In the golden age of content where people are constantly exposed to one form of entertainment or another, it is common for people to get tricked into streaming shows that are unanimously considered bad. Yet hate watching is a global phenomenon, and one that won’t decline any time soon. After all, it’s the bad shows that allow us to release those pent up emotions and general insecurities with a laugh. Here’s a list of shows that are so bad they’ve turned into global guilty pleasures.
Riverdale
We all knew it was coming. You can’t hate watching a trashier show than Riverdale. Turgid writing prone to inducing unintended upchuck (“I’m peekaboo bananas for you, obvi”), stunted characters with absurd arcs (a coming-of-age story featuring characters who go from being super nice to supervillains?) Unrealistic storylines (don’t get me wrong, we all love an unrealistic storyline but role-playing that drives people crazy?) Riverdale seems to have everything packed.
And that’s not even the worst. For some reason, the showrunners felt that squeezing a musical, no matter how trashy and mediocre, would sometimes make up for string episodes that basically relied on tacky tropes. The actors clearly had no fondness for singing and viewers could tell. Overproduction only made things worse.
The representation of minors in Riverdale is another reason the show is so heavily criticized. While showing teenagers in clandestine affairs is culturally acceptable at this point, given a broader laid-back attitude towards sex and intimacy in general, showing a minor undressing in a bar full of creepy old men in an effort to make part of a dangerous gang is not only ridiculous but also highly inappropriate. Adding a line or two about the patriarchal nature of the practice doesn’t change the fact that the character felt compelled to conform to the preconceived notion of a woman worthy of attention.
Let’s not even get into how mental illness is portrayed on the show. Constantly tormented by an overriding sense of “darkness”, Betty (Lili Reinhart) creates an alter-ego, which is actually just a raunchy version of herself who likes to be dominant in sex. Still, there’s no denying the fact that when the series was still hot in the entertainment world, it seemed to have taken our screens by storm. Like it or not, we all love to hate certain shows.
The Vampire Diaries
Aside from exceptionally dark and brooding villains and sultry expressions of love that make you want to go full steam ahead in the bedroom, vampire diarywhile it was a cultural phenomenon at one point, doesn’t make enough sense as a show about supernatural blood-sucking entities to hold its own.
Helen (Nina Dobrev), for her part, is too scatterbrained for such a dynamic character, and for some reason everything in the world seems to revolve around her. The other characters unwittingly become pawns in his well-crafted celebrity chart, mechanically doing whatever would bring him more drama and attention. The writing is often forced and cringe-worthy and apparently the only reason people even watched Vampire Diaries back then was because of the one hot asshole who could do anything he wanted to while doing toggle popularity meter. Yeah. We are talking about Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) – the age-defining embodiment of a bad boy.
And while we all had qualms that Elena couldn’t decide between the two vampire brothers, the love triangle spiced up the otherwise mundane show and kept us hooked despite our better judgments.
The originals
Another show that viewers can’t help but binge-watch against their supposedly refined preferences is The originals. Whether vampire diary was bad, The originals makes for an outdated and useless spin-off as well.
The Vampire Diaries continued, over and over again, doesn’t make sense as a whole. For example, despite Klaus (Joseph Morgan) and his family being “The Originals”, there is a constant power struggle between him and Marcel (Charles Michael Davis). The fight scenes, while no doubt entertaining, must not have happened at all considering there was no weapon in the world that could possibly take out Klaus for good. The witches of New Orleans, hailed as some of the most powerful creatures in the featured universe, lost their magic after leaving their neighborhood – a plot element that contradicts how Finn (VSAsper Zafer) is still able to do magic after leaving town.
All that being said, The originals is still one of the most worthwhile shows, thanks to the crazy storylines and peculiar character arcs, and few shows in this list of bad shows would leave this one in the dust.
Emily in Paris
At this point, we all know what the blockbuster is trying to do, which revolves around a pretty young American girl who, despite her incompetence and inexperience, seems to be playing the marketing game all the way. Not only does the show seem to cast the French in a dubious, sexist, and intolerable light as a sweeping generalization, it also paints them as idle slackers who basically enjoy having sex all the time, even during working hours. Extramarital affairs in the office are taken with a grain of salt and sometimes even celebrated.
As for EmilyLily Collins), fashion isn’t the only department he lacks (the charms of the Eiffel Tower? Really?). Despite a ton of mistakes, Emily fails to learn from her mistakes and maintains the same idyllic outlook on life throughout the series, which would have been awesome if only she didn’t hurt people left and right. to the right. But why do we love Emily in Paris so many? The drama, of course! While we can always criticize Emily for showing zero character growth, it’s fun to watch her do things like betray her friend during a steamy night with the smoldering chef and end up unemployed for not taking her job enough seriously.
Ultimate Spider-Man
Ultimate Spider-Man or a flat, dimensionless wannabe desperate for attention? Ultimate Spider-Man is another bad show that viewers love to hate.
For one, Ultimate Peter Parker has next to nothing to keep him awake at night. As such, he’s hardly an outsider. Contrary to the traditional hero, this one seems bathed in dollars because apparently to mow down would have required useless efforts. Plus, Parker doesn’t let the unpredictability of life teach him anything. He simply relies on the Avengers to enhance his superhero tendencies.
Why, then, are viewers still watching this show? Because we all love awkward, immature screen time, right?
Dynasty
While the still dramatic saga of Denver oil tycoon Blake Carrington (grant show) and its family boasts decent writing and an impressive all-star cast, the series, as a whole, has failed to maintain the benchmark it raised at the start.
Dynasty becomes more and more plot driven and the characters suffer as a result. Alexis (Elaine Hendrix) as an antagonist is rather flat and there is no real connection between her and Fallon (elizabeth gillies). Portraying Alexis as Blake’s ex-wife rather than the woman who raised Fallon and Adam (Sam Underwood) also tends to take away his power as a force to be reckoned with.
Pretty little Liars
While Pretty little Liars made waves the moment it took the streaming platform by storm, thanks to all the hype surrounding the new release, but we all know the series flopped as a thriller. Each episode, instead of experimenting with originality, set up a different individual as A, but in the end, it wouldn’t be the person the girls suspected. Now, thrillers usually have a habit of naming a number of blameless individuals as the culprits until the real target is caught, but Pretty little Liars went overboard in this regard and just got boring at one point. However, the show, as a whole, was still a worthy watch, thanks to its focus on character development and romantic interests.
7 TV Shows That Are So Bad They’re Good – CNET – ApparelGeek