When did you stop watching "<insert show here>"?

[Argo]

Another survey that I'd just like to see the opinions on.

Just wondering when people started losing interest in a particular show and either watched less or just stopped watching altogether. Obviously some of the shows ultimately got canned, but do you think the shows should have continued on, or were they dead before they pulled the plug and why?

For me:

MG '7x - around the 79' mark when the show started getting more edited for time and less shenanigans happened. Richard leaving had very little effect on me, but by 79 (or sooner for some people) things started to get a lot less crazy. Don't know if it was the show, or just Gene and some of the celebs just running out of steam.

TPIR - around the mid 1990s. Audiences started getting crazier and louder. Bob was getting a standing ovation everytime, and contestants where getting dumber and dumber, or just not paying attention to anything. In later years when I would tune in Bob didnt look like he was enjoying himself and I wouldnt either if I was him. Contestants that 'watched all their lives" and never saw Any Number or Clock Game or something. When Bob would make a comment or a joke and they would have to edit in a laugh track because the audience wasn't paying attention.  

Pyramid - No surprise the 70s version was a lot more laid back and full of energy than the 80s. The first few years of the 80s version weren't bad, but it felt like it was getting dull by the mid 80s.

Mark

[Marc412]

I'm either at work or asleep at 10AM, so I don't watch Let's Make a Deal or The Price is Right a lot anymore.  I'd watch LMAD more if they incorporated a few pricing games or the two-player Big Deal I grew up with.

As for Millionaire, the more they strayed from the original format, the less I tended to watch.

Lingo was great with Chuck, but with Bill, not so much.

[beatlefreak84]

Very interesting topic!

I stopped watching ABC Wipeout probably after Season 3, when they made the opening course pretty much impossible for anyone to get through without wiping out.  I at least liked the feasible possibility that someone really good could get past all of the obstacles (and the show celebrated anyone who got past the Big Balls or Sucker Punch), but so many obstacles are just designed to force people to wipe out now that it's really not funny anymore.

The only other show I can think of that I don't watch anymore is WWTBAM, not because I don't think it's a solid premise, but it has just lost its luster to me.  The top prize is pretty much impossible to get now, and I'm not a huge fan of the random questions or lack of a variety of lifelines.

I wish I could say Family Feud, but Steve Harvey can make me laugh, and it's hard to avoid the gazillion reruns of it on GSN (I typically leave GSN on when I'm getting ready for work in the morning, and so it's the first channel that I put on when I get home).

Anthony

[Marc412]

I've always liked me some Family Feud.  Steve Harvey is tied for second with Ray Combs on my "Favorite Feud Hosts" list, with Richard Dawson at the top.  I've even learned to tolerate the raunchier surveys and answers.

[clemon79]

but so many obstacles are just designed to force people to wipe out now that it's really not funny anymore.

Congratulations on discovering the premise of the show from Day One. It's Ow, My Balls! without intentional crotch shots.

and it's hard to avoid the gazillion reruns of it

There's a really easy solution to this conundrum.

(I typically leave GSN on when I'm getting ready for work in the morning, and so it's the first channel that I put on when I get home)

Again, how long has your remote been lost in the couch?

Don't blow smoke up our asses with "I wish I could say Family Feud," because clearly you *don't* wish that or else you'd do something about it. Nobody's telling you not to watch the garbage, but at least own it.

[jjman920]

I stopped watching WWTBAM after Baltimore decided it would be better to run Jerry Springer, Steve Wilkos, and Judge Mathis twice a day.

Thankfully, they dropped a Jerry airing for Ricki Lake.

/I'd rather see Maury get a double run.

[SamJ93]

I lost interest in WoF sometime around the late 90's. First they got rid of "Changing Keys" (or at least remixed it beyond recognition), but I could tolerate that. Then they got rid of the classic puzzle board, but I understood why it made sense to do it, even if it reduced Vanna"s role to window dressing. But ever since then it's just been one flashy gimmick after another, to the point where one almost forgets there's an actual game in there.

Another interesting question would be the opposite: which game shows have never lost their luster for you?  I, for one, have never really gotten tired of J!...the Clue Crew was a minor bump in the road, but they've grown on me.

[Dbacksfan12]

I quit watching Wheel around 1995 when Home Improvement started airing off-network reruns.   They aired in the time slot opposite Price in Cedar Rapids.  Even when the reruns ended,  I was watching other things by then.

[beatlefreak84]

Congratulations on discovering the premise of the show from Day One. It's Ow, My Balls! without intentional crotch shots.

I am quite aware of the premise of the show, thank you very much.  Like pretty much anyone that watches or has ever watched it and liked it, I will not deny that I enjoyed people getting whacked in the face or bouncing off a big red bouncy ball.  My concern dealt with the fact that, originally, yes; there were tons of people who couldn't make it past the obstacles, but it was always possible to do so (and, on occasion, you'd see someone pull it off).  Now, so many obstacles in the opening course are designed to be impossible to pass without wiping out that the gag just isn't funny anymore (to me, at least).  A competent contestant has virtually no shot of escaping unscathed.

Hey; I have no problem with a show built on the premise of people getting hurt (looking at you, AFV), but at least don't force the gag.  That's what I feel like the show has become now.

and it's hard to avoid the gazillion reruns of it

There's a really easy solution to this conundrum.

(I typically leave GSN on when I'm getting ready for work in the morning, and so it's the first channel that I put on when I get home)

Again, how long has your remote been lost in the couch?

Don't blow smoke up our asses with "I wish I could say Family Feud," because clearly you *don't* wish that or else you'd do something about it. Nobody's telling you not to watch the garbage, but at least own it.

While these may not be good reasons to you, had you completely read my reasons, I did also say that Steve Harvey makes me laugh.  There are plenty of problems with the show and the questions, of course, so that's why I said that "I wish I could," but Harvey's humor does keep me coming back.

And, I'll add another one:  Lingo.  Fun game, fun premise, but I just couldn't get into the Engvall version.  Engvall as host was fine, but I didn't like the increased emphasis on the words and major de-emphasis on what gave the show its name.  I will still occasionally watch the Woolery reruns, though.

Anthony

[BrandonFG]

"Wheel": when they started adding all the gimmicks in the early-2000s. I honestly find the game boring now.

"Price": around the same time when Bob started treating everything as an historic, monumental event.

"Feud": the "Double The Points!!!" era.

NBC's D/ND: when it turned into nothing more than the goofiest stunts they could think of.

[Marc412]

NBC's D/ND: when it turned into nothing more than the goofiest stunts they could think of.

Seconded.

[Jay Temple]

Wheel: When I got married and my wife wanted to watch Entertainment Tonight.
J!: In the fall after the UTOC, I noticed that my response to every other question was, "Who cares?" I decided it was time to stop.

[clemon79]

but it was always possible to do so (and, on occasion, you'd see someone pull it off).

Yeah, but that was never the point. Which is why they fixed that.

the gag just isn't funny anymore

Insofar as it was ever funny in the first place, but I allow that that is a totally subjective opinion.

Hey; I have no problem with a show built on the premise of people getting hurt

We'll be back with the second half of What's Wrong With America after this short break.

While these may not be good reasons to you, had you completely read my reasons, I did also say that Steve Harvey makes me laugh.

I actually did read your reasons, and I allow that I may have been a wee bit harsher than I intended, so I will offer an apology there. At the same time, though, you say Steve Harvey makes you laugh, but it seems that Steve Harvey is spending a disproportionate amount of time making people laugh at his reaction to dick jokes. So what does that say?

So I posit this: Harvey's getting a talk show, yes? Ostensibly you would be able to get your Recommended Daily Allowance of Steve Harvey in that fashion with, oh, let's call it 90% less schlong. Do you still watch Feud then?

[MikeK]

"Feud": the "Double The Points!!!" era.

For me, it was around 2000/1, when Louie Anderson came off as going through the motions.  When in LA in 2001, I wanted to see a Feud taping badly because Louie was my favorite stand-up comedian since the mid-80s.  When someone (Randy Amasia?) told me Louie was there for the paycheck and interacted with people as little as possible, it left a sour taste in my mouth.  I returned to the show when John O'Hurley started hosting, though it wasn't appointment TV since I'm usually at work or asleep when Feud airs in this area.  And no, I didn't deem it worthy of recording on the DVR.

Unrelated to the show itself, the Cleveland market playing Musical Chairs with Feud doesn't help.  In the 13 years since Feud's return (wow, that long?), Feud has been on three channels at time slots ranging from 9 AM to 3:30 AM.  Feud not airing in Cleveland, where Steve Harvey was born and raised, this season is a downer, especially since the show has shown a resurgence since Harvey has started hosting.

NBC's D/ND: when it turned into nothing more than the goofiest stunts they could think of.

Taking this a step further, when they forced getting a million dollar winner down our throats.

For Wipeout, when Jill Wagner left.  Since Wagner is returning, I will give Wipeout a second chance.

[TimK2003]

I stopped watching Wheel right around the time that they did 2 weeks worth of shows from the Ohio State Fair (the debut of the touch-screens, IIRC).  I had seen the taping of a couple of episodes and tried out for the Wheel "cattle call" a few weeks prior, which was a total joke, IMHO (1 mile back-up on I-270 to the exit where the auditions were).  

After the "audition" day and seeing the show in person (and sneaking up to spin the wheel after the tapings) and after seeing a good representation of the "typical Wheel Watcher" at both locations, I had had my fill of Wheel.