10 Best TV Shows You Love to Hate

Some television series manage to keep audiences hooked through their brilliant writing, layered characters, and moving stories, but others do so by being so ridiculous that audiences can’t seem to look away. While the latter series are capable of also dealing with more traditionally great storytelling, they’re often remembered for how frustratingly silly and unhinged they are. Contrived characters, head-scratching plot twists, and an abundance of cringey moments are what set these series apart from the former.

From the campy gruesomeness of American Horror Story to the perpetual relationship chaos of Grey’s Anatomy, these series have built fan bases who love to roast them as much as they love to watch them. Whether audiences are looking for an old guilty pleasure to come back to or a new series to rage-watch, this list includes the best TV shows viewers love to hate.

10

‘Riverdale’ (2017-2023)

Created by Roberto Aguirre-Sacassa

Riverdale is a teen mystery drama series that puts a dark twist on the Archie Comics characters. When a teenager is mysteriously murdered in town, the investigation that follows reveals Riverdale’s darkest secrets. Riverdale features a constellation of convoluted plots that include everything from serial killers and cults, to superpowers and time travel. The series features KJ Apa as Archie Andrews, Cole Sprouse as Jughead Jones, and Lili Reinhart as Betty Cooper.

Riverdale is one of the best shows viewers love to hate because it’s a perpetual merry-go-round of absurdity. It’s not afraid to drastically jump from typical high school drama shenanigans to a cult, or bear attack, without ever really acknowledging how absolutely over-the-top that is. This is a series that hasn’t the slightest regard for sense and logic. This is precisely what makes it such a compelling series for audiences. With its shameless absurdity and ridiculous dialogue, Riverdale relishes in its campiness.

9

‘Emily in Paris’ (2020-)

Created by Darren Star

Emily in Paris follows Emily Cooper (Lily Collins), an ambitious American marketing executive who lands her dream job in the stunning city of Paris. Emily navigates dating, adjusting to her new job, and winning over Parisians, all while enjoying her new glamorous life. Emily in Paris is a series by Sex and the City creator Darren Star.

Emily in Paris isn’t a series that’s particularly deep, or even realistic. What makes Emily in Paris such a guilty pleasure is the scenic beauty of Paris and its escapist charm. The constant views of the city are like a perfect stream of Instagram-worthy content. This is just not a realistic series by any measure. Emily manages to simply skate through life in a whole new city, as a complete foreigner, despite her constant cultural faux pas. Emily in Paris also has no scarcity of French stereotypes. Despite its superficial presentation and many shortcomings, Emily in Paris remains one of the most popular guilty pleasures for viewers thanks to the charm of Lily Collins and Paris.

8

‘The Bachelor’ (2002-)

Created by Mike Fleiss

The Bachelor is a high-stakes dating show where a single man gets to date multiple women at once, eliminating contestants every week until he ends up with his happily ever after. This controlled experiment in polygamy is an illustrious one that includes ceremonial rose giveaways, tearful confessions, and over-the-top gestures of love. The Bachelor thrives on the tension of its manufactured drama and sudden unexpected twists.

One of the most successful reality TV shows in history, The Bachelor presents itself as being a series about love, and while some viewers may tune in for that reason, most are locked in for the drama. With dramatic scenes that include sobbing contestants, vomit-in-your-mouth-inducing proposals, and manufactured jealousy, The Bachelor thrives more on its theatrics than it does on love. Whether viewers are watching for cringeworthy proposals, over-the-top drama, or just to roast the cast, The Bachelor is an essential reality TV show.

7

‘Selling Sunset’ (2019-)

Created by Adam Devillo

Selling Sunset follows the adventures of the agents at the Oppenheim Group, a real estate brokerage in L.A. that specializes in selling million-dollar listings as well as an abundance of drama. As these glamorous California agents compete for million-dollar commissions, they also have to navigate personal feuds and backstabbing office politics. Selling Sunset includes no shortage of opulent mansions, workplace rivalries, and relentless gossip.

Selling Sunset is supposed to be about selling real estate, but it’s just about a bunch of wealthy realtors dishing out drama and fighting each other in high heels. With the amount of staged drama, over-the-top feuds, and office politics that go into this series, the real estate deals are nearly peripheral. While the cast postures as real estate professionals, they spend more time throwing shade at each other than selling mansions. Whether audiences tune in for the shocking drama-driven moments, or the stunning properties, Selling Sunset is one of the best series to hate watch.

6

‘The Walking Dead’ (2010-2022)

Created by Frank Darabont

The Walking Dead follows former sheriff Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) after he wakes up from a coma in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies. What begins as a story about Rick and other survivors navigating the zombie-ridden wasteland progresses into a story about the remaining humans attempting to rebuild civilization. With its brutal action, shocking deaths, and constant power struggles, The Walking Dead became one of the most popular series on television.

While The Walking Dead began as one of the most gripping thriller series, it slowly deteriorated into a cycle of repetitive episodes, filler episodes, and frustrating character designs. The Walking Dead is also notorious for killing off fan-favorites of the series in gruesome ways purely for the sake of shocking their fans. Although The Walking Dead fell off in its later seasons, becoming a husk of its former self, audiences continued to tune in to rant about its ridiculous plot lines and declining quality, hoping that it might recapture some of its former glory.

5

‘Friends’ (1994-2004)

Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffmann

Friends is a quintessential 90s television show that follows friends Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), Ross (David Schwimmer), Monica (Courteney Cox), Chandler (Matthew Perry), Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) as they navigate life, love and their professional lives while hanging out at their favorite coffee shop. Friends was enormously successful due to its likable cast, sharp humor, and memorable moments. Despite concluding in 2004, Friends continues to enjoy a devoted fanbase.

Despite its success and devoted fanbase, Friends is regularly criticized for its unrealistic depiction of the characters’ NYC lifestyle (no way these people had that much free time while also enjoying a living space that wasn’t the size of a decimal), outdated jokes, and frustrating relationship dynamics. A good deal of the show just hasn’t aged particularly well, and Ross and Rachel’s toxic relationship has been a historic point of frustration for viewers, perhaps even more today than it was back then. In spite of these shortcomings, audiences simply can’t get enough of the Friends gang.

4

‘Gossip Girl’ (2007-2012)

Created by Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz

Gossip Girl is a drama series that follows the lives of a group of wealthy teens in the Upper East Side of Manhattan who are constantly getting caught up in scandal. Their scandalous lives are exposed by a mysterious all-knowing blogger. At the center of the drama are the super-cool “It” girl Serena van der Woosen (Blake Lively) and the Queen Bee Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), accompanied by their group of overly privileged, morally bankrupt friends.

Gossip Girl is rife with stupid character choices, weird plot choices, and exhaustingly trite drama. Gossip Girl glorifies toxic relationships, revenge and really obnoxious rich people who are morally bankrupt. It’s a series that veils its superficiality and toxicity in a thin veneer of glamour and materialism, and yet audiences can’t help but watch. With its weird plot choices, ridiculous characters and nauseating drama, Gossip Girl remains one of the best series audiences love to hate.

3

‘American Horror Story’ (2011-)

Created by Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy and Halley Feiffer

American Horror Story is a horror anthology series, with each season telling a self-contained story that involves a mixture of carnivals, witches, cults, horrifying monsters and much more. From the twisted mind of Ryan Murphy, this series is noted for its brutal violence, gruesome horror, and shocking twists, as well as a changing cast that often features many of the same actors, including Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters. While each season features a self-contained story, there are occasional references and connections to other seasons which contribute to the larger twisted universe of American Horror Story.

American Horror Story typically starts off strong, but as the series progresses it spirals into complete chaos that generally goes completely off the rails by midseason. While American Horror Story boasts killer performances from great performers, it often gets bogged down by its convoluted plots and bizarre tonal shifts, and over-the-top campiness that make it an overall pretty ridiculous television show. It’s this mixture of phenomenal performances with train-wreck storylines and gory histrionics that make it such an engrossing television show.

2

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ (2005-)

Created by Shonda Rhimes and Michelle Lirtzman

Grey’s Anatomy follows Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), an ambitious surgeon who navigates the incredibly stressful world of medicine while also navigating the romance and personal trauma at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. Throughout the series, Meredith and the other doctors deal with whirlwind romances, endless drama, tragedy, and, of course, medical emergencies. Grey’s Anatomy’s soap-opera drama and shocking plot twists have kept viewers engaged for over twenty years.

Grey’s Anatomy is one of the longest-running television series due to its constant reinvention, but each reinvention of the series brings with it more absurd tragedy, melodrama, and dramatic exits. Most of its original cast have been killed or written-off at this point, and with the onslaught of drama this hospital has been subjected to, it’s a wonder how the showrunners continue to manage to shoehorn more dramatic plotlines and cringey romantic affairs. With its incredibly convoluted plots and soap-opera drama, Grey’s Anatomy somehow manages to continue to lock in viewers.

1

‘Glee’ (2009-2015)

Created by Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy

Glee follows the lives of a group of incredibly musical kids in the William McKinley High School Glee Club, led by their optimistic and deeply flawed teacher, Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison). As the students navigate the struggles of teen drama, relationships, and issues with their personal lives, they express themselves through a string of show-stopping musical numbers in television’s most popular musical series. These musical numbers range from Broadway classics to pop music hits.

Glee is ghastly in how profoundly cringey it can be. While there are plenty of inspiring moments and its cultural impact is impossible to deny, Glee was notorious for drastically rewriting its characters on a whim, its cringey dialogue, and who could forget some of those weird song choices? Glee had these high schoolers singing “Blurred lines” and “Baby Got Back” in some of the most head-scratching scenes ever broadcast on television. With its baffling song choices, and overwhelmingly awful writing, Glee is one of television’s most unforgettable fever dreams.

Keep Reading: The 10 Longest-Running Drama Shows, Ranked