Party of One: Unpopular TV Opinions

[topanga]

11 minutes ago, meep.meep said:

I decided to watch season 3 of Deadwood before the movie airs.  Somehow I had never gotten around to it.  So, I watch two or three episodes a week.

It's a real slog.

So it’s a bit of dead wood, eh?

I’ll see myself out. 

[Irlandesa]

10 minutes ago, meep.meep said:

I decided to watch season 3 of Deadwood before the movie airs.  Somehow I had never gotten around to it.  So, I watch two or three episodes a week.

*sigh* I was worried about this.  I watched the first two seasons via binge.  It was before the third season aired.  I don't know why buy I didn't watch the 3rd season in full when it came out.  I was planning to for the movie, especially because it's allegedly very much tied to the third season but I was afraid I'd find it sluggish. 

[palmaire]

I would much prefer that non-episodic dramas only have 1-2 seasons than to be renewed and dragged out long after their original storyline has concluded. While I sympathize with the pressures of a gig economy in Hollywood and a network's desire to hold onto a popular property, it rarely works out. Shows start to circle the drain the longer they go on and eventually end with an ignominious whimper.

1 hour ago, Danny Franks said:

Shows becoming some kind of zeitgeist that everyone is supposed to be connected to is really annoying.

Doubly so if you're not everyone.

There are around 218M adults in the US and 12.4M total viewers watched Thrones this week, so 94.3% of the population were otherwise occupied. You could even double the number of viewers to account for pirating and still be a low percentage.

The audience is just not that big, especially compared to popular programs of the past. A top 5 series such as Roseanne or Seinfeld in the 90s used to have around 30-35M viewers per episode. 

[MissAlmond]

2 hours ago, topanga said:

or in the TV movie where Phoebe Cates asked the three women which one of those bitches was her mother.

That was a moment!

[SmithW6079]

I liked The Big Bang Theory. Not at first; I thought the (second) pilot was awful, but I stuck with it. The quality varied from season to season (even episode to episode), and Sheldon was a character I hated most of the time. 

While it feels weird that it's over after 12 years, the amount of press coverage it's getting is ridiculous. Entertainment Tonight spent their entire broadcast on the show today; the CBS Evening News  (sadly, without Jeff Glor) had a story about it.

It's most definitely not the greatest sitcom evah, so c'mon, media, stop with the over-the-top adulation.

[ganesh]

I've only seen a few episodes of the show, but I think any show that can go over 200 episodes does deserve some kudos. 

[Misslindsey]

9 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

I guess my unpopular opinion is that Game of Thrones has been mostly pretty damned good this season.  I wasn't thrilled with episode 4, but the rest has been great.

I am enjoying it as well. Though with GoT I always feel like I am just along for the ride. I do not get too worked up over it. I do think this season is rushed due to the episode count, but overall I am fine with it all. If this was how GRRM wanted it to end then it would be somewhat similar anyway. I cannot believe that people signed a petition for the creators to redo this season. If I signed a petition each time I was not thrilled with something that a television show did I would be GoT rich.

My other GoT unpopular opinion is that I only really hated Joffery, Ramsay Bolton, and Cersei. There are a handful of characters I really like and the rest I am pretty indifferent to. 

Edited May 17, 2019 by Misslindsey

[Annber03]

2 minutes ago, Misslindsey said:

I cannot believe that people signed a petition for the creators to redo this season. If I signed a petition each time I was not thrilled with something that a television show did I would be GoT rich.

Same. Just go read or write fanfiction if you really want fix-its whenever a show makes you unhappy. Much simpler and cheaper. 

[Haleth]

17 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

I guess my unpopular opinion is that Game of Thrones has been mostly pretty damned good this season.  I wasn't thrilled with episode 4, but the rest has been great.

I'm with you, Prosp.  I hated season 3 because of some drastic changes from the book.  I was mostly bored with seasons 4,5,and 6 because the writing was so poor, and was this [] close to not watching 7 because I figured it would be an unsatisfying end to the story.  However, this season has been amazing.  The two battles were extraordinary tv and the two character driven episodes were fabulous.  It's not been perfect, I have a lot of the same criticisms as everyone else, but for the most part it's been surprisingly good, exceeding my admittedly low expectations. 

Of course I reserve the right to change my mind after the final episode. 😊

Edited May 17, 2019 by Haleth

[Neurochick]

14 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Same. Just go read or write fanfiction if you really want fix-its whenever a show makes you unhappy. Much simpler and cheaper. 

Cue the GOT fanfiction starting NOW.

My new UO is, I don't think calling CPS needs to be done just because YOU don't like the way a child is being parented.  I've seen too many kids who had great families but grew up to be selfish douchebags.  

Edited May 17, 2019 by Neurochick

[Minneapple]

At this point the bitching over Game of Thrones is way more annoying than the actual show. 

[Ohwell]

5 hours ago, Neurochick said:

My new UO is, I don't think calling CPS needs to be done just because YOU don't like the way a child is being parented.  I've seen too many kids who had great families but grew up to be selfish douchebags.  

I would have most definitely called CPS on Cersei.

[talktoomuch]

On 5/12/2019 at 6:47 PM, Neurochick said:

I don't know if this is an UO or not, but I prefer to binge watch a show rather than watching it live.  I binged the first season of Black Sails and loved it.  When I watched the second season live I didn't love it as much...until I binged it later, then I thought, "This is a fucking great show."  To me binging a show is like reading a book, I don't put a book down for a whole year and pick it up again.  

I think one issue about watching TV live is that after the episode is over, I'd go online and read other people's comments about the show, I'll see so many negative comments and wonder if the show I love is really that bad, or if negativity just feeds more negativity.  

Are you me?

[Quickbeam]

My UO is that I don’t care about Harry, Meghan or what the baby looks like. We fought a terrible war to remove ourselves from royalty. All this fawning is nauseating.

[kathyk2]

1 hour ago, Ohwell said:

I would have most definitely called CPS on Cersei.

Tywin Lannister should have had his children from him. He admitted that he should have killed Tyrion as an infant. Cersei wouldn't have been screwed up with a better father.

[Ohwell]

29 minutes ago, kathyk2 said:

Tywin Lannister should have had his children from him. He admitted that he should have killed Tyrion as an infant. Cersei wouldn't have been screwed up with a better father.

Yeah, CPS should have been called on him too.

54 minutes ago, Quickbeam said:

My UO is that I don’t care about Harry, Meghan or what the baby looks like. We fought a terrible war to remove ourselves from royalty. All this fawning is nauseating.

YES!

[anna0852]

I-I um-, I actually like Station 19. It's a brainless nightime soap with pretty people and firetrucks. There are hot guys that are routinely seen shirtless. It's total brain candy and I'm really digging it.

And the only forum I can find about is here and it's a sleepy hate-watch thread for the most part. 

Curse my terrible taste in television!

[Misslindsey]

38 minutes ago, anna0852 said:

I-I um-, I actually like Station 19. It's a brainless nightime soap with pretty people and firetrucks. There are hot guys that are routinely seen shirtless. It's total brain candy and I'm really digging it.

I admit that I mainly watch for Okieriete Onaodowan, because I saw him in Hamilton a few times. I cannot stand the female lead. I like the actress, but I cannot stand the character. Overall I do not mind the show because I view it as a fluff show that is soapy and nothing to take very seriously. I find that if I view more shows as light fluff and probably not at all realistic then I enjoy them a lot more.

[Dr.OO7]

As godawful as it was, I have an inexplicable soft spot for the ninth season of Roseanne--maybe because of the revelation that it was all a fantasy--and think that they shouldn't have bothered with the revival.

[MissAlmond]

On 5/17/2019 at 6:36 AM, Haleth said:

Of course I reserve the right to change my mind after the final episode. 

I can't wait until the finale to read who wins the Iron Throne and I don't even watch GoT!  It's a flashback to watercolor days when people didn't watch Dallas but wanted to know Who Shot J.R.  Whoever he was. LOL   

ETA:  Most everything I know about GoT (Spoilers.  Maybe)

Spoiler

Cersei has a Joan of Arc haircut, loves her brother a bit too well, and apparently likes a good cup of wine.  Mrs. Peel wanted her to know . . . something earlier.  Cersei's dead now.  

Jaime,  The brother. Also dead.

Dany in the sky with dragons who last episode decided to Burn this Mother down.

Jon Snow.  That's all I got.  

Bran who was pushed down the stairs or out the window, after seeing something nasty in the woodshed.

Arya who has killed people with various eye colors.

The yummy Peter Dinklage plays somebody named Tyrion who I personally want to win the Iron Throne because  - well it's Peter Dinklage.

Winter is coming.  Or was coming and is now gone.  Anyhoo. Winter.

Edited May 18, 2019 by MissAlmond

[ramble]

On 5/17/2019 at 7:55 PM, Quickbeam said:

My UO is that I don’t care about Harry, Meghan or what the baby looks like. We fought a terrible war to remove ourselves from royalty. All this fawning is nauseating.

Yes. Yes! The tv entertainment and talk shows, the magazines, the radio hosts blithering on incessantly, it’s all so annoying. I find the love affair with royalty silly. I find it odder still that their lifestyle is being paid for by their “subjects.” I have no use for royalty except for make believe stories, cheesy Hallmark movies, and history lessons. 

Edited May 19, 2019 by ramble
I almost feel the need to add a “give me liberty or give me death” quote.

[Miss Dee]

I'm a successful 44 year old woman in quality assurance/business systems...and I love the CW. Like, unironically love it. I watch more shows on that channel than any other network. I do not apologize.

Legends of Tomorrow's Season 4, while not as good as Seasons 2 & 3 (because god-tier status can't last forever), is still very good and highly enjoyable, and definitely not worth all the bitching and complaining going on about it. I do not apologize.

I'm thrilled Sansa got Queen of the North as she wanted. And anyone who's weeping over Dany's end (and I loved Dany) as the kind of travesty that happens when people do not notice how antifeminist their interpretation of a story is... while at the same time reinterpreting Sansa's story as that of a cold manipulative bitch who lucked her way into her ending... well, let's just say they don't have much self-awareness. I do not apologize.

Edited May 24, 2019 by Miss Dee
Spelling

[ganesh]

Are people mad about Dany's ending. While the season was a little rushed, this was clearly the only outcome. It would have been disingenuous if it ended differently. Even the dragon, was like, yeah, I get it. 

[proserpina65]

2 hours ago, ganesh said:

Are people mad about Dany's ending. While the season was a little rushed, this was clearly the only outcome. It would have been disingenuous if it ended differently. Even the dragon, was like, yeah, I get it. 

Oh yeah, some of them are.

[juno]

My UO is with Cobra Kai.

What started out was a great story about the central characters Daniel and Johnny and their lives after the movies, became a story about teenagers. Unfortunately Daniel and Johnny became secondary characters to the teens. While still enjoyable the story became predictable and full of too much teenage angst.

[Blergh]

32 minutes ago, juno said:

My UO is with Cobra Kai.

What started out was a great story about the central characters Daniel and Johnny and their lives after the movies, became a story about teenagers. Unfortunately Daniel and Johnny became secondary characters to the teens. While still enjoyable the story became predictable and full of too much teenage angst.

 Question re the show: Did at any time did the now middle-aged characters actually acknowledge how inappropriately Kreis had deliberately attempted to dominate and mess up their own lives as teens? If so, then I'd agree that it would have 'started out as a great story' but if not then they really avoided the biggest room elephant of their lives to waste their energies still needlessly feuding for no good reason.  

[Katy M]

5 hours ago, ganesh said:

Are people mad about Dany's ending. While the season was a little rushed, this was clearly the only outcome. It would have been disingenuous if it ended differently. Even the dragon, was like, yeah, I get it. 

I didn't even watch the show and I've seen people complain about it.  It proves the show was antifeminist, whatever that means.

I read the books, which of course, hadn't gotten as far as the show, and I've never been a big fan of Dany.  For those that both read and watched is there anything significantly different about her on the show or is my opinion just wrong?

[2727]

I haven't liked Allison Janney in anything I've seen her in, including The West Wing.

I'm fairly dogmatic about my biases and the widespread fan adoration and multiple Emmys only makes me more resistant.

Edited May 24, 2019 by 2727

[ganesh]

Did you see her in Masters of Sex?

[RealHousewife]

53 minutes ago, ganesh said:

Did you see her in Masters of Sex?

Does anyone know where I can watch this show? I’ve heard it’s good but haven’t seen it.

[ganesh]

It was on showtime, so hulu might have it. 

[2727]

On 5/24/2019 at 6:02 PM, ganesh said:

Did you see her in Masters of Sex?

Nope. Is it a more serious role for her?

In passing, I use JustWatch almost daily; it's a database showing where TV series are available, both streaming and to buy. You can create an account (or sign in Google and Facebook) to remove the banner ad, track shows, and sync watchlists. Great resource!

According to them, Masters of Sex is only available to purchase.

Edited May 25, 2019 by 2727

[RealHousewife]

21 minutes ago, ganesh said:

It was on showtime, so hulu might have it. 

Thank you! 

[roamyn]

17 hours ago, Katy M said:

I didn't even watch the show and I've seen people complain about it.  It proves the show was antifeminist, whatever that means.

I read the books, which of course, hadn't gotten as far as the show, and I've never been a big fan of Dany.  For those that both read and watched is there anything significantly different about her on the show or is my opinion just wrong?

I don’t know how they can say the show is anti feminist.  Throughout the books there are strong women of power:  Cersei, Dany, (both corrupt), Yara, Arya, Lady Stark, Talisia, Lady Mormont, Missandei, the glorious Olenna Tyrell to name a few. (I named Talisia because she travelled w/the army as a sort of Clara Barton and even cut off a man’s foot).

I tried reading the books, but couldn’t, so I don’t know if Dany’s character is significantly different.

[Katy M]

1 minute ago, roamyn said:

I don’t know how they can say the show is anti feminist.  Throughout the books there are strong women of power:  Cersei, Dany, (both corrupt), Yara, Arya, Lady Stark, Talisia, Lady Mormont, Missandei, the glorious Olenna Tyrell to name a few. (I named Talisia because she travelled w/the army as a sort of Clara Barton and even cut off a man’s foot).

I tried reading the books, but couldn’t, so I don’t know if Dany’s character is significantly different.

I guess because the woman wasn't the "big winner" at the end.

[Winter Rose]

For my money, this was where Dany's ending was headed but the things to actually push her over the edge were pretty much crammed into these last few episodes. So it wound up looking like it came out of nowhere when, I think, it didn't have to.

Of course, I think to the people over the years who named their kids Khaleesi (or Daenerys, though I heard Khaleesi was more popular), they'd say it wasn't hinted at at all. But I can't help wondering if those that went with Khaleesi just liked the sound of it better or if they didn't realize that was a title, not her name. So I don't know if everything was a matter of not hinting enough or not paying close enough attention??? I guess if I've learned anything, it's that if I were to name my kid after a fictional character, I'd make sure the character was from a story that was already finished.

[Katy M]

51 minutes ago, Winter Rose said:

I guess if I've learned anything, it's that if I were to name my kid after a fictional character, I'd make sure the character was from a story that was already finished.

If I were to name my kid after a fictional character, it would just be because I liked the name and the character is where I got the idea.

[Minneapple]

On 5/24/2019 at 11:24 AM, ganesh said:

Are people mad about Dany's ending. While the season was a little rushed, this was clearly the only outcome. It would have been disingenuous if it ended differently. Even the dragon, was like, yeah, I get it. 

Yeah, I think Dany's ending is a large part of it. There have been issues with the show for a long time (wtf characterization, plot holes, uneven pacing). And they were honestly not that much worse in season 8 than they were in seasons 5-7. But I think people were willing to overlook those issues if they got the ending they wanted. When spoilers/leaks started coming out about how the show may end, that's when the shit hit the fan.

[ganesh]

This was where it was going with her basically from the start. If you were expecting a happy ending, you weren't paying attention. There's plenty of criticisms of the show, but everyone basically ended up narratively where they should. 

[Winter Rose]

3 hours ago, Katy M said:

If I were to name my kid after a fictional character, it would just be because I liked the name and the character is where I got the idea.

With a name more common than Daenerys, or a title more common than Khaleesi, I could do that. But when it's so unique, I don't think just liking the name would be enough for me to use it if I didn't also like/believe in the character because their association is so entwined. But that's me personally.

[kiddo82]

An oldie but a goodie:  Darker in tone doesn't necessarily equate to better in quality.

[Katy M]

9 hours ago, kiddo82 said:

An oldie but a goodie:  Darker in tone doesn't necessarily equate to better in quality.

Neither does more swearing, more nudity, and more gore.

[Mittengirl]

11 hours ago, Katy M said:

Neither does more swearing, more nudity, and more gore.

I don’t understand why those things are considered “edgy”. Sex, violence and cursing have been around since the beginning.  They are hardly new concepts - making them more graphic doesn’t make them new.

[ganesh]

I'm all for more nudity though regardless. 

[Ohwell]

For me it all depends upon who's nekkid.

[auntlada]

14 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

For me it all depends upon who's nekkid.

And if the person is naked or nekkid.

[anna0852]

29 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

For me it all depends upon who's nekkid.

Yup!

Ragnarok Thor? Absolutely! 

Endgame Thor? Nope!

[Ohwell]

22 minutes ago, auntlada said:

And if the person is naked or nekkid.

Yaaaasssss! 

Nekkid.

[Enigma X]

22 minutes ago, anna0852 said:

Yup!

Ragnarok Thor? Absolutely! 

Endgame Thor? Nope!

No joke, but I found both Thors sexy. Different strokes and all...

[proserpina65]

On ‎05‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 1:10 PM, Winter Rose said:

For my money, this was where Dany's ending was headed but the things to actually push her over the edge were pretty much crammed into these last few episodes. So it wound up looking like it came out of nowhere when, I think, it didn't have to.

Of course, I think to the people over the years who named their kids Khaleesi (or Daenerys, though I heard Khaleesi was more popular), they'd say it wasn't hinted at at all. But I can't help wondering if those that went with Khaleesi just liked the sound of it better or if they didn't realize that was a title, not her name. So I don't know if everything was a matter of not hinting enough or not paying close enough attention??? I guess if I've learned anything, it's that if I were to name my kid after a fictional character, I'd make sure the character was from a story that was already finished.

I didn't see her turn as coming from out of nowhere, but I do think it could've used a little more development.  I liked the character, but also had no problem with how her story ended.  I think people who got more involved in the character reacted more strongly to the storyline.