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S01.E02: Series Premiere (2)

Tara Ariano

By Tara Ariano
in Utopia (US) [V]

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backformore

backformore

(edited)

It's almost like there were no psych evaluations at all as part of the casting process.

No. I think the psychiatric evaluations were an important part of the selection process. They chose these people because they wanted conflict. Delusional, paranoid, manic, addicted people will provide that.

They wanted crazy, flaky, angry people. They casted stereotypes - angry black ex-con, conservative preacher, hippy nudist, organic health fanatic, hillbilly. All cast to maximize conflict, all at least a little crazy. What they didn't count on was how boring it would be.

Edited by backformore
  • Love 8
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ichbin

ichbin

After having watched the first two episodes I can only wonder how many more episodes of this before it's canceled once the fall season is in full swing.   My guess is that it continues until the World Series and then it gets replaced after that.

 

Too many in the cast are too over the top.  I think that's always going to be an issue on these reality shows that last for extended periods of time.  How many rational, well-functioning adults in good, steady jobs would be able to take off the kind of time these shows require?   Look at the majority of the type of contestants a show like the Amazing Race gets compared to something like Big Brother.  The former tapes over about a one month period while the latter tapes for something like three months.  Here we have a show requiring a commitment of a year. 

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HurricaneVal

HurricaneVal

Oh my word, I finally saw this second episode from my On Demand. I was spoiled on a lot of the events from keeping up with the live feed thread, but some things still boggled. The Pinterest Prepper is sure a piece of work. And that bit with her talking to herself and hugging herself...uuuuummmmmm...that sort of wigged me out. It was so reminiscent of the Gollum/Smeagol scene from The Lord of the Rings that I was seriously creeped out. I mean, I give myself pep talks when I need to get psyched up for this or that, but those are usually something like a mental or muttered "OK, HV, get it together. Put on your big girl panties and own this!" Not an extended conversation complete with extended self hugs and back pats. I was wondering if we were seeing her personality splitting right before our eyes.

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ProfCrash

ProfCrash

I am hoping that the first bunch of episodes are used to expose the nut jobs, get them out and that next week there is some sense of sanity that settles in. Even if that happens, I don't think the show lasts. How many people want to watch Chris and Bri have sex and then watch that relationship end? Are we really going to be entertained by hunting? Gardening? Meetings to write a constitution? The ordering of groceries? Whatever money making scheme they develop?

  • Love 1
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Auntie Anxiety

Auntie Anxiety

 

Too many in the cast are too over the top.  I think that's always going to be an issue on these reality shows that last for extended periods of time.

I think it became an issue when reality show contestants/cast members realized that crazy behavior means more air time plus the possibility of becoming a break out star and getting your own show.  And all these "pioneers" (really?) believe themselves to be the next Honey Boo Boo.  

 

When Red and Dave opened the safe, it seemed to me that they had never held $500 in their hands before this, because if they had, they would have known that $500 doesn't really buy that much these days.

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ProfCrash

ProfCrash

$500 buys a lot of raman, even today. And a good amount of Oreos and potato chips, especially if you shop at COSTCO...

 

The thing is, Honey Boo Boo became Honey Boo Boo by being Honey Boo Boo. Yes, she was a kid who liked pagents on a show about pagents so there is a certain desperation to be loved and objectified on the part of her family but she still was herself and that apparently got her her own show.

 

Red and Dave are being exaggerated versions of themselves, well some type of exaggeration, but that means being belligerent, ignorant and throwing tantrums as grown ass men, that will not get them a show. It will get Dave thrown back in jail for another felony sometime soon.

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Padma

Padma

I'm glad the ratings tanked. Maybe it will stop them from thinking there's a need for more shows about selfish, mean-spirited dumbasses.

 

I'd like to see a show about 15 really really smart and capable, open-minded and tolerant people do this instead. It might devolve, too, or they might come up with something genuinely unique and interesting if given the chance to "start over from scratch".

 

I don't dislike all of these people, but there's no chance in Hell that this group is going to come up with anything original or creative. It'll be a miracle if they all come out of it alive (cooped up with psychos like Dave and Red for a year?  Not fun, even as a viewer.)

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FineWashables

FineWashables

(edited)

kikismom, I agree with every point you made.  And it occurs to me that your description of how to make it more interesting pretty much describes last year's weird Siberia.  It was a scripted show made to look like a reality show -- not quite like the Khardashians because the cast was actually made up of actors.  Mr Washables and I sat through an entire season of that trainwreck and then it was cancelled while still on the air.  NBC decided not to air the last episode, which supposedly solved all the mysteries of the season, to show more pre-Olympic coverage.  (Wouldn't even put it online or OnDemand.)  Your ideas, in your hands, would make for a good show -- in NBC's hands, however, it was so very, very stupid.

 

I don't want Red or Dave anywhere near me.  That said, they are right about poor people knowing how to get more food for the money.  I don't think that's what they actually did -- Doritos and Oreos?!? -- but they do seem to understand more than the others about how to actually economize.  The white vs brown rice is a good example and, as I hang my head in shame for agreeing with Red, radishes make no sense.  Ramen, yes.  Radishes, no.  

 

Why did they have that giant discussion about how many bows and arrows to put in the crate and all agree they needed two, yet neither Katniss nor the other hunter guy have made any effort to kill some food?  We've seen rabbits and deer.  So... not even any talk about hunting their dinner?  They think it makes more sense to kill a cow??

 

I really hope it's time for someone to go and someone else to come in, because this dynamic isn't as interesting as it could be.

Edited by FineWashables
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reggiejax

reggiejax

(edited)
When Red and Dave opened the safe, it seemed to me that they had never held $500 in their hands before this, because if they had, they would have known that $500 doesn't really buy that much these days.

 

 

I believe Dave was in prison on drug charges, so I am pretty sure he has held far more than $500 in his hands. 

 

I don't want Red or Dave anywhere near me.  That said, they are right about poor people knowing how to get more food for the money.  I don't think that's what they actually did -- Doritos and Oreos?!? -- but they do seem to understand more than the others about how to actually economize.  The white vs brown rice is a good example and, as I hang my head in shame for agreeing with Red, radishes make no sense.  Ramen, yes.  Radishes, no.

 

 

I don't think Red or Dave know a damn thing about what they are talking about. I find it hard to believe the pioneers spent $20 on brown rice and got the same amount of white rice for $6. Brown rice is more expensive than white rice, but not by that much. I think Ded (way better than Rave because it describes how I wish to see these two shit for brains) just looked at the receipt and decided that since $20 bucks was spent on brown rice and $6 on white, then it was a ripoff. I get the distinct feeling that Ded did not bother to do a price per ounce breakdown of the purchases. Brown would still be more expensive, but not by a crazy amount. The pioneers obviously bought more brown rice than white, because that would be the preference for the majority of the pioneers, save for prison meatloaf lovers Dave and Red. Of the rest I imagine the preacher, the patriot and drunk Josh probably don't care what color their rice is. The rest no doubt think it is a hardship to have to eat brown rice rather than quinoa or something similar. 

 

And while radishes don't exactly set anyone's mouths to water, they are a produce that can be eaten raw and don't go bad quickly. Of course ramen make cockroaches seem like an endangered species when it comes to longevity, and it certainly is cheap, but it is an incredibly awful food to base as the center of a diet that will be rather restricted regardless of food preference. And at this point, there is more work needed to prepare some ramen noodle soup than there would be for radishes, which are ready to eat.

 

But even if Ramen were the obvious food of choice for this group, there are far better ways to express that than any assholes Dave and Red have chosen, which amount to throwing tantrums, threatening to break their only means of communication, and destroying cans of food. And that is all before breaking into the safe to get what they feel (wrongly, mind you) is their share of the loot.  

 

Fuck the both of them. They can't get off this show fast enough. 

Edited by reggiejax
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kikismom

kikismom

When Dave said "Let's kill that cow! Let's get some hamburgers!" my immediate thought was that he probably thinks the inside of a cow is ground beef  and it will just fall out. Pretty sure he didn't make it through enough schooling to even dissect a frog.

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Wandering Snark

Wandering Snark

 

When Dave said "Let's kill that cow! Let's get some hamburgers!" my immediate thought was that he probably thinks the inside of a cow is ground beef  and it will just fall out.

 

Heh, so true, but I'm sure that he still thinks he is owed 1/15th of the cow and that Red is owed another 1/15th. *eyeroll*

 

I loved that the preacher's response to their "offer" to join the Utopian Federation Of We Don't Need Do Nothin' was basically "Oh, I get it... you guys are idiots, huh?"

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ghoulina

ghoulina

Heh, so true, but I'm sure that he still thinks he is owed 1/15th of the cow and that Red is owed another 1/15th. *eyeroll*

 

I could see them carving their portions out of the still living cow and leaving it to wander around with 2/15 of its body missing.

  • Love 5
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henripootel

henripootel

Here we have a show requiring a commitment of a year.

Ostensibly, but it seems pretty clear that these guys (or most of them) have no intention of lasting a month, to say nothing of a year.  Shit, some barely lasted a day or two, including hospitalization.  I take your point that they cast folks with lots of time on their hands but even from this group they selected for lulus.

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SpaghettiTuesdays

SpaghettiTuesdays

I seriously cannot handle this show. Casting is all wrong, a complete joke. I feel like they could've made it so more interesting. I was expecting conflict and things of that nature, but the extremes of the people on this show is ridiculous to the point where I can't watch it - I got through the first two episodes by the grace of God and switching channels every couple of minutes. I have never had to do that before. I'm not sure if I'll be tuning in, but I will certainly be haunting these forums.

  • Love 4
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Jeebus Cripes

Jeebus Cripes

I apparently have an affinity for watching pure garbage on TV, because I am fascinated by these whackos. I am on board with this trainwreck until the bitter end, as long as the likes of Red and Dave are around. Clearly, there is something wrong with me.

  • Love 3
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Andromeda

Andromeda

NBC decided not to air the last episode, which supposedly solved all the mysteries of the season, to show more pre-Olympic coverage.  (Wouldn't even put it online or OnDemand.)

 

I saw the last episode of Siberia. I think it was on my On Demand -- I know I didn't have to go searching for it. I really got a kick out of that show, sort of a horror survival reality show parody.

 

Much better than this dreck.

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