Sucky [blank] shorthand
 

Inspired by this observation (Summary for the lazy: Certain bands are now regarded as go-tos for "crappy taste"), and then a post by another author about how the phenomenon exists across all spectra of entertainment.

What are some media examples that, in your opinion at least, personify all that is sucky about that form. For example, saying "That [webcomic] will appeal to the PvP fans out there" is probably going to be taken as "That [webcomic] is a piece of boring, banal, tripe".

I'm sure similar examples pop up in the various fields of video games, comics, Milli Vanilli fan-fic, and the like, I just can't think of any at the moment. Hence, crowdsourcing it out to you guys.

A quick reminder before we begin.

Anime example: Dragonball Z. It's the gold standard for shitty animes, the anime so shitty that when you want a point of comparison by which to demonstrate how shitty Naruto is, you compare it to Dragonball Z.

4Kids. Because they have such a reputation for crappy anime translations that people attribute all crappy anime translations to them automatically, even if it's someone else's fault.

Andromeda. Because sci-fi shouldn't be about Marty Sue's and terrible writing.

: (

I would say Death Note represents all that is wrong with anime these days.


Webcomic wise? VGCats. Just look at the latest strip.

Even allowing the premise that Death Note is a bad anime, I don't really see it as resembling much anything else in anime closely enough to serve as a generalized shorthand for anime shittiness.

VirtualBoy.

SPAMMY

But also correct, and pretty frequently used, I think basically every gamesite or magazine article predicting a console's demise is required to refer to it as "the next Virtualboy." Unless the reviewer likes the console and doesn't actually want to see it fail, in which case it becomes "the next Dreamcast".

...

Regulus Tera represents all that is wrong with humanity.

On a more serious note, Naruto is the epitome of NOT ninja.

You always hear about the next Duke Nukem Forever (ie. Likely vapourware), which in turn may turn out to be the next Daikatana (ie. HUGE flop and not worth the time and effort involved).

And due to the huge influx of Scary Movie spiritual sequels (Date Movie, Epic Movie, etc), that's become shorthand for my friends and I for a bad and/or overdone movie.