Party of One: Unpopular TV Opinions

[Misslindsey]

I always liked Richard Blais from Top Chef and do not mind at all that he is a judge this season. When he is commenting on the cheftestant's food, I do not think he is anymore dickish or mean than the rest of the judging panel. I always thought during his time as a cheftestant on Top Chef that he was harder on himself, and that he was mad at himself when things did not work out the way he wanted.

[Minneapple]

On Arrow: I don't think Laurel is the worst thing on television. It is unbelievable what people are accusing her of in the wake of Sara's death. Yes, I'm sorry that Sara died. I adored Sara. I'm still angry that she's dead. But I've also accepted that this is the plan that the showrunners had, for Laurel to be the Black Canary. And you know what? I'm actually glad that they're going through with it. Because it means it's clear that they have a plan, and at least they're sticking to it. People accuse the Arrow writers of fanservice, well -- here you go, here is one instance of them killing off a popular character and giving an unpopular character a more prominent role in the main storyline.

[ribboninthesky1]

Random UPO: Though I enjoy some of his music, I've never found Lenny Kravitz remotely attractive or sexy.  His physical appeal is completely lost on me.  Is he aging well? Yep, absolutely.  But I've never seen the man, and thought, "Yep, totally bangable."

[AntiBeeSpray]

I think Benjamin Sisko is the best Star Trek captain (closely followed by Picard), and Deep Space Nine the best Trek, hands down.

 

Gotta disagree there. I tried watching DS9 once and it was just too soapy.

[janie jones]

Random UPO: Though I enjoy some of his music, I've never found Lenny Kravitz remotely attractive or sexy.  His physical appeal is completely lost on me.  Is he aging well? Yep, absolutely.  But I've never seen the man, and thought, "Yep, totally bangable."

I felt the same way until I saw him live.  Then I changed my tune.

[Ambrosefolly]

On Arrow: I don't think Laurel is the worst thing on television. It is unbelievable what people are accusing her of in the wake of Sara's death. Yes, I'm sorry that Sara died. I adored Sara. I'm still angry that she's dead. But I've also accepted that this is the plan that the showrunners had, for Laurel to be the Black Canary. And you know what? I'm actually glad that they're going through with it. Because it means it's clear that they have a plan, and at least they're sticking to it. People accuse the Arrow writers of fanservice, well -- here you go, here is one instance of them killing off a popular character and giving an unpopular character a more prominent role in the main storyline.

It reminds me of my own take on the ending of HIMYM.Kudos to the show and especially the actress for managing to craft such a likable character for the mother that I wasn't wishing for her death, but knowing that they stopped filming the kids after a couple years, I was glad that they committed to a decision that they made years beforehand.

[Jeebus Cripes]

On Arrow: I don't think Laurel is the worst thing on television. It is unbelievable what people are accusing her of in the wake of Sara's death. Yes, I'm sorry that Sara died. I adored Sara. I'm still angry that she's dead. But I've also accepted that this is the plan that the showrunners had, for Laurel to be the Black Canary. And you know what? I'm actually glad that they're going through with it. Because it means it's clear that they have a plan, and at least they're sticking to it. People accuse the Arrow writers of fanservice, well -- here you go, here is one instance of them killing off a popular character and giving an unpopular character a more prominent role in the main storyline.

 

My biggest peeve with Laurel as Canary is how rail thin the actress is. I don't much have beef with the show for killing Sara, but Cassidy needs to put on some weight and muscle in a hurry because otherwise, I will never buy it.

[amensisterfriend]

I haven't watched Grey's Anatomy in several seasons, but I caught part of an episode while channel surfing today, which reminded me of a few UOs I had about that show :) 

 

1) I really liked Ellen Pompeo as an actress---she actually made the widely despised Meredith somewhat likable and relatable for me, and on paper I would have really disliked her character. (And I know most DID really dislike her character!) 

2) I couldn't stand "McDreamy", starting with the fact that they called him McDreamy. I thought he was smirky,smug, and incredibly dull.

3) Something about Katherine Heigl/Izzie just irked me from the very first episode. I had that same visceral "ugh" reaction to her that most had to Meredith, and that's even before the Ghost Sex storyline!

4) I thought Meredith had far better chemistry with Alex than she did with McDreamy.

5) The show always had its flaws, but overall I thought the first 3 or so seasons were genuinely good TV---incredibly engaging and at times even insightful.  (And this is coming from someone who's never liked anything that Shonda Rhimes has done since!) I always hear Grey's mentioned alongside shows like "The Real Housewives of (fill in location of your choice)" as shameful "guilty pleasures", but I have the UO of thinking the early years of Grey's were genuinely well done.  Maybe I just have REALLY low standards :) 

Edited October 22, 2014 by amensisterfriend

[ToxicUnicorn]

but I have the UO of thinking the early years of Grey's were genuinely well done.  Maybe I just have REALLY low standards :)

 

I will confess to having watched and enjoyed some of early year Grey's.  I liked the idea of watching the freshman class (or whatever they were called) come in as competitors and then forge some kind of bond through trial by fire.  I liked the Christina character, (both House and Grey's debuted somewhere around then, and the brilliant jerk idea was still new and shiny for me), and I also liked Alex and George as non-McDreamy type of male characters. 

 

As it became obvious that McDreamy and Meredith were the focus and then everyone else paired up in ways that didn't make any sense to me, I lost interest.  I probably watched long enough to qualify as having really low standards, though.

 

There are a lot of Tumblr sensations that I don't get, and Darren Criss is number one on that list for me. He's a mediocre singer and actor, and his facial expressions are embarrassing.

 

I didn't know Darren Criss was a Tumblr sensation.  As long as I am making confessions, I guess I was a fan of the introduction of the Warblers, including Blaine, on Glee.  I loved hearing the a capella (of The Beezelbubs) and enjoyed the over the top song and dance numbers, and I thought Darren's expressions were sort of perfect for the cheesiness of Glee.  I enjoyed him.

 

Again, as the show turned into this horrible, preachy, caricature of itself that centered too much on pairings, I tuned out.  I probably agree that Criss is not the best actor, but I do think his style lent itself well to a silly musical theater kind of entertainment, which I've always assumed was his goal.

 

Then again, there's probably no accounting for (my) taste.

[truthaboutluv]

I didn't know Darren Criss was a Tumblr sensation.

 

 

As far as I know he wasn't. The story I've always heard about Darren is that he and his college friends started this Starkid Production while attending the University of Michigan, where they put on plays that they wrote, did the music for, etc. Their most popular was a Harry Potter type spoof thing that far as I know was posted on YouTube and got a lot of hits. So when he was cast on Glee, there were people who knew of him and stanned for him I guess from his Starkid days.

 

Honestly, my Darren Criss unpopular opinion is that I find some of the Glee fandom's hate for him kind of over the top and excessive. It seemed that for some, Glee's falling apart and becoming an embarrassing mess seemed to be put solely on him and that makes no sense to me. If anyone is to blame for the joke Glee has become it's the writers. As to not understanding why he's liked or has fans I guess, honestly, in my opinion it's pretty simple. He's a good looking, charming guy. 

 

When your fanbase is largely teenage girls, it really doesn't take more than that. And Darren is not the worse actor ever, not great but not the worse and I do think he's a decent singer. So you add looks to that and really, it's not rocket science. Since when has Hollywood ever been about the the most talented people ever. Plenty of people who are only marginally talented become super successful.

[Almost 3000]

3) Something about Katherine Heigl/Izzie just irked me from the very first episode. I had that same visceral "ugh" reaction to her that most had to Meredith, and that's even before the Ghost Sex storyline!

 

Never watched the show but for a moment or two with Izzie and had an immediate hate of the character so even though friends loved the show and talked it up I just couldn't watch it. But love Scandal so its not Shonda...

and while I'm at it something about the actor Adrien Brody just makes my teeth itch but I managed to look past him for The Grand Budapest Hotel. Those are the only two that I've had a physically negative reaction to in recent memory and it just feels good to say (type) it.

[Haleth]

Something about Katherine Heigl/Izzie just irked me from the very first episode

In the promos for her new show she says, "Total slob in my personal life, total sniper in my professional one." With a straight face. I burst out laughing every time I hear this. Yeah, she's a BAMF alright. Edited October 23, 2014 by Haleth

[braziliangirl]

 

1) I really liked Ellen Pompeo as an actress---she actually made the widely despised Meredith somewhat likable and relatable for me, and on paper I would have really disliked her character. (And I know most DID really dislike her character!)

Me too. Meredith is flawed but I really like her. And I could understand knowing her background. Agree with your opinion about Mcdreamy. One of my favourite scenes is her smackdown "You don't get to call me a whore". I loved that speech. (Another speech I love from a different show: Felicity's season 2  to Ben, "I need to be emotional". Awesome. I feel a lot of woman could use both speechs in real life)

[Sara2009]

I think Darren Criss is a Tumblr sensation now because of his " Glee" character. He has a huge fan base on there.

[truthaboutluv]

I think any actor/actress/singer who is fairly popular gets a lot of activity on Tumblr. My understanding is that many of the fans and activity that happened on forums and livejournal moved to Tumblr and twitter. Hell the DWTS tumblr tag gets a lot of activity between the shipping of Pros and their celebrities, who doesn't like one Pro versus another, etc. Again if your fanbase is heavily teen to early 20-something, you're going to have a lot of activity on twitter, tumblr, Instagram, etc.

[ganesh]

In the promos for her new show she says, "Total slob in my personal life, total sniper in my professional one."

 

I don't think I could come up with a more unoriginal idea for a show if you paid me. 

[gator12]

Downton Abbey: Edith is terribly selfish who doesn't think of anyone else but herself because she sure isn't thinking about the well-being of her child. With taking and removing her from families since she wanted to have her cake and eat it too. And Mary villainous acted doesn't make me sympathize for Edith. 

[selkie]

Okay I take back anything vaguely nice I said about Honey Boo Boo before. Mama June is slime.

[Wiendish Fitch]

I don't care how unexciting everyone finds him, I think Henry Francis is a thousand times the man Don Draper will ever be (maybe that isn't saying much, but it still needed to be said).

 

Mal Reynolds, Logan Echolls, and Perry Cox? All bullying, hateful asshats who deserve to be brought down a hundred pegs. 

 

Veronica Mars is an idiot for associating with an unrepentant date rapist like Dick Casablancas.

 

Now for some old school: I liked The Munsters more than The Addams Family, simply because I love Grandpa. Also, Yvonne de Carlo is made of awesome.

 

On DS9, I never understood why everyone all but genuflected to the memory of Curzon Dax. He sounded like a lecherous old creep to me.

 

Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery is attractive, but I don't think Lady Mary's so ravishingly beautiful that men everywhere would go to the ends of the earth for her. I also don't think Lady Edith is this hideous troll, either (I would kill for Laura Carmichael's complexion).

 

Maybe I'm just stupid, but I never got the appeal of Kids in the Hall. Sorry.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

I think Henry Francis is a thousand times the man Don Draper will ever be (maybe that isn't saying much, but it still needed to be said).

 

I don't know if I would say I think Pete Campbell is a "better" man than Don, but I like Pete more than almost all of the other characters.

[Kel Varnsen]

Mal Reynolds, Logan Echolls, and Perry Cox? All bullying, hateful asshats who deserve to be brought down a hundred pegs. 

Logan Echolls was a jerk but on the other hand look at his life within the span of the show. If you go from the year before the show started to the time the show ended, his girlfriend was killed, his best friend was the prime suspect, his mom died, his dad was revealed to be the murderer of his girlfriend (who he was sleeping with at the time), a bunch of his friends died on a bus that he was almost on, his dad died, another kid committed suicide right in front of him and a guy he was friends with almost raped his girlfriend. Oh and his father was also physically abusive to him. If that is not a recipe to turn a teenager into an asshat I don't know what is.

[junemeatcleaver]

 

If that is not a recipe to turn a teenager into an asshat I don't know what is.

 

If Logan was a real teenage boy with those problems, then yes, I probably would have felt sorry for him.  But Logan was a fictional 16 year old boy played by a 20-something year old actor, so I just rolled my eyes after whatever trauma was revealed that was supposed to make me feel sorry for him.  I think I completely turned against that character the moment Logan's father opened his Logan Torturing Instruments closet.  It just reeked of "you're supposed to root for this character, dammit" to me.

[GreekGeek]

I don't care how unexciting everyone finds him, I think Henry Francis is a thousand times the man Don Draper will ever be (maybe that isn't saying much, but it still needed to be said).

 

I like him, too, and I hope Betty gives him the love and appreciation he deserves. Everyone takes him to task for his first appearance when he was so fascinated by Betty's pregnant belly. Yes, he was kind of creepy, but least he asked permission to touch it. 

[Anna Yolei]

On DS9, I never understood why everyone all but genuflected to the memory of Curzon Dax. He sounded like a lecherous old creep to me.

The icing on that cake was the episode where the DS9 crew became mediums for the Dax's prior hosts and Curzon basically admits he kicked Jadzia out the program because of his own lust for her. Not even Enterprise's infamous Night in Sickbay episode was so blatant in sexism, and that's a tall order. It wasn't often that the DS9 staff fucked up, but it was pretty epic when they did.

The Curzon fangirling also touches on why Jadzia didn't work well for me as a character: they spent far to much time developing the former and not the latter. Literally every episode of the first three seasons but one focuses on Curzon or his past and if it's not about him, it's one of the other hosts. With the exception of "Rejoined" which had more going for it just another former host history, I would rather marathon the last two seasons of Glee than sit through Dax episodes.

Okay I take back anything vaguely nice I said about Honey Boo Boo before. Mama June is slime.

I've gotta agree here. I hope Sugar Bear gets custody of Alana and the other girls, even if tgey are not biologically his. But fuck Mama June.

[Bruinsfan]

I don't envy the family court judge who has to choose between a woman knowingly dating someone convicted of molesting one of her daughters and man who once set someone on fire and is now broke and homeless.

[merylinkid]

broke and homeless can fixed.   Among other thngs he would get child support.   Not caring about the safety of the kid when it has already been demonstrated your can't trust this guy around your kids is a whole other matter.  Especially since she has also demonstrated she will believe the guy rather than her own kid.

[Minneapple]

Logan Echolls was a jerk but on the other hand look at his life within the span of the show. If you go from the year before the show started to the time the show ended, his girlfriend was killed, his best friend was the prime suspect, his mom died, his dad was revealed to be the murderer of his girlfriend (who he was sleeping with at the time), a bunch of his friends died on a bus that he was almost on, his dad died, another kid committed suicide right in front of him and a guy he was friends with almost raped his girlfriend. Oh and his father was also physically abusive to him. If that is not a recipe to turn a teenager into an asshat I don't know what is.

Everyone on that show dealt with crazy trauma. Just look at Veronica herself. Her girlfriend was killed, she and her dad were ostracized, she was raped, her mom left, she was nearly killed by Aaron. It's not okay to make that excuse just for Logan and no one else. Same with the writers' stupidity of "POOR DICK," because you want me to feel bad for the guy who encouraged his brother to rape an unconscious girl? When he himself expressed no remorse for his actions? NO THANKS.

 

Reportedly Rob Thomas was fascinated by fandom's love for Logan and wanted to see just how far the fanbase would go to forgive anything he did. That's why Logan hooked up with Madison in season three.

[Wiendish Fitch]

Everyone on that show dealt with crazy trauma. Just look at Veronica herself. Her girlfriend was killed, she and her dad were ostracized, she was raped, her mom left, she was nearly killed by Aaron. It's not okay to make that excuse just for Logan and no one else. Same with the writers' stupidity of "POOR DICK," because you want me to feel bad for the guy who encouraged his brother to rape an unconscious girl? When he himself expressed no remorse for his actions? NO THANKS.

 

Reportedly Rob Thomas was fascinated by fandom's love for Logan and wanted to see just how far the fanbase would go to forgive anything he did. That's why Logan hooked up with Madison in season three.

 

Thank you, Minneapple, it scares me to think it's unpopular to see Dick Casablancas for the worthless asshole that he is, so it's a relief when someone agrees with me.

[galax-arena]

Same with the writers' stupidity of "POOR DICK," because you want me to feel bad for the guy who encouraged his brother to rape an unconscious girl?

I read one online article that praised Veronica Mars for its treatment of rape/rape culture and I thought, “…Seriously?!" This is the show that completely glossed over Dick spiking a drink and encouraging his little bro to rape an unconscious girl, and had Veronica being friendly with him and blaming an innocent girl - well, innocent in that Madison didn’t know the drink was spiked - for the rape instead!

 

And yeah, I realize that just because a character thinks a certain way doesn’t mean that the show endorses it, but the problem was that the show DID seem to endorse it. At least, the narrative never called Veronica out on feeling that way and (IMO) implicitly supported her. Compare it to the ep where she took down Adam Scott as a creepy teacher. Then, Veronica was an asshole who had her head stuck firmly up Adam Scott’s ass, but at least the story showed us that she couldn’t have been more wrong.

Edited November 3, 2014 by galax-arena

[cynic]

I don't like Felicity Smoake. I didn't like her during my short stint as a reluctant Arrow viewer and I especially didn't like her turning up on the Flash, which is a show I actually enjoy. Obviously, unlike apparently everyone else, I don't think the Flash would be improved by the addition of either a Felicity clone or Felicity herself.

I like Jake on Scandal. Sure, he's done horrible things, but then, so has every other single person on the show. They all suck, so sliding scale. I hope the show ends with Jake and Olivia escaping back to their island as Fitz weeps tears of bitterness.

I enjoy Fish Mooney. I'm normally meh on Jada Pinkett Smith, but I find her delightful in this role for some reason. As far as I'm concerned, she can eat all the scenery she wants. And I hope she keeps rocking those crazy outfits.

[ribboninthesky1]

Speaking of The Flash, I think Joe is a controlling asshole of a father.  There is little awesome about him, particularly as it relates to his daughter, Iris.  She's a young woman, but she's not a child.  Yet, he insists on treating her like one, and even acting like one himself when he doesn't agree with her life choices.  I watched all of the recently aired episodes in one sitting, and his character is a significant turn-off.  I don't think I'll be watching any future episodes.  

[Miss Dee]

UO: I still like Sleepy Hollow. I like Hawley and Sheriff Reyes. I think it's early in the season and we'll see Jenny and Irving by and by. I don't think Abbie is relegated to being "the help." I don't think Ichabod is an asshat or that Katrina is an albatross around the show's neck. I think John Noble is still fun to watch. In short, while it's got going pains this season I still look forward to it every week. And I'm thinking maybe I should just avoid any discussion of it until people calm down.

[ganesh]

Uh oh. I just started watching this show. I'm only on season 1, episode 5. I think it's a lot of fun. It's not great, but it's good. The pace is brisk, things happen, and there's no stupid will they/won't they with the leads. And they both don't have time for bs. 

 

One of my biggest peeves in this modern explosion of original content is that shows aren't allowed to be good. Or even fun for that matter. It's either the Best Thing Ever or it sucks. 

[cynic]

UO: I still like Sleepy Hollow. I like Hawley and Sheriff Reyes. I think it's early in the season and we'll see Jenny and Irving by and by. I don't think Abbie is relegated to being "the help." I don't think Ichabod is an asshat or that Katrina is an albatross around the show's neck. I think John Noble is still fun to watch. In short, while it's got going pains this season I still look forward to it every week. And I'm thinking maybe I should just avoid any discussion of it until people calm down.

I agree with you about Hawley. I like him too. He irritates Crane and a pissy Crane is an amusing one. I wish he didn't have a history with Jenny though, because I think I could get behind a thing between him and Abbie, as long as it was slowburning and didn't eat the show.

As for the rest....no comment.

[ribboninthesky1]

One of my biggest peeves in this modern explosion of original content is that shows aren't allowed to be good. Or even fun for that matter. It's either the Best Thing Ever or it sucks. 

 

Unfortunately, with the massive amount of content out there, plus the online forums/media to deconstruct and obsess over said content, short attention spans and impatience seem inevitable.  One thing I appreciate about Internet streaming is that now, I have the ability to watch several episodes, an entire season, or several seasons, in a condensed period to really get a sense if I enjoy the show.  I think the old model of watching live every week with the new reality of real-time reactions or immediate postmortems feeds into verbal minority syndrome (though it only seems to be an issue when the verbal minority is overwhelmingly negative).  I've gotten caught up in it before, which is why I'm learning to stay away from some discussions.    

[Miss Dee]

Unfortunately, with the massive amount of content out there, plus the online forums/media to deconstruct and obsess over said content, short attention spans and impatience seem inevitable. One thing I appreciate about Internet streaming is that now, I have the ability to watch several episodes, an entire season, or several seasons, in a condensed period to really get a sense if I enjoy the show. I think the old model of watching live every week with the new reality of real-time reactions or immediate postmortems feeds into verbal minority syndrome (though it only seems to be an issue when the verbal minority is overwhelmingly negative). I've gotten caught up in it before, which is why I'm learning to stay away from some discussions.

Sorry, I don't know why it didn't print my reply; I'm on my phone and have no idea how to edit from here. Anyway, my reply was to say you are right on, and I think I'll follow your lead.

It's too bad though. I love discussing the good and bad of shows in a thoughtful way, and it's hard now to find the signal among the noise.

[ganesh]

I don't go into the GOT or TWD forums for that reason. Everyone has a hair up their ass about something, and I don't talk in the Leftovers anymore either because no one wanted to have critical discussions either. 

 

It's fine to not be super patient because there's more choices for original content, but it seems like after 25 seconds the show sucks and is the worst thing ever, if it's not the best show ever. 

 

Most of us managed to stick it out for Halt And Catch Fire. It started slow and unfocused, but turned out to be a good show. I think part of it is the cynical paradigm we're stuck in. 

[ribboninthesky1]

It's fine to not be super patient because there's more choices for original content, but it seems like after 25 seconds the show sucks and is the worst thing ever, if it's not the best show ever. 

 

That's the problem I have with "best show EVAH/best thing on TV/best show you're not watching" declarations, especially during or after a show's first season. And it's also why I think the sophomore slump causes such disappointment.  In addition, I think it's easier to overlook a show's flaws in the first season because it's new and fresh and often gimmicky, but subsequent seasons, IMO, tell the tale if the storytelling is really engaging.  

[ganesh]

Oh yeah. No doubt. 

 

If I do watch a show, I shut out all media. I really don't like if I'm in an episode thread and someone posts about something in the news about the show. "Everyone knows such and such character is leaving at the end of the season, so this is why they did that in this episode." I actually don't know those things. 

[2KllMckngBrd]

Wiendish Fitch: I agree with you 100%. Captain Kirk put the 'cheese' in CHEESY! lol

Piccard and Kirk are almost an unfair comparison. To me it's like comparing cast of 1960's Batman, to the Batman movies or even Gotham. I think no one else but Shatner/Kirk could have brought the necessary cheese required to make an episode like the "tribbles". But I also don't think Kirk could have existed in the world that Piccard, the Counselor, Warf, and No. 1 lived in either.

 

Unpopular Opinion: I hated Janeway w/the heat of a nova. Loved Kate Mulgrew on Ryan's Hope. But her turn as ship captain made me want to jump thru the tv and punch her in the face.

 

And Avery Brooks was Hawke on Spencer For Hire so he had me at Spen-saar Baby! Will love him forever, no matter the role. And Sisko was pretty fly.

 

 

Okay I take back anything vaguely nice I said about Honey Boo Boo before. Mama June is slime.

I was not a Honey Boo Boo watcher. But after hearing so much about the show and family, my son and I made ourselves watch 1 ep. It was a Christmas ep from 12-16mnths ago. About halfway through my son and I agreed that we couldn't watch anymore. But at the same time we had a convo about how classist and dismissive people were being about this family. They appeared to love and respect each other. It wasn't our cup of tea but good for them. That opinion wasn't very popular w/the folks we know. lol.

 

Fast forward to last few months. WTF? This is so far past a cancelled tv show. Mama June should be prosecuted for endangering her children. Period. And if not, they should be given to wolves. Wolves are very loyal. And will kill any MF'er that threatens their fam.

Edited November 5, 2014 by 2KllMckngBrd

[Anna Yolei]

Oh yeah. No doubt.

If I do watch a show, I shut out all media. I really don't like if I'm in an episode thread and someone posts about something in the news about the show. "Everyone knows such and such character is leaving at the end of the season, so this is why they did that in this episode." I actually don't know those things.

On a tangent to this, I don't give a fuck about most BTS drama/following actors on social media. Back on the Old Board, when there was one thread for most shows, the Young and the Restless fandom there would go on for PAGES about every tweet from Eric Braedan or Micheal Muhney or anything about them, and crowded out actusl show discussion. It got exponentially worse after the latter was sacked from the show. I am never one for censorship, but I almost sent Howard a email thanking her for the Muhney discussion ban.

[BizBuzz]

Oh yeah. No doubt. 

 

If I do watch a show, I shut out all media. I really don't like if I'm in an episode thread and someone posts about something in the news about the show. "Everyone knows such and such character is leaving at the end of the season, so this is why they did that in this episode." I actually don't know those things. 

 

Just a non official note - if this happens, immediately report it.  There are mods online almost all hours of the day and can hide it immediately so that more people don't get spoiled.  We try to watch ourselves, but when one mod is handling over 30-40 forums, we can miss things at times and so we count on you all to help us.  ::giggle::

[ganesh]

On a tangent to this, I don't give a fuck about most BTS drama/following actors on social media.

 

I don't mind if it's fun stuff like, 'hey we adlibbed that last part of the scene,' or 'it was super cold out when we filmed that.'

 

People involved with shows have gotten too far away from letting the show speak for itself. I'm very rigid in this: if it's not onscreen, then it didn't happen. And I don't mean being spoon fed everything. There's a line where you are inferring things from watching the show to you fanwanking what happened and doing the writers' jobs for them. Leftovers was notorious for this. 

[Bruinsfan]

It's fine to not be super patient because there's more choices for original content, but it seems like after 25 seconds the show sucks and is the worst thing ever, if it's not the best show ever.

To be fair, in the more extreme cases those reactions can still be valid. I knew by the end of the opening teaser that Wonderfalls was going to be an immensely enjoyable viewing experience, and the only reason I sacrificed a full hour of my life to the Viva Laughlin pilot was morbid curiosity about exactly how bad a show could get. (Spoiler alert: Melanie Griffith sings.) But the vast majority of programming falls well to the middle of those extremes.

[ganesh]

Most programming does. That's my point: people are ready to condemn a show forever on the strength of the first episode. A good pilot should be able to draw you in and hold your interest enough that you want to at least check out a second episode.

 

What's really hard now is that a lot of new shows are genre/super hero/fantasy/etc so that those first episodes have the additional job of world building + exposition + introduce characters. I usually give a show 5 episodes. I think it's fair if by then if TPTB don't really know the show they have or what they want to do, then it's not going to work.

 

Honestly, I enjoy Game of Thrones, but I wasn't blown away. I think the scope is just so huge that it can backfire. For whatever reason, I was completely blown away after the first episode of Outlander. Other than that, most shows I watch are good, and I don't think shows are allowed to be good anymore. 

[ABay]

Unpopular Opinion: I hated Janeway w/the heat of a nova. Loved Kate Mulgrew on Ryan's Hope. But her turn as ship captain made me want to jump thru the tv and punch her in the face.

Mind if I pull up a chair to this table? The Irish coffee's on me. Janeway lost me with the very first decision in the very first episode, the reason the show existed. Ugh. I still miss Ryan's Bar sometimes, though.

[Wiendish Fitch]

I couldn't get behind Janeway because Kate Mulgrew insisted on talking in that horrendous, third-rate Katherine Hepburn impersonator voice.

 

Love her on Orange is the New Black, though.

[2KllMckngBrd]

Mind if I pull up a chair to this table? The Irish coffee's on me. Janeway lost me with the very first decision in the very first episode, the reason the show existed. Ugh. I still miss Ryan's Bar sometimes, though.

Don't mind at all. Happy for the company. And you were dead on about the primary prob. I thought Janeway was wrong from the jump. So everything after that mattered very little.

 

I can still see the whole Ryan clan calling out Mary. Oh, Da. Lol. Another UO: I hated Mary w/Jack. He was a horses' ass. Although, the Jack Fenelli character became infinitely more bearable as a single father, after they killed off Mary.

[ribboninthesky1]

I don't mind if it's fun stuff like, 'hey we adlibbed that last part of the scene,' or 'it was super cold out when we filmed that.'

 

People involved with shows have gotten too far away from letting the show speak for itself. I'm very rigid in this: if it's not onscreen, then it didn't happen. And I don't mean being spoon fed everything. There's a line where you are inferring things from watching the show to you fanwanking what happened and doing the writers' jobs for them. Leftovers was notorious for this. 

 

Agreed, though I think the latter was an inevitable result of the former.  I'm one who isn't all that interested in behind-the-scenes, blooper reels, cast/crew interviews, etc.  You know, the mechanics of a show.  I'm interested in the story and characters and how that plays out.  I usually don't give a damn what Actor X thinks about their character - I care about how they portray the character.  I don't care what Showrunner Z thinks about their show, fan reaction, etc - I care about how they make it come to life on screen. 

 

So I think Pandora's Box was opened when the audience began to get engaged by cast and crew in a way that breaks that 4th wall.  There's an entire facet of the industry dedicated solely to deconstructing/marketing TV that didn't exist 10-15 years ago.  Plus, TV is more competitive.  I understand why some viewers are more impatient and cynical, though I also suspect much of the premature praise or criticism of a show is a mix of obsession and youth.  The anonymity of the internet means that you have all age groups mixed in together sharing opinions, but particularly the younger set chiming in on shows.  I'm sure my preteen or teen self would come off extreme or fickle as well, if I had access to discussion forums at the time.   

[Shannon L.]

 

UO: I still like Sleepy Hollow. I like Hawley and Sheriff Reyes. I think it's early in the season and we'll see Jenny and Irving by and by. I don't think Abbie is relegated to being "the help." I don't think Ichabod is an asshat or that Katrina is an albatross around the show's neck. I think John Noble is still fun to watch. In short, while it's got going pains this season I still look forward to it every week. And I'm thinking maybe I should just avoid any discussion of it until people calm down.

I completely agree with you.  I do miss Jenny and Irving, but I have this theory that they're working on building characters to help Ichabod and Abbie at the end game and that's going to mean showing certain characters more often than others just to establish who everyone is.  Now, if by the middle of next season, we're still missing a lot of Jenny and Irving, I might start grumbling, but for now, I'm still ok with the show.  Also, while Katrina isn't my favorite character, I don't dislike her as much as many fans seem to.  I think I'll avoid discussion groups, too.