10 TV Shows Which Insult Your Intelligence

Let's face it - we all felt a lot dumber after watching these shows.

By Jacob Simmons /

Everybody likes TV, right? 

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Whether it's a trashy teen drama or a laugh-out-loud sitcom or the latest prestige offering, there's nothing quite like getting in front of the telly after a long day and letting your worries drift away. Unfortunately, TV doesn't always play ball, and can leave you feeling like you've done something to offend it. 

Sometimes, intentionally or otherwise, TV shows treat their audiences like idiots. Whether through ridiculous plotlines, characters acting out, or transparent ploys to increase viewership, the following programmes all left viewers outraged that the series they had once held in such high regard held them in such a low one. 

Some of these examples only pertain to one or two episodes, while others affect entire seasons or even the franchise as a whole. Not everyone hated these choices, but a large enough portion of the fanbase reacted negatively to them that it became noticeable. 

No one likes to feel like they've been insulted, especially when all they're after is some light entertainment, which is why it was so painful when something that should be a source of joy turned out to be a slap in the face.

10. Modern Simpsons

When the first full-length Simpsons episode aired in 1989, nobody could have predicted America’s favourite yellow folks would still be going three-and-a-half decades later.

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The show has been on for so long that the Simpson kids, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie, would all now be older than their parents, Homer and Marge, in real time. The writers have tried to combat this issue with a floating timeline, which most fans have just accepted as the norm. 

Sometimes though, things go too far.

In 2008, as part of their 19th season, The Simpsons put out an episode called That 90s Show, which depicted a teenage Homer and Marge going through a rough patch in the mid-to-late 90s - even though there are dozens of episodes from this exact period where the couple are married with children. 

That 90s Show was the most blatant abuse of the show’s fragile continuity to date and many long-term fans were not happy. What was the point of investing in these characters if the writers were just going to mess with the fundamental facts about them?

In the words of the main man himself - D’oh!

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