There's endless innovation at play in the television industry, and it's never been a more exciting time to be a fan of the medium of storytelling. The abundance of streaming services and distribution channels for televised content has allowed the medium to tackle more specialized and niche content, as well as indulge in huge big-budget endeavors that ideally become anchors for different television networks.
The level of talent in front of and behind the cameras, as well as the growing freedom of the format, has led to some of the most celebrated television series of all time. That being said, some series connect with their audiences but can be such intense experiences that there's never the compulsion to go through the story again, let alone binge through it all.
10 The Handmaid's Tale Increasingly Abuses Its Characters And Feels Hopeless
Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale is one of the first prestige drama programs that helped put the streaming service on the map, and it remains one of their longest-running series. Based on Margaret Atwood's harrowing dystopian text, The Handmaid's Tale presents a horrifying view of society where women increasingly lose their rights and are commodified under patriarchal rule.
Elisabeth Moss' work in the series is phenomenal and consistently moving. Still, the program has grown into more of a parody of itself as it spins its wheels and perpetually tortures Moss' character. The Handmaid's Tale begins in a grim place and only gets more uncomfortable.
9 Chernobyl Is A Haunting, Horrific Series Where Once Is More Than Enough
There are some projects that are destined to tell bleak, depressing stories, but it's sometimes a necessary evil to embrace the darkness and not bury the truth. The 1986 Chernobyl disaster remains an awful tragedy, and HBO's five-episode miniseries on the topic is a grueling descent into sorrow.
Chernobyl is electric television, but it's incredibly intense, both in terms of the shocking ego and hubris of the time, but also with its depiction of the physical horrors that followed. Chernobyl tells an important story that deserves to be acknowledged and remembered, but for most people, one watch will be enough.
8 Alias' Endless Plot Twists Turn It Into A Caricature Of Itself
J.J. Abrams has become one of the biggest names in the film industry after his updates to cherished franchises like Mission: Impossible, Star Trek, and Star Wars. Abrams also made major waves in the television industry through challenging, serialized programs like Lost, Fringe, and the action-centric spy series, Alias.
The first two seasons of Alias are absolutely incredible when it comes to its plotting and twists, but the show's compulsion to top itself in this department ultimately becomes its undoing. Extravagant cliffhangers, time jumps forward, and convenient amnesia ruins Alias' integrity and ends the once-promising series with a whimper.
7 Dexter Dilutes Its Message And Ends With An Embarrassing Finish
Showtime is a cable channel that's responsible for some iconic pieces of programming, but the network frequently doesn't know when to end a good thing, which means that quality programs endlessly dilute themselves. Dexter is one of the most egregious examples of this, and the calculated storytelling that's present in the series' earliest seasons is absent by the end of season four.
Dexter's altruistic serial killer antics become flimsier each season, and the program is notorious for having one of the most hated series finales of all time. This disappointing finish makes it difficult to return to Dexter, and even the recent reboot, Dexter: New Blood, squanders its limited potential.
6 Even Use Of The Speed Force Doesn't Make A Rewatch Of The Flash Seem Appealing
The CW's "Arrowverse" continues to be a fascinating experiment, and the network has carefully cultivated a connected superhero universe, complete with elaborate crossover events. The Flash is the longest-running program in the "Arrowverse" with more than 150 episodes under its belt and a renewal for a ninth season already confirmed.
The Flash's first season is excellent superhero storytelling, but the show's obsession with evil Speedsters, rotating cast members, and lazy motivations have turned it into a sad imitation of itself. Many people who continue to watch The Flash do so out of an odd sense of obligation, but its decrease in quality and laborious episode total make a single watch more than enough.
5 Grey's Anatomy Loses Itself In Endless Episodes
Grey's Anatomy has nearly been on for two decades and will celebrate more than 400 episodes by the end of its legendary run on ABC. Hospital dramas are a staple of television, and for a while, Shonda Rhimes' series pushed the genre into exciting and fresh territory.
There are some excellent pieces of television that come out of Grey's Anatomy, but anything with that much content is a slog to rewatch. There are isolated installments of Grey's Anatomy that warrant rewatches, but a full trip through the series is a lost cause and only highlights the ways in which it's gotten worse over time.
4 Game Of Thrones' Disappointing Finish Retroactively Ruins The Adventure
A good ending is paramount to a story, and it's remarkable how an unsatisfactory finish can quickly erase several years of quality storytelling. The saga of Game of Thrones is a fascinating case study.
The fantasy program was one of HBO's most popular series for the bulk of its run, but the show's concluding seasons became so rushed and reviled in the fandom that they soured the reception of Game of Thrones as a whole. It's much harder to revisit a series' glory years when the audience knows that it doesn't come together in the end.
3 Six Feet Under Is A Raw, Real Look Into Life And Loss
Six Feet Under is a prestige drama series from HBO that has a reasonable run of five seasons, all of which maintain a comparable level of quality. The series is an excellent character study, and its evolving dissection of the Fisher family allows for some career-defining performances. However, Six Feet Under is obsessed with death, and its final two seasons are especially bleak.
Six Feet Under's series finale is still viewed as one of the strongest finishes to a TV show, but it's a devastating and emotional ride. Six Feet Under gets so raw that one trip through the show is enough for some of its audience.
2 Supernatural's Bloated Length Becomes More Of A Chore Over Time
The monster-hunting exploits of Sam and Dean Winchester helped Supernatural endure for more than 300 episodes across 15 seasons. Any procedural series of this nature is going to struggle over time, but the growing pains that Supernatural faces are increasingly obvious after it progresses beyond its original five-season story arc.
A tendency to tease bigger villains and crazier lore ultimately weakens the series' overall impact. There are still random gems from Supernatural's later seasons, but a full rewatch from the start isn't going to do Supernatural any favors. With a spin-off currently in production, it looks like there's set to be even more content in the growing Supernatural universe.
1 Weeds' Attempts To Reinvent Itself Only Feel More Desperate
Television series deserve credit when they take huge swings with their storytelling rather than drag their feet and repeat themselves. However, this heightened approach isn't always a natural fit. Weeds begins as a quirky look into a suburban mom's efforts to get into the marijuana business, but by the end of its eighth season, it's gone wildly off course.
Many consider the end of Weeds' third season, when Nancy and her family leave their original suburban setting, to be a natural endpoint for the show. The fact that it keeps going for five more seasons that only turn Nancy into a more unlikeable character ruins the appeal of a rewatch.