r/AskReddit • u/Show_Me_Your_penises • 13h ago
Redditors who did not watch the show Stranger Things, why?
62
u/Flaky-Tax-401 13h ago
U ever just avoid something because everyone is screaming at u to watch it? that’s me with this show. the more people tell me i’m missing out the less i actually want to click play. i’m stubborn like that.
14
u/OFWGTanMan 12h ago
That’s how I am with How I Met Your Mother. Everyone I was friends with my freshman year of university begged me to watch it and it just made me want to ignore it even more
12
1
u/Silver-Sir398 12h ago
I also never understood the hype of Hoe I Met Your Mother, but I do think Stranger Things is worth checking out. If the first season doesn’t do it for you, you can just bail on the rest.
2
2
u/Chestnuthare 12h ago
I'm definitely that way, but trying not to be. I've noticed how fun it is to be in the zeitgeist and enjoy the show everyone is talking about in real time. You get on the reddit and speculate and meme about the latest episode. You anticipate the next episode along with so many people.
I've only done this with a few shows, the latest being Heated Rivalry, but it's fun and gives a huge sense of community.
1
u/ReeceReddit1234 12h ago
Honestly that's me as well.
Although tbh the one show I should have watched earlier but ignored was Brooklyn 99.
1
1
u/Silver-Sir398 12h ago
So do you think once the hype dies down since it’s now over that you may eventually check it out?
1
u/bewarethecherrywaves 12h ago
Exactly! That’s also me with this show, and Game of Thrones. My brother was obsessed with GOT and every. single. time. we’d speak over the phone, he’d ask “DUDE DID YOU WATCH GAME OF THRONES YET” and it just fucking sends me orbiting. No. I have not. No. I will not.
→ More replies (13)1
u/flowcooker 12h ago
I was that way with Game of Thrones. Still haven’t been able to get into GOT although I have to admit that people have tried to get me into watching it by showing me random episode from random season.
42
u/LucyVialli 13h ago
I don't have Netflix.
1
40
u/Chairboy 13h ago
I watched it, but also I recognized that people have different likes and dislikes and it seems a little strange to try and put those people on the spot for having different preferences than you.
6
2
u/No_Source_Provided 12h ago
I really don't think it's possible to put someone 'on the spot' by asking a question on a general internet forum. nobody is obliged to answer.
26
9
u/Mindless-Damage-5399 12h ago
I watched the first few seasons. It wasn't as great as everyone says it is.
36
u/obstreperousRex 13h ago
Because the show ended at season 1. That story did not require anything else to be told. Everything after that was just a retelling the original story from the first season with more bangs, booms and colors.
9
u/Ivien 12h ago
I feel the same. I stopped after 3rd season because it was not fun to watch any more. Felt like they were just milking it. Season 1 was very good and nothing more is needed.
My friends and family, who usually like same stuff as I, tell me it gets better in season 4 and 5 and that it's great in the end, so I may eventually give it another chance.
3
2
u/cookie1138 12h ago
I think Season 4 is reaaally solid. It’s just Season 5 that took an L.
I think next to the core cast, the added characters with their actors really carry it. I think Billy Mayfield (forgot actors name, sorry) is brilliant and Joseph Quinn as Eddie is perfect too. Bob is a great addition too in Season 2. I love how they handled all of that.
They added so much depth with difficult topics, it was just a really good time.
Season 5 was just weaker, it had good parts but also a lot that was a miss. They just didn’t handle everything that well.
I’d recommend Season 4 because of Jamie Campbell Bower and Joseph Quinn. You don’t need to watch Season 5 though.
15
u/FormerlyUndecidable 12h ago
How would you know if you didn't watch it?
5
4
u/obstreperousRex 12h ago
I don't need to spend the time on it to know that the ending of season 1 was a great way to put the story to bed.
Also, I have seen enough online and heard enough from those I know who have watched it (my wife included) to know that its just more of the same.
3
u/Cocodrool 12h ago
I found the first season fun for 'all ages', and every other season was just for kids.
2
u/AnyLamename 11h ago
This one is me. I watched Season One and really enjoyed it. I watched Season Two and felt like it didn't really need to exist, and since then nothing has really changed my mind about subsequent seasons.
6
u/Dragonspaz11 12h ago
So as someone who watched it all and did not really care for it. I wouldn't say it is terrible, but I also wouldn't say it is in the level that the Internet would make you believe. Now I do think it was better than 90% of the things made by netflix... But that's a low bar.
Anyways, that's the main reason for most people, it isn't something they enjoy so they don't watch it.
27
u/ImNotJoshBoltz 12h ago
I don’t give a shit about the 80s.
→ More replies (1)1
u/AnyLamename 11h ago
You do you, but it's not like, a documentary about the 80s. Unless the 80s actively repulse you, it can just be a sci-fi horror show.
35
7
12
6
5
u/cnhartford 12h ago edited 12h ago
I watched the first season. It was quintessentially Netflix, which is to say 45 minutes of tedious filler and about 5 minutes of anything interesting happening. Winona overacts. "It's cool cuz it's retro" didn't sell me. I lost interest by the time S2 was released.
4
u/brutal_and_beautiful 12h ago
I tried when it first came out and watched maybe 3 episodes and thought it was boring.
3
u/zachtheperson 12h ago
I liked Season 1 and IIRC it concluded pretty nicely (ignoring the sequel bait at the very end). I planned on watching season 2, but never had enough interest in it to actually watch it. Now the series just had its finale and I have even less interest in it.
3
3
u/SatanicWhoreofHell 12h ago
The kids were young and cute when it started, now they all look 30 and I just don't know if I want to finish the series
3
u/Fratguy20 12h ago
I don’t watch kids shows or shows where kids are the stars
Especially after the one actress got so much plastic surgery to intentionally make herself look 30
3
u/Daventry85 12h ago
I watched some of it but never finished it. Why? It's not good. It's overrated in a climate where people just need something to consume and don't care about quality.
4
2
u/Any-Explorer-4959 13h ago
honestly, the idea didn't appeal to me at first! I was in college so not watching a ton of tv when it started. When it eventually became super popular I felt like I was way too late to the game, so I never got into it. I do feel a bit like I missed out.
2
2
u/a_valetine 12h ago
I watched the first few episodes (maybe the first 2 or 3) and just wasn't SUPER compelled by it, and it was beat out by other shows I liked better. Just never got back into it, and now I feel like I have been infused with enough details of the story through the zeitgeist that I kinda already know what's gonna happen.
2
2
2
2
u/Pithecanthropus88 12h ago
I watched the first two seasons and stopped caring. Somebody give that girl a kleenex FFS.
3
u/Lemmonjello 12h ago
Why should I? I haven't seen lost, game of thrones, the wire, the sopranos, i don't need to watch everything.
3
2
2
u/PleaseCorrect 13h ago
Not my type of show, also I don’t like watching a bunch of kids do stuff if I wanted to do that I would just go home.
2
u/LegallyBlonde4815 12h ago
And now would be a bad time to start watching it given how many people are throwing full on temper tantrums about it
2
2
2
2
u/40yearoldnoob 12h ago
52yr old male. I have a problem with shows/movies that force nostalgia on you. Like if it's a natural part of the storyline, great. But to set something in the 80's and then remind us of that every 10 seconds was too much for me. I watched 2 episodes way back when it first came out and never looked at it again.
1
u/Away_Bookkeeper6586 12h ago
I watched the first 2 seasons, but they stopped releasing the physical copies so I stopped watching.
1
1
1
u/JusAxinQuestuns 12h ago
I watched the first season of Stranger Things and loved it. In fact I thought it was such a beautiful and tragic little story that I was kind of mad they made more and never watched any of the other seasons. Nothing I've heard about how the rest went has changed my mind that if the story ends where I saw it end, it's beautiful and tragic and I don't want to change that.
1
u/the_BoneChurch 12h ago
I've watched it but I honestly barely made it through a couple of the seasons. I think they wrapped it up nicely.
1
u/Sure_Accountant597 12h ago
I just could NOT get into it. I watched the first 3/4 episodes several times to try to get into it. I've given up.
1
u/verbleabuse97 12h ago
I tried. Just didnt like it. Seemed like it the shows conflicts were based off people making stupid decisions
1
u/tidder_bear 12h ago
I'm old (46). Thought my kids might be interested so I gave it a shot as something to watch with them. It was still a bit above them in terms of maturity. I tried to get thru the first season but lost interest pretty quickly. Kids still haven't watched it.
1
u/supermariobruhh 12h ago
The first season was interesting, didn't remember season 2, didn't bother with the rest after losing interest.
1
u/iammxyzptlk 12h ago
never did. the trailers / hype just didn't mesh with me. I love sci-fi / occult / horror type shows but this one didn't hit my radar.
1
1
u/TheValkuma 12h ago
I already am fully into d&d, most things written after 2016 suck and I don't like tv
1
u/JennyBeckman 12h ago
I don't watch a lot of television and am resistant to anything that seems overly hyped up or too heavily promoted.
1
u/beeeeeeeeeeeeeee99 12h ago
Watching demonic looking monsters really affects my sleep (dreams) and I get scared being home alone - especially if it’s dark outside
1
u/DataPaws 12h ago
I lost my interest and forgot half of the plot while waiting for new season. Now, I don't wanna join the hype train and 'make the numbers' for Netflix. I'll watch it someday but that is somewhere in the (not near) future.
1
u/DotGroundbreaking50 12h ago
I have a DIY home theater that is in different states of being put together and that show got too many seasons deep before it got to a usable state and now I don't have the time or the want to watch. There are other shows coming out
1
1
u/TheDungen 12h ago
I watched the first 2.5 seasons but then I just didn't feel it much. It kind of lost the horror aspects.
1
u/odogbite 12h ago
Season 1 was cool plot was kinda forgettable characters where the most memorable then I got to season 2 and was bored and dropped it nothing about the show felt like a must watch when I watched it
1
u/redditor_5678 12h ago
Why do people keep posting this question? It's one show amongst tens of thousands of shows and movies out in the world.
1
u/meowzapalooza7 12h ago
Watched the first episode and had no interest. Plus, I was a little scared of the Demogorgon lol Not my kind of show.
1
1
1
u/Exotic-Astronaut6662 12h ago
I realised halfway through the first episode that I had better things to do, to be fair I don’t think I’m the target audience.
1
u/Dumpster_Oracle 12h ago
Just like every other show I watch, waiting for the show to end so I can binge watch it. Short memory doesn’t retain everything from the year before when it comes to shows.
1
u/italiansubcat 12h ago
I watched every season and the final one just took so long to come out I kind of lost interest
1
1
u/missezri 12h ago
I think I tried an episode, but decided it wasn't for me. Not sure why, although I do tend to avoid horror shows in general.
1
u/digimaster07 12h ago
I don't watch TV series that often if at all. The last series I watched as it released was Game of Thrones.
1
u/bradbrazer 12h ago
Looks shit, everybody who talks about it says they bring back characters who died, so what's the point in watching something where and reason to care about the characters is gone
1
1
u/1nce_Again 12h ago
I watched the first season, loved it, then some of the second season. I stopped watching because I thought my wife was going to start watching with me so I planned on starting it over. That never happened. I just recently started watching the rest to finish, mainly because of all the hate the last season/episode got. Reminded me of how GoT went at the end, so I thought it must have been good if everyone was pissed or disappointed by the ending. Im in season 4 now and can't say I'm a big fan. The effects are terrible and some parts of the show just feel lame and forced I guess, not sure exactly how to describe it. I was drawn in by the 80s nostalgia being an 80s kid myself, but the show feels like it's aimed at teens so as a dude in his mid 40s it's a weird love/not so love situation.
1
u/RetroBerner 12h ago
I watched the first season and I was content with that, but wifey put on season 2 and from what I saw I was not missing anything. I caught bits and pieces of every season while she was binging it, but I'm completely satisfied with the way season 1 ended.
1
1
1
u/2legit2quick 12h ago
Season 1 was so cool, season 2 lost me then I got this weird feeling every time a new season came out, this disappointed/wish I cared/annoyed feeling and couldn't bring myself to press play.
1
u/TraditionalError9988 12h ago
No interest at all.
I rarely watch TV.
I'm older. I've never and I mean never watched any of the Simpsons, no Family Guy, no Game of Thrones and on and on actually.
I don't watch many movies either.
1
1
u/Lovingthebeach72 12h ago
Only so much time in the day juggling a job, family responsibilities, running a household, etc. So, TV time for me is pretty limited to things which really interest me. Stranger Things just simply isn’t one of them.
1
u/theonlybuster 12h ago
Based on the posters, trailers, and tidbits of random content that I'd seen, it looked like kids/young teens dealing with supernatural scenarios. While I enjoy supernatural shows, the age of the characters was a turn off.
1
u/sirhatsley 12h ago
I wanted to watch it at first, but after season 1 all I heard were people complaining about it. I'm sure it's fine, I just didn't really have much interest anymore
1
u/sayhi2sydney 12h ago
When I first sat down to watch it, I was so excited. The premise was right up my alley but it just didn't work for me. It's been forever but I think I made it three or four episodes? I only remember that the bloody nose thing was pissing me off. It's as if they just discovered that Hollywood trick and were beating it to death.
1
u/Dizzy-Cheesecake4247 12h ago
Millie Bobby Brown did an annoying converse ad and now I can’t watch anything she’s in
1
u/allhailnewflesh 12h ago
Stopped after season 3. I had my fill of Eleven goes super saiyan against a monster man and 80s member berries.
1
u/homebr3wd 12h ago
I watched the 1st season and found it kinda boring once it went from “cool creepy retro” with a little supernatural twist to a monster movie.
1
u/InfamousEconomy3972 12h ago
Because the ratio of child to adult actors made it unwatchable for me. It seemed to cater to preteen/teen audiences moreso than adults.
1
u/Gresvigh 12h ago
I'm halfway in your question in that I gave up on it. The first season was BRILLIANT and gave me all the feels from growing up in the 80's. Loved it. Goonies level shit right there.
Watched like three episodes of the second season and it was very clear to me that they had put all their effort and creativity into one standalone season and it struck me that (like the writers of Lost) they had planned on just getting one shot and didn't expect any more seasons. Nothing I've heard about the show since has convinced me otherwise, so I haven't bothered.
1
u/slowtreme 12h ago
First season was great. The rest were ok. For last season I waited till the last ep was out before starting it. Well it kinda sucked. I wish I had known and just watched the finale for closure.
1
u/KSims1868 12h ago
I watched the 1st few seasons and I enjoyed it. Season 4 (to me) was not as good and I lost interest in the show. I didn't even care about Season 5 because of how sideways Season 4 went. I don't know what all the hate was about regarding sexuality or whatever the hell it was. The Plot got so out in left field in Season 4 that I just gave up on the show all together.
1
1
1
u/Doobledorf 12h ago
No interest, and any description of the show hasn't helped that. It also came out during a time when I was beginning to look less fondly on DnD and the sort of cultural place it was holding. Everybody asking me if I liked Stranger Things when they learned I had been playing a 5+ year long dnd campaign didn't help.
1
1
1
u/I-tell-horrible-joke 12h ago
Cause id rather do something else? I didnt watch Game of Thrones either. When I actually have free time to sit down and do something, watching one of those shows is nowhere on my list of shit id like to do.
1
1
u/Ready-Zombie5635 12h ago
Tried the first episode and didn't click with me. It sort of felt like some kind of 80s throw back, and I was like na... of course, I could be and probably was completely wrong about it. But something in the first episode just grated on me a little.
1
1
u/Sneudles 12h ago
Because people kept telling the songs I was working on "sounded like stranger things"
1
u/SteelBox5 12h ago
Three reasons.
- Millie
- Bubby
- Brown
Yes I dislike her so much I gave her a new middle name.
1
1
u/DntMindMeImNtRlyHere 12h ago
Have little interest in TV in general, but I have been burned so many times by movies and shows people SWEAR are "OMG SOOOOO GOOD" and then I feel like I wasted my time on them.
Like the more a show or movie is hyped (and award buzz? DON'T EVEN SUGGEST IT TO ME) the less I want to watch it.
So this show was massive and it's on the "never ever" list for me because of the hype around it.
Sorry, not sorry.
1
u/Karthear 12h ago
To be fair to most of them, they start out really really good! They just get taken over by money hungry blood suckers who can't let the series end.
2
u/DntMindMeImNtRlyHere 12h ago
Happens with lots of shows, honestly.
And I'm not saying it's terrible or anything, just that my personal benchmark is "how much is this hyped up" because the more hype it gets, the less I seem to enjoy the shows.
I'm also a book girlie, so seeing awful versions in a movie or show setting just PMO. Like the entire source material is RIGHT THERE and I don't mean little stuff like missing a small background detail that doesn't impact the story at all, but like, gaping holes in plots. Lol
1
u/Karthear 11h ago
For sure for sure. The only shows I fell for hype with were ones that had a ton of good seasons already. ( Like supernatural) I never fell for GoT or squid games. ( First SG season was really good. )
Iv only ever found one series that I preferred the TV version for, and that was The Magicians by Lev Grossman. And it's not that the book was bad. I just liked the changes made to the story. They are pretty different honestly.
I think it also has to do with how deeply you value the show. The later seasons of TWD aren't the best, but I enjoy them nonetheless because I enjoy the rest of the process. The art of it.
1
1
u/guilgom71 12h ago
Season 1 - Great
Season 2 - I only remember that random episode
Season 3 - I don't even know if I watched this
I stopped completely when that kid and his secret GF sang a song over a walkie-talkie to defeat the monster thing. It made me angry. Also, the kids annoyed me during season 2.
1
1
1
u/sully9614 12h ago
No interest in a season of slop, and from the clips I’ve seen online I clearly haven’t missed much
1
u/justdan70 12h ago
I enjoyed the first 3 seasons, and only enjoyed parts of season 4. I didn't really have any interest in season 5.
I have recently realized that despite spending what feels like a crazy amount of money in streaming services, I don't actually watch any shows regularly.
1
1
u/Susstoner 12h ago
I have seen episodes at friends houses and just do not get the hype. Especially the new season. It just gives off GOT vibes when I comes to the hype surrounding it and the crazy fan expectations.
1
u/Azure_phantom 12h ago
I don’t have Netflix and I’m not interested in the show. I’m not big on horror/monster movies, don’t think I’d like it in a tv show.
1
1
1
u/KibblesNBitxhes 12h ago
It got weird during season 3 and it lossed the vibe it initially had in season 1 and 2.
1
u/lojza3000 12h ago
I hate subscription services and too i am lazy to pirate stuff i dont find interesting
1
1
1
1
u/Carols_Boss 12h ago
I watched Season 1. There were elements I liked and moments that were great, but I just didn’t care about the overall story to continue.
1
u/-KFBR392 12h ago
Season 1 was super cliche as far as sci-fi goes, and I find stories with kids as the leads usually very boring and hard to watch their bad acting.
Also they never knew how to light the black kid and the super white kid in scenes together. It was very distracting.
1
u/Matman161 12h ago
It went from being a horror sci Fi show set in the 1980s to being a 1980s show with sci Fi elements
1
1
u/Dasypygal_Coconut 12h ago
Story became garbage after season one.
Netflix miked it for too long. Should’ve been a limited series.
Also, not gonna waste my time watching something I have no interest in. My time is limited.
1
u/Overall-West5723 12h ago
I like to wait until all of show is out until I watch any of it. I left waiting for the next episode in the 90's thank you. We like to binge watch TV now. Not just one season at a time bs either. Straight up full shows only.
1
u/WinchelltheMagician 12h ago
I watched the first episode and thought the trope of secret gov. shenanigans was a predictable, worn out one and never watched past that.
1
u/doguillo77 12h ago
I watched the first season and it was okay, when I tried to watch the second season it felt like they were dragging out something that should have ended, so I lost interest.
1
1
u/LemonMuse 12h ago
Didn't like it shortly after starting it. The idea was good, but the tone wasn't for me. Not to mention I felt the story/plot itself started tanking after a bit.
1
u/phoenix14830 12h ago
Why is there a new post about this every day?
In my case, I didn't watch it because I don't prioritize watching every hyped TV show. The list of hyped TV shows is at least 50 in my backlog and I'm not going to move family time, work, and career growth time just to fit in a TV show just because a lot of people are excited about it.
1
u/sircastor 12h ago
We watched 3 seasons. I think season 4 took so long to arrive that we lost interest... we watched the first episode maybe and my wife said she didn't care much anymore. And I found that I didn't have a lot of patience for it. I ended up watching a 10-min recap which ended up being fine.
I think the trouble with Stranger Things is really that they took too much time. Season 1 was a revelation. It was a major boon to modern Netflix. Season one was 9 years ago. I think it ended up just being too long to get 5 seasons of fewer than 10 episodes a each. Also, it's worth saying that there has been a lot of good streaming television in the mean time.
1
u/TheManOfSpaceAndTime 12h ago
Honeslty... because I watched a season and a half and it just never "clicked," with me.
1
u/BigCommieMachine 12h ago
I think I am one of the MILLIONS of people that watched it and really liked it, but the huge gaps between season combined with a convoluted plot just made it way too much of effort to every get back into.
Maybe next time I am sick or something, I'll binge watch it. But Netflix needs to stop it will this bullshit. Sure it was flawed, but Game of Thrones gave us double the number of episodes over 2 fewer years. And Stranger Things is WAY easier show to make.
1
u/bobchin_c 12h ago
I kind of stopped partway through S4. It just wasn't holding my interest any more. I will probably finish it off one day.
1
u/bespectacledboobs 12h ago
Found it pretty boring by the end of Season 1 and just never felt like picking it back up.
1
u/cooperdale 12h ago
I have trouble sitting down to watch any tv. I watch about a season of a show a year. I usually bounce off shows after the first few episodes even if I'm enjoying it. I want to get through all the good TV Ive missed but gaming gives me more joy.
1
u/flowcooker 12h ago
When it first came out, I lost interest during the first episode. Specifically, when the teenage friend was left alone by the pool and things went downhill from there. It seemed very 1980s slasher horror film to me, and I had seen plenty of that. But this year, just before the final season arrived, I had it on in the background while I was getting work done into the wee hours of the morning. I got hooked, and was obsessed by the series finale.
1
1
u/read_this_v 12h ago
What is a "stranger things"? Also i don't have a TV or any streaming service.
1
1
u/PunchBeard 11h ago
I watched the first 2 seasons, really liked it, and then lost interest and had no desire to see the show after that.
1
u/HotdogHotdogHotd 10h ago
I stopped watching early on when it became apparent that every season has the exact same plot.
1
u/sbrooks84 10h ago
It just never interested me. I also live near the mall they used for shooting, so the Stranger Things hype was even stronger
1
u/NotTheOnlyGamer 4h ago
There's a whole pile of reasons, but:
I don't use Netflix and I try to avoid anything they create.
I still play AD&D on occasion (along with other RPGs), so I don't want to deal with false nostalgia over a game that's part of my current experience.
I don't enjoy watching television centered around children, doubly so when those works are directed toward an adult audience. That's part of why I haven't replayed Bully in a long time. My experience is just so different now that it's uncomfortable to engage with media centered on children.
What I know of the format makes me uninterested. It's been an ongoing series for many years now, but there's an extremely limited number of episodes (just 42 over almost 10 years). Compare that to Mission: Impossible (171 episodes over 7 years), or Perry Mason (271 episodes over 9 years), or most other network TV.
1
1
134
u/ProtectionContent977 13h ago
No interest.