It’s funny how many mixed emotions you can have about the same television show. Sure, there are shows that you absolutely love. They’re your faves, your go-tos, the ones you turn to when you need to be comforted when you’re sick when you’re sad or even happy. Then there are the shows that you have a pretty complicated relationship with. Sometimes you adore them, sometimes you loathe them, and most of the time, you feel somewhere in the middle. Your best friends wonder why you spend so much time complaining about the latest episode or the most recent plot line, but you totally get it. You know that even though these shows can drive you more crazy than anything else, that doesn’t mean you don’t like them. And it definitely doesn’t mean that you’re not going to keep watching. You would never dream of quitting these shows.
Here are 15 TV shows you have a love/hate relationship with.
15‘Nashville’
There isn’t a single Nashville fan out there who doesn’t think that this show could do a much better job. Sure, the characters are lovely and attractive, the storylines can be interesting, and the music is awesome. But the show is also crazy frustrating. Every storyline seems to go on way too long and you’re always wondering why things can’t be wrapped up already. The characters seem to change their mind about who they are and what they want all the time and sometimes they act in ways that make you wonder if they would really do that. So why do you keep watching? Because as frustrated as you get when you watch almost every episode, that’s about how much you really do love it. You’re attached to the characters, you always want to see what’s going to happen next, and you can’t help but be excited about the new season.
14‘Grey’s Anatomy’
Yup, you knew this one was going to be on the list, and you definitely have a love/hate relationship with this hospital-set show. On the one hand, you have been obsessing over the storylines, characters and crazy cliffhangers for years and years at this point. You can’t imagine not doing that and you do not see yourself saying goodbye to this series until the final episode airs, and even then you know you are going to be pretty sad that it is over. On the other hand, though, you totally get that a lot of people have long since given up. No matter how much you adore the show, you do totally understand that some storylines should never have happened and that some characters (interns…) just made zero sense and should never have been on the show in the first place. Yup, you have a lot of complicated feelings about it.
13‘Dawson’s Creek’
Chances are you pretty much grew up with this show. It comforted you through your teenage years and was always there for you in times good and bad. But you still have a love/hate relationship with it because it’s one of those shows that doesn’t hold up super well when you watch it again so many years later. You’re older and wiser, so it makes sense that you would think that maybe some episodes aren’t quite as good as they seemed back when you were a teen. There’s also the fact that the teen drama is also pretty cheesy and sometimes seems super dated. It’s like you can’t even believe the things the characters are saying (they don’t always sound like regular teenagers, and now that you’re older that is even more obvious), and you definitely can’t handle the clothes. Oh, the clothes. So painfully late 90s and early 2000s.
12‘The Fosters’
Yeah, you love this sweet and important family drama. It shines a light on social issues that a lot of TV shows just totally and completely ignore, and you will forever be glad about that. But let’s be real here: if you’re watching this show, you’re getting annoyed on a super regular basis. You can’t believe that they actually switched the actors who play Jesus. Like, really?! Did they not think that the fans would notice?! It doesn’t help that both actors look totally different and that they just feel like two completely different characters. What is this, a soap opera where the same person comes back to play another character and you’re not supposed to say anything or even care? There have also been some cliffhangers in the season finales that don’t make a whole lot of sense and kind of seem to be played for ratings, and you don’t love that.
11‘The Good Wife’
You have a super complex relationship with this legal drama because while you’re a bit sad that it’s over, you’re also a bit relieved. That’s because as soon as the lovely and hot and sweet and smart (and basically any positive adjective ever) Will Gardner died, you were totally done with the show. Okay, not really, because you obviously kept watching. But you were pretty pissed off. You just couldn’t believe that this show that you loved so much and had been watching for so many seasons would do something as horrible as this. You never got over that, and you didn’t always love the episodes that followed. You especially weren’t thrilled with the final season… and you definitely hated the series finale. But you still love Juliana Margulies and her amazing turn as Alicia Florrick. She’s a feminist character for the ages and really is a dream to watch.
10‘Modern Family’
Yeah, you like watching this sweet and hilarious family sitcom. You love the characters, you laugh at the jokes, and it’s been a staple in your TV watching for a while now. But you also kind of hate it because it feels a bit stale sometimes. You’re always wishing that the characters would surprise you and stop acting the same way in every single episode, but since it’s a stoic, that doesn’t happen. You don’t get a whole lot of character change in that kind of show. So really, it’s the fault of the genre and not necessarily this sitcom in particular, but that still doesn’t help you love it 100 percent. You do find it super comforting and you’re never really going to stop watching it, but that’s just not enough for you to not get kind of annoyed with it sometimes. That’s the curse of a sitcom that’s been on forever, right?
9‘Sex and the City’
This show totally belongs on this love/hate list because although you love it and it’s one of your favorite series of all time, you have a bone to pick with a whole lot about it. You sometimes want the characters to stop acting so similar. You get tired of Miranda being in a bad mood, Charlotte being super girly and traditional, Carrie wondering all the time, and Samantha jumping into bed with literally every guy she meets. You may want Carrie and Big to be together in the end, but you also think that you don’t really care. You get sick of how needy and desperate she gets about that relationship and that makes it hard to re-watch this show. It’s also so focused on dating and finding love that it can be a bit strange. Yeah, you want those things, but you also love having a career, and that’s never really reflected here.
8‘Younger’
This show, which tells the story of 40-something Liza pretending to be a millennial, definitely has its bright spots. It’s funny, it’s clever, and it features Hilary Duff who proves that not only can she act but she can act really well. But as much as you adore this show, you’re also wondering what happened to it in its second season. There were a bunch of episodes that made zero sense and were even kind of gross… like when Matthew Morrison guest starred as a farmer who, um, had a bit of weird animal fetish (yup, you’re cringing even thinking about it) and a male writer is such a feminist he can barely sleep with anyone. Yup, those were some super low moments in an otherwise awesome and fun show, and you wish those had never even happened. The series would have been perfect without them, but hey, you can’t change the past.
7‘Once Upon A Time’
If you watch this fantasy fairy tale drama, you have a ton of mixed feelings about it… mostly the fact that sometimes, an episode ends and you have no idea what just happened. It’s like you fell asleep while staying totally awake or something. The show can just be so incredibly complicated since it focuses on two worlds — the real world in a small and charming town, and the magical world that the characters’ fairy tale counterparts live. And while that is totally and completely cool and probably what made you watch the series in the first place, it’s also the show’s downfall. There isn’t a single fan of this show who can’t say that sometimes they don’t get really confused. Is that a bad thing or a good thing? You’re not really sure because you do enjoy it and it’s mostly just a fun escape from reality. It definitely provides entertainment, you’re just not 100 percent into it.
6‘Orange Is The New Black’
Of course, you adore this Netflix drama because it’s basically a requirement of being a.) a human being and b.) a millennial. But do you love every single season and every single episode? Definitely not. You absolutely adored the first season because it was just such a great work of television. You sometimes wish you could go back to that time because while it focused on Piper mostly above the other characters, that was kind of what you loved about it. You liked the jokes about how her fiance shouldn’t watch Mad Men without her and you just felt like she was a character that you could really relate to. The remaining seasons have been good, of course, because it’s a really solid, beautifully crafted show… but there have been some missed opportunities for true television greatness. Sometimes it just feels like there are too many people to care about.
5‘The Bachelor’
Calling all guilty pleasures. This show is totally at the top of your list. And that’s why you both love and hate it, right? You can’t help but enjoy watching it because it’s so hilarious (without even wanting or trying to be) and because it makes you feel like you’re a part of the pop culture world. You just love being able to watch the latest episode, talk about it with your best fiends and coworkers, and read all the tweets and recaps. It’s just part of your life and you’re super glad. On the other hand, though, you hate it because it’s a guilty pleasure. You hate that you watch it because you think it’s superficial and that you should care about something else and watch something else. Aren’t there more important things to think about in this world? Are you a bad person for enjoying it? You don’t want to find out, even though you think you probably aren’t.
4‘The Real Housewives’
This is a show that you will always, always love. You may not watch every city, and you probably have your favorites, but you’re pretty much a fan for life… or at least as long as this beloved and wonderful franchise continues (which you hope is a super long time). But as much as you adore watching it, you have to admit that a little tiny part of you hates it. That’s because ultimately, the show is about women who fight. There is a whole lot of fighting. And sometimes, well, you have to admit that the fights don’t make too much sense. You just never have any idea what anyone is even talking about and it’s really hard to take sides because sometimes, someone completely changes their personality and you’re suddenly not on their side. You’re also not sure why you ever thought that you liked them in the first place.
3‘Saved By The Bell’
You may not realize that you have a love/hate relationship with this old-school show from when you were a kid but you totally and completely do. Just try to watch a show right now. Just try. While you might be full of happy and nostalgic feelings, those good vibes aren’t going to last a super long time. You won’t be able to get past the lame jokes, the awkward moments and the storylines that don’t always make a whole lot of sense. It can also seem a little bit annoying at times since it has this whole goody-two-shoes tone and vibe. So while you love it on the one hand because you grew up with the show and you can’t imagine hating it completely, you also don’t like it too much because it’s not a show that holds up very well. You don’t even want to get started on the fashion and the hairstyles. That’s just too much to handle.
2‘Full House’
Yeah, this show pretty much was your childhood and you absolutely loved it. You loved Michelle’s cute antics and adorable sayings. You were obsessed with Uncle Jesse’s hair — maybe even more than he was. You liked getting mad at Kimmy Gibbler while secretly thinking she was super adorable and seemed like a really good and fun friend to have. You wanted to be DJ and were just as in love with Steve as she was, and you probably related to Stephanie the most because she just seemed to be the most even-keeled. But you can’t help but hate this show even a little bit because when you watch it today, it is so grating. It’s cheesy. The jokes don’t land. The theme song gets under your skin and stuck in your head and that’s not a good thing. The storylines aren’t always super interesting, either, and it doesn’t hold up super well in this day and age.
1‘Pretty Little Liars’
Ah, Pretty Little Liars. You have loved this show for such a long time… and, well, that’s kind of the entire problem, right? This show has been going on forever and ever. That’s generally a great thing if you love a show and you consider it one of your all-time favorites since you get to keep watching it, and who would hate that? But sometimes, you want to scream at your TV when you watch this show because it doesn’t always make a lot of sense. Sometimes, it’s just super confusing and you and your BFFs spend a really long time wondering what’s going on and whether you even watched the same episode because you seem to have such different interpretations of it. There have been so many people outed as A, there have been so many characters who you were told were evil but ended up being good all along, and there have been way too many dead ends to count. Yup, you love it, but you can’t help but hate it. Even just a little bit.
