15 TV Shows People Complain About But Keep Watching

Ever caught yourself complaining about a TV show while secretly planning your next binge session? Don’t worry, you are definitely not alone.

Millions of viewers do the exact same thing every week, tuning in to shows they love to hate and hating that they love them.

Welcome to the wonderfully confusing world of guilty-pleasure television, where the remote never lies but your complaints definitely do.

1. Grey’s Anatomy

If you had a dollar for every time someone said they were done with Grey’s Anatomy, you could probably fund your own hospital.

Viewers have complained about unrealistic medical plots, too many cast replacements, and storylines that stretch believability to its absolute limit.

Still, here we are, over twenty seasons in, and people cannot stop watching.

There is something magnetic about Meredith Grey and her chaos. Just saying, nobody quits Grey Sloan Memorial without sneaking back eventually.

2. Keeping Up with the Kardashians

Few shows have inspired more eye-rolls per episode than Keeping Up with the Kardashians, yet it ran for twenty seasons and launched an entire media empire.

Critics called it self-indulgent, repetitive, and a symbol of everything wrong with celebrity culture. Fans kept watching anyway, often while complaining loudly on social media.

The Kardashians understood something most TV producers did not: even negative attention is attention. The spinoff, The Kardashians on Hulu, proves the cycle never truly ends.

3. The Bachelor

Roses, drama, and someone always crying in a limo, welcome to The Bachelor.

Critics have called it manipulative, unrealistic, and occasionally cringeworthy. Viewers agree, then immediately tune in for the next rose ceremony anyway.

Where else can you watch twenty-five people compete for one person’s heart while wearing formal wear in random locations?

The show has been on the air since 2002, which means generations of viewers have grown up complaining about it together. That shared experience? Honestly, kind of sweet.

4. Riverdale

Riverdale started as a dark reimagining of Archie Comics and somewhere along the way became something… completely unhinged.

Viewers watched in disbelief as the show introduced maple syrup cults, time jumps, and musical episodes nobody asked for.

If you think that stopped anyone from watching, think again. Riverdale became the ultimate group-chat show, where people tuned in just to message their friends in real time.

Seven seasons of bewildered loyalty later, it wrapped up with a finale that was, true to form, absolutely chaotic.

5. Emily in Paris

Emily in Paris is the television equivalent of a croissant that looks perfect but somehow tastes like confusion.

Critics have pointed out its stereotyped portrayal of French culture, its unrealistic career trajectory, and its very convenient plot twists.

Though the complaints pile up faster than Emily’s Instagram followers, Netflix keeps renewing it.

Season after season, viewers return for the fashion, the scenery, and the comforting predictability of it all.

6. The Real Housewives Franchise

Somewhere between the table flips and the tearful confessionals, The Real Housewives franchise became a cultural institution.

People love to roll their eyes at the manufactured drama and over-the-top lifestyles, calling it shallow and scripted.

However, Bravo has built an empire spanning over a dozen cities, and the viewership numbers do not lie. Fans dissect episodes like they are studying for finals.

Whether it is New York, Atlanta, or Beverly Hills, the chaos is oddly comforting in a world that already has plenty of its own.

7. Vanderpump Rules

Set inside a Los Angeles restaurant owned by Real Housewives star Lisa Vanderpump, this show was supposed to be a behind-the-scenes look at the service industry.

It quickly became a masterclass in drama, betrayal, and reality TV gold.

Viewers complained endlessly about the cast’s choices, the petty feuds, and the recycled storylines.

Then Scandoval happened in 2023, one of the biggest reality TV plot twists in recent memory, and suddenly everyone was watching again.

8. Two and a Half Men

Few shows had a more chaotic behind-the-scenes story than Two and a Half Men.

Between Charlie Sheen’s very public exit and Ashton Kutcher’s arrival, the show became as famous for its drama as its comedy.

Viewers who swore the show had jumped the shark kept watching to see what would happen next. It ran for twelve seasons total, which says everything.

Falling in love without ever seeing the other person sounds like a social experiment designed by a philosopher with too much free time.

Love Is Blind has been called emotionally manipulative and unrealistic, yet it consistently breaks Netflix viewing records.

Each season delivers fresh drama, awkward proposals, and at least one wedding that leaves everyone speechless.

Viewers show up to cheer, cringe, and question every decision made on screen. If that is not appointment television, what is? The pods, it turns out, are basically inescapable.

10. Jersey Shore

When Jersey Shore premiered in 2009, it caused an immediate cultural uproar.

Critics called it a bad influence, embarrassing, and a low point for television. Parents complained.

Professors wrote essays. Everyone watched it anyway, of course.

The show made GTL (gym, tan, laundry) a part of everyday vocabulary and launched the careers of people like Snooki and The Situation. Spin-offs followed for years.

Jersey Shore: Family Vacation still pulls in viewers today, proving that the Shore house has a permanent place in pop culture history, complaints included.

11. 90 Day Fiance

Ninety days to decide if you will marry someone you met online and possibly never spent time with in person. What could go wrong?

According to TLC viewers, absolutely everything, and that is exactly why they keep watching.

The franchise has spawned more spin-offs than most shows have episodes. Critics call it exploitative and staged. Fans call it unmissable.

The combination of real emotions, cultural clashes, and genuinely unpredictable outcomes makes 90 Day Fiance one of the most discussed reality shows on the internet, complaints and all.

12. The Big Bang Theory

Smart characters, laugh tracks, and jokes about physics that may or may not be accurate.

The Big Bang Theory ran for twelve seasons and became one of the highest-rated sitcoms in TV history, despite a vocal crowd insisting the humor was repetitive and the nerd stereotypes were overdone.

Critics accused it of laughing at geek culture rather than celebrating it. Fans disagreed, passionately.

Whatever side you fall on, the show clearly connected with millions of viewers who kept tuning in. Bazinga, haters.

13. The Simpsons

Here is a wild fact: The Simpsons has been on the air since 1989. That is older than many people reading this.

Critics have spent decades arguing the show peaked in its early seasons and should have ended years ago. However, FOX and loyal fans disagree.

The Simpsons remains one of the longest-running scripted series in American television history. Every season brings new complaints and new viewers.

If a cartoon family can survive thirty-plus years of criticism, they deserve a trophy shaped like a donut.

14. Family Guy

Family Guy was actually cancelled by FOX in 2002, then brought back by popular demand in 2005. That comeback story alone tells you everything about how people feel about this show.

Viewers complain that the humor is offensive, the cutaway gags go on too long, and the plots barely exist.

Yet here we are, over twenty seasons later, and Peter Griffin is still causing chaos in Quahog. Love it or hate it, Family Guy somehow keeps finding its audience.

It is the animated cockroach of primetime television, and that is almost a compliment.