S01.E03: Always Take Advantage of "Me" Time

[ShellSeeker]

 

Abby (Lisa Edelstein) spends her first night alone without the kids to focus on writing her next book when things take a sudden turn for the worse, sending the ladies on a wild ride through Hollywood. Meanwhile, Jake (Paul Adelstein) wants his first night with the kids at his new place to be perfect.

 

[ScoobieDoobs]

Wow, third ep, and still nothing has changed in my reaction to this show.  How do ya make an hour seem like 6 years?  Watch this fuckin' shitty-ass show.  Dat's how.

 

Why is Jake wearing a leather jacket that a teen or college kid would wear?  Why did they have Abby dancing so weirdly in her underwear?  A middle-aged lady version of what Tom Cruise did over 30 years ago?  Why?  

 

Janeane should be glad she walked off this thing.  Her character is awful.  

 

Man, all these freakin' cliches I've seen 50 billion times before just keep getting lobbed at us.  Why the lack of originality?  Critics, WTF did you all see in this shitfest that you all loved so much?  What am I not seeing?

 

Please, anyone who likes this show, please post.  I kinda still wanna try to like this.  Even tho I'm still totally hating it.  I'm so bored & put off & not interested in the dialogue, I find myself drifting off constantly.  I stop listening to what they're saying & I just end up looking at the sets.  Sheesh, Abby's home is amazing.  Janeane's office looks incredible & gave me a giggle cuz no lawyer's office fuckin' looks like dat.

Edited December 17, 2014 by ScoobieDoobs

[Betweenyouandme]

Yeah that drunk at home alone scene was painful...painfully bad acting and cinematography. It's like they threw in stuff sad, drunk people may do but without any feeling. I didn't feel badly for the character. I just thought it was weird and hollow. They go from- wow! They're showing a vibrator on the teevee! to slow dancing and writing on yourself with a sharpie in front of a window. Huh?! Not following. All trying to shock. Guess what Bravo? We've seen a vibrator before..at least on the Internet. Not interesting.

Then her friends come over. Even though she changes to downing liquor and smoking weed, she seems way more sober in her daughter's bedroom. No, I don't buy realizing she drew a hairy mustache or whatever on that poster caused her to have a sobering reaction of dear God, what have I done?! Just tear the thing down and tell your daughter to get over it.

Edited December 17, 2014 by Betweenyouandme

[Deputy Deputy CoS]

I had it on as background noise but I caught enough to know, that that was an embarrassing hour for all involved in this project. 

 

Sam Seaborn's prostitute ONS naked display in her living room is one of the most embarrassing things I've seen in scripted tv in a long time. How much did they have to pay her to do that? 

[HunterHunted]

This show is entirely charmless and nasty. And it's not like I don't enjoy shows where the characters are nasty to each other. I love It's Always Sunny and You're the Worst. Those shows have wit, charm, or heart. This has none of that.

I did enjoy Janeane's rant to the principal because you know the principal would never have tried to guilt a male breadwinner like that.

Edited December 17, 2014 by HunterHunted

[ScoobieDoobs]

The thing is, if I'm supposed to think Janeane's character is hilarious, I'm also supposed to think it's hilarious how she's such a shitty mother, who doesn't seem to care in the least about her children's basic welfare & education & well-being.  Maybe I'm nuts, but I think that's downright sad & depressing.  Not funny at all.  At least not to me.  

 

Joking about being a shitty cook or not having any interest in cleaning your house is one thing.  It's cliched as fuck & I've seen it too many times to even react to it.  But how is it the writers of this thing think anyone would find being a shitty, uncaring mother to be a funny topic?  

 

It's a mystery to me why Janeane ever agreed to portraying this awful character.  Sure, it's mean.  But it's more than just mean.  It's hateful without being one bit funny.  Blech, just blech.

Edited December 17, 2014 by ScoobieDoobs

[jennylauren123]

I stopped watching partway through. Bad sign, because I watch lots of bad TV. What I noticed immediately, though, in the opening scene (I think)  was that Lisa Edelstein seemed very posey when she was in her tight gray/black jeans and flowered blouse. Like: Look at sexy, skinny me, strikin' a pose! No, thanks.

 

And the blond character's leg was on very full display as the ladies were chatting. Not that there was anything wrong with it, but it was an odd directing choice. Cut away, cut right back, and her leg was suddenly very covered up. I think that's a continuity thing, because there really wasn't much time for her to make the change while the camera was off of her. Picky? Yes, but I don't usually notice such minutiae.

Edited December 17, 2014 by jennylauren123

[whack-a-mole]

I watch Below Deck and even I have limits. I'm not sure you can even watch this ironically. It's just bad. Run, Janeane, run. I'm with you.

[portfino]

 

Critics, WTF did you all see in this shitfest that you all loved so much?  What am I not seeing?

 

From what I've read of critics they like it because:

1. It's not an hour of catfights which they were expecting.

2. The authenticity of Abby/Jake. Most reviews are mixed on Janeane and don't even mention Beau Garrett.

 

I have no earthly idea why Bravo ordered 13 episodes of this. Cable seasons are normally 10. There's not enough story for 13 episodes. Also, even though this isn't special effect heavy, amortizing the cost of those 3 extra episodes would mean more money for the other 10. Maybe they could have shot in LA and got better supporting actors.

[ScoobieDoobs]

I'd say once Janeane is gone, even as unpleasant as her character is to watch, they're in deep doo-doo.  What more can they give us bout Jake?  He's dating a young hot chick & he's 50, but dresses like a 17 year old.  OK, got it.  What more about Abby?  In her spare time, she dances in her underwear at home.  OK, got it.  What else?  

 

They need Answering Machine Guy to save this thing.  I may watch one more ep, then I'm out.  I just can't anymore, even on mute.

Edited December 17, 2014 by ScoobieDoobs

[AriAu]

The authenticity of Abby/Jake. Most reviews are mixed on Janeane and don't even mention Beau Garrett.

 

They can't comment on Beau Garrett since they can not understand a word she says!

[demarti]

I hated episode 1. Skipped episode 2. Fell asleep on this ep. Not a good sign. And I can't stand average looking, middle age, broke ass Jake and his teeny bopper girlfriend. 

[Kathcart]

Lisa Edelstein should get extra pay for that horrible dancing-in-her-underwear scene. Could that have BEEN more unflattering? And to think it was done in the service of this lameness. She deserves better.

 

I gave up about halfway through. Hate the galpals. Hate the brother. Meh on the ex-husband. Unbelievable about the ex and the actress hottie.

 

zzzzzzz

[Lone Wolf]

Lisa Edelstein should get extra pay for that horrible dancing-in-her-underwear scene. Could that have BEEN more unflattering? 

 

Well, the heels were a nice touch.  

 

So...that's what women do when they're by themselves at night?  That, plus draw plastic surgery skin markers on themselves, using the reflection of a window with the blinds open as a mirror?  Huh, good to know...

 

I'll admit that by that point I was only half paying attention (actually, only about one-quarter paying attention), but I thought she had caught her boobs in the window. And I was like, wow, she's really handling that pain well.  Still and all, it seems to me that the way they were wedged in there she'd have broken her fingers.

 

Also, I was waiting for the cute EMT/fire fighter/whatever he was who got her loose - I really wasn't paying attention - to come a-knockin' later in the show, but I guess the next romantic interest is going to be the married guy.

 

I've grown to really hate this show.  Yet I can't look away; there's more snark to be mined here than there is coal in Chile.  Damn you, Bravo!

Edited December 18, 2014 by Lone Wolf

[ScoobieDoobs]

I don't pay attention enough to focus on anything, let alone care enough, to snark on this show.  Even now, I've mostly forgotten what little I did actually watch -- which wasn't much.

 

So I discovered quite by accident in looking at the Entertainment Weekly site, to my shock & surprise, they recap this show.  I'm not sure what's wrong with them over there that they turn their noses up & refuse to recap Beverly Hills Housewives & Vanderpump Rules, but they'll recap this piece of shit.  So here's a recap for this ep.

 

http://tvrecaps.ew.com/recap/girlfriends-guide-to-divorce-season-1-episode-3/

 

I'm surprised how much I missed in this ep, cuz I was so bored outta mind & drifted off.  It doesn't make me any more interested in what's going cuz I'm just not.  But figured maybe someone else might be.

[ShellSeeker]

I read the recaps, and I think it nailed why I'm having such a hard time liking this show: it's about people at their ugliest and most horrible. And it's hard to make an appealing show about unappealing people.

 

I'll probably watch at least through the episodes with Janeane G. I was really disliking her character, but I loved her "apology" rant about missing story time and she was totally redeemed for me, at least in the short term. Because, as @HunterHunted said upthread, no way would a man have been shamed for missing an event at his kid's school. It's another version of the working mom/stay-at-home mom wars. Total double standard.

 

Abby freaking out about money did not totally ring true to me. Presumably as a successful author she's made a nice chunk of change, right? Shouldn't her first order of business after hiring a divorce lawyer been to talk with her accountant/financial manager to find out exactly what her financial situation is? And if she's so freaking worried about paying the bills, wouldn't one easy, no-brainer solution be to take her kids out of the insanely expensive private school?

[ScoobieDoobs]

I agree with you that Janeane's character made a great point.  But all it says to me is, Janeane is awesome & the show is totally dead without her.  I'm not with you, about all of sudden liking her character for making one dead-on point.  JG's character is just too angry, bitter, nasty & unpleasant.  And she's so completely relentless in her anger, bitterness, nastiness & unpleasantness.  She's thoroughly unlikeable & not especially funny either.  

 

Bottom line to me is, while I love Janeane, I hate watching the character she's playing.  She's unlikable as fuck.  

 

I think I'm checked out on this show.  I had enough.  I'll look at the thread for the next ep, but I have no interest in watching -- especially after seeing the preview, which shows Abby hooking up with a now very unattractive C. Thomas Howell.  I'll pass.  Seems like painful torture to me.  Not what I'm looking for when watching TV.

Edited December 23, 2014 by ScoobieDoobs

[Neurochick]

I must be watching a different show because I think its hystericaly funny. Everybody is so tacky, I love it. I don't want to see boring, sweet people on TV.