I think one of the major issues was that Katherine McPhee was supposed to be the lead but Megan Hilty was so amazingly good in it that she got the sympathy and people liked her more.
I would not say that it is HATE watching in my case. I own the two seasons and do love the music (some of the best in a while) and thought that the theater people did a good job. It wasn't as bad as people say it was. It was like watching Valley of the Dolls in the sense that it was campy but still entertaining. (At least that is my opinion)
I always wish they had done it more like a soap to begin with and then it would have been more successful probably.
"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."