For me:
-The Expanse - The beginning was confusing AF and the politics didn’t make sense and seemed boring, so I quit. But then eventually after like a year or two, went to reddit and it was recommended again, so I just read some light spoilers and that helped me got through the first season. And then it has been an intriguing and thrilling journey.
The Expanse is absolutely one of, if not the, best sci-fi shows ever made. There are another 3 books which haven’t been adapted into the show (yet?). There’s a sizeable time gap between where the show ends and when thee final 3 books take place. And they started setting up the plot of the final 3 books in the show. There’s definitely room for a follow-up movie or revival. But the whole book series (as well as the numerous short-stories set within the same universe) is totally worth a read (or audiobook listen). The ending is bittersweet, but I’ve never got such a satisfying end to such an epic story. Then the epilogue knocked me on my ass and left me wanting so much more.
My answer to the question, though, is Breaking Bad. I got it recommended so many time. I sat down and tried to start it 3 or 4 times and just couldn’t get hooked by the first couple of episodes. It wasn’t until someone forced me to watch the entire first season. I got hooked by the episode where Walt blows up Tuco with the fulminated mercury.
Ah, expanse. Wonderful series once you got past Holden being such a goody two shoes. It blew my tiny little mind when they got to the realistic space gun play. That one part where the Roci spin around for point defense, that scene made a man out of me.
This doesn’t even make sense to me as a question. I don’t know why I would watch hours of a show I don’t like on the off chance it might get better. There is so much entertainment available these days. Why would you torture yourself with something showing direct evidence of poor writing over something that could easily be better just by being ‘okay?’
There’s plenty of reasons, especially in the modern media landscape. One big reason is that people consume TV differently now. Older shows and modern prestige TV are made to be watched with your full attention. But a lot of people watch shows as background while scrolling phones or doing other stuff. If you try to put a show like The Expanse, to OP’s point, on in the background, you’re going to miss a lot and be totally confused. I can see why someone might pass on it at that point, but then find it much more engaging if they try again while paying full attention.
I’m trying to find shows like the Expanse, which I initially passed over, but then upon the second watch, I understood what was happening. It’s one of my favorite shows. I would’ve been missing out if I didn’t give it anotber try. I’ve read over like hundreds of TV show plots and I’m so picky that if it looks boring, I skip it. I’m trying to see if there was something that I’ve judge too harshly like the famous phrase "don’t judge a book by its cover.
Or another way to phrase it is: “What show’s synopsis or first season seems boring/confusing at first, but is actually a good show overall?”
Arcane.
It didn’t grab me for some reason, but then I wanted to give it a second chance one night when I was bored and ended up getting hooked. Still need to watch season 2 though.
I didn’t watch Better Call Saul back when it was airing because I thought it was a soulless cash garb riding on the popularity of Breaking Bad. Years later I started watching it randomly and now I think I might like it even more than Breaking Bad
The Good Place - It’s a great show. But the character of Eleanor put me off in the beginning. I didn’t care about her at all. She was depicted as garbage of a person and that made it really hard for me to even just sit through the episodes. Until episode 8, which is when she makes her first good decision. I got really invested in it after that point.
The Good Place for me too but not the same reason. I just didn’t find it that entertaining, so quit after 3 episodes. But I saw it recommended so much alongside shows I do love and went back to it for a second chance and ending up loving it.
When I read the premise, I was instantly hooked, on the plot not characters, but eventually characters too. Never even turned it away. I was dealing with an existential crisis at the time and that why I loved it.
BORTLES 🍾🔥
Well, that’s the point of much of the show. Seeing them improve themselves.
Parks and Rec. It copied The Office too much in season 1. Came back after a few years and couldn’t believe how different season 1 and 2 were.
Took me 3 tries to get past the first season. I recommend people just start with season 2 and then go back and watch season 1 if they want to know why I recommended they start with season 2.
I’ll probably get a lot of flak for this, but initially I did not get Community at all. I have low tolerance to cringe though, after I got through that I was all in
I felt the same way, but haven’t continued the show. I also have a low tolerance for cringe.
The cringe is gradually replaced with a more zany/ridiculous humor as the series goes on which vastly improves the comedy without losing the core themes of the show.
That’s good to hear, I might try to get back into it. I noped out of The Office shortly after Scott’s Tots as the humour just seemed to be getting more and more cringe.
Severance, I watched about 5 minutes if it a few years ago and gave up on it too quickly. Watching it now and it’s an incredible show
Adventure Time for me. The first two, IIRC, seasons are explicitly “anti canon” per the creator and drove me away as a result. At a friend’s insistence, I persisted until season three and it ended up being among my favorite shows, it just kept getting better and better.
Would you recommend skipping the first two?
Well … Kind of. Due to the aforementioned anti-canon nature, they don’t add much to the story, but they do familiarize you with the characters and universe. I think they’re both worth watching at least once, but whether or not doing so should be on your first viewing probably depends on the watcher. Usually, when I introduce a friend to it, I show them one of two particular really good episodes that don’t require much context, then let the friend kind of direct their own viewing experience. Some people want to witness the entire run, whereas some prefer only the episodes that are closer to what they’d enjoy. (I do skip the “Grayble” episodes, personally.)
If you’re considering giving Adventure Time a go and would like a viewing partner, let me know! I love seeing people be exposed to it for the first time.
And for what it’s worth, others may disagree, but the introductory episodes I usually show my friends are Egress, Puhoy, and maybe Dungeon Train. They are all episodes that are very much enhanced by context, but don’t require it to intrigue (IMO; again, others may very justifiably disagree). I have, however, created a lot of fans with that lineup.
edit: I think skipping the first two seasons wouldn’t diminish your appreciation of the show, but if you do skip them, I think you should go back and watch them later. Probably only once, though.
Thanks! I’m planning to watch it in a year or two when my kid is older
Despite its appearance, I would recommend being cautious about watching it with a young kid. There are a lot of episodes with scary imagery and such (one of the very early episodes - actually in the anti canon seasons, I think - is about the zombification of the entire population of the world). This continues throughout the show’s entire run, but also existential horror becomes a running theme (especially in the episodes I mentioned for introducing people to the show, which is why I love them so much).
It can definitely be a good show to share with your progeny and there are lots of safe episodes. I’m looking forward to watching it with my kid, but that said, make sure you vet episodes or at least read the description before watching them together. Obviously, this depends on the individual and you’ll need to make your own judgement call about them.
Probably don’t watch this episode with your kid until they’re older:
edit: Edit removed because I tried a few approaches to hide spoilers and none of them worked in my client.
Hunter X Hunter, The Boys, Man in the High Castle
The Owl House.
In my defense, the first episode was kind of a let down. I remember ranting about it in my long nuked Twitter account, comparing it with Amphibia, which was my favorite show back then. One day, however, I came across with one of those “cartoons moments” compilation centered in lumity, the main ship of the show, I was hooked. By the end of the first season I was totally invested cuz, beyond the ship, the show was really good.
So I can confirm that Ships, if done right, do sell shows.
Yeah the first half of S1 is definitely a bit rough as it felt like they were still figuring out the characters and what they wanted the show to be. It’s one of my favorite shows though.
On the flip side, I haven’t been able to get myself to finish Amphibia.
Me neither! I have Amphibia in my backlog for god knows how long 😅
Person of Interest. A friend recommended it and I bounced off the first season hard (s1 is kind of a crime-of-the-week thing which is very not my jam). Twice. On the third try (the friend was very persistent) I got to the second season and the character of the show changed radically and became about AI and shit and that was directly up my alley and I loved it.
Loved this show. Don’t look up anything about Jim Caviezel until you finish the show, or it might become hard to relate to his character there. 😆
Yeah, good point.
Oh maybe I’ll try again. I was kinda turned off and stopped before the end of season one.
Yeah, season 1 is pretty much just setup for the real story in later seasons, and that story is pretty interesting.
The first season of Spartacus. My dad recommended it and I tried watching the first few episodes. Spartacus gets his ass kicked a lot at the start of the show. You’d get a glimmer of hope, then he’d fuck up and nearly die again. My dad insisted it would get better and I watched one more episode and he has his first victory in the arena. I stuck with it from there and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the first season and the prequel season.
RIP Andy Whitfield. I tried watching the third season which picks the story back up after the first, but I just couldn’t get into it. I don’t think it was necessarily Liam McIntyre’s fault, the show just lost it’s rhythm after the setting change.
Firefly. I watched the very first bit of the first episode, saw the sci-fi infantry scene, decided that the whole thing was low-budget action, and didn’t look at it again for years.
I really think that it’s a good idea to make the first bit of media be more-reflective of the thing as a whole.
Funnily enough, a big part of why the series didn’t even get a full first season, let alone the 7 seasons Whedon had planned, was because when Fox aired the show they did NOT air the pilot first. Fox execs didn’t like the Pilot (which had the infantry scene you referenced) and chose to kick off the series by dropping 3 episodes on the first night. They launched with episodes 2, 3, & 6. They then continued with this out-of-order lineup: 7, 8, 4, 5, 9, 10, 14, pilot, 13, 11, 12.
The show overall isn’t super serialized, but the pilot does actually introduce the characters well. Throwing the audience into the 2nd episode without the introduction to the characters in the pilot was confusing to the audience. Then jumping around, there are constant little mentions to something that happened earlier, but the audience hadn’t seen yet. Then jumping into the pilot late in the run makes it super weird.
The out-of-order release, which was an attempt by the Fox execs to do exactly what you suggested, absolutely killed the show before it had a chance to build an audience.
Hehe I like the pilot more than all the episodes… I mean I like them too but I loved that action sequence.
