18 TV Shows With Plots That Make No Sense Today
These once-popular shows had storylines so outlandish that they completely fall apart when you rewatch them today.
- Chris Graciano
- 4 min read
TV used to get away with a lot. Logic-defying plots, absurd twists, and characters making choices that would never fly today. At the time, we didn’t question it, but looking back, these shows leave us scratching our heads. Whether it’s time travel without rules or sitcoms with no real-world consequences, these 18 shows just don’t hold up under modern scrutiny.
1. Lost
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A plane crashes on a magic island with polar bears, smoke monsters, and time jumps. Intriguing at first, but the mythology spiraled fast. Each mystery only led to more confusion.
2. Pretty Little Liars
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A group of teens gets stalked by an omnipresent villain who knows everything. It started as a murder mystery, but veered into wild conspiracies and identity swaps.
3. Riverdale
vagueonthehow on Wikimedia Commons
Based on Archie Comics, but don’t expect wholesome storylines. This show went from small-town drama to cults, organ harvesting, and superpowers.
4. Heroes
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Season 1 had promise: regular people discovering they had powers. Then came clones, alternate futures, and plot holes big enough to drive a bus through.
5. Gossip Girl
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A blogger exposed every scandal in Manhattan. Somehow, it’s Dan, the guy being tormented by the blog? The twist made zero sense.
6. Smallville
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Clark Kent spends 10 seasons not becoming Superman. Somehow every villain went to the same high school. Each episode felt like a copy-paste of the last.
7. Charmed (Original Series)
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Three sisters fight evil with magic powers. Cool, until demons show up weekly like clockwork. Plot resets, timeline inconsistencies, and magic rules changed when convenient.
8. Dexter (Original Ending)
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A serial killer who only kills bad guys. Okay, morally gray but interesting. Then, he fakes his death and becomes a lumberjack? That’s the twist? Eight seasons for that bizarre farewell.
9. Alf
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An alien lives with a suburban family, and nobody else finds out? Really? He eats cats and hides in the kitchen all day, yet the government never notices.
10. The 100
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Teens sent from space to a ruined Earth make hard choices, but somehow survive every apocalypse. The science got murky fast, and moral logic vanished.
11. Once Upon a Time
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Fairy tales collide in modern-day Maine. But timelines, reincarnations, and endless curses made everything exhausting. Characters died, came back, and changed allegiances constantly.
12. Under the Dome
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A town trapped under a dome sounds promising, until cows get sliced in half and people lose their minds. Then, there are alien eggs, pink stars, and kids with powers.
13. True Blood
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Vampires, werewolves, fairies, and political metaphors; it was a buffet of weird. By the final seasons, even fans weren’t sure what was happening. The love triangle turned into a supernatural circus.
14. The Event
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A political thriller with aliens pretending to be humans. It tried to be the next Lost, but forgot to explain anything. Plot twists came without warning or purpose.
15. Quantum Leap
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A man jumps into different people’s bodies to “fix” things in time. The problem is, no one knows the rules. He randomly appears in lives, meddles, and leaves.
16. Knight Rider
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A talking car helps a guy fight crime. Iconic, but let’s be honest. How did no one notice the car driving itself? Criminals never questioned it.
17. Mork & Mindy
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An alien from Ork moves in with a human woman and learns Earth customs. Robin Williams made it legendary, but the plot was pure chaos.
18. The A-Team
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A group of fugitives helps people while being constantly on the run from the government. They travel in a loud van, blow stuff up, and never get caught. How? Plot armor so thick you’d think they were superheroes.