I find it depends on the show.

There’s some that use a set formula and you can tell if it’s your cup of tea pretty early.

For example:

X’s a cop but y’s…

The Devil

Immortal

A robot

A zombie

A serial killer

A cannibal

But some other shows might take longer to get into and figure out if they’re for you due to complexity or number of characters.

I think Sense8 or The Expanse would be a good example of that

I’m a sucker who gets roped into TV and movies super easy. I’m currently making my wife rewatch all the twighlights because she put on the first one the other night and I looked up for a few minutes, the deal was sealed, I’m hooked.

If something doesn’t have me in the first few minutes chances are I won’t finish it, but I usually try to finish at least an episode.

.25. If I already hate the show or the characters in the first 15 minutes, it’s not worth wasting any more time on it. I used to try to push through, but the effort has never really paid off. I have no regrets about Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, or Bojack Horseman. There are lots of great shows out there.

I guess I’m in the minority. Most of the time I’ll give shows the full first season, at least for ones in the last decade since they are on the shorter side. Every once in a while I do come across something really bad and do stop after two episodes.

I’ve quit many shows after 10 minutes and many mid season, or even multiple seasons in.

If it’s not entertaining anymore, don’t watch it

Resist the FOMO. If episode 1 doesn’t pull you in, just stop. Why waste time giving shows a second chance? You might miss out on something good, sure, but does it really matter? You don’t owe the creators anything, it’s your life.

Interesting read. I think episode 3 is the magic number. The first episode is actually a pilot they worked on and maybe rewrote or recut to get the actors and tone, etc. Sometimes the pilot is very different from the rest of the series. Episode 2 should be the actual tone and feel of the series but sometimes that can be difficult to get right so episode 3 is a make or break for me. By that time I should understand if I like the characters, understand motivations and something should have happened to peak my interest to keep watching. “Story of the week” or “non-serialized” shows I think are fine to check out another season episode if people are talking about it.

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).

My answer: Two. If a show hasn’t grabbed me after two episodes, then I have to assume it’s not a show for me.

Of course, plenty of shows get better as they go and find their feet in later seasons, like Star Trek TNG for example. But even after Episode 1 of Season 1, I would already be thinking “Yes, this is a show I’m gonna be into!”

As far as I see it, the job of the first couple of episodes is to set up the premise, tone and vibe of what the show is going to be like to watch. If a show can’t manage to sell itself in the first two episodes, then it’s doing something wrong.

It really depends on the type of show and the theme. A comedy can be judged in less than an episode. For a drama I think it’s acceptable for 2-3 episodes being required. If it’s a theme I enjoy, a mediocre show can get half a season of runway.

I started watching The Leftovers, and stopped after 3 episodes because it was so depressing I wanted to jump off a building. I tried to clear that experience from my mind, and was successful, until a couple years later I started noticing the second, and what was then the third season of the show had been getting constant 8-10 star user ratings, which had me questioning my own sanity. I decided just for the halibut I’d reinvest some time muscling through the remainder of the first season of pain … so much pain, to see what all the hubbub was about in the next season. Glad I did, because it became amazing, as was it’s third and last season. But I would not revisit that first season if you backed a Brinks truck up.

1, if you don’t like it, then try something else. You could even read a book.