History AudienceAlienatingPremise / LiveActionTV

* The 1983 British music program ''Minipops'' was built on a simple premise: People like kids, and people like pop music, therefore people will like kids dressing up as pop stars and singing their songs. The trouble was that pop music is often a sexually suggestive medium. As it turned out, an adult wearing high heels, makeup, and a revealing outfit to sing about making love was one thing, but [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior a preteen doing the same thing]] garnered [[{{Squick}} a different reaction]]. The later, similar ''Music/KidzBop'' in comparison tries hard to avoid this reaction by [[{{Bowdlerise}} cleaning up]] a lot of their songs, and still attracts a lot of criticism. ''Minipops'' did it straight, and only lasted a single series. Some more successful takes on the ''Minipops'' formula lie in ''Series/KidsIncorporated'' and ''Series/{{Kidsongs}}'', which, like ''Kidz Bop'', also Bowdlerised their covered songs when they needed to, and ''those'' series had a proven longevity -- ''Kids Inc.'' lasted a whopping eight seasons and five seasons for the ''Kidsongs'' TV show.

* ''Series/FreaksAndGeeks'' was never going to last in network television. The period setting, mixed with the hour-long length (most American sitcoms clock in at under 30 minutes) and subdued, quirky humor, completely turned off most viewers. It didn't help that the show had the bad timing to air before '80s nostalgia really got into gear later in UsefulNotes/TheOughts. Plus, beginning the series at the very start of the '80s meant that the setting was culturally still very much TheSeventies, which might have also been confusing to viewers.

* As a general rule, network audiences tend to ''hate'' shows with morally-gray protagonists. Heist-themed shows like ''Thieves'' and ''Smith'' totally bombed, and ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'' has poor viewership largely because the MisaimedMarketing makes it look like it has a serial killer VillainProtagonist (when in reality, Hannibal is the antagonist of the series).
** Compare that to the success shows like ''Series/TheSopranos'' and ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' have found on smaller cable channels like Creator/{{HBO}} and Creator/{{Showtime}}. ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', another heist-themed show, also found great success on TNT (though in that case, [[BlackAndGrayMorality the thieves were the good guys and their "victims" were usually criminals or jerkasses]]). Though it must be said that this could be partly due to lower expectations. Because of the quirks of the American TV system, the threshold is lower for shows on cable. Ratings that would be a flop for network shows could be a smash hit for cable.

* The 1983 British music program ''Minipops'' was built on a simple premise: People like kids, and people like pop music, therefore people will like kids dressing up as pop stars and singing their songs. The trouble was that pop music is often a sexually suggestive medium. As it turned out, an adult wearing high heels, makeup, and a revealing outfit to sing about making love was one thing, but a preteen doing the same thing garnered a different reaction. The later, similar ''Music/KidzBop'' in comparison tries hard to avoid this reaction by [[{{Bowdlerise}} cleaning up]] a lot of their songs, and still attracts a lot of criticism. ''Minipops'' did it straight, and only lasted a single series. Some more successful takes on the ''Minipops'' formula lie in ''Series/KidsIncorporated'' and ''Series/{{Kidsongs}}'', which, like ''Kidz Bop'', also Bowdlerised their covered songs when they needed to, and ''those'' series had a proven longevity -- ''Kids Inc.'' lasted a whopping eight seasons and five seasons for the ''Kidsongs'' TV show.

* The Rob Schneider Netflix sitcom ''Real Rob'' is trying to be similar to ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm'' in being a thinly fictionalized version of Schneider's real life, but he also portrays himself as such a consistently unlikable {{Jerkass}} that it's impossible to get on board with following him. The show is now probably best known for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07w2Za8WiBo&t=347s an episode]] of ''WebVideo/GameGrumps'' where Arin Hanson drives himself into a frothing rage trying to figure out what the show's target audience could possibly be.

{{Audience Alienating Premise}}s in live-action TV.

* The [[Series/BirdsOfPrey TV series based on]] ''Comicbook/BirdsOfPrey'' tried to appeal to both comic book fans and the ''Series/DawsonsCreek'' crowd. This failed because the comic geeks were turned off by the unnecessary drama and pointless changes, and the teenyboppers were confused by [[ContinuityLockOut obscure comic book references they didn't understand]]. Funnily enough, though, ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' is a massive hit, and uses essentially the same premise (CW drama mixed with DC Comics), just 10 years later. That ''Arrow'' had the fortune of launching in the wake of the massive success of ''Film/TheDarkKnightSaga'' probably helped. The relatively unknown character having been introduced to viewers through ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' didn't hurt either.

* ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' is a CosmeticallyAdvancedPrequel starring Spock's [[RememberTheNewGuy never-before-mentioned]] foster sister who, in her introductory episode, betrays her captain and nearly starts a shooting war with the Klingons. Even for many die-hard Trek fans, that was a hard sell. The show has, however, been very successful in spite of this, having completed two seasons and been renewed for a third.

* The Netflix series ''Series/{{Insatiable}}'' is a ''Heathers''-esque BlackComedy about an overweight girl who gets thin after having her jaw wired shut and takes revenge on all the people who bullied her over her weight. The release of the trailer resulted in a petition to stop the show's release for apparently just being a non-stop barrage of fat-shaming jokes. The company defended it by saying those jokes weren't meant to be agreed with as the villains were making them and we're meant to sympathize with their target, but the protestors responded that there's still an uncomfortable message in how she's only able to be happy after being forced to lose weight. While the reviews for the show upon its release were highly negative, it ended up renewed for a second season, though how well ''that'' does will determine whether this is a subversion of the trope or not.
%%* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'', built around its protagonists being terrible people.

* ''Prank Encounters'' is a prank show where people think they've been hired for a part-time job, and then find themselves having to through various weird and scary things before the curtain is pulled back. Immediately upon being announced, it was roundly lambasted for being mean-spirited even beyond the usual prank show setup, preying on people desperately looking for work and wasting time they could have spent finding a real job just for cheap laughs. A lot of sardonic schadenfreude was also had with how executive producer and host Gaten Matarazzo will likely be put in this same position himself once his meal ticket ''Series/StrangerThings'' ends in the near future.

* ''Prank Encounters'' is a prank show where people think they've been hired for a part-time job, and then find themselves having to through various weird and scary things before the curtain is pulled back. Immediately upon being announced, it was roundly lambasted for being mean-spirited even beyond the usual prank show setup, preying on people desperately looking for work and wasting time they could have spent finding a real job just for cheap laughs. A lot of sardonic schadenfreude was also had with how executive producer and host Creator/GatenMatarazzo will likely be put in this same position himself once his meal ticket ''Series/StrangerThings'' ends in the near future.

** Compare that to the successful shows like ''Series/TheSopranos'' and ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' have found on smaller cable channels like Creator/{{HBO}} and Creator/{{Showtime}}. ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', another heist-themed show, also found great success on TNT (though in that case, [[BlackAndGrayMorality the thieves were the good guys and their "victims" were usually criminals or jerkasses]]). Though it must be said that this could be partly due to lower expectations. Because of the quirks of the American TV system, the threshold is lower for shows on cable. Ratings that would be a flop for network shows could be a smash hit for cable.

** The introduction of the Thirteenth Doctor, portrayed by Creator/JodieWhittaker, was [[BrokenBase highly controversial]] and many people could not get used to the idea of a woman playing the Doctor. Some fans assumed it would take the show into the GirlShowGhetto.

** Compare that to the success shows like ''Series/TheSopranos'' and ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' have found on smaller cable channels like Creator/{{HBO}} and Creator/{{Showtime}}. ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', another heist-themed show, also found great success on TNT (though in that case, [[BlackAndGrayMorality the thieves were the good guys and their "victims" were usually criminals or jerkasses]]). Though it must be said that this could be partly due to lower expectations. Because of the quirks of the American TV system, the threshold is lower for shows on cable. Ratings that would be a flop for network shows could be a smash hit for cable.

* This was likely a major reason for ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' becoming an AcclaimedFlop during its original run (though it was VindicatedByHistory, and eventually UnCanceled by Netflix). It's a show about a [[BigScrewedUpFamily dysfunctional family]] of egotistical, back-stabbing out-of-touch yuppies, where [[UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist the only character who’s anywhere near being upright]] is the ButtMonkey OnlySaneMan protagonist, with the rest of the main cast consisting of otherwise ordinary people who are driven mad by the family’s chaos (his wimpy, incestuous son and rebellious teenage niece), highly eccentric and socially awkward weirdos (his ManChild younger brother and homoerotic thespian-wannabe brother-in-law), self-centered and lazy jerks (his SmallNameBigEgo older brother and SpoiledBrat liberal twin sister), or cold-hearted and corrupt misers (his abusive parents, one of whom is a wanted criminal), and roughly a quarter of the jokes involve IncestSubtext. [[ContinuityLockOut Its rather dense plot]]--far more complicated than one would naturally expect of a {{sitcom}}--likely didn't help. The stock market, finances, and other similar topics also play a large role in the series, things which not a whole lot of people are familiar with. This was lampshaded by Michael Bluth in Season 3: "Maybe we aren't as likable as we think we are."

*** The Twelfth Doctor era is a double subversion, helped by the fact that the revival had a better sense of how to explore darker content. In his first season Twelve's {{pragmati|cHero}}sm and [[NoSocialSkills lack of social skills]] are often called out by others, especially his companion Clara, and even by himself as he questions his capacity for goodness. He is self-aware, learns from his mistakes, and comes to a positive understanding of himself in his first StoryArc — and gets lots of eccentrically funny moments from the start. Unfortunately, Creator/PeterCapaldi was a '''much''' older actor than Creator/MattSmith and looked it, so a substantial chunk of the fandom gave up on the show after he was announced as Smith's successor ''solely on that basis'' (any effect on the ratings appears to have been virtually indistinguishable from the standard variance between series). A good chunk of the viewing audience, meanwhile, wasn't ready for a Doctor whose arc revolved around [[DefrostingIceQueen Defrosting Ice King]] CharacterDevelopment alongside a companion who evolved into less of a MoralityChain due to having/developing similar personality traits, and ratings dropped after his first series. Even though he became LighterAndSofter in his two subsequent series (especially his last which brought in sunnier companions), a change usually pegged to the reception to Series 8 although it was also a logical progression for him, the audience didn't return[[note]]That said, even after the dropoff, its average chart position was around the top 20, roughly where it'd been in Creator/ChristopherEccleston's era.[[/note]]. But Capaldi ended his run as one of '''the''' most highly-regarded Doctors by critics and he has a loyal, cult fanbase — thus, the double subversion.

** Season 15, which is usually thought of as Creator/TomBaker's weakest season, struggles with this somewhat. ExecutiveMeddling had ordered the new producer to take out all the horror elements, so they were stuck making ''Doctor Who'' without NightmareFuel. The writers agreed ''Doctor Who'' can also be funny, and reworked the material to focus more on comedy... and then the executives told them to cut down on the comedy, too. This might have been okay had they been able to come up with some SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome, but at that time the huge "stagflation" recession of the 1970s hit and the BBC slashed their budget, leading to them running out of money midseason and resorting to production values that would have been laughable ten years ago. So the show couldn't scare you, make you laugh, or look interesting — all that was really left was the unusually good main team of the Doctor, Leela and K-9, who are almost enough to save it.

* ''Feed The Beast'' was created by Creator/{{AMC}} as a "quirky crime drama" in the vein of their previous work ''Series/BreakingBad'' (adapted from a Swedish drama called ''Bankenrot ("Broke")'' ), this time focusing on the increasingly-digging-themselves-deeper-in-crime misadventures of a duo consisting of a cook who had just got out of prison (and was an obvious pastiche of "rock star" cooks like Creator/AnthonyBourdain), his best friend (a widowed, alcoholic, single-parent wine connoisseur with a son that was still struck silent from seeing his mom get hit by a car in front of him) as they tried to create the Bronx high-class restaurant dreamed by their deceased friend and wife (although in reality more of a swindle to buy time and obtain money by the cook to pay the mob boss that he used to work for, the mob boss accepting this because he's obsessed with cooking), and the cast of people surrounding them (an obsessive cop that wants to take down the mob boss, the aforementioned mob boos and kid, the wine connoisseur's RacistGrandpa of a father that wishes to get closer to the family, the somewhat-less-but-almost-there AmoralAttorney that got the cook out of prison (and he knocked up))... if you made it through ''that'' list, you can guess why the critics completely demolished the show (although they praised the acting of the entire cast, especially David Schwimmer's leading role): the "cooking drama" part of the show was unfulfilling (quoting shows like the failed adaptation of Bourdain's "''Kitchen Confidential''" as an example of why such things don't work), the constant attempts at FoodPorn were deemed laughable, the "crime drama" part of the show clashed with the kitchen drama part to the point that it felt like two entirely different shows, the location didn't worked for them, and to make things worse [[DarknessInducedAudienceApathy the characters were such a collection of miserable people facing constant setbacks that it was a slog to watch]]. The show burned its single season (ending on a {{Cliffhanger}}) and then was removed.

** There's a sizable number of football fans who'd rather not see the game deconstructed or radically criticized. There's a sizable number of football detractors who resent the central role it plays in many American communities, and finds the mere depiction of this role a fundamentally irritating reminder. That eliminates an awfully large chunk of the potential audience.
* ''Series/{{Girlboss}}'' was a Creator/{{Netflix}} series about a snarky young hipster who starts her own company after being fired from her job. The problem is, one of the main plot points was that the protagonist was extremely smug, rude and generally unlikable, which made it very hard to root for her. And if that wasn't enough, the real person the show was based on got herself mired in serious legal trouble over her mistreatment of her employees shortly before it was released. The series also tried to appeal to the feminist public by selling its protagonist as an example of "Girl Power", but the unpleasantness of its main character and the fact that in real life Sophia Amoruso fired workers for getting pregnant made that effort look as a hypocrisy. It ended up being cancelled after just one season, an ''extreme'' rarity on Netflix which is famous for their lenient standards on renewal.

* The similarly-titled ''Hi Honey, I'm Home!'' was a forgotten 90s sitcom that was a DeconstructiveParody of 1950s {{sitcom}} tropes, set in a universe where sitcom characters are real and the main character, Mike, lives next door to his favorite (fictional) 50s sitcom family. All is well and good... except this was a Nickelodeon production (even though the first season aired on ABC, on the TGIF block) and was instead for kids. The problem is a lot of the jokes rely on the viewer's knowledge of classic television and its tropes. The show even had a cameo from a classic sitcom character every episode, which is great if you're a television nerd, but for a kid in the 90s you didn’t get it. The show was very inconsistent with its theme as well. In one episode the mother, Honey, learns about sex, and another episode deals with sexism, while at the same time there's an episode about Mike trying to get a girl to a dance. This makes the show very confusing on who they want this to appeal to. Plus it can be argued that the main character of the show is Honey, when being a KidCom, Mike should have been the true lead. All in all the show was a major flop, limping around for two seasons, which is a shame because its concept was very interesting.

* A good example is ''Series/TheJohnLarroquetteShow'', in which Larroquette played John Hemingway, an acerbic recovering alcoholic. The first season was insightful, provoking, filled with race baiting humor, and a bartender was implied to be ''Satan''. Thanks to ExecutiveMeddling, the show was made LighterAndSofter, alienating those faithful viewers who ''did'' watch the show.[[note]]Though it should be noted that another major reason the show didn't do well was because the network aired it against ''{{Series/Roseanne}}'', which was a mega-hit at the time.[[/note]]

* The 1983 British music program ''Minipops'' was built on a simple premise: People like kids, and people like pop music, therefore people will like kids dressing up like pop stars and singing their songs. The trouble was that pop music is often a sexually suggestive medium. As it turned out, an adult wearing high heels, makeup, and a revealing outfit to sing about making love was one thing, but a preteen doing the same thing garnered a different reaction. The later, similar ''Music/KidzBop'' in comparison tries hard to avoid this reaction by [[{{Bowdlerise}} cleaning up]] a lot of their songs, and still attracts a lot of criticism. ''Minipops'' did it straight, and only lasted a single series. Some more successful takes on the ''Minipops'' formula lie in ''Series/KidsIncorporated'' and ''Series/{{Kidsongs}}'', which, like ''Kidz Bop'', also Bowdlerised their covered songs when they needed to, and ''those'' series had a proven longevity -- ''Kids Inc.'' lasted a whopping eight seasons, and five seasons for the ''Kidsongs'' TV show.
* "Mitten im 8en" was a Daily Soap launched on Austrian TV as part of a massive retooling of the public broadcaster, was heavily advertised and was hailed as a Smash Hit before the pilot even aired. It had LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, few of which were sympathetic and each one of which was supposed to feature in a significant capacity in each of the 23-minute-episodes; and featured primarily unfunny comedy and uninteresting plots. It bombed heavily, both with critics and with audiences, and lost viewers at a quick rate. It was cancelled after 56 (of 118 produced) episodes had aired.
* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'': In hindsight, it's almost a miracle that this show ever got made and managed to find an audience. Why would anyone want to watch a comedy show where half of the time [[AntiHumor the sketches go nowhere and punch lines are almost non-existent]]? In every episode confusing things happen at random and without any sense of context or continuity. Sometimes the show appears to end, but still goes on for several minutes. Other times it seems as if another show is playing. There's a lot of male crossdressing and homosexual innuendo (back in the 1960s and 1970s [[ValuesDissonance far more audience alienating than nowadays]]). [[ViewersAreGeniuses Many intellectual references are made, often to very obscure stuff that would make an encyclopaedia come in handy]]. And several scenes are intercut with amateuristic cut-and-paste cartoons that border between the macabre and the grotesque. Indeed, the general public didn't know what to think of it. Most of the time the studio audience hardly snickers. Even the BBC tried to axe and boycott the show several times, even going so far to think of erasing all seasons in 1975. [[NoExportForYou And how do you export this bizarre series to foreign countries]]? Apart from the sheer bizarreness mentioned earlier, a lot of jokes refer [[IAmVeryBritish to things only British people would get]] (and only those [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece who remember the late '60s and early '70s]] at that). But, despite all odds, a cult following came about and [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff the show caught on outside the UK as well]]. Still, for many years they polarized a majority of the audience and the Pythons were amazed that several decades later public opinion has changed so drastically that suddenly they have became [[VindicatedByHistory the darling boys of comedy]]. Though, arguably, most of their fanbase is composed of people only familiar with their more accessible films, especially ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''. The cast was fully aware of this, as well. In an interview, Creator/JohnCleese said he was in makeup with Creator/MichaelPalin and said "Do you realize this could be the first comedy in the history of British television where no one laughs?" Palin reportedly responded "I was just thinking the same thing."
* ''Musikantenstadl'' was a long-running German show presenting ''volkstuemliche Musik'', "folksy music" (often falsely called "Volksmusik", i.e. "folk music"). It was quite popular with older audiences; eventually, however, executives decided to aim for a younger audience (never mind that the producers were public broadcasters and therefore supposed or at least expected to take niches into account as well), and ''Musikantenstadl'' was {{Retool}}ed into the YoungerAndHipper ''Stadlshow''. It was a spectacular flop; after all, young people are generally not interested in folksy music to begin with, so virtually all the retool accomplished was alienating the existing viewership. Nevertheless, it was decided to keep the ''Stadlshow'' concept, except that the program is now limited to new year specials, with only a single regular episode having been produced.

* This is the reason ''Series/{{Roundhouse}}'' isn't as popular as other 90's Nickelodeon shows. It's one part teen sitcom and one part SketchComedy, on a mainly barebones set with an ensemble cast of 12-15 actors telling a story using [[NoBudget cardboard props]] (ironically, it was the most expensive of Nick's shows at the time as a lot of said cardboard props were mostly for one scene/joke). Add to that all the radar-dodging, {{parental bonus}}es and [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic surprisingly awesome music]], and few people knew what to make of it. It somehow managed to last four seasons. While many other Nickelodeon shows from the 1990's (including fellow SNICK stablemates ''Series/ClarissaExplainsItAll'', ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' and ''Series/AreYouAfraidOfTheDark'') remain hugely popular in TheNewTens, ''Roundhouse'' has to settle for CultClassic status.

[[AudienceAlienatingPremise Audience-Alienating Premises]] in live-action TV.

* "Mitten im 8en" was a Daily Soap launched on austrian TV as part of a massive retooling of the public broadcaster, was heavily advertised and was hailed as a Smash Hit before the pilot even aired. It had [[Loads and Loads of Characters]], few of which were sympathetic and each one of which was supposed to feature in a significant capacity in each of the 23-minute-episodes; and featured primarily unfunny comedy and uninteresting plots. It bombed heavily, both with critics and with audiences, and lost viewers at a quick rate. It was cancelled after 56 (of 118 produced) episodes had aired.

* This was likely a major reason for ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' becoming an AcclaimedFlop during its original run (though it was VindicatedByHistory, and eventually UnCanceled by Netflix). It's a show about a [[BigScrewedUpFamily dysfunctional family]] of egotistical, back-stabbing out-of-touch yuppies, where [[UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist the only character who’s anywhere near being upright]] is the ButtMonkey OnlySaneMan protagonist, with the rest of the main cast consisting of otherwise ordinary people who are driven mad by the family’s chaos (his wimpy, incestuous son and rebellious teenage niece), highly eccentric and socially awkward weirdos (his ManChild younger brother and homoerotic thespian-wannabe brother-in-law), self-centered and lazy jerks (his SmallNameBigEgo older brother and SpoiledBrat liberal twin sister), or cold-hearted and corrupt misers (his abusive parents, one of whom is a wanted criminal), and roughly a quarter of the jokes involve IncestSubtext. [[ContinuityLockout Its rather dense plot]]--far more complicated than one would naturally expect of a {{sitcom}}--likely didn't help. The stock market, finances, and other similar topics also play a large role in the series, things which not a whole lot of people are familiar with. This was lampshaded by Michael Bluth in Season 3: "Maybe we aren't as likable as we think we are."

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E8LetsKillHitler "Let's Kill Hitler"]] was described by its own writer as being "the regeneration rom-com guest starring Hitler that no-one asked for". People who wanted Nazis got them used as jokey, borderline offensive window dressing, with Hitler literally shoved into a cupboard and forgotten about. People who didn't want Nazis and just cared about the characters had to contend with a plot that [[AngstWhatAngst ignored all of the traumatic events that had happened to these characters in the last story]]. Old-school fans who just want space monsters got [[RomanticPlotTumor a romcom about the Doctor and his future wife]], a concept which itself is alienating to that group, while non-fan casual viewers immediately had to contend with the convoluted plotting and ContinuityLockout, and the fans invested in the romance were turned off by the constant sexist MarsAndVenusGenderContrast jokes and the fact that the story is mostly about one of the characters being insane and trying to murder the other — PlayedForLaughs! But viewed as a kind of TrollingCreator primal scream, it's pretty entertaining.

* ''Series/{{Community}}'' had an Audience Alienating Execution, as their ratings got steadily worse (with the biggest drop off occurring after the {{Pilot}}); it's probably because that the premise (Fraudulent {{Jerkass}} Lawyer has to go back to school, meets wacky misfits and learns the value of friendship) is prime SitCom material, but the actual implementation of that premise (extensive esoteric shout outs, ContinuityLockOut to the extreme, weird one-shot genre parody episodes [[labelnote:such as]]Zombies! Action Movies! Law and Order! Westerns! Musicals! Horror Anthologies! Dystopian Sci-Fi of the 70s![[/labelnote]] and a perverse interest in insulting Creator/{{NBC}}) killed its chances at being a major hit instead of a CultClassic.

* This was likely a major reason for ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' becoming an AcclaimedFlop during its original run (though it was VindicatedByHistory, and eventually UnCanceled by Netflix). It's a show about a [[BigScrewedUpFamily dysfunctional family]] of egotistical, back-stabbing out-of-touch yuppies, where [[UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist the only character who’s anywhere near being upright]] is the ButtMonkey OnlySaneMan protagonist, with the rest of the main cast consisting of otherwise ordinary people who are driven mad by the family’s chaos (his wimpy, incestuous son and rebellious teenage niece), highly eccentric and socially awkward weirdos (his ManChild younger brother and homoerotic thespian-wannabe brother-in-law), self-centered and lazy jerks (his SmallNameBigEgo older brother and SpoiledBrat liberal twin sister), or cold-hearted and corrupt misers (his abusive parents, one of whom is a wanted criminal), and roughly a quarter of the jokes involve IncestSubtext. [[ContinuityLockout Its rather dense plot]]--far more complicated than one would naturally expect of a {{sitcom}}--likely didn't help. This was lampshaded by Michael Bluth in Season 3: "Maybe we aren't as likable as we think we are."
** The stock market, finances, and other similar topics play a large role in the series, things which not a whole lot of people are familiar with.
* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' is a quite surprising aversion. First of all, a spin-off from one of the most highly acclaimed shows in recent memory is a huge risk. Then we find out that it's going to be a prequel about Saul, a minor, comic relief character who's fun in small doses, but his abrasive personality and total lack of morals make him hard to buy as a lead. Then, they add in Mike Ehrmantraut, ''another'' character from "Breaking Bad" who's also popular but always seemed too gruff and terse to hang a whole plot on, and effectively make him into a second protagonist. And, if that's not enough, being a prequel, we know exactly what's going to happen to these characters, making it almost impossible to build real tension. And yet, somehow, the series turned into a big success, both critically and with audiences.

* HBO's ''Confederate'' suffered a major backlash from the moment it was announced based on the premise alone: it's set in an AlternateHistory where the South won the Civil War and became its own country, where slavery still exists in the present day. Even with absolutely nothing known about the characters or storylines, many were horrified that a show sure to include tons of uncomfortable racism was being released at a time when race relations in America were the most contentious they'd been in decades. Adding more fuel to the fire is that the show is David Benioff and D.B. Weiss' follow-up to ''Series/GameOfThrones'', which became increasingly mired in controversies over racist and sexist material over its run. For their part, Benioff and Weiss were quick to state that they knew full well they'd get this reaction, and they could only hope people would actually check out at least the first episode before making up their minds about it. HBO eventually moved it off the active production slate, though they're still keeping it on the backburner for now.

* ''Series/ProvenInnocent'': It's a courtroom drama about systemic racism and injustice... created by David Elliot, who's better known for writing the screenplay for ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra''. Critics complain that the political commentary is laid on so heavily that it borders on DontShootTheMessage, only to get undermined by efforts at {{Fanservice}} and comedy.

* ''Series/{{Girlboss}}'' was a Creator/{{Netflix}} series about a snarky young hipster who starts her own company after being fired from her job. The problem is, one of the main plot points was that the protagonist was extremely smug, rude and generally unlikable, which made it very hard to root for her. And if that wasn't enough, the real person the show was based on got herself mired in serious legal trouble over her mistreatment of her employees shortly before it was released. It ended up being cancelled after just one season, an ''extreme'' rarity on Netflix which is famous for their lenient standards on renewal.
** The series also tried to appeal to the feminist public by selling its protagonist as an example of "Girl Power", but the unpleasantness of its main character and the fact that in real life Sophia Amoruso fired workers for getting pregnant made that effort look as a hypocrisy.

* ''Series/OfKingsAndProphets'' is a retelling of the Literature/BooksOfSamuel by way of ''Series/GameOfThrones''; before it aired, its creators bragged about it being HotterAndSexier and BloodierAndGorier. The thing is, people interested in a religious show ''generally don't like that'', and secular viewers probably weren't interested in a Biblical adaptation, despite promises of political drama. Add enough ValuesDissonance and GreyAndGrayMorality to make [[GodIsEvil God and His followers]] seem like {{Villain Protagonist}}s and its [[DarknessInducedAudienceApathy no wonder]] this show got canceled [[ShortRunners two episodes in]].

* ''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 [[RealityEnsues 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]] has kept it on the air, despite generally dismal ratings.