Hah! I get this. The first time I tried watching Merlin I quit after 4 episodes. I found it unbearable given what I'd been hoping for.

A few years later I tried it again because of a fanfic I'd read and a fan vid I'd seen. I still wouldn't call it a good show, but I understood what had made people so fannish about it. And now it almost shocks me to realize that it's been over 6 years since it ended. I still look at fanworks about it every week.