If you value your time, then maybe only watch finished shows with excellent word-of-mouth/ratings? If it declines instead of ending while still good, then stopping where people suggest? Possibly also skip the initial seasons if it only gets good later.

If you want to talk around the water cooler about the most popular zeitgeist shows, then maybe make exceptions for those that are the buzz after their 1st few episodes like Game of thrones, tho you should be prepared to quit the show after a few consecutive poorer episodes indicating its almost certain decline. (PS: I'd recommend stopping before Game of thrones' 6th season).

[–] BroBot9000@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago

Shows literally don’t hit my radar anymore until they end and get a proper finish.

Like I seriously don’t give a fuck about your product if you can’t be bothered to even finish it in the first place.