Fans Agree That Jenji Kohan's Series Tend To Overstay Their Welcome

When "Weeds" premiered on Showtime during the summer of 2005, pay cable television officially found its new, instantly iconic 30-minute comedy. Although running afoul of law enforcement while making a living selling marijuana is certainly dated when compared to 2020s California, the series helped launch its creator, Jenji Kohan, into the television stratosphere. When the show ended in 2012, Kohan then adapted Piper Kerman's memoir "Orange Is the New Black" into a dramedy series for Netflix. In 2013, the prison-set program became the streamer's second original series.

After seven seasons, that show came to an end in 2019, but the prolific screenwriter and producer already had another project. In 2016, Kohan executive produced "GLOW" for Netflix, a series that follows a group of female wrestlers in the 1980s. A Jenji Kohan-created or backed series became a calling card for ensuring themes of female empowerment, diversity, and inclusion were guaranteed. All of these shows had successful runs, but each has also been accused by some viewers of long overstaying their welcome. Here is what fans have to say.

Numerous long-running TV shows outgrow their original premise and suffer from a noticeable dip in quality. This is all in the eyes of the beholder, but many programs meander to the point of repeating previous plotlines, treading the same thematic ground in different ways, or backing themselves into narrative cul-de-sacs in an attempt to keep things fresh. In fact, writing about the prison-riot set Season 5 of "Orange is the New Black," Caroline Framke of Vox noted, "A riot is a really tricky corner for the show to try to write itself out of and neatly resolve — so season five doesn't even try." Framke also called the installment "the sloppiest, most confusing season of Orange Is the New Black yet," and according to Redditors, this isn't the only Jenji Kohan show that has suffered from this kind of dip in quality. 

On a television subreddit page, u/Aeon1508 observed, "The end of season 3 of Weeds was so good and nothing worth while happened in that show afterward." Another fan pointed out a recurring trend in what some see as Kohan's involvement, with Redditor u/inmynothing stating, "Jenji Kohan is notorious for running her once critically acclaimed shows into the ground, see: Orange is the New Black." 

"GLOW," for which Kohan was an executive producer, has also been assessed in a similar manner by some viewers on the comedy's subreddit page. Redditor u/staciarose35 shared, "It's like the show was too physical for the actors anymore. Every character lost touch with what made them fun and interesting, plus their bond was lost."