Party of One: Unpopular TV Opinions

[DoctorAtomic]

When Tennant went into Shouty Ten, I didn't think he was particularly interesting. However, across roles since then, he's considerably improved as an actor. Maybe he was directed that way, but I think he'd have some say in it. When you look at the whole "I don't want to go", that was well done. But Ten isn't my favorite of the new era. 

At the time, I don't think he could have pulled off the Dalek episode as Eccleston did. 

 

[Wiendish Fitch]

One thing I liked about Eccleston's Doctor was that he was allowed to not only be wrong, but be framed as in the wrong. One problem with Doctor Who, post-Tennant (and probably during his time), is that the Doctor has become the Super-Duper-Gee-Whiz-Greatest-Thing-in-the-Whole-Universe that everyone is expected to kowtow to. Nearly all the characters salivate over how awesome and amazing the Doctor is, and they (the Doctor) are never, ever, ever wrong. I find that more than a little insufferable, to be honest.

In the past, the Doctor was cool, sure, but they were allowed to be flawed, wrong, have problems, and not have everyone be awestruck by their existence. I agree with YouTuber hbomberguy that Steven Moffat is the most responsible for Mary Sue-ing the Doctor, and I hope this is rectified in upcoming seasons.

That, and the show really needs to lighten the hell up and quit taking itself so seriously. The grim lighting, the dreary storylines, the ham-fisted themes, it's become such a drag.

[ABay]

Here's an episode for Unsolved Mysteries: How could Steven Moffat be such a good script writer and such a disaster as showrunner?

My favorite companions have been Donna and Romana I, both of whom  addressed the Doctor as equals.

[JustHereForFood]

4 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

One thing I liked about Eccleston's Doctor was that he was allowed to not only be wrong, but be framed as in the wrong. One problem with Doctor Who, post-Tennant (and probably during his time), is that the Doctor has become the Super-Duper-Gee-Whiz-Greatest-Thing-in-the-Whole-Universe that everyone is expected to kowtow to. Nearly all the characters salivate over how awesome and amazing the Doctor is, and they (the Doctor) are never, ever, ever wrong. I find that more than a little insufferable, to be honest.

In the past, the Doctor was cool, sure, but they were allowed to be flawed, wrong, have problems, and not have everyone be awestruck by their existence. I agree with YouTuber hbomberguy that Steven Moffat is the most responsible for Mary Sue-ing the Doctor, and I hope this is rectified in upcoming seasons.

That, and the show really needs to lighten the hell up and quit taking itself so seriously. The grim lighting, the dreary storylines, the ham-fisted themes, it's become such a drag.

I would politely suggest the new special then, because one of the main complains from certain people is that one of the characters dared to "lecture" the Doctor about something 😉.

Although, I remember that Clara sort of did that too and she was also accused of being Mary-Sue.

[Mabinogia]

4 hours ago, ABay said:

Here's an episode for Unsolved Mysteries: How could Steven Moffat be such a good script writer and such a disaster as showrunner?

Seriously! He has written some of my favorite Doctor Who episodes and yet I loathed what he did to the show when he was in charge. I think Moffat is one of those guys who has really great ideas but is kind of all over the place, so as a one off writer he is brilliant. Blink will forever be my favorite Doctor Who episode and the Weeping Angels were downright chilling (until they kept coming back. They never should have come back). 

But as a showrunner, he comes across as thinking he knows better than everyone. He did this with Sherlock as well. His original characters had to be the greatest ever and it would often end up overshadowing the long time characters that other people created. Like he thought he knew better than Conan Doyle on how to Sherlock or thought he knew better than decades of other Doctor Who creatives on how to Who. He also sucks at writing women. Clara was insufferable and his version of Irene Adler was laughable. 

And yet, I cannot deny, the man can write an amazing script. 

[Lugal]

6 hours ago, ABay said:

Here's an episode for Unsolved Mysteries: How could Steven Moffat be such a good script writer and such a disaster as showrunner?

I said it at the time and I stand by it: Moffat is the Idea Guy.  He can come up with some really interesting and creative stories, but he needs someone overseeing him to make him fit it all together into a coherent whole.

[proserpina65]

On 11/30/2023 at 11:09 AM, Wiendish Fitch said:

That, and the show really needs to lighten the hell up and quit taking itself so seriously. The grim lighting, the dreary storylines, the ham-fisted themes, it's become such a drag.

Yeah, some of my favorite OG Doctor Who episodes were just fun.

[Zella]

On 11/30/2023 at 4:46 PM, Mabinogia said:

But as a showrunner, he comes across as thinking he knows better than everyone. He did this with Sherlock as well. His original characters had to be the greatest ever and it would often end up overshadowing the long time characters that other people created. Like he thought he knew better than Conan Doyle on how to Sherlock or thought he knew better than decades of other Doctor Who creatives on how to Who. He also sucks at writing women. Clara was insufferable and his version of Irene Adler was laughable. 

Yeah I never watched Dr. Who, but I am still salty about Sherlock. If I see Moffat's name attached to something, I immediately pass now. I'm sure he cries himself to sleep at night knowing I boycott him 😂 but still. 

[ABay]

Recently I was scrolling through Britbox(?) and saw something that looked really interesting to me and I was just about to open it when I saw the name Steven Moffat and backed out.

[meep.meep]

The only good thing about Dr. Who is they run new episodes on Christmas.

 

[Spartan Girl]

Dark Willow was a huge misfire for Buffy and yet another example of how Whedon failed female characters.

Granted, I did like Willow finally being forced to reckon with how dependent she was becoming on magic and how she used it to make everything "better" instead of actually coping with her problems and insecurities. But instead of a well-crafted storyline where she learns to rebuild an identity for herself without magic, we got Tara being fridged just for Willow to go crazy all so that Xander could save her with his love (barf), and all that development thrown completely out the door the following season just to give a "Willow has good magic so it's all better now" fix. It's just as bad as "yes we had no business pulling Buffy back from the dead, but she has to suck it up and be grateful to be alive anyway."

[Kel Varnsen]

6 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Dark Willow was a huge misfire for Buffy and yet another example of how Whedon failed female characters.

Granted, I did like Willow finally being forced to reckon with how dependent she was becoming on magic 

The only thing I remember about that dumb storyline was how the writers couldn't seem to make up their mind if Dark Willow was something where it was a dependency thing combined with emotional distress where she did hold some kind of responsibility for her actions or if she was possessed and the murders and everything were completely not her fault.

[JustHereForFood]

13 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

The only thing I remember about that dumb storyline was how the writers couldn't seem to make up their mind if Dark Willow was something where it was a dependency thing combined with emotional distress where she did hold some kind of responsibility for her actions or if she was possessed and the murders and everything were completely not her fault.

Well, it was a ripoff of Dark Phoenix Saga after all.

[proserpina65]

This "bi-generation" bullshit has destroyed Doctor Who for me.  They've finally ruined everything which made the show fun.  It's like Russell Davies and his writers were sitting around thinking up new ways to shit all over the Doctor's established mythology.

[Jaded]

On 12/11/2023 at 1:00 PM, proserpina65 said:

This "bi-generation" bullshit has destroyed Doctor Who for me.  They've finally ruined everything which made the show fun.  It's like Russell Davies and his writers were sitting around thinking up new ways to shit all over the Doctor's established mythology.

I just read a couple articles about the recent Dr. Who episodes to see what the "bi-generation" thing was all about. I feel for newest actor to portray the Dr. because the way he got introduced read like it was catering to a particular group people who didn't deserve to be. That's what I got from the way that everything happened was described.

Even though I liked Matt Smith's run as the Dr. for the most part I was kind of worn out emotionally by the end in a way that made it hard to continue watching. I saw a few of Capaldi's episodes with the last one being Clara's exit and haven't felt like picking it up again since.

[BlueSkies]

I think Meadow Soprano is more unlikeable than AJ.

 

Online over the years it seems AJ gets most of the hate of the Soprano kids.  Not that he was a saint either 

[proserpina65]

On 12/16/2023 at 12:56 AM, Jaded said:

I just read a couple articles about the recent Dr. Who episodes to see what the "bi-generation" thing was all about. I feel for newest actor to portray the Dr. because the way he got introduced read like it was catering to a particular group people who didn't deserve to be. That's what I got from the way that everything happened was described.

I just get more and more annoyed every time they change things about the Doctor's mythology when it's not for the benefit of the character or the show but, like in this case, is just about servicing the fans of one particular actor.

[Blergh]

OK, not the biggest fan but I've caught a few episodes here and there of Superman and Lois.

Here's the deal. From Supe's original comic book concoction, to movies, to radio series and television, it's always had its audience suspend their beliefs that even Clark's nearest and dearest friends & colleagues are clueless that he could the Supe with JUST a pair of glasses and maybe oversized suits successfully disguising his ID. Even during the pre-'Net age of motion pictures and news photography  that would have been impossible in Real Life to have happened.

However, the successive depictions even into the age of 'Net, AI,etc. kept that premise. ..

Until Supe's powered twin son Jordan showed up as a 'masked avenger' in a reptilian 'suit' that exposed part of his jawline in footage. ..which got his folks and DOD grandfather to go into complete hysteria over Jordan being linked to Supe for REAL. Never mind that they'd had Jordan's twin bro Jonathan's evil  juvenile delinquent doppelganger from an alternate Earth show up and  did massive destruction and nearly get BOTH planets destroyed yet somehow no one outside the family picked up on the possibility of him possibly being linked to Supe- to say nothing of Supe flying and zooming around maskless in his form-fitting suit with CCTV and news services worldwide picking up and broadcasting it to every online and offline viewer!

 Come ON! I mean,its bogus to suddenly dump the whole suspension of disbelief and panickly act as though a brief glimpse of Jordan's jawline somehow was the equivalent of broadcasting the process of making atomic bombs on Soviet television!

[Affogato]

I really liked the final episode of Rosanne. The last season was off kilter/weird and the finale pulled it together. In retrospect it changed the slant of the entire series. 
 

veronica Mars did something similar. There was something off in season 4, and we catch up to real time, very likely for the first time in the series, and she is telling what happened to the therapist. Suddenly things make sense, but in a different way. 
 

Anyway, those are my two really unpopular opinions!

Edited December 26, 2023 by Affogato

[Gharlane]

On 11/11/2023 at 5:45 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

How about this? They did an episode where the Jetsons went down to the ground and the Flintstones were living there. 

I have no recollection of such an ep,  but then again, every time I watched it was the one with Elroy running away and joining some bank robbers.

I do remember an ep of The Flinstones attending the World's Fair(?) and entering a kook's time machine that turned out to actually work and meeting the Jetsons.

[JimmyJabloon]

I don't care for Pedro Pascal. Or Paul Rudd.

[EtheltoTillie]

7 hours ago, JimmyJabloon said:

I don't care for Pedro Pascal. Or Paul Rudd.

Ooh, that is unpopular! LOL

[Shannon L.]

9 hours ago, JimmyJabloon said:

I don't care for Pedro Pascal. Or Paul Rudd.

We have a winner!  ;)

[annzeepark914]

On 11/8/2023 at 8:59 PM, Blergh said:

Always liked Bugs and was happy when Daffy would get what he deserved!

What?!? Daffy is my spiritual brudder. Only 3 people have told me I have a lisp: my mom, my dad, and decades later, my eventual husband (he likes to live on the edge 😉). Looney Tunes (not the modern ones) were really meant for adults, IMO. I especially enjoyed the New Yawk accents (& those brassy attitudes) of some of the characters. Was it Sylvester who would spit out "sufferin' succotash"? 

Edited January 13 by annzeepark914

[kiddo82]

12 hours ago, JimmyJabloon said:

I don't care for Pedro Pascal. Or Paul Rudd.

I don't dislike Paul Rudd but he does fall into this category of generically good looking, affable, white dudes who get universal love despite being pretty one note.  (See also Ryan Reynolds.)  It's not their fault, and more power to them for that, but it does seem like they get away with playing the same types of roles over and over while others might get criticized for not stretching themselves.

My UO is I have listened to a few episodes of the podcast Smart/Less with Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes and I can only put up with it if they interview a guest I'm interested in.  I think the only one who comes across really well is Sean Hayes.  Bateman and Arnett seem as if they are trying too hard to be the funniest person in the room and it's a turn off.

[BlackberryJam]

My unpopular opinion on Paul Rudd is I think that dude is aging poorly. Whenever I see those “he’s not aging” memes, I wonder if people need eye exams.

[Avabelle]

15 hours ago, kiddo82 said:

I think the only one who comes across really well is Sean Hayes.  Bateman and Arnett seem as if they are trying too hard to be the funniest person in the room and it's a turn off.

Agree. Hayes comes off like a really nice guy. Arnett is not that funny yet I think he thinks he’s hilarious. Bateman comes off quite arrogant. I listen to a lot of this actor turned podcaster podcasts and it’s definetly the most pretentious. It’s an hour long and I’d say 40 minutes are sponsored ad breaks and 20 minutes are of mutual ass kissing is spent between them and the guest. 

[Shannon L.]

4 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

My unpopular opinion on Paul Rudd is I think that dude is aging poorly. Whenever I see those “he’s not aging” memes, I wonder if people need eye exams.

Yes. I love Paul Rudd and think that he's aging pretty well, but I don't get those memes, either. He's definitely, and quite obviously,  aging. 

[kathyk2]

The ad for the new season of Young Sheldon is awful. It shows Sheldon duct taped to a wall that's hazing and isn't funny. 

[Egg McMuffin]

6 hours ago, Avabelle said:

Arnett is not that funny yet I think he thinks he’s hilarious.

This x 1000. I also get the sense that Arnett thinks he’s really handsome. And he’s not.

[Wiendish Fitch]

Will Arnett is actually pretty amusing in interviews when he's simply telling anecdotes, but when he's required to be funny in terms of acting? I think he tends to overdo it. 

[JimmyJabloon]

Arcane- heimerdinger needed to be booted out. Good scientist, terrible leader. Jace gets way too much unnecessary hate.

 

Friends- Some of my favourite moments of the show are from the later seasons. Did not care for mondler proposal, but that might just be because of my general dislike of proposals. Phoebe was a shit stirrer.

 

ATLA/LOK- if you're gonna borrow concepts and words from other countries/cultures, the least you can do is pronounce them correctly. The sheer disrespect towards south asian words was painful to watch. If they are not English words, stop saying them like English words. Pronunciation matters in other languages.

 

I just don't find IASIP funny post s12. Couldn't sit through the latest season.

[bluegirl147]

7 hours ago, JimmyJabloon said:

I just don't find IASIP funny post s12. Couldn't sit through the latest season

I watched the first season and didn't find it funny at all.

 

20 hours ago, Avabelle said:

Arnett is not that funny yet I think he thinks he’s hilarious.

I have always gotten an asshole vibe from him.  If he wasn't in show biz he would have a middle management job somewhere and act like he is a lot more important than he is.

20 hours ago, Avabelle said:

Bateman comes off quite arrogant.

Whenever I see him play an asshole like he did in Bad Words and Central Intelligence I think I bet he is just playing himself.  

 

[DrSpaceman73]

10 hours ago, JimmyJabloon said:

Arcane- heimerdinger needed to be booted out. Good scientist, terrible leader. Jace gets way too much unnecessary hate.

 

Friends- Some of my favourite moments of the show are from the later seasons. Did not care for mondler proposal, but that might just be because of my general dislike of proposals. Phoebe was a shit stirrer.

 

ATLA/LOK- if you're gonna borrow concepts and words from other countries/cultures, the least you can do is pronounce them correctly. The sheer disrespect towards south asian words was painful to watch. If they are not English words, stop saying them like English words. Pronunciation matters in other languages.

 

I just don't find IASIP funny post s12. Couldn't sit through the latest season.

Iasip is well beyond its prime. The last 3 seasons have been disappointing. 

 

I think they've all moved on to other things and aren't as focused. 

 

I'd have rather seen the mick continued than the latest seasons of always sunny

[kiddo82]

I really liked The Mick.

[proserpina65]

On 1/14/2024 at 4:32 PM, kathyk2 said:

The ad for the new season of Young Sheldon is awful. It shows Sheldon duct taped to a wall that's hazing and isn't funny. 

It's from one of last season's episodes.  The context of the improves it for me because it wasn't just hazing, it was an extreme reaction to his extreme behavior, but I can understand it not working for everyone.

[BlueSkies]

I love Al Bundy but his job as a woman's shoe salesman really didn't seem as bad as he was making it out to be.  Anyway from what I remember his boss was never even around most of the time.  

[DoctorAtomic]

He must have been paid decent enough because they always went to the nuudieee bar! 

 

[Hava]

I just finished watching The Shield for the first time after hearing such rave reviews, and I didn't really like it as a whole. It started off strong, but, by season 4, it really started to drag for me. I didn't care about any of the characters, other than Claudette. 

Edited January 18 by Hava

[Kemper]

I don't know where else to put this....so here goes

I loathe networks marathoning shows; I think HGTV started the trend. Even with different hosts, the shows are all the same.  

And then there is the worst example - USA with Law and Order SVU. Seemingly for days. I love Mariska H but I am sick to death of her, her hair and her drama. (I will lap from my saucer of cream now). 911 is the newest for the all-day treatment.

Paramount with Bar Rescue or some such. Is it still in production?

Bones and several other shows are marathoned on different networks. At the same time.  Maybe it is me; maybe I watch too much tv. Maybe I only enjoyed Bones for the first couple of seasons. As my daughter tells me sometimes ... I have First World Problems.

[Raja]

53 minutes ago, Kemper said:

Paramount with Bar Rescue or some such. Is it still in production?

Season 9 is due in late March of 2024.

[JimmyJabloon]

Rome: Not sure how unpopular this is, but I did not like Servilia one bit. She wasn't even entertaining.

[JustHereForFood]

13 hours ago, JimmyJabloon said:

Rome: Not sure how unpopular this is, but I did not like Servilia one bit. She wasn't even entertaining.

I didn't like her either, but I have to admit the way she ended it was kind of badass.

[Gharlane]

On 1/14/2024 at 4:32 PM, kathyk2 said:

The ad for the new season of Young Sheldon is awful. It shows Sheldon duct taped to a wall that's hazing and isn't funny. 

I grew tired of Sheldon by the second season or so of tBBT, so I have no idea why you'd want to watch a show about him as a child.

[bluegirl147]

20 hours ago, Gharlane said:

I grew tired of Sheldon by the second season or so of tBBT, so I have no idea why you'd want to watch a show about him as a child.

Young Sheldon also focuses on Sheldon's family.  They are much more interesting.  The character of Sheldon has become much more annoying as he has aged on YS.  We are definitely seeing the beginnings of adult Sheldon.

[proserpina65]

23 hours ago, Gharlane said:

I grew tired of Sheldon by the second season or so of tBBT, so I have no idea why you'd want to watch a show about him as a child.

I felt the same way but then saw a few episodes when absolutely nothing else was on and I was bored.  I actually love Young Sheldon (the show) while still not liking Sheldon (the character).  I just enjoy most of the rest of the family.

But I totally get it because I would never have thought I'd enjoy any show with so much more Sheldon.

 

[Chaos Theory]

On 12/2/2023 at 10:33 AM, ABay said:

Recently I was scrolling through Britbox(?) and saw something that looked really interesting to me and I was just about to open it when I saw the name Steven Moffat and backed out.

See that’s why I don’t do that.   Moffat is a show runner on a Netflix show called “Inside Man”.   It’s not great but it does something I really appreciate it doesn't treat a particular female character like a victim which it could have done pretty easily.    Plus it’s only like 4 (maybe 5 haven’t looked lately) episodes and has David Tennant as a main character.

 

On 2/8/2024 at 1:37 PM, Gharlane said:

I grew tired of Sheldon by the second season or so of tBBT, so I have no idea why you'd want to watch a show about him as a child.

I actually really liked BBT until it became The Sheldon Cooper show.   When it was still an ensemble I thought it was well made for a sitcom (which are not my favorite genre).  I did like how the show wrote Leonard from the start.  Yes he was that annoying tropy character but the reasons for it were consistent and even realistic.    But when the showrunners started to drop the premise of 4 nerds and the hot chick Nextdoor  in favor of  how smart and weird is Sheldon and how miserable can he make everyone and still be funny the show got less amusing for me.

Edited February 9 by Chaos Theory

[Zella]

12 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

But when the showrunners started to drop the premise of 4 nerds and the hot chick next  in favor of  how smart and weird is Sheldon and how miserable can he make everyone and still he funny the show got less amusing for me.

That was my breaking point too. At a certain point, I just refused to believe that anyone would willingly spend time with Sheldon. 

[juno]

12 hours ago, bluegirl147 said:

Young Sheldon also focuses on Sheldon's family.  They are much more interesting.  The character of Sheldon has become much more annoying as he has aged on YS.  We are definitely seeing the beginnings of adult Sheldon.

It is a bit different for me but Sheldon on this show that is not the most annoying. I can't stand Mandy. Mainly because she treats George so poorly. Bordering on abusive and that is something I can't tolerate.

[JustHereForFood]

22 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

See that’s why I don’t do that.   Moffat is a show runner on a Netflix show called “Inside Man”.   It’s not great but it does something I really appreciate it doesn't treat a particular female character like a victim which it could have done pretty easily.    Plus it’s only like 4 (maybe 5 haven’t looked lately) episodes and has David Tennant as a main character.

Ha, I have just watched Inside Man last week and knowing that it was written by Moffat, I kept thinking how obvious it is. The secondary cases (those solved by Stanley Tucci) especially looked like scrapped ideas from Sherlock, IMO. Complete guesses masquerading as deduction. Plus, it had the Moffat trademark of trying to make the main character look so smart by making anyone else too stupid.