"When TV Shows Burn Out" (Burn Notice & Dexter)

[Rob Helmerichs]

Interesting article/blog post by Adi Tantimedh. I agree with him about laziness and complacency, but would add that as shows grow successful, there is increasing pressure to keep them the same, which leads to and amplifies laziness and complacency.

[caslu]

Good article, I am a long time Burn Notice fan who has definitely felt burned by the laziness of this past season... plus it doesn't help that I hate the Jere Burns character.

[Steveknj]

I didn't read the article, simply because I am about 3 seasons behind on Dexter (and don't have Showtime), but I think this happens to most shows after awhile and the trick is to leave while at the top of their game. But this rarely happens. Of current shows I watch, Burn Notice is certainly a burnt out show. So is Desperate Housewives and to some extent How I Met Your Mother. There simply aren't enough new ideas for shows of this ilk to keep feeling fresh. The better writers also leave to do something else, leaving less accomplished writers trying to maintain freshness AND continuity.

[Odds Bodkins]

Terrific article and mirrors what most feel on here about these two shows.

[fmowry]

Stopped watching Burn Notice last year because of what the article points out and Dexter is on a very short leash.

[lew]

Many long running shows, ER and NYPD Blue for example, kept the show fresh by replacing characters. New characters allowed for new plot lines. This works well for ensemble shows.

Shows like Dexter revolve more around one central character. One actor. I think those shows do better when they have a definite end game. Looks like Dexter has 2 more seasons. One more would probably have been better.

I don't think the issue is being lazy or complacent but rather the stories have already been told. At best the show becomes reptitive at worse the new stories are original but poor.

[philw1776]

Spot on regarding the once entertaining "Burn Notice". Loved the cast and characters but I punted on it last year for those reasons. OK, I admit that I probably watch considerably less TV than 95% here. Note that "Person of Interest" has already moved deep into that territory with overly contrived plots despite being a new show. Disappointing.

[retrodog]

Many shows do this. Some of my favorite shows have done it and I've canceled them:

24
CSI (all of them)
Mentalist
Burn Notice
Hampton Doctors (whatever it was called on USA)

And various others.

[Sadara]

I've been burned out on Burn Notice for 2 seasons now. My husband still watches it, but even he's getting tired of it.

[Rob Helmerichs]

One thing that annoys me more and more about Burn Notice is that it's structured like an onion. Only instead of peeling back each layer to reveal a new layer, you peel back each layer to reveal the exact same layer you just peeled back.

Another thing is that it's committed the common Hollywood crime of having the characters settle in comfortably, which is death to a show that started out with something of an edge. Michael used to be kinda scary. Now, we're TOLD he's scary from time to time, but he's really not. And there used to be a lot of tension in his situation, but there's only so many times Lucy can pull the ball away before Charlie Brown realizes she's never going to do anything else.

And yet another thing that annoys me is, twice in this post I transposed letters in a word, and the board Spell Check didn't come up with the right suggestion. You'd think that would be one of the first things it would look for! I'm not sure how, but this HAS to be Burn Notice's fault too.

[astrohip]

Originally Posted by retrodog

Many shows do this. Some of my favorite shows have done it and I've canceled them:

24
CSI (all of them)
Mentalist
Burn Notice
Hampton Doctors (whatever it was called on USA)

And various others.

I'm not sure I would put Mentalist in this list. Yet.

Royal Pains is I think the doctor show you are referring to. I stopped watching well before it burnt out, due to my inability to stand the brother.

[photoshopgrl]

Originally Posted by astrohip

I'm not sure I would put Mentalist in this list. Yet.

Royal Pains is I think the doctor show you are referring to. I stopped watching well before it burnt out, due to my inability to stand the brother.

Yeah I'm still in love with the Mentalist.

Just finished last season of Burn Notice and it was okay fun but not must see tv like it used to be for me either. I still can't help but adore Michael when he does that smile as he's conning someone. It's adorable. And I don't even find him attractive.

Royal Pains, I put in the first episode of season 3, got about half way through it and someone called me so I paused. Then realized after my phone call that I just didn't care what else happened on the show. Jill continues to make me want to smack someone. I could really care less about any of the characters. So I just saved myself a bunch of catch up time and deleted them all.

[netringer]

Originally Posted by Rob Helmerichs

One thing that annoys me more and more about Burn Notice is that it's structured like an onion. Only instead of peeling back each layer to reveal a new layer, you peel back each layer to reveal the exact same layer you just peeled back.

Another thing is that it's committed the common Hollywood crime of having the characters settle in comfortably, which is death to a show that started out with something of an edge. Michael used to be kinda scary. Now, we're TOLD he's scary from time to time, but he's really not. And there used to be a lot of tension in his situation, but there's only so many times Lucy can pull the ball away before Charlie Brown realizes she's never going to do anything else.

...

At the Burn Notice season-half ender.

Spoiler:

Tell me how just letting Fi shoot Anson would ended up any worse than the way it ended up with FI getting busted. What Anson goaded Michael with was nonsense. He loves the juice? What worse thing was Anson holding over their heads?

Besides, when she "confesses," where did you get the explosives and detonator for the lobby bomb? "I didn't."

[robojerk]

Originally Posted by retrodog

Many shows do this. Some of my favorite shows have done it and I've canceled them:

24
CSI (all of them)
Mentalist
Burn Notice
Hampton Doctors (whatever it was called on USA)
And various others....

I agree with you on all of these.

Mentalist season 2 was really, really bad.. I totally gave up on the show, my wife still liked it so I did other things while she watched it. It seemed like they were trying to have Jane outdo himself every week, to the point it was idiotic (even for a TV show) to believe the CBI still worked with him, the stunts he pulled were completely outrageous and each week seemed like some multi million dollar law suit someone could thrust on the CBI for allowing him to do what he did.

The quality picked in season 3. I heard it was good again, and watched a couple, It was decent so I started watching with the wife again. Actually enjoyed a couple.

This season has had some really good episodes. Blinking Red Light stands out the most for me.

[wmcbrine]

Originally Posted by Rob Helmerichs

And yet another thing that annoys me is, twice in this post I transposed letters in a word, and the board Spell Check didn't come up with the right suggestion.

What? There's not a spell check in the board, is there? I just rely on the one in my browser.

[DeDondeEs]

With Burn Notice, they could at least change the intro to the show. In the intro Fi still has an Irish accent, which mysteriously vanished.

[Howie]

I tend to stay with shows that I've liked in the past, even after they go downhill. I don't know why. I guess I just get comfortable with the characters. I'll probably stick with Burn Notice and Dexter until the bitter end.

[Rob Helmerichs]

"Fi." Fiona.

[photoshopgrl]

Originally Posted by Howie

I tend to stay with shows that I've liked in the past, even after they go downhill. I don't know why. I guess I just get comfortable with the characters. I'll probably stick with Burn Notice and Dexter until the bitter end.

Me too. It has to be REALLY bad coughcoughGrey'sAnatomycoughcough for me to drop it in the middle.

[mrdazzo7]

Originally Posted by Howie

I tend to stay with shows that I've liked in the past, even after they go downhill. I don't know why. I guess I just get comfortable with the characters. I'll probably stick with Burn Notice and Dexter until the bitter end.

I've always been the same way... I'm a pretty loyal viewer so if I love a show for a season or two, I'll usually stick with it for as long as it's at least decent, usually on the blind hope that it will eventually be good again. 24 is an example that comes to mind--after the awesome season five, they gave us season 6 which was like 90% crap. But then 7 was pretty good and 8 was "eh".

Prison Break was another example. 1 was *awesome* and I actually thought 2 was a really good follow up... 3 was the decline and then 4 was like being sent to prison just to get through it each week. Still, watched to the end.

One show I bailed out on was Heroes, and I made it muuuuuuch further than I should have just out of pure loyalty. That show was an absolute trainwreck and I actual go through most of the last season before I got behind and then simply didn't care. I had the last five eps saved for almost nine months, then watched 10 minutes of one and was like "nope...".

With Dexter, I would say they *absolutely* do not need two more seasons. One more is all it needs and they can effectively close it out with some dignity left. Ensemble shows can rely on cast changes and other stuff to stay refreshed but Dex in particular is completely built on that character and since that's the case, they need to wrap it up. You can tell they're getting winded when they spend half of each episode focused on characters and subplots that have no real point. Old episodes barely wasted a frame.

[photoshopgrl]

Originally Posted by mrdazzo7

Prison Break was another example. 1 was *awesome* and I actually thought 2 was a really good follow up... 3 was the decline and then 4 was like being sent to prison just to get through it each week. Still, watched to the end.

One show I bailed out on was Heroes, and I made it muuuuuuch further than I should have just out of pure loyalty. That show was an absolute trainwreck and I actual go through most of the last season before I got behind and then simply didn't care. I had the last five eps saved for almost nine months, then watched 10 minutes of one and was like "nope...".

I agree with you about Prison Break and I did about the same. Heroes I also bailed on but I don't think I lasted as long as you. I don't even remember when I did stop watching, maybe sometime during season 3. That one hurt to hate so much because I'm a big fan of Milo Ventimiglia and was before that show. He's basically the reason I checked it out. So for me to give up on it is saying a lot.

[danterner]

This season saw not just a decline in writing quality for Dexter, but also a fundamental change in the way the season was structured. The "B" stories (bad guy of the week, dispatched by Dexter by the end of the episode) were largely missing. The episode with Ronnie Cox was closest to the old style, and was not coincidentally one of the better episodes of the season. It was as though this season the writers decided they could only handle juggling three balls, not four. Then they kept dropping the three.

[netringer]

Originally Posted by DeDondeEs

With Burn Notice, they could at least change the intro to the show. In the intro Fi still has an Irish accent, which mysteriously vanished.

No mystery. They decided her "Irish" accent was way worse than her American accent so they used the American Accent.

In the intro she only says, "Miami" and her phony Irish line is "Shall we shootthem?" (sic)

Which, BTW, brings up the other lazy. Why do they need to tell the premise in the intro after 5 years?

"Sit right back and you'll hear a tale...."

[philw1776]

Originally Posted by DeDondeEs

With Burn Notice, they could at least change the intro to the show. In the intro Fi still has an Irish accent, which mysteriously vanished.

Wait! You just hit on the magic formula to save "Burn Notice"!

Have Fi get her ludicrous Irish accent back! It would be worth watching for a few episodes at least but probably not for the reason that producers would like.

[netringer]

Originally Posted by philw1776

Wait! You just hit on the magic formula to save "Burn Notice"!

Have Fi get her ludicrous Irish accent back! It would be worth watching for a few episodes at least but probably not for the reason that producers would like.

While she's in prison just have someone bonk her on the head a second time.

[philw1776]

Originally Posted by netringer

While she's in prison just have someone bonk her on the head a second time.

The crowd sourced plot creativity here is legion!

[danterner]

Originally Posted by philw1776

The crowd sourced plot creativity here is legion!

Wait for it....

...dary!

[ElJay]

I agree with the author, but that's an awfully a lot of words to essentially say, "Writers please stop making your characters into idiots to advance lousy plots. kthx."