TV ► Shows you love that everyone else hates

[WaltK]

To start with a mainstream example:


This is a show with what I like to call a "phantom fanbase". People obviously loved the show enough for it to get consistently high ratings and to go for twelve whole seasons. But good luck on actually finding those fans. The show is openly despised by what seems to be a majority, with the amount of vitriol it gets on social media.

But me? I simply don't get the hate. It was my mum that got me into it, and I was initially reluctant specifically because of how hated I knew it was, but I happened to be there when she watched an episode, and I loved it. It's particularly special to me because it's one of few shows that me and my mum both love, and even after the show ended, we still binge it at least once a year. We both agree that it got better when Amy and Bernadette came into it.

…

Now for an older and more obscure example:


Whenever I see people talking about Angela Anaconda, it's usually from people who like to forget it existed, from people who absolutely despised its, ahem, peculiar art style, who think Angela is an awful character with an annoying voice, etc.

I've heard that the show was actually more popular here in the UK because we tend to be more accepting of the kind of offbeat, mean-spirited humour that the show embodies, to quote TVTropes. And, yeah, I can see where they're coming from. It should go without saying that this show was and still is my jam. It was a Cartoon Network show over here, and it was a major part of their lineup when I first started getting the channel in my home in early 2001, so the show has a super special place in my heart for embodying that awesome time.

The only other thing I can mention about the show is; yes, we still had that Angela short that opened the Digimon Movie. I can only imagine how many kids back then were confused as to why a character from, from our perspective, a Cartoon Network show, was opening a movie based on a Fox Kids show, haha.

 

[BufferAqua]

Steven Universe lol

Show has a lot of problems but I grew up with it fondly.

 

[WaltK]

Steven Universe lol

Show has a lot of problems but I grew up with it fondly.

Steven Universe is pretty beloved last I checked, so I don't get where you're coming from.

 

[BufferAqua]

Steven Universe is pretty beloved last I checked, so I don't get where you're coming from.

It’s received quite a lot of backlash back when it was airing due to its poor scheduling, episodes focusing on unimportant minor characters, the redemption of its villains, and frequently criticized on Twitter, YouTube, and other websites for all of this.

It’s still pretty popular so it probably doesn’t strictly apply to this thread, but it was the first thing that came to my head.

 

[Chie]

Yeah SU is not beloved, its one of those works where the whole fanbase decides they hate it actually and then they don't know what to do about that, so they just poisoned discussion on it.

I like a lot of anime nobody cares about.

 

[2 quid is good]

Angela Anaconda is a funny one. I only had the paid channels for a short time so I watched it in about 2006 on Pop/Popgirl. Honestly, I enjoyed it quite a lot. Pretty much a gender flipped version of Horrid Henry.

For me it would probably be 4kids dubs, but especially Mew Mew Power. I'll accept all criticism of it but if anyone says that the OST was trash, they're straight up lying to you. 4kids dubs in general had a much higher quality of vocal performance than people like to give credit to. They might have only had like 5 VAs but they (almost) always put their best foot forwards and gave memorable performances. They were *fun*

Similarly, I'm not sure if it's hated but I know it has a lot of detractors, I prefer the Canadian dub for Dragon Ball Z.

I find quite a lot of the modern LA/Texas dubs to be pretty sub par and archetypal in comparison.

 

[WaltK]

Pretty much a gender flipped version of Horrid Henry.

That’s an… odd comparison. Angela is an otherwise good kid who gets unfairly treated by a bitchy teacher. Not like Horrid Henry at all.

 

[2 quid is good]

That’s an… odd comparison. Angela is an otherwise good kid who gets unfairly treated by a bitchy teacher. Not like Horrid Henry at all.

Maybe I projected a little too much on Henry having an annoying younger brother and generally being told off for "unfair" things

I haven't watched either of these shows in at least a decade

EDIT: I think what stood out to me as a kid was both dealt with "annoying" teenagers and "mean girl" classmates. And the dream sequences

 

[Ðari]

It'd probably be the original FMA in the era after FMA: Brotherhood aired and completely outperformed it sticking to the original script in the manga tit for tat. Newer generation fans absolutely shredded the homunculus across the board since it dramatically changed the basis of major plot elements from the source material. Yet the animation was ahead of it's time for steampunk, the voice acting same as brotherhood was immaculate, and trying to write some of the characters differently was a departure from how Brotherhood ever did it and I was ok with that.

 

[Chie]

Oh yeah, it definitely says something that FMA:B is praised for its "accuracy" while the older show is derrided for its "inaccuracy". The value of the anime lies entirely in the context of using it as a substitute for having to read.

Even older beloved anime gets modern scrutiny due to perceived inauthenticity to the manga, because now it's simply expected for anime to function solely as a utilitarian substitute.

 

[WaltK]

Here's a hot button one: modern Simpsons. Although "love" is probably too strong a word.

When separated from the absolutely golden years that are seasons 1 through 9(ish) (and the, imo, "silver" years that are seasons 10 through 19), I find it to be an average show at worst.

For every stinker like "Lisa Goes Gaga", you get a really fun one like "Halloween of Horror", or a borderline outstanding one like "Barthood".

 

[Max]

Okay, first, I have some comments on previous shows some of you mentioned:

Angela Anaconda- I didn't love this show by any means as a kid, but I remember being entertained by it and watching it if it was on. I liked how different it was from everything else. I most fondly remember it for its little segment at the beginning of Digimon: The Movie My best friend and I still talk about that and make little Angela Anaconda references here and there, and unfortunately for his kids, he's tortured them with making them listen to Angela's Halloween song that he somehow got on CD as a kid

The original Fullmetal Alchemist- This one was likely going to be a big answer for me as well. Here's the thing, I remember back before Brotherhood was a thing when I was in highschool, the original FMA was just lauded as one of the greatest anime ever by our small town's smaller circle of anime fans. Even our community aside, hopping online I would see pretty much universal praise and love for FMA.

When Brotherhood came out I loved it as well, but was taken aback by how much hate started pouring out for the original. People kind of started talking like they always thought it sucked because "Brotherhood is more true to the manga," when in actuality I think a lot of the people I heard say that never read the manga to make that comparison and just heard someone else say it. Sure, Brotherhood is closer to the manga, and it's completely fine and acceptable for people to like it better, but it's crazy to remember a time when the original was so respected (I think it also helped that a bunch of people just watched anime only and didn't read), and now we're in a day and age where people dismiss it and tell people only to watch FMAB.

I won't list another show right now since I kind of went on a tangent about FMA, but I absolutely loved the original as a kid and still do to this day. It may have made a huge deviation halfway through, but I still think the story it ended up telling was incredible and original, and I have so many memories of being shocked and awed at some of those story revelations and events that were unique to the original. I also hold Conquerer of Shambala in high regard as well. I don't know which I would say I think is "better" between FMA and FMAB, I'd have to do a lot of thinking to be objective on that one, but what's undisputable is that I have a far deeper nostalgia for the original.