Party of One: Unpopular TV Opinions

[Anela]

12 minutes ago, tearknee said:

Yeah. I only personally feel that real life can be just too painful.

I understand. 🧡 I loved The Enchanted Wood, when I was a kid. I read other books you mentioned, too. I'm just thinking about some of the things kids deal with today. :) 

Edited October 14 by Anela

[tearknee]

"I'm just thinking about some of the things kids deal with today. :)"

That's ok but as i allude, the whole "mother-daughter bond" as default is ridiculous -- Christie Downs and Riley Ann Sawyers, and Jennette McCurdy, to name but three famous cases, have struggled to break through to the public memory in the long-term. It was my Mom who wanted to be the child phenom not me and much as the Goths were persecuted after Columbine, very few are interested in listening to the women who were *in* JonBenet or Toddlers and Tiaras and other such too princessy stuff.

[proserpina65]

On 10/14/2024 at 10:58 AM, Notabug said:

I can certainly relate to the entire gang wandering through a parking garage for the whole episode after forgetting where they parked their car.  

That was literally the only thing from any episode of Seinfeld to which I could relate.  And the only thing I ever found amusing on that show.

22 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

No. They want adventures, fantasy, etc.

Some do, some don't.  Just like adults, kids are not homogenous when it comes to watch they watch to read and watch.

[Katy M]

On 10/15/2024 at 12:10 PM, proserpina65 said:

That was literally the only thing from any episode of Seinfeld to which I could relate.  And the only thing I ever found amusing on that show.

I had 3 things I found amusing on that show.  The parking lot thing.  The "The sea was angry that day my friend" story.  And the one where Jerry's gf didn't want a taste and then later at the diner there were 2 older ladies there and Jerry saw one of them turn down a taste of pie and he asked why and she said she wasn't hungry and he asked if she told her that and she said "Of course.  I'm not a psycho."  The look on her face and seriousness of declaring herself not a psycho cracks me up.

[Dimity]

On 10/15/2024 at 12:10 PM, proserpina65 said:

That was literally the only thing from any episode of Seinfeld to which I could relate.  And the only thing I ever found amusing on that show.

For me it was the episode with the library cop Lt. Bookman pursuing Jerry over an unreturned library book.

[Blergh]

For me, it was Kramer's pirate shirt inaudible girlfriend because she reminded me of in a having been in a choir with three girl singers who together barely sounded like a single voice which I had a hard time hearing even being on the same stage so I felt bad for the audience trying to hear anything from them!

[DXD526]

For me, it's the close talker episode. I once worked with someone like that, and it was just like on the show! This guy would get right up in your face when talking. And if you backed up, he moved forward! 

[Crashcourse]

23 minutes ago, DXD526 said:

For me, it's the close talker episode. I once worked with someone like that, and it was just like on the show! This guy would get right up in your face when talking. And if you backed up, he moved forward! 

I had a next door neighbor like that!  Thankfully, he moved away a few months ago.

[Ohiopirate02]

I also like Jerry's experience at the car rental place. 'You know how to take a reservation, but you don't know how to keep it." I have not had that exact experience happen to me, but have dealt with something similar. Airline oversells tickets for your flight or it's 2 hours after check in and your hotel room is not ready yet. 

 

There's also a more modern day experience that I would love to see the original Seinfeld characters deal with--that email that says your online order has shipped when in actuality all the company has done is print the shipping label.  And Newman is responsible for my package going from one USPS facility to another and back again, I just know it.

[Browncoat]

1 hour ago, DXD526 said:

For me, it's the close talker episode. I once worked with someone like that, and it was just like on the show! This guy would get right up in your face when talking. And if you backed up, he moved forward! 

I have a co-worker like that now!  I try to make sure I'm sitting down when they come around -- they can't get too close that way.

[Jaded]

👀👀👀
 

 

[tearknee]

[re-thought]

Edited October 25 by tearknee

[bmasters9]

When it comes to game shows, that (IMO) it's actually a good thing if you lose out on a certain prize, like cars on TPIR. Why do I think this? Taxes.

What I mean is that, because taxes on big-ticket prizes like cars, motorhomes, boats and the like are unreasonably onerous (they must be paid to California and your home state, and to Washington as federal income tax), a loss of a pricing game that has a car or similar prize in it may be a financial lifesaver (of course, you'll probably still have to pay taxes on what you won in the bidding before you went on to play that game for that car/similar prize, but those, because they are smaller than cars or motorhomes, would probably have less expensive taxes than would be for a car or motorhome; prize values fluctuate on those things, too, so you never know at any one time how much you're out if you win one).

Of course, you could always go on Jeopardy!, which only has cash, and then you'd know how much you're out, because cash hardly fluctuates in value, and your taxes are cut out (withheld) from what you get.

Edited October 26 by bmasters9

[DrSpaceman73]

1 hour ago, bmasters9 said:

When it comes to game shows, that (IMO) it's actually a good thing if you lose out on a certain prize, like cars on TPIR. Why do I think this? Taxes.

What I mean is that, because taxes on big-ticket prizes like cars, motorhomes, boats and the like are unreasonably onerous (they must be paid to California and your home state, and to Washington as federal income tax), a loss of a pricing game that has a car or similar prize in it may be a financial lifesaver (of course, you'll probably still have to pay taxes on what you won in the bidding before you went on to play that game for that car/similar prize, but those, because they are smaller than cars or motorhomes, would probably have less expensive taxes than would be for a car or motorhome; prize values fluctuate on those things, too, so you never know at any one time how much you're out if you win one).

Of course, you could always go on Jeopardy!, which only has cash, and then you'd know how much you're out, because cash hardly fluctuates in value, and your taxes are cut out (withheld) from what you get.

Yeah the taxes suck.  It's really a discounted car via taxes or you sell it for the money. 

I think if you live in Canada and some countries though winnings are tax free. It's come up before on jeopardy discussions. Nice rule of true. 

[Dimity]

1 hour ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

I think if you live in Canada and some countries though winnings are tax free. It's come up before on jeopardy discussions. Nice rule of true. 

Lottery wins and casino wins are tax free,  I think this is also true for TV game show wins as well.  Of course since mostly on Canadian TV shows you win a Timex watch or a new set of Corelle dishes that's not really all that big a deal...

[Palimelon]

I think my favorite wins ever was once on Wheel of Fortune a few decades ago, but I still remember it well. One of the contestants was from NYC, and she won a prize which was an all expense paid trip to...NYC.

I hope she made a nice staycation out of it.

[Notabug]

The other issue with winning luxury items is that, if you aren't interested in keeping it, it could take a long time to sell.  My dad won a boat in a local contest when I was a kid.  He was not a fisherman, not a sailor; didn't need a boat.  He left it at the dealership where it took well over a year to sell.  Meanwhile, he had to claim it as income and pay the taxes.  

I seem to recall game show winners who have declined to accept certain winnings because of the difficulty in selling something they didn't want or need while still having to pay taxes,

[Irlandesa]

Don't most game shows offer a cash "equivalent?"  It's never an equivalent but it's an option if a contestant doesn't want to mess with the difficulty of selling the items or dealing with a trip they don't want to take.  (For me, it'd be a cruis. I get seasick so no, thank you.)

Edited October 26 by Irlandesa

[DrSpaceman73]

2 hours ago, Palimelon said:

I think my favorite wins ever was once on Wheel of Fortune a few decades ago, but I still remember it well. One of the contestants was from NYC, and she won a prize which was an all expense paid trip to...NYC.

I hope she made a nice staycation out of it.

I saw that once on tpir. But I think it was Colorado somewhere.  

[Shrek]

4 hours ago, Dimity said:

Lottery wins and casino wins are tax free,  I think this is also true for TV game show wins as well.  Of course since mostly on Canadian TV shows you win a Timex watch or a new set of Corelle dishes that's not really all that big a deal...

The same applies in the U.K. makes a huge difference if you win big, like the lottery or say a poker tournament where the first prize is a lot of money. Also applies if you're a British/Canadian taxpayer & you happen to win big in Las Vegas which most if not all casinos are actually set up to handle should you be lucky enough to win. Local Indian casinos are a totally different matter & some have no idea about tax laws for foreigners & how to handle it so they just take out the taxes or try to & will if you let them do what they think is right even though it isn't. 

I've had to deal with both LV & local casinos and it doesn't help that the threshold is so low for being taxed, I think it's $1200 for slots & $2k for other things like poker tournaments.

There was a huge discussion about it on the Jeopardy board with people quoting parts of the tax law (like they knew what they were talking about) and even copying & pasting parts of it while missing the exceptions entirely. 

[janie jones]

4 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Don't most game shows offer a cash "equivalent?"  It's never an equivalent but it's an option if a contestant doesn't want to mess with the difficulty of selling the items or dealing with a trip they don't want to take.  (For me, it'd be a cruis. I get seasick so no, thank you.)

I've always thought the worst things were things like grand pianos. What a hassle.

[tearknee]

"Hey, that thing's great!" -- "DON'T. PRAISE. THE. MACHINE!"

[andromeda331]

11 hours ago, Dimity said:

Lottery wins and casino wins are tax free,  I think this is also true for TV game show wins as well.  Of course since mostly on Canadian TV shows you win a Timex watch or a new set of Corelle dishes that's not really all that big a deal...

I don't know about lottery wins but casino wins aren't tax free. There's amount of money you can win before it kicks in. It used to be 1,200 but I don't know if that's changed. My family went to Vegas once a year and won often. Any time it hit 1,200 that's when the taxes kicked in. Usually figure about half their winnings probably would end up going to pay the taxes on it. You don't pay until tax season. 

The jackpot I won for my 21st birthday was 1,200 so I had to pay six hundred. The other six hundred I bought me a new bed which I still have. 

I always wanted to win a trip to a place I could never afford then a car if I went on a game show. 

[Raja]

I would think that the advertisement opportunity of donating a prize at a discount to the show's producers is what drives awarding them in lieu of just giving cash on the game shows. Speigel Chicago Illinois 60609 is stuck in my head from my youth and I never have seen a catalog of theirs

[Shrek]

12 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

I don't know about lottery wins but casino wins aren't tax free. There's amount of money you can win before it kicks in. It used to be 1,200 but I don't know if that's changed. My family went to Vegas once a year and won often. Any time it hit 1,200 that's when the taxes kicked in. Usually figure about half their winnings probably would end up going to pay the taxes on it. You don't pay until tax season. 

The jackpot I won for my 21st birthday was 1,200 so I had to pay six hundred. The other six hundred I bought me a new bed which I still have. 

I always wanted to win a trip to a place I could never afford then a car if I went on a game show. 

I was talking about UK tax rules which apply if you're a UK tax payer, even in an American casino for ANY wins, you just need an ITIN because the UK & USA have a reciprocal tax agreement. This has been done to death on the Jeopardy thread when there was a Canadian who won big & I'm not doing it again. Let's just say I've regularly won well over double the $1200 as have others I know from the UK & not one of them has ever paid any tax in Las Vegas as the big casinos have people behind the scenes who know the rules & can get you an ITIN at any time.

There's a huge difference between a family trip & professional gamblers who do it for a living, they could probably tell you the tax law as it applies to them in every country that has a casino that they would play in. I'm not a professional but I know a few poker players in the UK who play in the WSOP every year & have done so since the 80s.

I have no idea why you would pay 50% in taxes anyway, it's usually 30% that they take for taxes & as I remember it that's even on the form that they fill in.  You could have got that back anyway on your tax returns as you can offset losses against winnings.

[Dimity]

12 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

The jackpot I won for my 21st birthday was 1,200 so I had to pay six hundred. The other six hundred I bought me a new bed which I still have. 

In Canada (as a Canadian) you'd have kept that 1,200 intact.  I am guessing though as an American if you won here you'd have to declare it in the US (no idea) but I know people who've won a lot more than that and basically just went home with a fistful of 20s (in one case $9,000!!!) and there was no tax involved.  The casino gives you your winnings and you go home - your only concern might be whether friends you were out with that night wanting a share!

[bmasters9]

And a long time ago, Thom McKee on Tic Tac Dough won $312,700 in cash and prizes in 1980, and among what he won was 8 cars (he got one for winning every 5 games; he won 43 games, so he got 8 cars), and he had a good line about how bad game show taxes are and have been in the 1988 book Come on Down! by Jefferson Graham (it's on page 104). He stated, "I pity the people who win on [the daytime] Wheel of Fortune. They only get merchandise--no cash to pay off the taxes. We had to pay the government $70,000. I kept saying, 'What did the government ever do to help me win this?'"

Also among Thom's winnings were quite a few trips (far as I recall, he couldn't take any of them owing to his military obligations [he was in the Navy]).

[bluegirl147]

Years ago when Oprah was doing her favorite things give aways the audience members had to pay taxes on the gifts. Oprah did pay taxes on the cars she gave away.

[Notabug]

2 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

Years ago when Oprah was doing her favorite things give aways the audience members had to pay taxes on the gifts. Oprah did pay taxes on the cars she gave away.

If the show pays the taxes, doesn't that just add to the value of the gift and increase the amount of taxes?  Does the IRS allow taxes as gifts?

[bluegirl147]

I don't know how they did it.  Since the IRS was getting the money directly maybe they didn't consider it a gift.

[proserpina65]

On 10/26/2024 at 8:01 AM, bmasters9 said:

Of course, you could always go on Jeopardy!, which only has cash, and then you'd know how much you're out, because cash hardly fluctuates in value, and your taxes are cut out (withheld) from what you get.

When I was on Jeopardy, I got a check for the full $1000 third-place prize.  No taxes taken out at all.  I had to include it in my income for that year when filing federal and my state tax returns and actually had to file a return for California since it was earned there.  But it was still better than winning some $50,000 car and having to pay the taxes on that.

[Ceindreadh]

9 hours ago, Notabug said:

If the show pays the taxes, doesn't that just add to the value of the gift and increase the amount of taxes?  Does the IRS allow taxes as gifts?

They would probably just gross up the calculation.  So if say the tax rate was 20% and they gifted an 8k value item, the gift value would be deemed to be 10k, 2k would be paid to the IRS and the remaining 8k would be given to the recipient. 

If say they wanted the recipient to get 10k into their hand, they'd have to declare a gift of 12.5k, pay 2.5k in tax, leaving 10k to the recipient.  

[Haleth]

That was my first thought with Elon Musk’s giveaway - do the winners know they have to pay taxes on this money?

[Affogato]

4 minutes ago, Haleth said:

That was my first thought with Elon Musk’s giveaway - do the winners know they have to pay taxes on this money?

Some don’t. But poor people buy lottery tickets and most of the time they lose. If you told them they would be taxed, they’d be angry at the government and think Trump would fix it. 

[Kel Varnsen]

On 10/26/2024 at 10:59 AM, Dimity said:

Lottery wins and casino wins are tax free,  I think this is also true for TV game show wins as well.  Of course since mostly on Canadian TV shows you win a Timex watch or a new set of Corelle dishes that's not really all that big a deal...

There is The Amazing Race Canada. The prize for that is typically $250,000 two brand new GM cars, a trip around the world and at one point they were also giving away gas for life. When you consider that all of those prizes are tax free it's probably not far off what the winners of the US Amazing Race take home, since the prize there is $1 million.

On 10/26/2024 at 12:32 PM, Notabug said:

The other issue with winning luxury items is that, if you aren't interested in keeping it, it could take a long time to sell.  My dad won a boat in a local contest when I was a kid.  He was not a fisherman, not a sailor; didn't need a boat.  

I have read similar stories about people on The Price is Right winning like a shuffle board table or a large pool table when they live in apartments. I think one of the stories I read was by the time they paid for storage and the taxes they barely broke even with the money they made selling it.

[Spartan Girl]

My current UO is that I’m so over the parental excuse of “I’m doing the best I can” because on most shows it’s used for a character’s parent to non-apologize for what can be pretty crappy behavior toward their children. 

Yes, parents aren’t perfect but you can’t coast on that excuse forever. Especially in situations where you really screwed the pooch on parenting! Either do better or don’t.

[bluegirl147]

13 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

My current UO is that I’m so over the parental excuse of “I’m doing the best I can” because on most shows it’s used for a character’s parent to non-apologize for what can be pretty crappy behavior toward their children. 

Yes, parents aren’t perfect but you can’t coast on that excuse forever. Especially in situations where you really screwed the pooch on parenting! Either do better or don’t.

Speaking of parents it might not be unpopular but I hate when a character is a villain but we  hear but they love their kids.  I'm rewatching Knots Landing and I keep hearing that about Abby.  See also JR Ewing.

[Affogato]

37 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

Speaking of parents it might not be unpopular but I hate when a character is a villain but we  hear but they love their kids.  I'm rewatching Knots Landing and I keep hearing that about Abby.  See also JR Ewing.

Everyone loves their kids, to the extent they are capable of love, which may be limited. It isn’t a virtue, just a thing that happens. Loving and respecting other people’s kids is harder. 

Edited Wednesday at 01:29 PM by Affogato

[proserpina65]

4 hours ago, bluegirl147 said:

Speaking of parents it might not be unpopular but I hate when a character is a villain but we  hear but they love their kids.  I'm rewatching Knots Landing and I keep hearing that about Abby.  See also JR Ewing.

Me, too.  Cersei Lannister may have loved her kids, but she still had hundreds of people killed in her pursuit of power.  Thousands even, if you count the population of Kings Landing who died because she refused to give up.

4 hours ago, Affogato said:

Everyone loves their kids, to the extent they are capable of love, which may be limited. It isn’t a virtue, just a thing that happens. Loving and respecting other people’s kids is harder. 

Actually there are people who don't even love their own children.

[Affogato]

9 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

Me, too.  Cersei Lannister may have loved her kids, but she still had hundreds of people killed in her pursuit of power.  Thousands even, if you count the population of Kings Landing who died because she refused to give up.

Actually there are people who don't even love their own children.

I have known some. 

[Palimelon]

Quote

Speaking of parents it might not be unpopular but I hate when a character is a villain but we  hear but they love their kids.  I'm rewatching Knots Landing and I keep hearing that about Abby.  See also JR Ewing.

I think it's almost a trope of sorts, to humanize the character and make them less one dimensional. Though I'd argue it worked more for Abby than for JR. Then again, I always found her to be a fascinating character even without her kids.

[Dimity]

1 minute ago, Palimelon said:

I think it's almost a trope of sorts, to humanize the character and make them less one dimensional.

Same with giving a villain a pet.  I guess we're supposed to feel that despite everything there is some good in even the vilest of people.  

[Quof]

22 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

My current UO is that I’m so over the parental excuse of “I’m doing the best I can” because on most shows it’s used for a character’s parent to non-apologize for what can be pretty crappy behavior toward their children.

Dr. Phil always used to say to his "contestants" with horrible childhoods "but your parents did the best they could".

If your brakes fail, would it be okay that your mechanic did the best he could? Surely if you undertake a job, you are obligated to learn how to do it well.

[supposebly]

1 hour ago, Quof said:

If your brakes fail, would it be okay that your mechanic did the best he could? Surely if you undertake a job, you are obligated to learn how to do it well.

Just another reason I think there should be an exam you need to pass before you are allowed to parent. We make people get licenses to drive cars but not to raise children? The mechanic got training, the parents don't.

At least not with the first one. And even with the second, no one tells them what they did wrong until that child grows up and tells them exactly what they did wrong.

I'm not excusing bad parenting but I think the comparison with the mechanic doesn't work. He got training. And got to practice on many cars.

[Browncoat]

 

[Spartan Girl]

And all this is why even though Hank Summers on Buffy was a despicable father, that doesn’t necessarily make Joyce the better parent by default, especially when she tried to pull the “Mom’s not perfect” crap after she threw Buffy out of the house then acted like Buffy should’ve stuck around anyway. And refused to even apologize for it, instead blaming Giles for everything. And the show expected is to side with Joyce because “being a parent is hard.” Ugh.

Edited Thursday at 12:32 PM by Spartan Girl

[Affogato]

It is like “nobody’s perfect.” It is true. Do you learn from the mistake or use it as an excuse to keep on doing what you are doing? 

[kathyk2]

On 10/30/2024 at 9:29 AM, Affogato said:

Everyone loves their kids, to the extent they are capable of love, which may be limited. It isn’t a virtue, just a thing that happens. Loving and respecting other people’s kids is harder. 

I disagree some characters had abusive parents or no parents at all so loving their children is a sign of growth. 

[andromeda331]

On 10/30/2024 at 6:05 PM, Browncoat said:

 

I love that speech. It's so good and heartbreaking. He's right and it really sucks. I think of that scene a lot with terrible parents'. 

[JustHereForFood]

On 10/30/2024 at 1:51 PM, bluegirl147 said:

Speaking of parents it might not be unpopular but I hate when a character is a villain but we  hear but they love their kids.  I'm rewatching Knots Landing and I keep hearing that about Abby.  See also JR Ewing.

Oh, yes. See also many shows/movies about the mob where people excuse them with "Oh, but they do it for their family", "They are such a close family", etc. Who cares? The people they hurt have families too.

 

On 10/31/2024 at 1:31 PM, Spartan Girl said:

And all this is why even though Hank Summers on Buffy was a despicable father, that doesn’t necessarily make Joyce the better parent by default, especially when she tried to pull the “Mom’s not perfect” crap after she threw Buffy out of the house then acted like Buffy should’ve stuck around anyway. And refused to even apologize for it, instead blaming Giles for everything. And the show expected is to side with Joyce because “being a parent is hard.” Ugh.

IMO, Joyce was lowkey retconned into this supermom once they decided to kill her off. And apparently some sort of mother figure to the other kids, which just didn't work with the previous seasons. Sure, there was the Dawn retcon, so she might have been more involved in the new reality, but we remember the original one and she wasn't that.