Party of One: Unpopular TV Opinions

[zxy556575]

I'll assume this is a UO because it was a highly rated and buzzy show, but I started watching Downton Abbey yesterday and my, what a load of hooey. I couldn't stand most of the characters (with special loathing for Lady Mary), and the few I did like were made to suffer. I watched about a season and a half waiting for it to get better but it kept digging the same grave.

[Sandman87]

On Friday, November 04, 2016 at 10:18 AM, UYI said:

Conan O'Brien once showed Harrison Ford a clip of the special on old late night talk show. When he announced that they had a clip of it--after HF had tried to deny it even existed--the latter looked like he was ready to shit his pants.

I always wanted to host a late-night talk show just so I could do that to celebrities "Hello, Sean Connery. We have a clip from your latest movie , so let's take a look." (Shows a clip of Zardoz)

[ganesh]

Zardoz was an *awesome* movie.

[ParadoxLost]

On ‎11‎/‎7‎/‎2016 at 1:41 PM, Chaos Theory said:

How long has The Walking Dead been on?  6 years?  Honestly I think shows that old are way past their prime.  Most "good" shows have six or seven years in them before they write themselves into mediocrity.  The Walking Dead has never been my show so I don't know but it sound like it is right about at its tipping point.

I don't think age is the problem, I do think it has a high correlation with the root cause.

Showrunners get board with the show as time goes along and run out of ideas.

But that can happen really early.  With Walking Dead, they fired the showrunner that championed bringing the comic to TV in season 2.  Now they are left with his replacement and the writer of the source material who is of the ilk of retreading the ground he's been over already with no interest at all in delving any deeper in a new medium.  Then there are shows like Once Upon a Time, where they clearly had an idea of what they wanted to do in season 1 and having been grasping at straws ever since.

Then you've got shows like South Park that is in season 20 and I'd argue that its the smartest thing on TV right now.  They are hooked into current events.  They evolved, moving from standalones to season story arcs.  I bet that years from now, these last two seasons are going to be something historians look at to try to understand what was happening during this time period.

[Chaos Theory]

32 minutes ago, ParadoxLost said:

Then you've got shows like South Park that is in season 20 and I'd argue that its the smartest thing on TV right now.  They are hooked into current events.  They evolved, moving from standalones to season story arcs.  I bet that years from now, these last two seasons are going to be something historians look at to try to understand what was happening during this time period.

Shows like South Park and the Simpsons and other animated hits I don't really count because they can virtually go on forever because they are cartoons.  All you need is a voice and someone tied into social and political whatever to write for the voice  oh and someone who can draw  you need that as well.  Its not like you have to write for a 16 year of Bart Simpson and you can basically kill Kenny for the rest of eternity.  

Its the rest of television that has a shelf life.  Well police procedurals are probably the other exception.  A good procedural can go on for eternity as well.  Most other shows do have a definite shelf life that at least I feel is around the five year mark before they start "feeling" stale.  

Edited November 15, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[aradia22]

Quote

How long has The Walking Dead been on?  6 years?  Honestly I think shows that old are way past their prime.  Most "good" shows have six or seven years in them before they write themselves into mediocrity.  The Walking Dead has never been my show so I don't know but it sound like it is right about at its tipping point.

Quote

I don't think age is the problem, I do think it has a high correlation with the root cause.

Showrunners get board with the show as time goes along and run out of ideas.

 

That makes sense to me. I don't think, in theory, that you can't have a great long running show. But the actors and writers start to have other interests that they might not be able to pursue with the constraints of the show they've built and the time constraints of the shooting schedule. I think shows also run into a problem depending on the initial seed that was planted. I loved Gossip Girl and watched all of it but it wasn't totally tied to the books (in a way something like Game of Thrones is more faithful and has a blueprint) and while there were entertaining moments throughout the run and I think they did a lot of good things, they were also scrambling a lot to produce drama and yeah, I'm sure some things won't make sense when I get around to my binge watch one of these days. My beloved Law & Order OG did better as a procedural that could also be adaptable to current events but around the end (the Connie Rubirosa years) I think it lost some of its energy and the cast didn't work for me. And then you have shows built around some premise like Saved By the Bell or even Community. How do you keep things going when you're in a school but they're supposed to graduate? With the way TV shows are pitched and sold, it's more shocking that they can last as long as they do.

[Blandings]

I always see so much love everywhere for Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine Nine, so I think my most unpopular opinion is that I don't think either of those shows are funny at all. I tried really hard to like them and just can't. 

[cpcathy]

I've NEVER thought Parks and Rec was funny.

[zxy556575]

5 hours ago, Blandings said:

I always see so much love everywhere for Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine Nine, so I think my most unpopular opinion is that I don't think either of those shows are funny at all. I tried really hard to like them and just can't. 

I agree. I must have tried 5-6 times to watch both of those and it never stuck.

Can we add Community to the list?

[topanga]

6 hours ago, Blandings said:

I always see so much love everywhere for Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine Nine, so I think my most unpopular opinion is that I don't think either of those shows are funny at all. I tried really hard to like them and just can't. 

 

1 hour ago, lordonia said:

I agree. I must have tried 5-6 times to watch both of those and it never stuck.

Can we add Community to the list?

Yeah, I've never felt compelled to tune into any of those. 

What about The Mindy Project? Is it worth watching?

[aradia22]

Community- I enjoyed it but I didn't always find it funny. I think of it more as a drama with jokes. Harmon is kind of a weird guy (I don't mean that in a bad way) so I don't think it's the kind of show that's always supposed to be hilarious. Also, I got caught up in the Annie/Jeff shipping they'd throw out once in a while. But I didn't get through all of the yahoo season. 

Parks & Rec- Haven't watched, want to watch if only to get "treat yo self" and other memes. 

Brooklyn Nine Nine- Have watched, didn't stick with it. It gets exhausting. I'm on the verge of quitting The Late Late Show with James Corden and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. For the most part I think BNN is funny when I do get around to watching it and sometimes downright hilarious but I don't really have the space for a standard sitcom in my life.

The Mindy Project- I loved it at first. Over the course of the show, there were a lot of bright spots. But since Jody showed up, I haven't really kept up with it. Also, I'm too cheap to pay for hulu when I don't want to watch their shows that much (compared to say Spotify, because I listen to music all the time and there's more variety). I might pick it up again but it's a difficult show to love because I think there was too much fiddling with it and they haven't gotten to build the right story slowly. First she was rushing through boyfriends/hook ups and then it always seemed like they made a big decision for drama or a joke and then had to play it out to the show's detriment. Unfortunately that one is too serialized to skip around.

Unpopular opinion: I think I miss Smash. But only in retrospect now knowing all the Broadway talent that was featured on it because it got a little tedious to watch week to week. At some point I realized they were never going to turn it around and write that story the way it should be written.

[DearEvette]

28 minutes ago, aradia22 said:

The Mindy Project- I loved it at first. Over the course of the show, there were a lot of bright spots. But since Jody showed up, I haven't really kept up with it. Also, I'm too cheap to pay for hulu when I don't want to watch their shows that much (compared to say Spotify, because I listen to music all the time and there's more variety). I might pick it up again but it's a difficult show to love because I think there was too much fiddling with it and they haven't gotten to build the right story slowly. First she was rushing through boyfriends/hook ups and then it always seemed like they made a big decision for drama or a joke and then had to play it out to the show's detriment. Unfortunately that one is too serialized to skip around.

Yeah I gave up on TMP.  Like you I enjoyed it at first but then it fizzled for me.  When it went to Hulu, I liked that it got darker, but it really dd a character assassination on Danny.  But now it feels like nothing but a pure vanity project.  The number of guys who fall madly, hotly in love with Mindy is just unrealistic.  And since that is about all there is with the plot -- basically Mindy meeting a new guy and getting together with him about every three episodes or so, it is rather boring.  And the supporting characters (excluding Jody) get zero character development.  They function as nothing but enablers & cheerleaders to Mindy's love life.

[kiddo82]

9 minutes ago, aradia22 said:

Community- I enjoyed it but I didn't always find it funny. I think of it more as a drama with jokes. Harmon is kind of a weird guy (I don't mean that in a bad way) so I don't think it's the kind of show that's always supposed to be hilarious. Also, I got caught up in the Annie/Jeff shipping they'd throw out once in a while. But I didn't get through all of the yahoo season. 

Community could be all over the map sometimes but I think my opinion just depended on whether or not I bought into the concept of each individual episode.  For instance, Dungeons and Dragons, Remedial Chaos Theory, and the Heart of Darkness episode are some of my favorite half hours of television.  However, others fell flat to me because I either didn't appreciate the references or I just wasn't interested in them.  For better or worse, when they went high concept they were all in, (an animated episode in the vein of the GI Joe cartoons from the 80s?) which means they risked that at least some of the audience wouldn't care.  In fairness though I think it's worth the risk as I think spelling out your references for the audience kinda devalues the cleverness and humor to them.  You just have to be prepared to take the good with bad.  

 

I'd like to add Better Things to the not funny list.  Everyone on that show is pretty miserable all the time and I don't really find it subversive, dark, dry, or absurd.  At least Parks and Rec had this optimistic charm to it.  Better Things just makes me sad.  Serious question, is it a half hour drama?

[DittyDotDot]

12 hours ago, kiddo82 said:

Community could be all over the map sometimes but I think my opinion just depended on whether or not I bought into the concept of each individual episode.  For instance, Dungeons and Dragons, Remedial Chaos Theory, and the Heart of Darkness episode are some of my favorite half hours of television.  However, others fell flat to me because I either didn't appreciate the references or I just wasn't interested in them.  For better or worse, when they went high concept they were all in, (an animated episode in the vein of the GI Joe cartoons from the 80s?) which means they risked that at least some of the audience wouldn't care.  In fairness though I think it's worth the risk as I think spelling out your references for the audience kinda devalues the cleverness and humor to them.  You just have to be prepared to take the good with bad.  

Yeah, I'm not sure I'd say Community was funny as much as just fun to watch what sort of whack-a-do they'd pull off each episode. 

Parks and Rec I wouldn't say was funny either, but more charming than anything. My enjoyment of Parks and Rec more stems from living in a small Midwestern town and seeing how small town government is just that ridiculous at times. ;)

Edited November 17, 2016 by DittyDotDot

[ganesh]

I don't think Jon Stewart would have had a demonstrable impact on the election. I think these kinds of shows, which I like, can be just as problematic. 

[magicdog]

On 11/14/2016 at 4:27 PM, Chaos Theory said:

Shows like South Park and the Simpsons and other animated hits I don't really count because they can virtually go on forever because they are cartoons.  All you need is a voice and someone tied into social and political whatever to write for the voice  oh and someone who can draw  you need that as well.

That's not entirely true.  Even animated shows can suffer if the writing isn't up to par or the focus shifts.  Danny Phantom suffered in season 3 due to losing writer Steve Marmel.  The underlying storyline he was working on during the first 2 seasons suddenly vanished with no resolution (among other questionable things that occurred during the final season).   Butch Hartman's  other show, Fairly Oddparents has been running for nearly a decade and is completely unwatchable since the characters devolved into caricatures.  Even The Simpsons has run its course IMO.  The key is having a showrunner and/or writers who love the characters and the premise.  If you hate the characters, they inevitable result is the characters becoming unlikeable and the show collapsing in on itself.    

[In2You]

7 hours ago, magicdog said:

That's not entirely true.  Even animated shows can suffer if the writing isn't up to par or the focus shifts.  Danny Phantom suffered in season 3 due to losing writer Steve Marmel.  The underlying storyline he was working on during the first 2 seasons suddenly vanished with no resolution (among other questionable things that occurred during the final season).   Butch Hartman's  other show, Fairly Oddparents has been running for nearly a decade and is completely unwatchable since the characters devolved into caricatures.  Even The Simpsons has run its course IMO.  The key is having a showrunner and/or writers who love the characters and the premise.  If you hate the characters, they inevitable result is the characters becoming unlikeable and the show collapsing in on itself.    

Fairly Odd Parents has technically been running for over a decade ( I still remember when it was just a series of shorts) though it stopped for about a year and its revival has been unwatchable. The god awful live action movies did not help.

[ganesh]

I like the holidays, but my UO is people who complain about them; having to cook, shopping, etc. Then don't do it. There's no law. 

[Madding crowd]

People complain about having to much to do to make themselves feel important. The moms where I live seem to be in a competition on who has the least free time. 

[callmebetty]

6 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

People complain about having to much to do to make themselves feel important. The moms where I live seem to be in a competition on who has the least free time. 

That is the best description. I know so many people like that too. 

[ganesh]

I'm making turkey tacos all for me because IDGAF. I'm going to have tons of free time to watch football and play video games. 

[Drogo]

Let's bring this back to unpopular television opinions. 

[Constantinople]

Adam Sandler was terrible on Saturday Night Live (not that his movies were any better).

[Chaos Theory]

I don't care what a character is wearing unless it is important to the show.  The page long discussions on a characters clothing confuse me at times. 

[Raja]

28 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

I don't care what a character is wearing unless it is important to the show.  The page long discussions on a characters clothing confuse me at times. 

;)   How Lucy Liu looks is important to the show. Without it Sherlock is just another smart guy with bad social skills.

[Chaos Theory]

On 11/19/2016 at 9:09 PM, Constantinople said:

Adam Sandler was terrible on Saturday Night Live (not that his movies were any better).

Adam Sandler is actually not a bad actor when he isn't being a complete baffoon.  This goes more into movies and not tv so I will resist listing the movies I did enjoy of his but he can act.  He just acts the fools which is his thing and isn't mine.

[topanga]

I hate that shows take a fall hiatus, don't show new episodes around holidays, etc. I know hiatuses (hiatus?) are for ratings or other logistical issues, but they still suck. I want to watch a new episode of Pitch, Superstore, etc. on Thursday night. Why must I be deprived??????

[ABay]

Yes! If ever there is a time of year when I need the distraction of TV, it's the holidays.

[Chaos Theory]

It's not like we are forcing actors to work on holidays or anything.   (Not that they are making in an hour what I make in a lifetime or anything) I would like the choice to watch my regular crap and not holiday crap.  Choices Network people.  Choices!  

Edited November 21, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[ribboninthesky1]

3 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

I don't care what a character is wearing unless it is important to the show.  The page long discussions on a characters clothing confuse me at times. 

This reminded me of something: I don't care about product placement on a show. Short of the actors stopping a scene or breaking the 4th wall to shill a product, it's all good to me.  

[zxy556575]

7 hours ago, ribboninthesky1 said:

This reminded me of something: I don't care about product placement on a show. Short of the actors stopping a scene or breaking the 4th wall to shill a product, it's all good to me.  

It sticks out more to me when obviously fake food labels or products are used.

Edited November 22, 2016 by lordonia

[MissAlmond]

3 hours ago, topanga said:

I want to watch a new episode of Pitch, Superstore, etc. on Thursday night. Why must I be deprived??????

FOX wishes "Pitch",  for at least one night, would bring in the ratings 50+ year old "A Charlie Brown Christmas" will gift ABC.   CBS, who commissioned the Charlie Brown Christmas/Halloween specials in the first place, probably secretly weeps twice a year when they see the rating numbers those two specials still manage to snag.  Charlie Brown.  He gets the job done.

Edited November 21, 2016 by MissAlmond

[DangerousMinds]

2 hours ago, ABay said:

Yes! If ever there is a time of year when I need the distraction of TV, it's the holidays.

Yeah, I used to watch soap operas in high school and loved that they were on every single day, Thanksgiving or Christmas or New Year's day.

These days, I never watch anything in real time, so it doesn't matter much.

Edited November 21, 2016 by DangerousMinds

[CaffeinatedAunt79]

My UO, I can't stand award shows on TV.  Even worse than that is the red carpet coverage and the hysteria over what people are wearing....I just don't get it!

[Jack Shaftoe]

I think Westworld is nowhere near as deep and sophisticated as its creators and many critics think it is. It is also way too pretentious, especially the scenes with Ford. Also, the premise makes no sense whatsoever, there are a million better ways of using such super advanced robots. It's like a show about someone inventing a time machine but only using it to send tourists to participate in Nero or Caligula's orgies.

[Joe]

7 hours ago, Jack Shaftoe said:

I think Westworld is nowhere near as deep and sophisticated as its creators and many critics think it is. It is also way too pretentious, especially the scenes with Ford. Also, the premise makes no sense whatsoever, there are a million better ways of using such super advanced robots. It's like a show about someone inventing a time machine but only using it to send tourists to participate in Nero or Caligula's orgies.

If porn has taught me anything, it's that people sometimes want a theme to go along with the sex.

[Ceindreadh]

8 hours ago, Jack Shaftoe said:

I think Westworld is nowhere near as deep and sophisticated as its creators and many critics think it is. It is also way too pretentious, especially the scenes with Ford. Also, the premise makes no sense whatsoever, there are a million better ways of using such super advanced robots. It's like a show about someone inventing a time machine but only using it to send tourists to participate in Nero or Caligula's orgies.

Given that porn can be a driver of technology, yeah, I'm pretty sure the first commercial time machine will have an 'orgy' setting!

[braziliangirl]

Westworld UO: I like William. I also think he's kinda hot.

[Chaos Theory]

On 11/21/2016 at 6:42 PM, Jack Shaftoe said:

I think Westworld is nowhere near as deep and sophisticated as its creators and many critics think it is. It is also way too pretentious, especially the scenes with Ford. 

I feel the same way about almost everything HBO has ever created.  

[Blandings]

I feel the same way about almost everything HBO has ever created.  

I'm still the only person I know who hated Six Feet Under. I never liked Sex and the City either. The only show on that network I really liked was Oz. 

[aradia22]

Quote

My UO, I can't stand award shows on TV.  Even worse than that is the red carpet coverage and the hysteria over what people are wearing....I just don't get it!

I can't remember if it was before or after Project Runway came out but it was at a similar time... there was a glut of fashion shows. Queer Eye For the Straight Guy and other makeover shows. WE Tv had some stuff. And there was a network or two that would actually show runway shows. Now it's mainly red carpets and lame stuff on TLC. So I'll take what I can get. Sure, I could click through slideshows of runways on websites but where's the fun in that?

[Dee]

Unpopular Opinion: I still enjoy The Simpsons.

[spaceytraci1208]

3 hours ago, Blandings said:

 

I'm still the only person I know who hated Six Feet Under. I never liked Sex and the City either. The only show on that network I really liked was Oz. 

I've enjoyed other HBO shows, but Oz will always have my heart

[Haleth]

I don't hate Miguel on This Is Us and I don't think it was horrible that he asked to wear the Pilgrim Rick hat.

[zxy556575]

1 hour ago, Haleth said:

I don't hate Miguel on This Is Us and I don't think it was horrible that he asked to wear the Pilgrim Rick hat.

I think This Is Us is a sappy and shrewdly manipulative show. Judging by it's positive buzz and ratings, I assume that's unpopular.

Agree with you about Miguel, though!

[ribboninthesky1]

I haven't watched the show in several episodes (@lordonia perfectly summarizes why), but since I'm visiting family for the holiday, they had it on.  I decided to catch up on some of the discussion, and was surprised at the level of dislike/hate towards Miguel.  I assumed he did something in some episode I haven't seen.  

Anyway, watching the latest episode made me appreciate Beth all the more.  Her in-laws are a hot mess, and Randall is intense all on his own. I didn't find Randall's enthusiasm about Thanksgiving all that endearing. He really lost me by not only waking William up, but dragging the cancer-ridden, obviously weakened man out on a 3 mile hike. If you wanted him with you, why not get the man a wheelchair or something? I don't know...maybe I'm just not a Randall fan. *shrug*

Edited November 24, 2016 by ribboninthesky1

[TattleTeeny]

Quote

Charlie Brown.  He gets the job done.

Haha, I have hated the Charlie Brown holiday shows since I was too young to properly articulate that sentiment!

[bilgistic]

6 hours ago, lordonia said:

I think This Is Us is a sappy and shrewdly manipulative show. Judging by it's positive buzz and ratings, I assume that's unpopular.

Earlier, my mom asked me what I thought about the show, and I said, "It's all right, but it tries too hard to get an emotional reaction." What you said, @lordonia, is exactly what I meant.

[Chaos Theory]

8 hours ago, lordonia said:

I think This Is Us is a sappy and shrewdly manipulative show. Judging by it's positive buzz and ratings, I assume that's unpopular.

Agree with you about Miguel, though!

I think that is my major issue with This Is Us.  It is otherwise a well written and acted show with a genuinely likeable cast.  The problem...and it is a big one, is that it tries way too hard to have a emotional moment every episode  instead of just telling a good story.  

Edited November 25, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[memememe76]

My unpopular opinion: I don't fault shows for trying to make me weepy. Other shows try to make me laugh, or cringe, etc. Not sure why sentiment is so shunned.