Fans are what keep television alive; the stronger a fanbase, the stronger a TV show will become. Look at how shows like Community, Fringe and Arrested Development have lived on despite the bigwigs in production companies cutting these assets loose. Despite the viewers being the lifeblood of all television, there are certain divisions of these groups that sully the experience, dampen how much you like a show, or in some cases, put you off liking a show altogether. While usually these fanbases are in the minority of the legions of people who support a TV show, their degree of outward annoyance, self-righteousness and (in some cases) verbal attacks on other fans make it incredibly difficult to ignore these groups, who can become a representation of the entirety of the show... I would like to point out first that this is not my opinion of everyone who likes these shows; I like some of them myself, and its the minority group who annoy the rest of the fans. If you find yourself unaware of this type of fan..its probably because youre one of them.
4. Lost The "You Didnt Get It" Fans
Now as many who have followed my writing on here (through choice, anger or unfortunate events) could tell you, Lost is my favourite TV show of all time. One of the reasons for that is the ending which I found immensely satisfying, both because it brought the show full circle and allowed your own interpretations of the purpose of the show and the island. I fully bought into the ideas of fate and the character-driven show; however, I am aware that many were dissatisfied by the show's conclusion because of a lack of definitive answers. As a result, many ended up labelling the ending as a cop out. I see these perspectives and respect them; while I dont believe a show needs to give an answer to every question, I appreciate people who felt Lost left itself short. However, where most can appreciate this, discussions and message boards often erupt in to a (mildly heated would be an understatement) debate about how those dissatisfied with the ending "simply didnt get it", with fans who did like the ending of the show putting themselves on pedestals of supposed superiority for being of an intellectual stature high enough to understand the ending of Lost. Its incredibly foolish to label people who didnt enjoy the ending to a very divisive show as too stupid to get it, and the groups of fans who go out of their way to say "Oh, did you get it? Well let me inform you..." are the ones who make people say, "So...Lost is something Im never revisiting."