I'm a big fan of standalone episodes on TV, which I would define as episodes of a TV show that can exist by themselves without relying on [much] information from previous episodes or outside sources.  This is why I'm a big fan of CSI.  I don't think I've ever seen a new CSI episode; I've only seen reruns.  But it doesn't matter what order I watch them in because they're all standalone episodes.  Occasionally there's a reference to something personal in the lives of the characters, but it's mostly just solving crimes and playing with luminol.  I would say the Simpsons is an example of this kind of show because most episodes don't build off the same plot line developed in previous episodes.  But I might disagree with myself because they constantly refer to strange little facts and unrelated occurrences in previous episodes.  Shows like American Idol, 24, and Survivor are examples of shows that don't have standalone episodes.  You can't really just watch an episode from the middle of the season because it fits in with the episodes before and after it. 

This brings up another somewhat related idea:  I like shows that don't have much character development.  Stated another way:  I don't like shows with a lot of character development.  Most of the crime dramas focus on solving crimes and interrogating [innocent] witnesses.  They don't spend much time on the personal lives of Gil Grissom or Detective Robert Goren.  And when they do, I want to stop watching.  I don't care who these people are dating, what they do in their free time, or where they walk their dogs.  I don't watch these shows to learn about fictional people or how to go about dating like TV stars do.  I watch to be entertained.