Broken Base/Live-Action TV

If you think back on any major plot twist, casting change, or shocking event that happened in your favorite TV series, chances are a Broken Base has arisen over it.


 * Okay, here are the many flavors of civil war within the 24 fandom.
 * Jack Bauer is a card-carrying Complete Monster vs. Jack Bauer is the 13th Disciple of Christ vs. Jack Bauer, Tortured Soul Who Saves The World At The Expense Of Any Sort of Hope For a Normal Life.
 * President Palmer was unrealistic vs. President Palmer was the second best character in the show vs. the show Jumped the Shark when President Palmer was written out and killed off.
 * The Real Time gimmick is played out vs. The Real Time Format is a stroke of undiluted genius.
 * Fans are also split about which season is the best, with seasons two and five leading to massive nerd arguments over which season was the best.
 * Do not even start on female characters in the show. Not one single female character elicits a moderate reaction, they are either Amazon goddesses or straight bitches. No middle. Not ever.
 * The way Curtis died rubbed some fans the wrong way. Most think he was killed off because he was becoming a Ensemble Darkhorse.
 * Lost. See details of the criticism here. But then again this hardly scratches the surface in some people's opinion, as there are the people who will attack the detractors with unparalleled zeal. Not to mention what season did the show go off the rail, those who think the writers are making it all up as they go along, and of course those who love the Kate/Sawyer/Jack love triangle and those who HATE it and consider it to be the bane of the show.
 * Most Lost fans was a very cohesive unified base at one point. Particularly around season 1. Mostly due to sharing Wild Mass Guessing, in addition to all the alternate reality web stuff. But around season 2 strain was starting to show (some might even say during the last leg of season 1). People was unsatisfied with the snail pace, the over exposure of Kate/Jack/and yes even Sawyer at the expense of everyone else. What really caused the cracks was the aggressiveness and even condescending counter attacks from the defenders of the show. Usually accusing the dissenters of Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch over looking the fact that said dissenters DID watch the show. It got uglier, and more hostile every season.
 * The aforementioned internet tie-in stuff was seen as more interesting than the stuff that was in the actual show by some fans. Most was ignored by the show causing a What Happened to the Mouse? situation (for those that cared about it anyways).
 * The reveal about the others, some say it was ingenious, others think it was anti-climactic and destroyed their creepiness.
 * The episode "Across the Sea" has definitely caused even further division.
 * The final episode "The End" has finally broken the base clean in half. "It's all about the characters!" vs. "Where are my friggin' answers?!"
 * The X-Files, especially after season 4 or 5.
 * Season 4 or 5?!?!, don't you mean season 2 or 3?!
 * The X-Files fandom split several times. Some people think the first 3 seasons are the only ones worth watching, some people think the good days ended after they moved from Vancouver to LA after season 5, some people think Duchovny's departure was what did it, and still others the fact that his bus kept coming back. The wank got uglier every time.
 * There were also groups of fans who felt that the stand alone monster of the week episodes were much more enjoyable than the convoluted UFO mythology.
 * It didn't help that the big-release Movie rewrote most of what was established about the mytharc, and that by Season 7 it was obvious Chris Carter and crew were making it up as they went along.
 * The Ship-to-Ship Combat alone had reached levels that were almost Beyond the Impossible by the end of the show's run. Sometimes it took over entire message boards meant for general discussion, descending from wank to outright mudslinging. Delphi, one of the biggest sites, actually froze their boards once in an attempt to curtail it. Honestly, The X-Files might be the ultimate example of a TV show's Broken Base.
 * Was the humorous episodes refreshing and fun, Or weird and completely out of place?
 * Buffy the Vampire Slayer, around season 6. There's also a sizable contingent who think Buffy should've never left high school.
 * Then there's the Buffy/Angel fans vs. the Buffy/Spike fans, and those who are Buffy/Riley fans.
 * ...and the people who didn't like Tara hooking up with Willow (Suddenly Sexuality, Bi the Way, or plain ol' character development?). Or, some of whom don't even consider anything past that episode canon anymore, and make the oft-overused (and possibly malaproped) term "rabid fan" actually make perfect logical sense.
 * And then there's the whole Satsu thing in the Season Eight comics and... actually, you know what? Let's just say Buffy has a tendency to cause this every single arc, and often multiple times in the same arc, frequently with character deaths and/or pairings, and be done with it. How the fandom hasn't completely imploded by now, I have no idea.
 * And then there's the rare Buffy fan who actually thinks that the Executive Meddling that changed the movie was an improvement and actually made for a better story than the series.
 * All of the above are proof of just how much Fan Dumb the show managed to attract over the years.
 * Mystery Science Theater 3000: Joel vs. Mike. But remember, it's just a show. We should really just relax.
 * It is worth noting that, even at the frenzied height of the debate, very few fans actually disliked Joel or Mike. This was all about who was the best.
 * Interestingly, study of one of the most active boards during the switch (and, more importantly, one of the few to have archived their posts, Usenet group alt.tv.mst3k, reveals comparatively little flame warring over Joel/Mike. It seems that, for at least one board, much more anger and vitriol was spilled over whether certain elements of the show were sexist and if Jim Mallon had been instrumental in "forcing" Joel out.
 * Roswell: During seasons two and three, members of the fanbase increasingly grew divided between those who had preferred the original style (criticized by opponents as too soapy or melodramatic) versus those who preferred the newer style (criticized by opponents as too dark or convoluted).
 * Smallville have those fans who want Lana to be with Clark, and those who want to see Lana eviscerated, mutilated, and ground to bits.
 * To some degree the latter group of fans have actually gotten their wish.
 * There's a separate group who finds amusement in this, pointing out that it doesn't matter since Clark will just end up with Lois in the end.
 * In recent seasons the Lana division has worn off (the disdain for Lana is pretty much the majority consensus now) in favor of a vocal group of fans who still believe Chloe is "the real Lois", and want to see Erica Durance's Lois Lane die in a fire and for Chlark to have a happily ever after.
 * Then there are some Chlarkans who actually think that even Clark, the future Superman, isn't good enough for the supposedly-saintly Chloe anymore, and that the only reason they should get together is because anyone else would be even 'less' deserving of Chloe. Or that he could be a part of her superpowered harem.
 * A lot of fans think the show is just tired and stale now, while some others think the show has gotten better.
 * In recent years, the Smallville fanbase has been divided between those who think that Chloe and Oliver are the best couple in the show's history and that they should stay romantically involved vs. those who point out that Ollie ends up with Black Canary in the comics. The Chlollie ship was so almost-universally beloved that even the showrunners seemed reluctant to break them up. Finally, the showrunners
 * And then there's the group that just watches the damn show for enjoyment, wants to be surprised and entertained rather than getting some ship-wish-fulfillment, and is able to go along even with twists they don't particularly care for without (too much) bitching. Needless to say, that's a very minor group, and not very vocal. And unlikely to visit this site, anyway.
 * As is probably inevitable among fans of a very Long Runner with a constant turnover of creators and wide variations in style from season to season, Doctor Who fandom is not so much Broken as splintered into a whole pile of glittering but sharp-edged pieces. Some debates have been running for decades but stil raise passions. The Third Doctor, charmingly anti-establishment gentleman hero or arrogant, bigoted, militaristic tool of the Man? Season 17, sparklingly intelligent highpoint of the show as comedy or unfunny, underwritten, overeducated tosh made with contempt for anyone who wasn't at Cambridge with Douglas Adams? John Nathan-Turner, producer who did his best under difficult circumstances or the Devil Incarnate Himself? Colin Baker, crap performance or good performance in crap scripts? Worst Season Ever, 22, 23, or 24? Seasons 25-6, the final nail in the show's coffin or brilliant comeback Screwed by the Network? The 1991-2005 spin-off novels, superb, thoughtfully Darker and Edgier exploration of the full potential of the universe and characters for grown-ups, or dull, pretentious, adolescently Darker and Edgier, Continuity Lock Out-prone Wangst-fest? Do any of the non-TV spin-offs count as canon at all?
 * And the new series has just created a whole new minefield to navigate. There's the obvious conflicts between fans of the classic series who view the new series and pretty much everything about it as a betrayal as all they felt the show stood for, and the fans of the new series who view the classic series as a creaky, irrelevant old relic badly in need of being updated in the first place. But the new series has its own complications outside of this conflict, such as; Russell T. Davies versus Steven Moffat; who's better? Ninth Doctor; fascinatingly tragic hero or borderline thug? Tenth Doctor; greatest Doctor ever or irritating git with an inconsistent and hypocritical moral code? Eleventh Doctor; worthy (or even superior) replacement to Ten or irritating git not fit to wear his sneakers? And as noted above, the increased emphasis on romance and character relations has brought with it an increased emphasis on Shipping, meaning that extremely brutal FlameWars can and have been fought over whether Rose Tyler / Martha Jones / Donna Noble / Amy Pond / River Song (delete as applicable) is the Doctor's One And Only True Love. Considering that Donna has absolutely no canon feelings towards the Doctor unlike the others, and Amy got over hers with--shock of shocks--minimal angsting over it (Amy's Choice was really the only episode to play it up) and chose Rory this fuels even further flames.
 * Every companion and Doctor in the show's 30+ season history comes down to this. Yes, even him.
 * Needless to say, contributing to an online Who fandom venue you aren't familiar with and expecting not to cause Internet Backdraft within thirty minutes is about as sensible as sitting down for a quiet drink with a guy with a Hair-Trigger Temper and expecting to walk away without bloody violence.
 * Torchwood. The shipping wars between Jack/Ianto shippers and Jack/Gwen shippers split the fandom from series 1. Then Gwen got married to someone else and two other main characters were killed at the end of series 2. Then Ianto died in series 3 (Children of Earth) and it got so much worse. Now... if you dare, go and look at any Torchwood forum that still allows discussion of Children of Earth and series 4.
 * Power Rangers: Generally, the fanbase divides itself into a four or five-tier format: people either generally like all seasons, don't like anything after Wild Force (season 10, the start of the Disney Era), don't like anything after In Space (season 6), or don't like anything after season 9 Time Force, or don't like anything past the original series (seasons 1-3). Occasionally, you will encounter holdouts who think it all sucks in comparison to the glory that is Tommy Oliver.
 * What style is better? Campy like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers or dark like Power Rangers Time Force?
 * Whether or not to count the Recut of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers officially as season 18. Press releases from Nickelodeon and question responses from Saban Capital Group's official Power Rangers Twitter page indicate that they both consider Samurai to officially be year/season 19; which does suggest that they, in the very least, count the recut as season 18.
 * Then there's the group that contest that Super Sentai is vastly superior and that the mere act of creating an American version of the show is both racist and disrespectful to the source material. (Let's not mention that a subtitled version of Super Sentai would never achieve mass commercial success in the West and that most of the people in this camp found out about Super Sentai through- you guessed it- Power Rangers.)
 * And while we're on the subject of Toku: the group that believes Kamen Rider is becoming a Merchandise-Driven Cast Full of Pretty Boys and a one-man version of Super Sentai (with -- god forbid -- Combining Mecha) versus the group that enjoys the newer series for their entertainment value and believes that the shift in style is just an effect of a naturally-changing culture versus the group that hates all New Generation Kamen Rider series and believes that the Old Generation stuff is vastly superior in every single way.
 * Kamen Rider Den-O has gotten this, mostly thanks to Toei turning it into a Franchise Zombie. This has lead some to hate the series, seeing it as the Creator's Pet of the franchise. Others still enjoy the show for its merits, even if they agree that it needs to be given a respectful Grand Finale and then put to rest. Pretty much everyone agrees that shoving The Hero Out of Focus in favor of the goofy sidekicks is stupid, though.
 * Kamen Rider Decade: A fair attempt at a Milestone Celebration which looked back at older shows and reminded people of why they were awesome, or a poorly-written, Merchandise-Driven piece of crap that Worfed past Riders in order to make the new guy look good?
 * In the Supernatural fandom, there are battles between the Dean!Girls and Sam!Girls with the Bi!Bro fans getting completely sick of it because Dean can't live without Sam and vice versa, not to mention that the fandom is also divided between wanting more of the Arc or more of a Season One/ Monster of the Week feel.
 * With the new developments of Season Four, the fandom has been broken into three parts. Some religious fans are offended by the possibility of not-so-good angels, some atheists are offended that God has been brought into it while others are saying that this has finally made the mytharc interesting.
 * Metamorphosis spawned a Broken Base in a matter of days. The Deanfen are defending Dean's actions to the death and are spitting molten hate at Sam, the Samfen are bending over backwards to defend Sam and are wanting Dean to be punished, there are others who are fandom the writer for her apparent OOC characterizations and then there is the sane minority who think that both Sam and Dean are on a whole new level of fucked up and while it doesn't excuse their behaviour, it certainly explains it.
 * This isn't even mentioning the violent shipping wars between Wincest (Sam/Dean) Dean/Cas, and more recently, Sassy (Sam/Cas).
 * There is also great debates on which actor is better, whether or not the quality of the acting/writing/show in general has gone up/down over the seasons, whether or not the show should have ended at season 5, and the quality of season 6.
 * Whether or not the show is filled with sexism, misogyny, racism, and Unfortunate Implications.
 * There is also quite a bit of debate over whether the new seasons are any good. Some fans love seasons 6 and 7 while others renounce them and have their end of Supernatural with the season 5 finale.
 * Stargate SG-1 is complicated, everyone puts their own marker for exactly where it went wrong somewhere different if they even believe it did. There are a few key events that tend to mark the large general shifts in the show dividing it into three compartments. Basically you have the age of Apophis making up the first few seasons, then the post Apophis period (the start of which is signified by his actual death in the prime timeline) which is known most for Anubis and everything related and finally the Ori arc which starts in season nine and sees the introduction of an entirely new set of badguys (the old ones now thoroughly defeated) and quite a few changes to the regular cast.
 * Not to mention, the fans who ostensibly stopped watching when Daniel died, but are still part of fandom versus those who thought his return negated the issue completely.
 * Fargate SG-1.
 * Stargate Universe has a divide between Young and Rush supporters. This is probably intentional.
 * The show also represented a schism between those who enjoyed the prior two series, some enjoying the more dramatic tone added to the stories, and some who hated what was perceived as a loss of comedic elements. The disgruntlement of the latter was cited by some the producers as a cause for the shows eventual cancelling. This was Serious Business to some fans on Gateworld who believed that they were being censored when they expressed their hatedom on the boards. In protest, they started their own website.
 * Also the fight between those who wanted Chloe thrown out the nearest airlock up against a (unusual, as they are diametrically opposed Shipping pairings) combined force of the Chloe/Eli and Chloe/Scott shippers who wanted her to stay.
 * Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: fans kind of split off from the rest of Star Trek fandom rather more violently than proponents of other series', but there's also the small base who think anything after the original three seasons of the original Star Trek is crap. (Hey, even season three of TOS is dicey.)
 * And now a schism is opening between people who are willing to give JJ Abrams' interpretation in the 2009 movie a chance, and others who have been adamant that anything less than slavish devotion to the original series is automatic grounds for Discontinuity.
 * Not necessarily just TOS, arguably more people ignore anything after the end of either Voyager or Enterprise. You get the same thing with the movies at various points, often after First Contact or Nemesis. A few fans ignore everything made after Gene Roddenberry died (a decent amount of The Next Generation plus everything after it).
 * Also: Kirk vs. Picard (see the page quote), were Voyager and Enterprise any good, some or all of the various movies etc...
 * A fair answer to Kirk vs. Picard came in an ad for Attack of the Show! promoting new co-host Candice Bailey. She's being grilled by main host Kevin Periera, who asks her this question; her response is "Yes, please!" in an aroused tone of voice.
 * The Enterprise episode "Regeneration" is especially divisive. Some thinking it one of the best episodes ever, while dissenters....well don't.
 * Battlestar Galactica, old show vs. new.
 * Are the BioCylons real cylons, or uppity Replicants who overthrew the REAL cylons.
 * The series finale of the new Battlestar Galactica, especially the last hour, and especially the last 5 minutes.
 * More/less battles, more/less character focus, more/less about relationships, more/less mythology.
 * Other points of contention for the new version were the Jittercam, Starbuck, and boomer being a girl, the Race Lift of Tigh and Boomer, recasting Baltar as an Handsome Lech Anti-Hero, the new lead character of Laura Roslin, the fact that the writers were making it up as they went along despite putting at the start of just about every episode during seasons one through three that "They Have a Plan", and a third season finale where all of the MIA human Cylons turned out to be known characters.
 * The Mutiny: did the right side win?
 * Caprica: Thought-provoking, original science fiction series that creeps out from under the shadow of Battlestar to be its own story or mind-numbingly dull show overwrought with religious pretensions and teen angst?
 * Blood And Chrome: Only just announced but already severely divisive. What Caprica should be or the final nail in the coffin of a great show? Or, alternatively, getting back to what was fun about BSG in the first place or dumbing down the franchise?
 * Grey's Anatomy fans (even the cast and crew for that matter) are split over the departure of Isiah Washington, This has made many vicious Flame Wars. Some arguments going to places they don't need to go. Essentially becoming flame bait for both homophobic AND racist Jerk Asses.
 * Ironically Isiah's adversaries T.R. Knight, and Katherine Heigl are starting to split fans.
 * Heigl was actually always polarizing. (Like Washington) Her negative reputation preceded her, going as far back as Roswell.
 * The Heroes fandom seems to be suffering from this - many fans are very loud about the fact that they preferred the season one style/format over seasons two and three.
 * Much like with Mary in Silent Hill 2 it seems the fans can't decide whether the show they loved has been dead for three years, a few months or whether it still lives on.
 * There were those of us who thought that it became sick and had a shot at recovering until the WGA strike killed it. It was in a coma for half a season, and began to show signs of life before it outright died. Season 4 (for those who were still watching by this point) was like Season 1 resurrected and learning to be great again before being mistaken for a zombie by NBC and being shot down. This group was the very small minority who actually watched all the way to the end, and are hanging onto their seats for the rumoured wrap-up TV movie.
 * Speaking of Season 4 of Heroes, there was a massive divide during its production in regards to Claire Bennet's fanbase about the implications about her becoming a lesbian/bisexual, some seemed to praise the decision to have her "come out of the closet" while others claimed that there was absolutely no hint that she even had any attractions to the same sex in prior seasons, and in some cases, even in Season 4, and claimed that it was just a desperate marketing ploy and just overall bad writing.
 * Due South, with the legendary Ray Wars.
 * Babylon 5: Susan Ivanova's relationship with Talia Winters: Bi the Way or If It's You It's Okay? (That is, unless you stick to the idea that they didn't do anything but literally sleep together.)
 * Word of God is that they did have sex, but then, that just leaves room for Death of the Author arguments.
 * Furthermore, Sinclair or Sheridan? Was Season 5 any good at all, or just a giant pile of suck? Was Crusade a good show killed too soon by a network, or did it bite?
 * Yell that any of the four ships surrounding Elizabeth, Sam, Lucky, and Jason are the best in a General Hospital forum, then close the door and cover your ears. This one's so bad that both Rebecca Herbst and Kelly Monaco have a healthy dose of real-world hate.
 * ...and then there's Spinelli, who some regard as a refreshing change to a Soap Opera where everyone is perfect and pretty, and others decry as being the Scrappiest Scrappy who ever Scrapped. And then they tried to hook him up with Maxie, and the latter howled. Then they tried to hook him up with another geek...and everyone howled.
 * Blue's Clues has the whole Joe vs Steve debate.
 * Whose Line Is It Anyway?: British version (presented by Clive Anderson) vs. American version (Drew Carey). Usually the debate revolves around whether or not Ryan, Colin, and Wayne deserved to be on every episode or whether the lineup should be mixed around more, or who is the better host. But fans will find ANYTHING to argue about, so the Britline vs. Drew's Line debates tend to get increasingly ridiculous--from whether or not (insert cast member here) is either a comedic genius or horrendously overrated, to which country's audience is better (either the British audience is too quiet or the American audience is too loud), to which musician is better at playing the Hoedown music, to which set is better, to which version has better fashion sense.
 * Keep in mind, the last one is talked about in part because the UK version began in the late 1980s. It's not that it isn't incredibly over the top and Fan Dumbish to complain about, but it's not that arbitrary or random either.
 * And speaking of the British version.... John Sessions: Erudite, intellectual wordsmith with a dry, refined sense of humor or grandstanding, buffoonish snob whose showoffishness ruined the earliest seasons/series?
 * A Different World, after season 1, and whether or not the latter seasons are better than season 1. and of course the fandom wars of Denise and Dewayne, VS. Dewayne and Whitley.
 * M* A* S* H, anyone? D'you prefer the earlier seasons, before Alan Alda took over behind the camera and it became preachy instead of funny, or the later seasons, where the show realised the wacky comedy didn't fit too well, and became deep instead of dissonant?
 * Some people quit watching NCIS after and Ziva and Jenny Shepard were added to the cast. The majority came back, but many didn't and some who did continue to watch still felt the early seasons were superior to the later. Ziva (who was always something of a bone of contention) became extremely polarising in season six and is disliked or outright hated by a sizeable chunck of the audience.
 * Jenny Shepard as well. Some fans adored her, others loathed her, and all were vocal. There were also those that liked the character when she was first introduced and joined the hating side during the La Grenouille arc.
 * Because Glee can alternate rapidly between campy, screwball comedy ("Vitamin D") and more serious episodes ("Preggers," "Mattress") there is a bit of a schism in the fanbase between viewers who watch it for the zany, off-the-wall moments, and those who watch it for the deeper, more dramatic storylines. As the AV Club's Todd VanDerWerff (who is firmly of the latter camp) puts it: "There are times when I suspect that the reasons I like Glee are singularly unlike most of the reasons shared by the, sigh, Gleeks." It's not much of an issue yet, but could become one as the show goes on and decides where exactly in the Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism it fits.
 * Van Der Werff himself tends to note in his reviews that the three creators/writers tend to consistently present different approaches to the series: Ryan Murphy is interested in (somewhat purposely) ridiculous soap opera plotting based on old after-school specials; Ian Brennan in finding the small moments of happiness in a sad world full of failure (a la Freaks and Geeks); and Brad Falchuk serves as a compromise, attempting to fit ridiculous moments into a realistic world filled with deep characters (compared by Van Derwerff to Buffy). Though most fans don't tend to notice the specific differences between the writers, some have noted their preference for certain levels of realism in the show.
 * There's a divide forming based on whether fans prefer the first or second half of season 1. The first 13 episodes of the show were mostly produced prior to the series beginning to air, while the next 9 (four of which have aired as of this addition) followed a four-month broadcast hiatus. As a result, musical numbers have increased from as little as one or two large sequences per episode to usually one per act following the hiatus (at the arguable risk of time devoted to story); fan favorite, sometime-antagonist and fan-favorite Sue was pushed to the foreground and given her own songs, while characters like Artie, Tina, and Quinn had less screen-time; and an overall dark, satirical tone (the pilot, for instance, had a teacher plant weed on a student to blackmail him into joining glee, and characters regularly lied about pregnancies or had unhappy marriages) with small moments of happiness, replaced by a brighter, cheerier tone.
 * As the show has gone on into its second season, it's become so hard to find anything that fans won't fight to the death over that it's probably just best to regard Glee fandom as a base not so much broken as splintered beyond all hope of repair...
 * To emphasize that point, Glee has one of the longest YMMV pages of any series on this site.
 * And of course a mention must be given to the events at the end of 'Mash Off', where even attempts to remain neutral will be doomed to fiery faliure.
 * Prison Break. It depends for every fan, since each of the four seasons are radically different from each other (including its tone and writing quality). Some fans enjoyed all four seasons, more or less. Others dismiss seasons three and four as unwatchable. A few viewers stopped watching after season one's long awaited jail break. But generally, season one is favored by the fanbase, while season three is widely disliked.
 * Survivor's Russell Hantz, of seasons 19 and 20, notably caused the first major rift between the show's non-internet fanbase and its internet fanbase. Rupert of Pearl Islands caused a similar rift, but it wasn't nearly as pronounced. Due to the show's editing positioning him as a Villain Protagonist, Russell tended to be very popular with casual fans of the show (note his winning of two consecutive "America's Favorite Survivor" awards), however, he's absolutely reviled at forums such as "Survivor Sucks", where both of his losses in the final vote triggered huge celebrations. Note that the internet doesn't entirely hate Russell, it tends to be about 60-40 in favor of hating him, and mentioning him will likely cause a huge Internet Backdraft wherever you go.
 * The Amazing Race has two groups of fans, those who believe that This Is A Race (and prefer to intense competition between the teams), and the Call It Karma fans (who watch to see teams they like). They generally get along at the beginning of a season, until something sets them off and the flame wars carry on for the remainder of the season. Arguments about team selection and how the courses should be planned out can get pretty heated as well.
 * Ask the fans to rank the seasons. Seasons 5, 7, and 12 will generally be at the top, while 8 and 15 will be at the bottom, but no one will be able to agree on how everything else places in-between.
 * Do not, repeat, DO NOT, let slip that you have a favorite couple on a Soap Opera fan site. Other fans will gladly sacrifice themselves to prove that you're wrong and stupid.
 * iCarly has the Seddie vs Creddie war. Whilst Shipping tends to do this anyway, this Sam/Freddie vs Carly/Freddie divide slowly built up during season 1, then went nuclear halfway through the 2nd season as of the iKiss episode which had Sam and Freddie share a First Kiss. It Got Worse from there. The 2 shipping factions have their own exclusive forums, the fandom as a complete 'whole' doesn't exist any more, as the size of the Seddie fandom swamps and over-runs any integrated community super quickly.
 * There are two types of Saturday Night Live fans: the ones who claim the show hasn't been good since [cast member of choice] left and who often only watch it to complain about how it isn't good anymore, and the ones who understand that the nature of the show inevitably lends itself to periods of ups and downs, and who watch anyway. The former group is something of an annoyance to the latter, since many of them claim that they "haven't watched SNL since the 70s/80s/90s" and will insult anyone who actually likes the current seasons.
 * Degrassi has a fandom divide between the 'original cast' (Seasons 1 to 7) and the 'new cast' (Seasons 7 to present). While the general rallying cry of the former is 'the Show should have ended when J.T. died', the issue has very little to do with the character. The former believes that the latter cast is poorly hidden copies, the latter believes that the new cast is a superior second attempt. Both sides do generally agree Seasons 7 and 8 sucked.
 * Speaking of Degrassi, what about the other series like Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High? Even among fans of those, how canon is The Kids From Degrassi Street and is it good or not?
 * In the wake of Bob Barker's retirement, you can pretty much classify fans of The Price Is Right into two categories: those who think that Drew Carey is a terrible host who is running the show straight into the scrapheap, and those who think that he's not quite that bad.
 * It almost unanimous that fans of Roseanne all hate the last season. The split comes from people hating it for different reasons. Some hate the fact the Conners won the lottery, changed their lifestyle and the show stopped being about a blue collar family (although this becomes a moot point when the Wham! Episode aired that season). And the latter group hate the wham episode for that very reason, not really because it made the lottery win moot, but because it made the show end on a devastating Downer Ending implying that . Of course there are a few proponents whom found the "coping method" implemented by Rosie through her writing to be depressing Fridge Brilliance. As they believe there were subtle hints that
 * Dark Angel is basically two completely different shows. Fans of the first season have one set of heroes, villains, central themes, and canon; fans of the second have quite a different set with shocking little overlap. Jensen Ackles is an especially polarising figure even in the tiny sect of the fanbase that enjoys both seasons.
 * The fifth and final season of The A-Team, where they changed the opening theme, and the team stopped running from the government and started working for them.
 * Gossip Girl The Chair vs. Dair wars have officially come out into the open after episode 4x17. Before that, it was pretty much low level skirmishes, but with threats of Chair fans abandoning the show, it's going to be interesting what the fans of other ship bases, not just Dair, will do. With the Word of God retracting earlier endgame pronouncements, it is an open field for war.
 * Actually Word of God has assured fans that the previously proclaimed endgame is still on, thought that might be a reaction to.
 * Since the Dair and Chair shipping bases are roughly equal now, the writers have decided on the brilliant compromise of having Blair be (whinily and angstily) unable to choose between them, causing widespread hatred for her previously fan-favourite character and quite a few people from both ships to abandon the entire show, though the Chair shippers seem to be fleeing faster.
 * Season 4 of The CW/BET's The Game. The lack of the comedic characters Tee Tee, Tasha, Jason, And Kelly didn't help. The Flanderization of several characters was also a reason for concern.
 * The West Wing fandom can be divided into two groups: the people who refuse to consider seasons 5-7 canon on the basis that the changes were utterly ridiculous and crapped all over everything seasons 1-4 stood for, and the people who think the changes in season 5-7 were logical. Interestingly, the former group is not a militant purist fringe group, and may possibly represent a majority of fans (though probably not a majority of casual viewers). Also, there isn't much in-fighting between the two groups, since even the latter group agree that seasons 5-7 were subpar — they just aren't willing to eject them from canon.
 * Jericho fans have an interesting twist in who is responsible for the nuts campaign that saved the show. The two main groups involved both claim credit for running a successful campaign and for the idea of sending in Nuts something that happened in a chat room right after the show aired. Although which chat room is hotly debated with supporters of Shaun O'mac saying it started in his chat and the supporters of Schumi claiming it started in Jeritopia. Both sides accuse the other of using the campaign for their own gain or trying to control the fandom. This is what led to the second campaign failing(without an effective leader any attempts fell apart) and why much of the fandom simply drifted away after the second season ended. Also if you are ever asked your favourite couple from the show was Stanley/Mimi because stating you like either Jake/Emily or Jake/Heather is risky. Also there is some debate over whether the show improved in the darker later episodes or if the earlier more optimistic were better.
 * War of the Worlds is a interesting case. When season 2 arrived most hated it, especially after they killed off . Some thought the show actually Grew the Beard around season 2. Almost two decades later and people's opinions about season 2 has started to be a lot less critical (just short of being Vindicated by History). Some feel that the second season wasn't bad per se', but just felt that the show's changes was too abrupt. Some believe that the second season would have worked better if the show had a build up to the setting of season 2. Thus making the changes less jarring.
 * The infamous feud between Shannen Doherty and Alyssa Milano still causes heated debates among Charmed fans to this day, despite the fact that the two actresses seem to be at peace with one another now.
 * A lot of this stems from complaints about the show becoming Lighter and Softer after Pru's death.
 * Mad Men: Some fans want to see a Don Draper / Peggy Olsen relationship, others emphatically do not.
 * A hilarious Inversion in Merlin concerning the faithfulness of the show to the original Arthurian Legends. No one really gives a shit, but it's a valuable tool in the rampant Shipping Wars. Right from the start, the writers cherry-picked aspects of the mythology in order to create their own version of the story, whilst simultaneously toning down several of the darker aspects (unsurprisingly, there is no rape, incest or adultery). Purists stopped watching early on, but nobody else really cared until it started to have an effect on the shipping, which is broadly divided into Merlin/Arthur, Guinevere/Arthur, Lancelot/Guinevere, Merlin/Morgana and (somewhat irrelevantly) Arthur/Morgana. The tangled web of these five characters in the source material meant that any of them were a possibility, but eventually the writers whittled it down to Arthur/Guinevere as the Official Couple. This led to outrage in all other quarters, to whom the sanctity of the legends suddenly became of utmost importance. For example, Arthur/Guinevere shippers pointed out that the writers were simply following the legends when the two abruptly hooked up in the second series, using it as a defense for the ship whilst ignoring the fact that Guinevere's infidelity to Lancelot was also a distinct possibility. Meanwhile, Merlin/Arthur shippers were outraged when Guinevere didn't cheat on Arthur, despite having no problem with Merlin being played by an actor in his twenties instead of a grizzled, bearded, ancient old man (which would have destroyed the appeal of their ship). Conversely, the Arthur/Morgana shippers were perfectly happy when the show veered away from its source material by establishing the two were non-related, but livid when it was revealed that they were actually secret half-siblings, as per the legendary account. Basically, the writers' fidelity to the legends is tantamount only when it supports one's own ship.
 * The Walking Dead started to show small cracks in the base when it was in the middle of it's second season. Some complain about the second season while praising the first season, for others it's vice versa. Then there's the fact some don't like the show's interpretation of the characters (especially, Shane, and Andrea). Others hate the original characters (especially T-dog since he's underutilized) and want to know where the hell is Allen, Donna & the twins, Michonne, and Tyreese.
 * On the subject of Michonne, she's confirmed for season 3, along with (presumably) the Governor.
 * Did the show get better, or did it devolved into a Soap Opera melodramatic Wangst fest with a light dusting of zombies?
 * CSI suffered this after Grissom and Sara became an Official Couple.
 * The post-Grissom era did it to an extent as well, dividing the Langston fans from the Langston dislikers.
 * CSI: NY has gotten into the picture as well with the pairing up of Danny and Lindsay.
 * CSI: Miami in general. Half the 'CSI' franchise fans enjoy it and the other half can't stand David Caruso.
 * Virtually most, if not all British shows that get "exported" to other countries suffers from this trope.
 * Case in point: Top Gear UK is loved in general by (mostly) everyone, but there is a strong divide with fans of Top Gear US. The divides range from the hosts (Tanner Faust is too wooden and stiff, Rutledge Wood's NASCAR background and his annoying fratboy attitude, to Adam Ferrara's "lack of creditable car credentials") to the format changes (News is generally extremely brief to accommodate commercials, the renaming of Star in a Reasonably Priced Car to "Big Star, Little Car, Season 2.1 seemed to have turned into weekly "Cheap Car Challenges" which would dominate the program time, etc.) to the fears that due to the advertising dollars that fund such shows, fair and honest criticism would be squashed in order to "please the advertisers." Prominent car guy and comedian Jay Leno remarked that such a show would never flourish in the United States in it's original form.
 * How I Met Your Mother fans are generally split into three groups: 1) Fanboys who watch it for Barney Stinson and are actually serious in their belief he's a legitimately awesome and admirable person (these are the targets of CBS's pandering and the ones responsible for most of the show's Popcultural Osmosis). 2) Fangirls who watch it for the Barney/Robin Will They or Won't They? romance arc and treat the rest of the show, especially Marshall and Lily, as filler (these are the ones responsible for the majority of fanfiction, fan wank, and flame wars). 3) The sane contingent who watch it for the unique narrative format and style of humor, the Continuity Porn, and the heavily-foreshadowed progression of the five characters and their path from Robin joining the group to the point in their lives where Ted meets the mother. This last one, of course, is drowned out in the storm of Shipping and Memetic Mutation.
 * The last episode of season one of AMC's The Killing was extremely polarizing.
 * Definitely the second season.
 * Is Linden a great character? or a emotionless robot who is unlikable.
 * Mitch is also very Polarizing. A traumatized mother, or a selfish whiny Angst filled bitch?
 * Is Holder the only likable character, or is his tweaker like, pseudo ghetto characterization annoying?
 * Homeland for the same reason as The Killing. The way the first season ended really irritated some fans.