Hater Era: TV Shows Everyone Loves But I Can't Stand

Well, they can't all be hits. With more and more TV shows being released every year to the full scope of critical and commercial reception, there's plenty that people don't watch, don't enjoy, or even hate with a burning fiery passion. This most definitely extends to me, and if you see your favourite show lurking on my hit list, maybe skip the rest of this article. 

Gotham (2014)

Definitely the least popular of the series I'm dealing with, and one I was surprised - and horrified - to learn was on IMDb's Top 100 Most Watched Shows. Despite being well-intentioned in its exploration of the early years of Batman's long-time supporting cast member Jim Gordon's, the show began jumping the shark left right and centre in an attempt to shoehorn in early versions of Batman's rogues gallery and even Batman himself. Chock full of poor judgement and poor execution, this mediocre show attempting to stay afloat by way of reference is yet another of DC's live-action misses. 

The Umbrella Academy (2019)

While the final season of this show definitely garnered the show a lot of ill-will, I was a hater right from the very first episode. Sort of. I actually watched all bar one of the first season in a singular day years ago, and after that could not bring myself to go back to it. Something about the overly edgy, grimdark universe and the tangled web of cruel (and at times incestuous) familial relationships was just...uncompelling. The show clearly had a want to be striking and bold, but its commitment to this made the entire watching experience alienating and disconcerting. Eventually, I had to move on with my life and stop even attempting to get through season one, and only half a decade later found some validation when the rest of the world hated the finale. 

The Big Bang Theory (2007)

There are plenty of people out there who have many eloquent, logical and insightful criticisms of nerd-culture-themed sitcom The Big Bang Theory, so I will simply be blunt: it's the worst show I've ever seen. With its endless forms of bigotry, unlikeable characters and terrible relationship dynamics - alongside an egregious lack of any actual funny jokes - this show succeeds only in doing absolutely nothing successfully. To add insult to injury, it ran for 12 seasons and got a spin off, which makes the knowledge that some of my favourite shows have been unceremoniously cancelled mid-airing with no potential for a follow-up really sting. If you've never seen this, keep it that way.