Friend swore by starting a show at season 3... what a disaster

My buddy Jake told me to start The Office at season 3 because it 'gets good there' and I missed all the character setup which made the jokes fall flat. Ended up going back to season 1 and suddenly everything clicked after 10 episodes. Has anyone else been given terrible show starting advice that backfired completely?

3 comments

3 Comments

joel_jones1mo ago

Did your friend at least explain why season 3 was supposed to be the magic starting point, or was it just a blind guess on their part?

jade_jenkins1mo ago

Honestly it's like that thing where people ALWAYS recommend starting a show "a few seasons in" and it drives me CRAZY. It's the same as when someone says you have to skip the first book in a series because "it gets good later." No, you're just excusing bad storytelling or a slow start that the creators should have fixed. I've noticed this pattern everywhere, even with like restaurants where people say "oh the fries are mediocre but their BURGERS are amazing" like okay why not just go somewhere that does both well? It's this weird cultural thing where we're so used to things being flawed that we just accept a total waste of time as a "necessary evil." Your friend probably just heard someone else say that and repeated it without thinking, because that's what people DO with TV shows. They treat the first two seasons like a homework assignment you have to slog through before the real fun starts.

wesleyb201mo ago

Jake probably thought season 3 was the pilot because he skipped the first two himself.