it has to do with television.

I have a feeling that binge-watching is popular strictly because some television shows have to be viewed in blocks in order for you to find any enjoyment in them whatsoever.

Homeland on a week-to-week basis never keeps my attention, but I remember loving the first season.  Is that because I binge-watched it over the course of a snowed-in weekend?  I mean, any television show watched in one sitting would essentially be the most epic movie ever, right?  So of course we'd enjoy it more.

Some shows seem to have a million seasons so that every time I thought about watching I would think--Never mind, I'm way too far behind now.

Dexter, for example, seemed to have a season premiere every other week.  And from what I could tell from people who actually watched Dexter, the process of loving the show after the John Lithgow season went something like this--

Step One:  Oh my God, new season of Dexter!
Step Two:  This season of Dexter sucks.
Step Three:  Oh my God, what a cliffhanger!  Next season is going to be amazing.

That would explain why the finale was so poorly received.  The people behind the show had already proven that they can't pull off an ending, so was it any surprise that they bungled a finale?

Shows like Dexter seem to have a fanbase that is ninety percent optimistic.  I've noticed Mad Men fans tend to be the same way.  I've tried to watch Mad Men four different times and each time I think the same thing:

WHY ARE YOU ALL WHISPERING AND WHY IS NOTHING HAPPENING?

(Admission:  I'm still mostly convinced that a lot of the people who watch Mad Men are just into vintage costume porn.)

Call me crazy, but I miss the days when plot was still integral to every episode of a television series.  I actually find myself saying to friends--

"The Walking Dead was good this week.  The plot moved forward and the characters changed a little bit.  Oh, and they killed that guy whose name I can't remember because they just introduced him two weeks ago although apparently he's really big in the comics."

When did television drama become populated by people who are clearly inspired only by Swedish films of the 1970's?  Moody, brooding characters who never talk above a mumble and hours upon hours of admittedly gorgeous cinema but virtually no story?

The alternative choice seems to be plot-driven shows where the writing is godawful.  (See any CSI, heck, anything on CBS, and True Blood.  So much True Blood.  If they had razzies for television, I'm pretty sure True Blood would win all of them.)

I should probably close this out by confessing that I will, eventually, probably, go back and watch all of what I've mentioned.  I'll force myself to in the hopes that when I'm ready, I'll enjoy it.  To be honest, it's no fun not being able to join in when people talk about how much they love some of the shows I've mentioned.

Except Glee.

Glee is just the worst.

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