The reason why this show went off in my house....forever
The first time I saw this show (was in reruns,) I happened to catch the first few episodes of the entire series (it was better in the beginning, by a mile.) So I really enjoyed it, and I remember wondering why no one I know has ever mentioned it, why no one seems to watch it, why it's not often discussed, why it didn't last the full 7-9 seasons that the most successful sitcoms reach, etc. The cast is outstanding. Each of them are hilarious in their own right. I appreciated the freshness of having a woman in the lead role. As I continued watching more and more, I noticed that the writing was pretty weak, but the humor of the performers compensated for it adequately.
Sometimes the self deprecating humor of Christine ("old" Christine,) was bordering on cringe worthy, but usually still managed to elicit a guilt-inducing chuckle out of me anyway. The "fml" humor is 2 parts funny, 1 part uncomfortable (and I still maintain that Julia L. Dreyfus was WAY too hot and too skinny for that role.)
In the beginning of the series, "new" Christine's age was referenced constantly with the intonation being that she's so young, meant to contrast "old" Christine. But...as the series went on and she got, heaven forbid, a few (just a few, the series didn't last that long,) years older, the references to her age took a really alarming and nasty turn. The dialogue constantly reinforces this notion that she is past her prime now (since turning 30 , she met Richard at 26 and is now 30 and that's "depreciation.." ... and countless other lines. The first scene I saw like this was when the brother and Barb were trying to conjure up anger in her, so I chalked their words up to strategy....but then there were other scenes and lines that drove that point home even in other episodes. It becomes a recurring theme. That, combined with all the comments about "old" Christine being washed up.... I flipped the off switch on this washed up series for good. By the time they went there with their nasty humor, the show was the only thing that was past its prime.
I won't have my sons and daughter growing up believing that women have an expiration date. Apparently women do have an expiration date according to some bone-headed Hollywood writers. But the solution to that is simple: the off switch. And apparently we aren't the only household who felt that way. Those lines were "New Adventures of Old Christine"s last season. When are writers going to realize that alienating half their viewership or more (especially in this particular case. I doubt if this show had a huge male following,) is not good for business...!!? Are they mentally challenged? While it's a fact that men have all the power in Hollywood as far as what gets produced... their customers, so to speak, have the final say. And we're a much more diversified population.