Tapping Out

I think we've all had those TV series that we really enjoy, but they go on for so many seasons that you lose interest. Maybe the quality goes from really good to just adequate. They don't jump the shark, exactly, but you're just not into them as much anymore. Episodes seems to pile up in your DVR and you think you'll get back to them eventually, but something else always seems to be more compelling to watch when you have time. 

It's really hard for me to let go and quit a series because I'm very much a completest - once I start something I want so see the entire thing, even if the quality falls off and it loses it's appeal. There have been a bunch of shows that I have stuck with to the bitter end just to say I saw them all, even though I've lost my enthusiasm. Maybe I hope they'll recapture some of their lost glory, and sometimes that happens. Sometimes not. Seinfeld was in that category for me. I thought they could have ended a season earlier and gone out on a higher note. Same with The Office.

There have been more that I've quit recently for various reasons. I think it's easier because there is so much other entertainment content available to consume. I haven't watched Survivor this year. I gave up on This Is Us a couple seasons ago; same with Chicago PD. Plus there are tons more over the years: The Flash, E.R., Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, The Blacklist, etc. Some I'm still holding onto for now, but they're on the bubble, like most of The Walking Dead series, especially World Beyond. (Yes, I know the series concluded, but I'm half a dozen or so episodes behind. Like I said, they've stacked up in my DVR.)

Some long-running shows are able to reinvigorate themselves with fresh characters or plot lines, (Alias did that pretty dramatically and very well... for a while) but they tend to be the exception. I think the showrunners or networks or whomever is in charge get caught in the past and keep retreading the same old plotlines and premises because they don't want to take a risk to try something fresh and new.

It seems like there's a lesson in there for us.