This post might not win me any friends. Quickly! Before I get hate mail! I DON'T hate Buffy the Vampire Slayer OR Veronica Mars. Logan Echolls and Xander Harris are some of my all time favorite television characters. What I hate is the way these shows reeled me in, made me love the characters like good friends and then spiraled down into a place where I didn't feel comfortable watching them anymore.
I've always felt that by the time my kids were teenagers, if a show wasn't appropriate for them to watch with me, most of the time I shouldn't be watching it either (with some obvious exceptions--my teens are still too young for some adult themes). The day I started needing to check the episode guide of Buffy the Vampire Slayer before I let my daughter watch it with me was a sad, sad day. We just finished the few acceptable episodes of season 4, and from what I can tell, it's not even worth it to look at the episode guide for season 5.
As you all know, Chuck is my favorite TV show. It started this same slippery slide--there is a point somewhere in season 2, maybe season 3, where I thought I might have to give it up. But some genius person on the Chuck writing staff realized that adding more sex was not what was going to save the ratings. Of course the characters on Chuck still don't act exactly the way I think they should--what a boring, sanitized show it would be if everyone did. But I'm no longer bombarded with a constant assault on my values.
Wake up television! There are still lots of us out there who want smart, sexy television without the trash!
I totally agree! I never watched either of these shows but this has happened with several shows I did watch. One got so bad I quit watching TV (except a home improvement show here and there) for a year.
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