I know how it is: you’re sitting with a group of friends, chatting about whatever, and that TV show comes up. You know the one. It’s so overrated. Good news though, you might not be alone! We tracked down the most popular answers to the question, “what are the most overrated TV series” – with reasons why.
Since everyone always comments with reality TV shows like Keeping up With the Kardashians and Toddlers and Tiaras I purposefully left them off this list. Everyone knows those shows are polarising; I wanted to track down more unique shows people think are overrated instead.
The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory was popular enough to get a spin off series but that doesn’t stop plenty of people thinking it’s one of the most overrated TV series out there. Reasons given included it being off-putting to actual geeks and generally being unfunny.
The Walking Dead
It’s not for everyone so I’m not surprised to see people suggest the Walking Dead as an overrated TV series. It’s more focused on the people surviving and less on a bigger story, which some folks may find boring to watch.
One commentator described the Walking Dead as like “watching a zombie game survival let’s Play with all of the funny removed.”
Friends
If this is your favorite show I’m sorry to say plenty of people think it’s overrated. Lots of folks dislike friends, finding it both unfunny and unrelatable.
Comments ranged from diplomatic (“A few funny segments but I just can’t get into it.”) to scathing (“That show was so bad even the bloopers weren’t funny”).
Lost
Ooh, this one is definitely controversial. Lost is often regarded as one of the best TV shows, but with every popular show comes folks who dislike it too.
It’s hard to disagree with some of the criticism, though. Lost definitely does leave plenty of mysteries unanswered, has a terrible finale, and feels filler-ish at times throughout the series.
The Office
Both the US and UK version have come up as overrated, with the American version running for longer, and therefore more polarizing. I totally get it – having never worked in an office, I have found it overrated at times because I just couldn’t relate. If you don’t like that style of comedy and don’t have your own experiences to draw from to find humor it’s easy to see how the Office might not be a winner for you.
The Sandman
If you haven’t seen The Sandman it’s a Netflix-made show based on Neil Gaiman’s comic series of the same name. While I’m personally a big fan, this show is definitely designed for a very specific niche. Dark and moody, there’s a lot more talking than action – something unusual for a fantasy show.
“The Sandman was recommended to me by my friends, but it was so boring” the person who suggested this one complained.
Seinfeld
This is a show that I never understood until my 30s, so I can totally get why some people don’t like it. Some people find it boring or unfunny, others think it didn’t age well.
One user commented “I was never that impressed.” which is an ironically fitting review of Seinfeld, in my opinion.
Game of Thrones
Even if we ignore how this show fell in quality during the later seasons even a fan like myself can see how Game of Thrones could feel overrated to some people. Especially if you’re just not into fantasy dramas.
Let’s be fair here, the writing in Game of Thrones is sometimes fantastic, but at other times is stereotypical and corny. It was a fantasy book series, after all!
Breaking Bad
Someone left a super interesting take on Breaking Bad so I had to include it on this list. To paraphrase their comment, they felt that Breaking Bad was an overrated show because it wrapped up in a nice packet. There’s no mystery and no rewatchability.
While I disagree, it just goes to show that you can never please everyone with a TV show ending!
The Wire
What makes the Wire so good is that it was written by a former police reporter and stays pretty grounded in reality. It’s not that people dislike the Wire, they just feel it’s a bit overrated. Especially after the first season.
“it’s at best a half decent cop drama.” someone explained.
Superstore
I feel like Superstore is to retail what the Office was to office workers, so many of the arguments against The Office in terms of relatability hold up here. I binge watched a chunk of this show when I was sick, but I agree that it might not be quite as funny as people insist.
Netflix’s Cleopatra
While I’m not sure this is exactly considered overrated since it performed so poorly, anyone who likes it is definitely giving it way too much credit. Even if you ignore the problematic takes and review bombing surrounding this show there is no question the soap opera writing and bad acting make this one a total miss on Netflix’s part.