Day 23

[graculus]

Day 01 - A show that should never have been cancelled
Day 02 - A show that needs more viewers
Day 03 - Your favourite new show (aired THIS TV season)
Day 04 - Your favourite show
Day 05 - A show you hate
Day 06 - Favourite episode of your favourite TV show
Day 07 - Least favourite episode of your favourite TV show
Day 08 - A show everyone should watch
Day 09 - Best scene ever
Day 10 - A show you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 11 - A show that disappointed you
Day 12 - An episode you’ve watched more than 5 times
Day 13 - Favourite childhood show
Day 14 - Favourite male character
Day 15 - Favourite female character
Day 16 - Your guilty pleasure show
Day 17 - Favourite mini series
Day 18 - Favourite title sequence
Day 19 - Best TV show cast
Day 20 - Favourite kiss
Day 21 - Favourite ship
Day 22 - Favourite series finale
Day 23 - Most annoying character
Day 24 - Best quote
Day 25 - A show you plan on watching (old or new)
Day 26 - OMG WTF? Season finale
Day 27 - Best pilot episode
Day 28 - First TV show obsession
Day 29 - Current TV show obsession
Day 30 - Saddest character death

Day 23 - Most annoying character

Chances are, if I find a character that annoying it's probably enough to make me not watch/stop watching something or other but then it also depends on why they annoy me.

The main reason I'll find a character annoying is if it's clear that TPTB have a hard-on for them and yet there's no apparent reason for it in terms of either how interesting/well-written the character is or the quality of the actor's performance - a case in point, Rachel Zane on Suits, about whom I have previously ranted at length. It got to the point when my liking of that show was on the wane, for me mostly because of that character, that I couldn't even tolerate pictures of her turning up on my Tumblr dashboard. That's when I know it's time to pull the plug.

Comments

[nialla]

When this season of Suits started up, I didn't bother putting it on the DVR list. The plot set up has gone on too long for me to buy Mike hasn't been caught by someone who could bring him and the entire firm down.

Add on the Rachel Zane fiasco, and I was done. Sad that I'm missing Gina Torres, but that's about it.

[graculus.livejournal.com]

It's an interesting premise for a movie or a mini series, but as the basis for a show that's going to hit 4-5 seasons (which is, of course, still the showrunner's Holy Grail), not so much. Except if they'd actually had Mike getting caught and the repercussions for all of them, the retrials, the scandal, the aftermath - not quite as sexy, though?

Ugh, Rachel. Don't get me started (again). ;)

[manna]

it's clear that TPTB have a hard-on for them and yet there's no apparent reason for it in terms of either how interesting/well-written the character is or the quality of the actor's performance

See: every female staff member in House, ever.

And speaking of annoying characters beloved of TPTB, I had to stop watching NCIS because practically every time Tony diNozzo opened his mouth I wanted to slap the writer who'd put dialogue in it. I don't mind characters who are sexist asshats, but the way it's treated like it's all just jolly fun pisses me off. I think he's the only character who's actually made me stop watching a show even though I liked the rest of it.

Oh, no, wait. There was also Angel, but that wasn't exactly the character so much as the pain of watching David Boreanaz trying to carry a show as the lead. Angel himself was still annoying by virtue of being dull and whiny, though.

The main character in Above Suspicion always irritates me, mostly because in the course of four stories she still hasn't managed to dress like a professional. Yes, why not turn up to another crime scene in ridiculous high heels, short skirt and an unbuttoned blouse! Honestly, try to find one picture where her collar is fastened. She always looks like she woke up late and hungover on a friend's sofa and came in to work in last night's clothes. It's particularly annoying when her initial 'thing' was that she was the daughter of a successful officer, and she wanted people to take her seriously on her own merits. And generally, she's on the whiny side. (That said, I never really get along with Lynda La Plante's writing. I'm just there for Ciarán Hinds and the team of sidekicks.)

Dr Stephen in Babylon 5 made my teeth itch. Although we did a rewatch not too long ago, and he was less annoying that I remembered. But he's sanctimonious AND boring.

I almost started on annoying Star Trek characters, but that's a whole post's worth. Seriously, though. Klingons. Why? Even the mock-Klingon in Farscape irritated me.

Ooooh, Farscape. Actually, that's another show where I eventually stopped watching it because of specific annoying characters -- the mock-Klingon, and the muppet. That muppet killed my suspension of disbelief stone dead.


Apparently, I'm more annoyed by TV characters than I thought.

[graculus.livejournal.com]

I can only assume that my brain has the ability to block out annoying characters once I stop watching something because I'd forgotten the sheer asswittedness that is Tony DiNozzo till you mentioned him! He's clearly the writer's self-insert and they obviously think he's funny while he's actually an obnoxious immature asshole whose behaviour wouldn't be tolerated for 5 minutes in a real law enforcement setting.

Where Angel is concerned, I agree that Boreanaz has all the charisma of a plank of wood but the sheer aggravation of his character is surely given a run for its money by Fred, goddess of all she surveys. Because the only thing more annoying than a character the writers have a hard-on for is a pairing they love despite all reason. All of which was not helped by Amy Acker having really scary collarbones that look like they could snap at any moment and cause deadly splinters to impale everyone around her.

[manna]

I don't think I ever got as far as Fred. I stopped watching Angel around the beginning of series two, when someone decided that Angel ought to be funny. David Boreanaz trying to have comic timing tipped me over the edge. I was honestly surprised when I saw the first series of Bones, and in the intervening years he'd got so much better.

[innocent-lex.livejournal.com]

I don't understand Tony. He was okay to start, then it got a bit grating, then he grew up and it was really nice. And then... I don't know what happened, but it's like he has some kind of intermittent lobotomy where he's a frat boy one week and a grown-up who I'm interested in like any other character the next. Thing is, you never know which is going to turn up in any given episode. And that's just appallingly bad writing.

For me, I stopped watching Doctor Who as soon as Donna arrived. I couldn't stand the Christmas episode she was in, can't stand the actor. So I skipped all the eps with Donna in and was completely happy. What I didn't understand was a couple of people who kept going on at me at all the things I was missing, Donna was so wonderful, bestest companion ever, I was cutting off my nose, yadda yadda. All I was missing was an irritating as hell character and I was quite happy with that. Life's way too short to watch characters / actors I can't stand, no matter how many other people loved her.

[manna]

I have to say, I've never liked Catherine Tate, or ever seen why people like her comedy, and I also thought Donna was grating in the special and wondered how on earth they would make her a companion without her being beyond annoying.

But...I was so wrong. They made her less annoying, but it a ways that made sense. And over the series she had the best character development, the best character arc, and the best write-out of any character in DW. One of the best in any show I've watched, in fact. What they did with her was amazing and heartbreaking. If I'd been able to time travel back from the end of the series and talk to myself, I don't think I ever could've made myself believe how much I was going to love Donna.

Mind you, while I'll now admit Catherine Tate is a good actor, I still find her comedy teeth-aching unfunny.

[graculus.livejournal.com]

I also wonder if part of it is that now there is so much more choice in terms of what there is to watch and we're all used to the fact that writers can be unpredictable and love characters we loathe, any tolerance we once might have had for 'sticking with it' to see if things improve or (miracle of miracles) the writers actually deal with some of the issues as to why that character was so annoying in the first place has evaporated because we don't have to anymore?

[innocent-lex.livejournal.com]

And that's the key, isn't it? I mean, the vast majority of the stuff on the gajillion channels we have these days is complete rubbish, but that doesn't mean there isn't more than enough good stuff for me to watch. More than. Maybe showrunners need to do things they've not needed to do before to keep viewers, but maybe they just haven't figured out they're in a massively more competitive marketplace than they were even ten years ago.

Still, I have enough to watch. Don't need to deal with the frustrations. And while I regret that things I once liked have disappointed me, I don't regret not watching them.

[graculus.livejournal.com]

Thing is, they don't have to have much insight as long as they get the TV equivalent of bums on seats, which is why there are so many reality shows, because apparently lots of people like watching them.

NCIS just aired its latest season premiere to a massive audience in the US, regardless of the problems some of us might have with its characterisation, so I guess lowest common denominator can still really work for a showrunner...