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Chad - General Discussion

DanaK

By DanaK
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DanaK

DanaK

"Chad," a single-camera comedy, follows a 14-year-old pubescent Persian boy (Nasim Pedrad) as he navigates his first year of high school on a mission to become popular. Chad's friendships and sanity are pushed to the limits as he uses every tactic at his disposal to befriend the cool kids, while enduring his mother's new dating life and reconciling with his cultural identity. Pedrad, who first made her mark on "Saturday Night Live," is also creator, writer, executive producer and showrunner on "Chad."

Half hour comedy on TBS, Tuesdays, 10:30pm. Premiered April 6.

 

As even Pedrad described it, it's rather cringey, especially with how desperate Chad is to be part of the in crowd. I think the biggest issue I have is Pedrad, being an adult woman, casting herself as Chad. It's unique and probably works for the most part, but I'm a little bothered by any possible love scenes or even kissing scenes  (which we had a bit in the pilot) between an adult woman who created the show and teenage cast members

  • Love 7
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lammykins

lammykins

After a month of being bombarded by promos and trailers for this show while I've been binge dvr'ing/watching another show on TBS, Chad looks absolutely gawdawful.  Are there no young male actors that could do this role?  She/he just looks creepy and is obviously a female.  Blech.

  • Love 6
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WinnieWinkle

WinnieWinkle

(edited)
23 hours ago, DanaK said:

I think the biggest issue I have is Pedrad, being an adult woman, casting herself as Chad.

Every time I saw a commercial for this show it made me think of an SNL parody with a woman playing the role of a teen boy.  I was too lazy to look it up though and assumed I was wrong and was being too critical. Glad to hear my first instinct was right.  I guess it's no worse than shows like  Mrs Browns Boys which has a man playing the role of a woman but frankly I mostly hate shows like this and I can't imagine liking a show any better because they've reversed things and have a woman portraying a male character.

Edited by WinnieWinkle
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Linda956

Linda956

Wow, that was really bad.  I thought Sheldon Cooper was the most obnoxious and unlikable individual on Primetime TV, but we have a new contender.  This show is just not funny at all and the character of Chad is the type that just makes me want to punch his face every minute he's on screen. Desperate, pathetic, cringe-worthy, rude, needy and obnoxious.  If he were real, he's the type of male living in a fantasy world who in a few years would be shooting up malls, etc. and his Facebook page would go on and on about how he can't get a girlfriend.  He needs to see a shrink ASAP.  The only positive character seems to be his mother who so far, is very patient with him.  One wonders how he grew up with this mindset when she seems to care about him and is not a stereotypical clueless and uninterested mom.  I will not be watching future episodes.

  • Love 6
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Ms Lark

Ms Lark

That was soooo bad. I will give e2 a chance, but it only gets 5 min before I bail. Who thought this was a good idea? Oh, right! The star, producer, writer, and director. All one person. Yeah, that always works.

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redpencil

redpencil

I gave this about 15 minutes, but there was way too much cringe I couldn't handle, and bailed. I was on the fence with what I watched, and then I got to the endless sequence of him pretending he had lost his virginity and I couldn't take anymore.

I did laugh out loud when he got stuck in the bus doors, but that was it.

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amykay9377

amykay9377

I caught this by chance, and knowing nothing about it, figured I'd give it a chance. What a hot ball of crap... 

I couldn't understand why Chad looked so... weird? They went out of their way to establish he was Muslim within two minutes of the start of the show, but he didn't look like a typical* Muslim; he looked like a mélange of different races and sexes, all while being covered in pancake makeup that made him look like a "White Girls" movie reject. Now I see that "Chad" is played by an adult woman, so... fail. 

I couldn't understand anything that Uncle Beardface said (whatever his name was); it was a combination of me being half-asleep, his accent, and the speed with which he spoke. I debated turning on closed captions, but decided it wasn't worth it. 

Since I flipped during commercials, I was late coming back and had no idea why he was at some random girl's house... was she a hooker? was she a fellow student? was she the town slut? Who knows. 

And finally, where I finally bailed, was him incessantly whining in bed. Like full on crying like a 5-year old. It was just so over-the-top bad, I was just done. 

Maybe it'll get better, who knows... I highly doubt I'll come back to watch again, though. 

(*Don't hate on me, I'm just sayin...TV shows usually go out of their way to ensure Muslim characters are dark-skinned, brown-haired, brown-eyed folks, half the time with beards...)

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voiceover

voiceover

I was put off initially by the promos until I found out Nasim was playing Chad ("Oooohhh... that's why he looks...shot through a filter!").  

I love all the Persian* jokes.  And Uncle Hamid is adorable ("You are da light in my life!").  I'm willing to watch the rest of the series.

*bc I am one.  Well, half.

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Winston Wolfe

Winston Wolfe

On 4/9/2021 at 3:59 PM, redpencil said:

I gave this about 15 minutes, but there was way too much cringe I couldn't handle, and bailed.

Same here. Damn, what a hot, goofy mess.  TBS lets Search Party and The Detour go, but airs this crap? Seriously???

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Yeah No

Yeah No

I caved into the promos to watch the first episode.  This is an example of a cute idea for an SNL sketch being taken to an un-funny and overboard extreme.  I know the entire concept was Pedrad's, but that may be the problem with it because obviously no one told her that too much of something that may be worth a chuckle in a 5 minute sketch turns into an off-putting overload of cringe when expanded to a 30 minute show with no reprieve.

It wouldn't be so bad if any of it was believable, but the Chad character is a mix of characteristics that conflict and don't exist in the real world.  Even Sheldon Cooper was more believable, and actually more likeable or no one would have tuned in to watch him for how many seasons straight?  

And equally unbelievable are the spineless adults and students that actually listen to what this asshole has to say when after 30 seconds they'd already be ignoring him or worse.

Plus there is something creepy about her portrayal of a teenage boy in general.  I don't know if I'd be saying that about every 40 year old woman playing a teenage boy but if it were done tongue in cheek with a farcical element it might actually be funny (think Melissa McCarthy playing a man on SNL).  Here so much effort is made to make Pedrad look real that it sets off people's creep meter something fierce.

  • Love 6
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AnnA

AnnA

(edited)

Holy crap!  I had no idea that Chad was played by an adult woman until I read about it here.  I watched the pilot and I will never watch it again unless I fell asleep watching something earlier and woke up and it was on.   It was terriblle and not worth another minute of my time.

Thanks to everyone for letting me know about the actor.

ETA:  I don't understand how anyone thought this was a good idea. 

Edited by AnnA
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msani19

msani19

I really liked the actress when see played the girlfriend on New Girl, she was hilarious and charming on that show. I didn't know she been on SNL. This show is the worst thing I've seen in a LONG time. I remember seeing the promos for this and thought it was a weird premise for a show and not particularly funny. I was not wrong.

Awful. So cringeworthy. I didn't make it through the first episode. How did this one make it onto the air? Ugh. 

  • Love 4
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Cotypubby

Cotypubby

(edited)

I just saw the first episode on demand. Yeah this was bad. Really bad. I won’t be watching any more. I spent most of the episode trying to figure out if Chad was supposed to be trans but no he’s just played by an adult woman for...reasons?, and he just looks weird and creepy. WTF was that crying scene? And was the scene at the dentist supposed to be funny?

This was cringey but not in a comedic way.

Edited by Cotypubby
  • Love 4
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Yeah No

Yeah No

14 minutes ago, Cotypubby said:

This was cringey but not in a comedic way.

I agree.  Interestingly there are a few (and I mean a few) viewers on IMDB that think the rest of us are not sophisticated enough (or something like that) to get the humor and if we did we would be rolling on the floor laughing.  Seriously?  So they think the 95% percent of us out there that don't like this don't get cringey humor?  I can assure them we do but this just goes way over the line.  I don't find one thing redeeming or realistic about this character.  And I hate to criticize people's sense of humor but why would anyone want to laugh at someone this sad and pathetic?  It seems cruel and unethical to do that.  But that's my theory about the dark turn humor has taken these days - that it's all about laughing at someone else's expense, almost like passive bullies that get off on seeing someone else make a fool or an ass of themselves.  It started with those clip shows several years ago showing videos of guys doing stupid things like skateboard too fast down a staircase and end up injured.  It has turned into a YouTube passtime among younger people to watch others do stupid stunts and hurt themselves.  There's even another show on TBS called "The Misery Index" where people get their chuckles watching other people's misery.  Seriously.  And I actually think this show is an attempt at a similar type of humor that goes over the line even with its intended audience.  Thankfully at least most people aren't that far gone - yet.

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Ms Lark

Ms Lark

(edited)

This hits my Primetimers list for worst comedy of the year. It bumps several others that now look like Frasier. Well, not quite.

Not sophisticated enough to understand? Now, that's funny!

Edited by Ms Lark
Previouslies became Primetimers a while ago.
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DanaK

DanaK

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I'm both intrigued and horrified by this show. I'll stick with it for the season for now, but I'm not sure I'll be there for a season 2 unless it gets way less cringey

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Mr. Sparkle

Mr. Sparkle

2 minutes ago, DanaK said:

I'm both intrigued and horrified by this show. I'll stick with it for the season for now, but I'm not sure I'll be there for a season 2 unless it gets way less cringey

That's exactly how I feel! It's a horrible train wreck, and I can't look away. I liked the second episode slightly more than the first, but it was still ridiculous. 

10 hours ago, Ms Lark said:

Not sophisticated enough to understand? Now, that's funny!

I hope I'm never sophisticated enough to think this crap is clever! 

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Yeah No

Yeah No

On 4/15/2021 at 5:17 PM, AnnA said:
On 4/15/2021 at 12:38 PM, Superclam said:

 

I hope I'm never sophisticated enough to think this crap is clever! 

Amen!

I can't believe this crap got a 90% on the Rotten Tomatoes site from the reviewers but only a 14% from the audience.  What world are the reviewers in?  Makes me wonder who's being paid off to "like" it.  The ratings appear to be pretty dismal so far too, and have gone down since the first week.  Judging from the ratings of other TBS shows that have been cancelled, this one is probably next.

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AnnA

AnnA

(edited)
10 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I can't believe this crap got a 90% on the Rotten Tomatoes site from the reviewers but only a 14% from the audience.  What world are the reviewers in?  Makes me wonder who's being paid off to "like" it.  The ratings appear to be pretty dismal so far too, and have gone down since the first week.  Judging from the ratings of other TBS shows that have been cancelled, this one is probably next.

I didn't bother checking the reviews.   

I wasted a half hour watching the Pilot and decided it wasn't worth another minute of my time.  

Thanks for checking.  The 14% sounds right to me.

Edited by AnnA
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Mr. Sparkle

Mr. Sparkle

(edited)

I'm watching TBS and there was a commercial where they called it "cable's #1 new scripted show!" 

I didn't know you could put that many modifiers on the word "show," but there you are. 

Edited by Superclam
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Ms Lark

Ms Lark

4 hours ago, Superclam said:

I'm watching TBS and there was a commercial and the called it "cable's #1 new scripted show!" 

I'm reasonably certain that was based on the ratings for the first episode only. I cannot believe this pile of excrement has been renewed for a second season, but then, I'm definitely not the target audience! 🤢

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bilgistic

bilgistic

Tough crowd. We like it and think it's gotten better since the pilot. I celebrate when a woman of color helms a show that she created. Nasim plays a painfully awkward 14-year-old boy; the cringiness is intentional. It's no PEN15 (nothing else can be), but it's pretty good if you just let it be what it is. It's not a traditional sitcom.

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Yeah No

Yeah No

(edited)
On 4/19/2021 at 8:49 PM, Superclam said:

I'm watching TBS and there was a commercial where they called it "cable's #1 new scripted show!" 

I didn't know you could put that many modifiers on the word "show," but there you are. 

LOL, I know.  Also there's the promo that says, "Critics are in love with Chad".  Critics maybe.  The audience?  Not so much.

On 4/19/2021 at 8:08 PM, msani19 said:

You have got to be kidding me! The show has been renewed for a second season! Just wow

https://deadline.com/2021/04/kaley-cuoco-flight-attendant-chad-california-tax-credits-relocation-hbo-max-tbs-1234739331/

Unbelievable!  And the ratings just keep going down, down, down, too.  Proof it's who you know and who the networks think you target anymore.  It's not even about ratings.  Networks like this are so desperate for young viewers that they'll gamble everything for a miniscule audience.

Speaking of that, I'm seeing some positive reviews putting down older people for not liking the show and "snobbing" us for not "getting" the humor.  They say you have to be under 40 to get it.  Ummm.....no, I get it, I just don't find anything about it funny and I think that if you do, that says volumes about you as a person and not good things.  My sense of humor is in tact but this goes over the line into offensive territory.  I just think that's just another excuse to put older people down like we just fell off the turnip truck and aren't sophisticated enough to get it.  LOL, I was watching non-traditional cringe humor decades before they were born, but this is just a BAD attempt at it.  I've even seen some Persians complaining that it bears no resemblance to their culture and makes them look bad and I don't blame them.

Also, there are no real people like this.  Chad and the entire cast is a bunch of things put together that contradict each other and would never exist in the real world.  I get satire but this isn't even satire it's so bad.  You have to be satirizing something that exists and this just doesn't at all from any perspective.  There has to be a grain of truth in satire and this has none.

Edited by Yeah No
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DanaK

DanaK

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The episode where Chad's mom and boyfriend break up and Chad goes over to his house was pretty painful for everyone involved. And it turns out, the boyfriend wasn't ready to be a father figure. Plus the friend of the boyfriend going off on Chad for his constant chatter about Black Lives Matter

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voiceover

voiceover

So finally Chad does the right thing, and embraces the one person who loves him whole-heartedly & unashamedly.

I *do love me some Uncle Hamid; even more now that I know he has a posse!  Tho it was Chad with the line of the night: "Before we all Persian out..."

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Soso accurate as to the vibe.  I'm stealing it.

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DanaK

DanaK

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(edited)
On 5/11/2021 at 11:10 PM, voiceover said:

So finally Chad does the right thing, and embraces the one person who loves him whole-heartedly & unashamedly.

I *do love me some Uncle Hamid; even more now that I know he has a posse!  Tho it was Chad with the line of the night: "Before we all Persian out..."

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Soso accurate as to the vibe.  I'm stealing it.

I'll have to admit, if I could have a favorite episode of this weird show, that was the one.

Edited by DanaK
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Mr. Sparkle

Mr. Sparkle

22 minutes ago, DanaK said:

I'll have to admit, if I could have a favorite episode of this weird show, that was the one.

Definitely. Hamid and his friends brought heart to the show. On the other hand, the lakehouse episode was just cringe. I can skip cringe if there's nothing else to the episode. 

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CouchTater

CouchTater

I like the show, too.  Some episodes were better than others, but they all kept me amused.  My favorite was Chad at the ex-boyfriend's house.  The friends' reactions to Chad were hilarious.  One guy put his phone number in Chad's cell, and even he didn't understand why he did it!  LOL  

The only parts that bothered me were when the kids were put in adult situations, like the 12-year-olds drinking, or Chad going on a booty call (that didn't happen).  I don't find scenes like that enjoyable.

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DanaK

DanaK

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Interesting finale with Chad accidentally making it look like he was a victim of a hate crime and getting a lot of positive attention for it. He gets elected class president and that girl who was running definitely wants to kill him. She will likely be his nemesis in Season 2. At least he finally got a lot of positive attention for once. I also appreciate that his sister, who at first wanted tonignore him, gave him good advice about keeping friends

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Yeah No

Yeah No

6 minutes ago, chediavolo said:

Why did they have the sneak peak the other night? 

Beats the hell out of me!  I haven't seen any of the promos for it in the past week or so, which is significant because before this TBS was as usual bombarding its commercial breaks with its upcoming premiere.

I don't even watch this show anymore, but I can't figure out TBS these days.

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Mr. Sparkle

Mr. Sparkle

Weird, because I noticed it wasn't on my DVR list or any TV guide. 

 

33 minutes ago, chediavolo said:

Why did they have the sneak peak the other night? 

It was the whole first episode, and my DVR caught it in the middle for some reason. (I think it was TBS's fault.) Anyway, no idea why they're doing this. 

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DanaK

DanaK

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35 minutes ago, chediavolo said:

Why did they have the sneak peak the other night? 

It suggests the change was a late decision

2 minutes ago, Superclam said:

Weird, because I noticed it wasn't on my DVR list or any TV guide. 

 

I noticed that too but I figured it was just my DVR listings being slow on updates

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chediavolo

chediavolo

5 hours ago, Superclam said:

Weird, because I noticed it wasn't on my DVR list or any TV guide. 

 

It was the whole first episode, and my DVR caught it in the middle for some reason. (I think it was TBS's fault.) Anyway, no idea why they're doing this. 

I didn’t get a whole episode I got one scene here and then another seen there with a bunch of promos for other showsand commercials in between. It was really strange

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CouchTater

CouchTater

(edited)

I just tried watching.  My DVR recorded the rest of an NCAA men's basketball game for 15 minutes, and then switched over to Chad mid-way through the episode.

Edited by CouchTater
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