TV: Why they parted with their programs

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A few examples from local viewers and the TV programs they've opted to no longer watch:

"Heroes": Loved it the first season -- "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World!" -- but then it fell flat and went nowhere. Especially bad after the extended Endo-in-feudal-Japan boring story arc.

"Criminal Minds": Watched for almost all the first season, but just too gruesome to continue.

"Ugly Betty": OK and novel at first, but too repetitive. Betty is really not "ugly" even though she can never get rid of her braces!

"Desperate Housewives": Good first season, got too ridiculous and contrived, but got better last year with the five-year advance. Starting to get desperate again.

"Psych": Innovative the first year, again got too repetitive, but "The Mentalist" competition seems to have made it better this past season.

"Grey's Anatomy": Got Izzied to death last year. Seems better this year so far.

-- John Helfenstein, 66, Donora, Pa.

I broke up with MTV's "The Hills" when I realized this reality show wasn't real. At first it seemed like Lauren Conrad was the Mary Tyler Moore of the '00s. LC went to LA to attend fashion school and live the life of a single gal. It was supposed to be real. The camera was supposed to be following her around her everyday life. I got suspicious when LC was out with her boyfriend at the latest LA hot spot and her archenemy Heidi showed up. Of all the gin joints ... I mean aren't there about a million bars in LA? And these two just happened to show up at the same one at the same time to have a catfight?

When I read somewhere that LC had published a book and had her own clothing line I had to sadly concede that I had been duped. None of that was ever on the show. "The Hills" wasn't really real. It was all just staged.

-- Kate Bevick, 37, Scott, Pa.

"Joan of Arcadia": Began as a very spiritual and enlightening show, but morphed into a "Dawson's Creek" clone -- a teenage soap opera with God listed as a "special guest star."

"NUMB3RS": Entertaining at first, but changed into just another FBI show, getting help from a "Scooby Gang" made up of boring snobs.

"Medium": Another show that began as being rather "spiritual and enlightening" but changed into just another crime show, this time getting help from spirits. But why did I finally stop watching it? I got tired of seeing the medium's husband (Jake Weber) walking around in his underwear in every episode! I mean, is this guy an exhibitionist or something!?

"Ghost Whisperer": Ditto my first comments regarding "Medium," but I admit that I still do watch this show each week. Why? I never get tired of seeing Jennifer Love Hewitt walking around in her underwear in every episode! I mean, is this girl an exhibitionist or something!?

"Stargate: Universe": I really liked "Stargate: SG-1" and liked "Stargate Atlantis," so I had high hopes for "SG: U." Because of the tie-in with the previous shows I kept watching this thing week after week thinking, "It's got to get better," but it never did. I record episodes and play them at nighttime to help me go to sleep. They should change the name to "Stargate: Boring."

-- Kevin Lenz, 56, Evans City, Pa.

First let me say that I am an avid TV fan, and a loyal viewer through good times and bad. The one that completely did me in was "Dynasty." And back in the '80s, I loved all the prime-time soaps -- "Dallas," "Knots Landing," "Falcon Crest" and "Dynasty." The year that "Dynasty's" cliffhanger episode was the "Moldavian Massacre," which had everyone biting their nails all summer waiting to see what happened, was when it ended for me. I anxiously tuned in to the first episode that fall, only to see every major character survive all the gunshots that were fired during the "massacre" (huh???). My mouth dropped open, then I got mad, got up and turned off my television set. My husband, who was reading his paper at the time, looked over at me and said, "Why did you do that?" I said, "I'm done, I will never watch this show again. That was the biggest ripoff ever." And I never turned it on again. I don't know if their ratings went down after that, but that did it for me!

-- Mary Lou Bradley, 52, Plum, Pa.

"The Simpsons": I don't remember exactly when, probably the early 2000s, I stopped watching "The Simpsons." It was a great show, but it's run its course, and it's time to say 'goodbye' already. It's just not funny anymore; it's trying too hard to compete with "Family Guy." Most important, it's because they took away the normality of the show: Homer always going to work at the plant, Bart and Lisa always going to school. You need the normal day-to-day stuff to contrast with anything zany that may happen to the characters, so now it's just all over the place.

-- Tracy Milai, 39, Shaler, Pa.

(Contact TV editor Rob Owen at rowen(at)post-gazette.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)

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