How much time do you give a show a chance ?

[Sp!der]

I just asked myself - how much time do you give a show to develop itself - because especially in sci-fi and fantasy the show kicks off at the end of the first season and where the first half is albeit kind of slow, do you take your time and watch the first whole season of a new show or only a couple of episodes and decide then to watch it ?`I mean many shows are awesome from the beginning but mostly they need time to develop it self. I for one take at least half of the season to see if its getting there or not but mostly I try to stick to the show and finish its first season of. How about you ?

[gashead]

Depends, take SGU for instance, if I weren't such a fan of Stargate I would never have watched the whole of series 1 & in turn missed series 2.
Usually I'll give most series 2 maybe 3 episodes, if I haven't converted by then I never will.
A few mates said to watch The Following (brilliant TV they said) watched 3 episodes & that was it for me, never watched another episode...

[Wyrminarrd]

If it is a sci-fi show with a premise that I like then I will usually give it 3-4 episodes to prove itself. Other types of shows usually have to manages a good first episode to keep me watching.

If the show is a spinoff of something I like then I will keep watching a lot longer in hopes that it will manage to live up to the original. Stargate Universe and Star Trek Voyager definitely both benefited from this tendency.

[MasySyma]

It depends what I know about the show.

I let all of Continuum season 1 build up in the DVD while reading about the positive reactions people were having and the enjoyed a marathon as I got into it too.

I usually don't do marathons of entire unknown seasons though. If I think I will like the show, I let three to five build up in DVR. Many shows have terrible pilots or at least pilots that take on too much and don't sell the show as well as episodes two and three. Grimm is a great example of a show where the pilot was meh, but the second and third episodes were good, so I kept watching and am now a Grimmster.

If I'm really unsure about a show, I have a much more ruthless system. The first twenty minutes need to convince me to stay. It doesn't have to be riveting, but it can't tick me off. No gratuitous nudity. No race jokes, no man children. Nothing had better look like the writers thought Galaxy Quest was in earnest. If I like the first hour, I'll let each episode win the next. If I get through five and find myself liking it, I'll stay for the first season. The first season will tell me if the show and I have a future. If I miss three episodes in a row and realize I didn't miss it, I delete them and the show on principle. I don't watch a lot of television, but the few shows I follow, I stay with if they deserve it. I'll bail on a show if it backslides or loses all sense of direction, but usually only if an entire season is weak.

[min min light]

I missed out on a lot of great shows when they were running live because I watched a few episodes and decided they were not for me, so these days I'll hang in there for the entire first season and early S2 before I give up. And even then I'll probably give it a second chance later on. (There isn't so much sci-fi on TV that this approach takes up a lot of my time.)

[maneth]

I very rarely watch any shows on TV. I won't watch a show if the premise doesn't interest me. Given that I'm not in the US, my decisions to watch or not to watch won't have any influence on whether the show is cancelled or not. Sometimes, if I see a show on sale I'll buy it, especially if I've heard good things about it and give it a go. I know what I like, so I haven't been disappointed so far. Most of the shows I've watched in recent years I bought on DVD or blu-ray after it had been cancelled (SG-1: I'd only seen an occasional ep before buying, after that I bought SGA and SGU, Firefly, Andromeda, Farscape, all the Treks...).

Currently I'm watching Doctor Who on broadcast TV/DVR, but it's the only thing remotely approaching sci-fi that's on in my area. I enjoy fantasy movies but for me to watch a genre show it pretty much has to be space based in some way. I don't like supernatural stuff (vampires or zombies) or invasion stories, so I've given V, Being Human (both versions), Falling Skies, Supernatural etc. a miss.

[min min light]

I don't like supernatural stuff (vampires or zombies) or invasion stories, so I've given V, Being Human (both versions), Falling Skies, Supernatural etc. a miss.

Same here, although once upon a time I didn't like sci-fi either so I imagine that one day I'll give these shows another chance and maybe like them. But only after I've run out of space-based shows. (Or, by the end of summer.)

[Linda06]

Most of the time I probably give them 7 or 8 eps when convince me. I gave Lost a whole season to convince me, I'll never do that again, sometimes I do know whether I'm gonna like a show after 2 or 3 eps. If I'm on the fence with a show (like Defiance) I'll keep watching a few eps until I decide if its good enough to continue watching or not.

[mr_kennedy]

I usually give a show 6-9 episodes before jumping of the bandwagon or moving to the front of it, sometimes just need more time than others, more convincing either way, i think for most shows, the pilot is the tell, i'm usually like that pilot was pretty awesome but the next few episodes have been crap but due to the pilot being so great i'll give it a few more episodes, or that pilot was kinda dull i think i'll only give it a couple of episodes

I attempted to watch supernatural a few years ago (09) but i only gave it 2-3 episode that time and i didnt like it, i watched it last year and gave it more, now it's one of my favorite shows

Another example is that DS9 is my favorite star trek show, but it took a couple of seasons to really get going, same with babylon 5 there 2 of my favorite shows of all time but they both had crappy first seasonss

Some shows just scream awesome from the pilot, like say The Walking Dead, even Deep Space Nine had a great Pilot but only had a couple of decent episodes for the rest of season

How about Sg-1? Season 1 had some cringe worthy episodes (i still count emancipation as one of the worst stargate episodes ever) , and the first season only a handful of good episodes, but it went on to run for 9 more seasons after that plus 2 spin offs sometimes you need to give it the whole season

I've only ever really stopped watching one show in my life, and that was Kings, i tried to get into it but it just couldnt grab my attention, and it was good hindsight anyway cus the show was cancelled

[mr_kennedy]

Sometimes with the new shows you have to watch the ratings weather to even try it or not, you don't want it to be a bubble show in it's first season and be cancelled, although being a bubble show has never stopped shows like chuck or nikita from reaching there endgame but those shows were awesome

Some of the new shows now are doing well with the ratings so you don't have to worry as much, but it's still a concern when going into a completly new show

[aretood2]

It depends if it interests me. If it does, I watch it. If I feel that the premise is good, then I stick around waiting to see what happens next. Usually, if it's a show I don't like, I find that I can wait for the next episode and I end up not even waiting anymore and before I know it, I've stopped watching it.

If it keeps me waiting for the next episode, then I keep on watching it. Depending on how good the first season is, I'll look up the premiere date for the second season and try to tune in and the system repeats itself. At that point a bad episode or two will do little to dissuade me from watching a show. But if it's three in a row....erm....I'll have to really like the premise or characters or actors to stick around.

[REPLICATOR SAM]

Normally i like a show if its sci-fi pretty much right away after just a few episodes.

Like sg-1 i never knew about it until it had finished but i liked it after just a few episodes.
But id give a show a full season/series and then decide.

[Tristen1]

Long time ago I gave up on a short series on episode one, and spent a long time kicking myself because it was all over in five eps and I missed one and two and on three found it was a great show !

Now, learning from that, I would give a show about five episodes. After that I know it is not for me. Mind you, I would look in on it if it was an interesting science fiction series to see if it had changed.

Usually I know from the opening episode if I will really like a show.

[Wyrminarrd]

I've recently tried several new shows but none of them managed to keep my interest long enough to finish the first episode. None of these shows were an obvious fit with what I usually watch so I guess shows like that really need to hit the ground running to keep me watching.

[REPLICATOR SAM]

Thing is mate a lot of these shows that say just last 5 episodes can be very good.
We have had a few but your told it lasts just for a weeik Monday to Friday.

So you have to see the first episode.

Anything prison based ill normally watch.
Of course it the show is of the genre i normally watch ill give it longer.
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Long time ago I gave up on a short series on episode one, and spent a long time kicking myself because it was all over in five eps and I missed one and two and on three found it was a great show !

Now, learning from that, I would give a show about five episodes. After that I know it is not for me. Mind you, I would look in on it if it was an interesting science fiction series to see if it had changed.

Usually I know from the opening episode if I will really like a show.