The Lost Fastball

By Dave White

I still watch HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER.

Last week, I talked about watching THE NEWSROOM and sticking with it even though I didn't love all the choices the characters made. I said I liked the voice.

Not true with HIMYM. That was a show I genuinely loved. It played with time, much like Steven Moffat's COUPLING, to give payoffs to jokes you didn't see coming or give the audience a different way to look at the characters. It had honest "in your twenties" moments and the chemistry between the cast was great.

Over the last 2 seasons or so (maybe even more), the show has lost its fastball. Like Randy Johnson on the Yankees. It's still capable of a quality moment here or there, but I don't laugh at it as consistently as I used to. But I can't give it up.

Lots of reasons why: It's comforting and mindless for a Monday night. I want to know who the mother is. And the chemistry between the cast is good.

On the other hand, I have given shows up. THE OFFICE is one most recently.

Once Jim and Pam got together and had a kid, I felt like it ran out of things to do. I didn't care anymore. I wasn't invested. And that cast still, from what I gather, has chemistry.

So I'm not sure why one show (HIMYM) keeps me coming back each week, but THE OFFICE pushed me away. Where's the difference? What's the breaking point? And what about you? What keeps you coming back to a show or author after he or she has lost it? And who have you surprised yourself and given up reading or watching? Why?