I'll never forgive MTV for this..

So I found out about this show last July. I saw it on the Netflix queue but never watched it until like September that same year. Now, I have sort of a dirty mind, so the opening scene with RJ masturbating under the covers immediately clicked with me as my humor. I think another reason why this show ended up as my favorite show (it still is) is because of how alike me and RJ are.

I felt that the first 3 episodes were funny, but had a weak plot and too many cliches. Now, the cliches didn't bother me because, hey, it's a tv show. I felt that the show in those first few episodes was very generic and had nothing that really stood out to me. But from there, my love for the show and characters took off. I found it to be quite a sweet and touching comedy that was mixed in with those perfect edgy moments to keep the show from getting too serious. After the first season, I was completely hooked and even watched episodes over and over on a daily basis.

I found RJ's attitude toward sex very endearing. The way he always did the right thing was a great aspect to his character. Sure, he wanted to lose his V card desperately, but he wanted to lose it to someone (preferably Jenny) who liked him for being himself and not for just having a big wang, which, by the way, never happened to begin with. I think that was something they could have added in. They could have made at least SOME girls be into him just because he had a big package. And excuse me for saying this but, there will always be those slutty high school girls who get with a lot of guys. Those type of girls were absent in the show, which I found odd.

For awhile, season 1 looked very scattered and random. The scenarios for each episode didn't really have much to do with the one before. Nevertheless, it still kept up its pace to continue to entertain. It wasn't until episode 11 of season 1 where the true shape of the show started to take place. With a seemingly shocking ending to season 1, and a great episode in episode 12 (finale). This pattern of episodes that actually made sense with the one before it kept on going as season 2 went on. The show was changed. It evolved from something that was good, but not great, to something that was great and had A LOT of promise to be even better.

The fanbase had the biggest impact on the show in season 2 as a series of episodes some considered "the downfall" or "the decline in quality" of the show. These fans were outraged with the way the show changed after episode 5 and 6 of season 2. Many people, including me, feel that what they were outraged about was the apparent change that lead to Jenny Swanson becoming sort of a background character. Now, not so extreme to say background in a sense of literally being only seen in the background, but rather her becoming WAY less involved and seen in the main plot of the show. Jenny is arguably the most liked character on the show, especially among male viewers. Sure, everyone rooted for RJ because he's just the main man in the show, and others who liked Miles the best for his funny innuendos, but nobody provided a spark for the show better than Jenny did. She was the main focus in all of season 1, so it's understandable why the fans got so frustrated with the writers by changing up the base of the show so drastically.

Those fans were the reason for this show's downfall, not the stretch of "unfulfilling" episodes. The show really did pick up some steam as it went on, but a majority of the fans disagreed, making MTV cancel it. The show had a tremendous window of opportunities to work with after season 2, but MTV didn't give it a chance. And for that, I would have a eternal hatred toward MTV for what they did. They killed a show right as it was hitting its stride in full, right as it reached its prime. There will NEVER be a show on MTV as good as Hard Times. And I will always remember my first time watching it.

On another note, if anyone is interested in signing a petition to attempt to get it back on tv, please sign this petition here:

http://m.ipetitions.com/#petition/hard-times-of-rj-berger-season-3

Also, 'like' the official RJ Berger Facebook page, and if you have a twitter, please try and spread the word to make #BringBackRJBerger a trending hashtag!

MTV screwed up, but if we all worked together, just maybe, we could get it back!