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Has anyone here experienced a tv show slump?
I have found myself recently to be oscillating a lot between different TV series and not "getting" into any one of them. I am currently between Mad Men, Sopranos, Shrinking, The Lowdown etc. without really getting into any one of them.
I know that something similar happens when you finish a long book and any other book just doesn't interest you. Maybe its because you get so invested in the story that it becomes a familiar setting to come back to, and its all over again with the next one.
In recent years I have been watching far less TV and I think it's because most of it just sucks (to me at least; not judging anyone's taste or anything). I still enjoy Only Murders In The Building, I guess.
I did cancel my Netflix subscription this year and I was not the kind of person who cancelled regularly. I was a subscriber for years, and originally they had a lot of stuff, including originals, that I wanted to watch. In fact I'm sure I'm on record praising the amount and variety of their content.
Yes, I think there are a lot of great shows being pumped out in recent times (esp FX and HBO); but perhaps a lot of it is has some elements of societal conflict --- personally for me TV (and to some extent, movies) is an escape to unwind after the day or just engage with the characters. Its a tug-of-war between not wanting to watch those conflict stories and the happy-go-lucky series seeming inane with everything that's going on.
Sometimes you just need a palate cleanser.
In the spirit of Halloween, I nominate Mr.Pickles.
Palate cleanser is exactly the term I was looking for. And wow, I just saw some clips of Mr Pickles and its definitely something unique.
I stopped watching most American TV shows a long time ago. For a while, I was really into Korean shows, like Goblin, It's Ok to not be OK, and Hotel del Luna, but I've hit a dry stretch even with them. The last outstanding one I watched was Extraordinary Attorney Woo, and that's been a couple of years now.
Last year's best Korean show was apparently When Life gives you Tangerines, but tearjerkers are not really to my taste.
I tried to watch Agent Kim Reactivated recently, and was very disappointed when it turned into such an unrealistic, comic-book style in the fighting.
If you want suggestions for more series to try, take a look at Silo, Dept. Q and The Eternaut.
I absolutely loved Dept Q with the story and the characters. Looking out for S2 and planning to read its book at some point as well. A lot of more "visible" shows being American is definitely part of it -- it feels limiting to just be based in one culture; and its hard to reach out for more international shows if you haven't someone talking about them before.
It happens to me from time to time. Sometimes I am just not in a TV mood for a long period of time. Sometimes I’m just not finding shows that pique my interest. I’ve watched two episodes of slow horses, and I think that might be my way back in this time.
I have seen a bit of Slow Horses and its definitely refreshing to see spy / agents who actually keeping messing up their works (and not in a Johnny English way).
This has happened to me - youre not alone.
After finishing an amazing show, I might go back to rewatching some comfort tv while keeping an eye out for something new.
You might also try watching shows with friends - I'm currently visiting & staying with friends this weekend. I ended up watching something new that I might have skipped just because a friend was watching it.
I've been experiencing this for years now - probably around 6+ years, maybe 7+ years? To my understanding, at least for me personally, it is one of my depression symptoms - anhedonia - lack of engaging in pleasure-seeking activities.