Some TV shows like The Pitt and The Bear are incredible examples of brilliant writing and stellar performances, while others … aren’t.
Although they have their own charm, the following five television shows are delicious disasters that you probably wouldn’t praise for their genius storytelling.
Whether it’s because of their strange plot choices or corny dialogue, they can be genuinely frustrating to watch. It’s kind of like a car crash, though — we just can’t look away.
From all your favorite streamers like Netflix, HBO Max and more, check out Watch With Us’ list of shows that we love to hate-watch.
‘And Just Like That’ (2021-2025)
After six seasons and two movies, the creators of Sex and the City decided there was still more to say about Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and … not Samantha (Kim Cattrall).
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Whether it was the constantly grating presence of Che Diaz (no offense to you, Sara Ramirez, the character was just unlikeable), the shoehorned-in attempts to correct the aggressive whiteness of the original series with clunky conversations about race or the complete character assassination of Steve Brady (David Eigenberg), And Just Like That was a big, tulle-covered mess.
Yet many of us felt like we had too much attachment to the characters — even if they no longer resembled the ones we’d known — to not find out what they were up to. Plus, there was something fun about texting your friends every week to say, “Miranda would never DO that!” And Just Like That is now ending, so enjoy it while you can.
Watch And Just Like That on HBO Max.
‘Glee’ (2009-2015)
Let’s be clear — the first episode of Glee was a masterpiece, and the first couple of seasons were solidly fun, too. But things took a serious turn for the worse, as often happens with Ryan Murphy shows. The characters, like Rachel Berry (Lea Michele), Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith), Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron), Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer), Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley) and the rest of the gang, were always larger than life, but at some point, they started to become parodies of themselves. Or else, they just gained whatever character traits the plot needed them to. Remember the episode when Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) revealed that Artie (Kevin McHale), who had never been anything but sweet to anyone, had been misogynistically demanding she wear tighter clothes to keep him interested?
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Still, every week we tuned in to find out “what we missed on Glee” and listened to those catchy cover songs. “Rumor Has It” is still on our Spotify playlist, and Glee, flaws and all, is still irresistible to watch.
Watch Glee on Hulu.
‘The Flash’ (2014-2023)
At one point one of the best shows in the Arrowverse, The Flash started as a fun, quirky show that combined Barry Allen’s (Grant Gustin) talents as a CSI with his faster-than-light speed to show how he solved crimes with the help of his friends at STAR Labs (Tom Cavanagh, Carlos Valdes and Danielle Panabaker).
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But eventually, The Flash became a self-serious mess that constantly fell back on repeated catch phrases like “Run, Barry, run!” Cavanagh kept us interested by playing different versions of his character, Harrison Wells, from across the multiverse every season, and there was a time when it was important to be watching at least three Arrowverse shows to be able to follow any of the crossover events. But too many characters and repetitive speedster storylines weighed this initially zippy show down.
Watch The Flash on Netflix.
‘Once Upon a Time’ (2011-2018)
Once Upon a Time had some really great moments, but it was more like reading Disney fanfiction than watching a serious show. It followed Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison), a bail bondswoman who once gave up her son for adoption. 10 years later, Henry (Jared S. Gilmore) tracks Emma down, convinced that she is the long-lost daughter of Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas) and that his adoptive mother (Lana Parrilla) is the Evil Queen. It turns out, he’s right — and in fact, everyone in Henry’s hometown of Storybrooke is actually a fairy tale character.
There are some really creative twists on old stories — like the reveal that Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle) was actually the beast in Beauty and the Beast — and the performances from talented actors like Parrilla kept us hooked. But once Elsa and Anna (Georgina Haig and Elizabeth Lail, respectively) joined in, the melting pot of Once Upon a Time stories started to get a little too full — and they kept on adding too many unnecessary ingredients.
Watch Once Upon a Time on Hulu.
‘Riverdale’ (2017-2023)
When did Riverdale go off the rails? Was it when they introduced Chad Michael Murray as a cult leader trying to build a rocketship? Was it when Betty (Lili Reinhart) did a striptease in front of a bar full of adult men, her boyfriend and her mom? Or was it even earlier, during Jughead’s (Cole Sprouse) infamous “I’m a weirdo” speech?
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Whatever the case, Riverdale was always a wild ride. Sometimes it felt like it had nothing in common with the original Archie comics, sometimes it would pull out some deep comic lore that only the true obsessives would recognize. Sometimes the performances were great, sometimes background characters were saying that they dropped out in fourth grade to run drugs for their Nana. For better or worse, you never knew what to expect on Riverdale — and that’s probably what kept us hooked for all those years.
Watch Riverdale on Netflix.
