20 iconic TV shows that have zero rewatchability

Few fantasy series have become as popular or as influential as Game of Thrones. For most of its run it showed the heights to which the genre could aspire on the small screen if given the resources and the talent. While the last season went off the rails, for the most part it makes for a compelling watch. However, knowing that it is all leading up to a rather disastrous finale means that any rewatch can’t help but be marred by the awareness that everything is going to fall apart in the end.

Lost is one of those series that was very much a product of its time. Its story about a group of plane passengers who end up stranded on an island soon became something altogether more complicated and at times frustrating, as the series spun off into many different directions. It makes for a good viewing the first time around, particularly as one tries to piece together the various mysteries and enigmas. Subsequent viewings, however, reveal it to be a show that is as frustrating as it is rewarding.

The critically acclaimed HBO series Succession is in many ways the very definition of a slow burn, as it follows the various members of the wealthy Roy family as they try to be named heir of the family business by patriarch Logan (played by Brian Cox). There’s a bleak and sometimes heavy cynicism to this show, which repeatedly shows people behaving at their worst as they all seek power and wealth no matter the cost. As entertaining and compelling as it often is, its drama is probably best watched once rather than multiple times.

The Regime was highly anticipated when it was announced, thanks in no small part to the involvement of Kate Winslet, who plays the deluded but powerful dictator of a fictional European country. Her Elena Vernham is certainly a compelling and strange screen presence, but the series as a whole is an odd mix of comedy and drama, with elements that never really mix. It’s worth watching once to see Winslet’s take on autocracy but, sadly, it’s far too uneven to really be worth watching again.

Kate Winslet gives a grounded and emotionally resonant performance in Mare of Easttown, in which she plays a rather cynical small town near Philadelphia. At the same time, she also has to deal with the loss of her son, a death with which she is still coming to grips. The series made for compelling viewing when it first aired in 2021, but it is a very dour and grim series, made all the more so by the devastating nature of the series’ conclusion and the revelations it entails. 

Big Little Lies is the perfect HBO prestige drama, with its enormously talented cast and its compelling story. The first season was pitch-perfect and the second, while not quite as good, was nevertheless entertaining. Still, this is one of those shows that draws its power in large part from the enigmas and mysteries at the heart of its stories. The revelations work very well the first time around, but they lack some of their signature impact on subsequent viewings, though the performances are still quite enjoyable. 

Mike Flanagan is an expert when it comes to using horror to explore issues of grief, loss and sorrow. This is particularly true in The Haunting of Hill House, one of the best of his Netflix offerings. Based on the novel by Shirley Jackson, it revolves around the Crain family and the malevolent house that caused chaos and death for many of its members. It makes for compelling watching the first time around, but anything more than that is bound to be simply depressing (and many of the big reveals are less impactful on a second watch).

When it first premiered True Blood was a remarkable piece of television, and it injected some new life back into the vampire drama. It was a show that wasn’t afraid to be sexy, and it made the most out of the fact that it was on HBO. However, for all of its strengths in its early seasons, it goes very awry, particularly after the fourth and fifth seasons. While it may make for an entertaining camp experience on first watch, any subsequent viewings are bound to be marred by frustration and an awareness that it could have been so much better.

The series Them certainly doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to its engagement with America’s racist past. The series’ two seasons blend together the supernatural and the mundane, using horror to show just how violent racism has been built into the American experience for far too long. Given all of this, it makes for very grim and at times difficult watching. Horror shows like this one have the power to hold up a mirror to the present, but sometimes watching them just once is more than enough. 

There’s something innately appealing about series with a formulaic approach to storytelling. House, as series fans know, honed its formula to a fine art and kept with it through the very end. While this worked well enough while the series was on the air and was only on once a week, it must be said that it’s less effective–and even a bit exhausting–in the age of streaming. The episodes start to blur together a bit, and in the end, it seems that it’s better to watch this with a one-and-done approach.

For three of its four seasons Killing Eve  was one of the most stylish and provocative series on TV, with much of its narrative energy drawn from the cat-and-mouse game between Sandra Oh’s investigator Eve and Jodie Comer’s Villanelle, a ruthless assassin. However, the fourth season took some big swings, most of which didn’t pay off as even the diehard fans had shown. While it’s worth it to see this series through to the end, the lackluster payoff keeps it from being worth a rewatch.

The Leftovers is arguably one of the bleakest series to have emerged out of the 2010s, with its focus on the struggles of people trying to rebuild their lives after the disappearance of millions of people across the globe. It has a number of terrific performances, including from Justin Theroux and Ann Dowd. Even so, its dour atmosphere and rather depressing stories make it a series that it’s difficult to rewatch. Once one has seen it and understood what it’s trying to do, it’s okay to just move on to something else.

Set in small town Missouri, Sharp Objects focuses on Camille Preaker, who comes back to her hometown to investigate a series of disappearances. While there, she once again finds herself caught in a sinister web involving both her mother and her half-sister. Sharp Objects is a difficult watch, in large part because it leans so heavily into its Southern Gothic story, with implications of incest, murder, and family dysfunction. Furthermore, once the central mystery is solved there isn’t a lot to be gained from subject oneself to another viewing. 

One of the breakout series of 2024 was Baby Reindeer, which focuses on Donny Dunn and his deeply troubled relationship with his stalker Martha Scott. Based on the real-life experiences of series creator Richard Gadd, it makes for very difficult watching at times, particularly those portions which deal with Donny’s dealing with sexual assault. It’s obviously a very important show, and it even has a bleak sense of humor at times. However, a second watch could only pale in comparison to an initial viewing.

The Bear has racked up an impressive number of awards over its several seasons, and it’s easy to see why. It features some remarkable performances, particularly from Jeremy Allen White. However, for all that it explores some remarkable territory regarding grief and trauma–and for all that it shows just how difficult it is to establish and make a go of a fine dining establishment–it also makes for stressful viewing. This is particularly true in the second and third seasons, which spend far too much time spinning their wheels with little narrative momentum.

The Chernobyl disaster was one of the most notable and terrifying events of the 1980s, and it served as a potent reminder of the perils of nuclear power and of government incompetence. The event and its aftermath are the focus of the HBO series Chernobyl, which makes for harrowing watching even now, decades after the event itself. It’s in many ways a slow-moving disaster and, in the era of COVID, it makes for especially stressful and discouraging watching. It makes for a good watch the first time around, but one doesn’t need to be constantly reminded of history’s tendency to repeat itself.

Mike Flanagan had a very successful run of series with Netflix, and in some ways Midnight Mass is his magnum opus. Set on an isolated island where a vampire is set loose by a well-meaning priest, bringing chaos and death in its wake. It’s a powerful piece of horror television and also a thought-provoking one. However, like Flanagan’s other productions this one makes for a stressful watch, particularly once it becomes clear that there’s not going to be a truly happy ending. It deserves to be watched, but probably only once. 

In many ways the Netflix series Bojack Horseman is the very definition of black comedy. As its title suggests, it focuses on Bojack Horseman, the equine TV star whose best days are behind him. Given the extent to which the series takes an unflinching look at weighty issues like depression, mental illness, and addiction, it’s easy to see why it is difficult to watch more than once. The latter seasons in particular go into some very dark territory, but it’s impossible to deny the series bleakly comic appeal.

The Handmaid’s Tale, based on the haunting and bleak novel by Margaret Atwood, stars Elizabeth Moss as June (known as Offred realm of Gilead), a woman forced to be a Handmaid in a repressive theocracy in the near future. The series, like its source material, holds up an unflattering mirror to American society, showing the dangers of patriarchy and religious fanaticism. Though important and sometimes necessary viewing, it is also the kind of show that is hard enough to watch once, let alone twice, since it has such a bleak vision of the future.

Created by Michael Schur, The Good Place is in keeping with his other productions, in that it’s a feel–good show that tries to see the best in people. In this case, it focuses on a group of people who are sent to the Bad Place but, in the end, manage to prove themselves to be good people. The show engages with a lot of heady philosophy, and its ending is bittersweet. It’s a great deal of fun to watch once, but it’s also a series that loses some of its unique magic on a rewatch.