History AudienceAlienatingPremise / LiveActionTV

* ''Phyllis'', the short-lived spinoff of ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'', was based on Creator/ClorisLeachman's Phyllis Lindstrom. While Phyllis was beloved as a character on MTM, she worked as a supporting {{Foil}} to the protagonist Mary, as well as her dynamics with the rest of the cast. Essentially, Phyllis was a self-centered, entitled, well-meaning but oblivious social climber who was made hilariously funny in the way that she interacted with Mary, Rhoda, and the WJM staff. The spin-off focused only on Phyllis and her daughter and attempted to soften the neurotic busybody in the hopes of making her more sympathetic as a lead, but it ended up removing exactly the qualities that made audiences like Phyllis in the first place. Not helping matters were the unexpected deaths of ''three'' major cast members in the first season alone, as well as another prominent actress Jane Rose falling ill, and audiences just couldn't get invested in it. Cloris Leachman herself expressed disappointment in it, noting that it didn't recreate the magic that made the parent show work.

* ''Phyllis'', the short-lived spinoff of ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'', was based on Creator/ClorisLeachman's Phyllis Lindstrome. While Phyllis was beloved as a character, she worked as a supporting {{Foil}} to the protagonist Mary, as well as her dynamics with the rest of the cast. The spin-off focused only on Phyllis and her daughter and attempted to soften the neurotic busybody in the hopes of making her more sympathetic as a lead, but it ended up removing exactly the qualities that made audiences like Phyllis in the first place. Not helping matters were the unexpected deaths of ''three'' major cast members in the first season alone, as well as another prominent actress Jane Rose falling ill, and audiences just couldn't get invested in it. Cloris Leachman herself expressed disappointment in it, noting that it didn't recreate the magic that made the parent show work.

* ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend'' is a musical deconstruction of romcom clichés, in which the protagonist suffers from serious emotional issues and constant self-sabotage, and every move toward a happy ending is derailed by [[DeconstructorFleet running headlong into reality]]. The intersection between people who like comic musicals and those who like dark humor and cynical character studies is probably pretty small. Nonetheless, the combination of [[CriticalDissonance consistently glowing reviews]], [[MediaNotes/EmmyAward multiple awards]], and [[AdoredByTheNetwork strong network support]] kept it on the air for four seasons, despite generally dismal ratings.

* ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend'' is a musical deconstruction of romcom clichés, in which the protagonist suffers from serious emotional issues and constant self-sabotage, and every move toward a happy ending is derailed by [[DeconstructorFleet running headlong into reality]]. The intersection between people who like comic musicals and those who like dark humor and cynical character studies is probably pretty small. Nonetheless, the combination of [[CriticalDissonance consistently glowing reviews]], [[UsefulNotes/EmmyAward multiple awards]], and [[AdoredByTheNetwork strong network support]] kept it on the air for four seasons, despite generally dismal ratings.

* Most reviews of ''Series/{{Inhumans}}'' noted the problem in being expected to root for a group of elitist slave owners who benefit from and enforce a [[FantasticCasteSystem brutal caste system]] that they see no issue with, while considering the villain a character trying to tear it all down. Even comic books fans would hardly be interested, as there was an increased disdain for Creator/{{Marvel}}, and Ike Perlmutter in particular, pushing ComicBook/TheInhumans instead of the Franchise/XMen for the extremely petty reason of not having the movie rights to the X-Men at the time. The Mutants are easily relatable because they are RandomlyGifted victims of FantasticRacism; it's not as easy a sell with the Inhumans, who are a monarchy ''rooted on'' FantasticRacism, as it's heavy on intolerance and separatism.

* ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend'' is a musical deconstruction of romcom clichés, in which the protagonist suffers from serious emotional issues and constant self-sabotage, and every move toward a happy ending is derailed by [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome running headlong into reality]]. The intersection between people who like comic musicals and those who like dark humor and cynical character studies is probably pretty small. Nonetheless, the combination of [[CriticalDissonance consistently glowing reviews]], [[UsefulNotes/EmmyAward multiple awards]], and [[AdoredByTheNetwork strong network support]] kept it on the air for four seasons, despite generally dismal ratings.

* ''Series/{{Heathers}}'' had a core of an interesting idea in exploring how teen dynamics have changed in the 30 years since [[Film/{{Heathers}} the film]], and how a similar story might look in the new setting. Unfortunately, [[TaintedByThePreview the trailer was a massive turnoff]] as it gave the impression the crew went so far with this idea that they turned the show into a neo-conservative fantasy about a beleaguered attractive, straight white girl who wreaks righteous fatal justice on her overweight, non-white, and LGBT oppressors, without a shred of irony to be seen. When multiple school shootings in 2018 made it seem ''even more'' out of touch, Creator/ParamountNetwork initially pulled the show altogether. It finally aired in October 2018 over the course of a week and re-edited its final two episodes into one by way of dropping some of the more upsetting content, and its advertising decided to run with NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity, but it didn't work and it received lousy ratings at the end.