Party of One: Unpopular TV Opinions

[bilgistic]

Masters of Sex was recently cancelled after the fourth season. It had kind of run its course, but still.

Edited December 29, 2016 by bilgistic

[HunterHunted]

1 hour ago, Chaos Theory said:

The Americans center around a family of Russian spies.   Yes one of the leads is a straight white male but his wife gets a lot (maybe more then he does) of the acclaim.  And this last season many people thought his OTHER wife (long story) was going to get nominated for supporting actress.  She wasn't.  I thought it was a seriously major snub.  

I think Power on Straz focuses on a black male nightclub owner with criminal ties.  I don't have Stars so I can't tell you more then that but I think it is still on.

i found an article that was written awhile back that called shows like Arrow and Scandal and the like.  Quality shows that aren't exactly prestige shows Mid-Reputable shows.  I think it is a fine distinction.  I like a lot of thes shows and think they are high in quality but I am rarely in the crowd when people complain at their lack of Emmy love.  

I love the Americans, which is finally getting some awards recognition.

Other shows: Atlanta, Insecure, Outlander, Crazy Ex-girlfriend, and Search Party.

I like the distinction of mid-reputable shows. I would include How to Get Away with Murder and Empire in that list. To me, mid-reputable shows are the best versions of a particular kind of genre that's never really going to be high art. Hell on Wheels would be another show that I would have called mid-reputable. 

I don't know if this is unpopular, but I think that HtGAwM only works because of the acting. The writing is terrible. If Viola Davis needs to gnaw on the set to move the plot forward, I say gnaw away and here's some dental floss. It reminds me of Oz on HBO. It looked cheap. The writing was atrocious. It was secretly a soap opera that had no clue that it was, but the performances were fantastic. It had a reputation for letting actors go balls out (in some cases literally) and do whatever they wanted with their performances. It's why so many great actors would rotate through the show.

I watch Crazy Ex-girlfriend, but season 1 was brutal and an often unpleasant show to watch. Rebecca was so sick and I just wanted someone to hospitalize her. It reminded me a bit of Jessica Jones. They were just so damaged. Even if it's well done, I don't enjoy watching shows where the characters are that fucked up.

[Neurochick]

36 minutes ago, HunterHunted said:

I don't know if this is unpopular, but I think that HtGAwM only works because of the acting. The writing is terrible. If Viola Davis needs to gnaw on the set to move the plot forward, I say gnaw away and here's some dental floss. It reminds me of Oz on HBO. It looked cheap. The writing was atrocious. It was secretly a soap opera that had no clue that it was, but the performances were fantastic. It had a reputation for letting actors go balls out (in some cases literally) and do whatever they wanted with their performances. It's why so many great actors would rotate through the show.

You're completely right about Oz on HBO.  It was a soap opera set inside a prison.  Because the show was filmed in NYC, they had a steady stream of NY stage actors in the show so the acting was great. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

53 minutes ago, HunterHunted said:

Other shows: Atlanta, Insecure, Outlander, Crazy Ex-girlfriend, and Search Party.

I tried to watch the pilot of Search Party.

sex scene where one person is not enjoying it at all.
masturbation scene
person urinating on toilet scene.

It filled almost my entire usual checklist.  It's exactly the kind of bad writing I'm talking about.  I thought it was just awful.  

(Atlanta and Crazy-Exgirlfriend are wonderful.  I think Atlanta is just fantastic.  I also love Jessica Jones.  For my money these are 3 of the best new shows I have seen.  And correct - none of them have a straight white man as the protagonist.)

Edited December 29, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[topanga]

14 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I tried to watch the pilot of Search Party.

sex scene where one person is not enjoying it at all.
masturbation scene
person urinating on toilet scene.

It filled almost my entire usual checklist.  It's exactly the kind of bad writing I'm talking about.  I thought it was just awful.  

(Atlanta and Crazy-Exgirlfriend are wonderful.  I think Atlanta is just fantastic.  I also love Jessica Jones.  For my money these are 3 of the best new shows I have seen.  And correct - none of them have a straight white man as the protagonist.)

I watched the first 5 mintues Atlanta but couldn't get into it. But Ms Blue Jay, we generally like the same types of shows. So maybe I'll give it another chance. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

It's weird and kind of dreamlike, especially that first episode.  But each episode is a different from one another. I think it's genius.  One of my favourites of 2016.

[DearEvette]

1 hour ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

It's weird and kind of dreamlike, especially that first episode.  But each episode is a different from one another. I think it's genius.  One of my favourites of 2016.

I agree. There isn't really a plot that goes from one show to the next and each episode is a different vibe. If there was a central plot it was following hapless Earn (Glover) in his efforts to be the manager of his cousin Paper Boi a rapper.  But that is a really lame description.  Honestly It feels almost like an anthology because each episode is so different.  And there are whimisical elements.  Glover said he kinda used Twin Peaks as an influence and you can see it.  It did give me one of my biggest gut laughs of all year though with

Spoiler

the invisible car.

As far as prestige show, I also agree it is in the eye of the beholder.  I mean, it seems to be a cable show that critics seem to like because it has an antihero, graphic sex and/or a level violence that can't be shown on network tv.  Give it a big budget but also make it an intimate portrait of a central character.  It almost feels arbitrary.  So many of them just seem like male-centric volent soap operas.  Which is why, even though I don't watch it anymore, I always give a side eye to critics who dismissed Scandal in the early days as just a Shonda Soap opera that they felt flummoxed by people calling Olivia an anti-hero and comparing her to Walter White and Don Draper.  Because to me it followed the same pattern as all the stuff they were applauding except it wasn't written by a white guy on cable and centering a white male character.

[bilgistic]

I have an apparently quite unpopular opinion, because lazy-ass TV and movie writers do this thing constantly.

I HATE Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", and the main reason is because any time there's a scene with SHOPPING! or a MAKEOVER! or TRYING ON CLOTHES! or a PILLOW FIGHT! (you know, all the things we girls luuuuv to do!), that insipid dead horse of a song is trotted out to be whacked at some more. Please, TV and movie writers, STOP.  S T O P .

UNICORNS! MERMAIDS! JEWELRY!

Edited December 30, 2016 by bilgistic

[Jack Shaftoe]

Quote

The worst offender for edgy shows that were actually crap but got tons of buzz was Sons of Anarchy.  

Homeland says hi.

And I am yet another viewer tired of critics and ordinary viewers confusing edginess with quality. 

[proserpina65]

22 hours ago, Dee said:

With the exception of 'Damages' is there another 'prestige' television show that centers anyone other than straight white men?

Game of Thrones, Homeland, Veep

[selkie]

6 hours ago, Jack Shaftoe said:

Homeland says hi.

And I am yet another viewer tired of critics and ordinary viewers confusing edginess with quality. 

I thought that the first season of Homeland was very good, but then when they decided not to kill Brody off, which was the logical way to go, because Damian Lewis and Claire Danes seemed to have mad chemistry together, it went down the bobsled track from that point onward. 

It should have been a one season and done show. Same goes for 'Master of Sex' where it became clear within the first ten minutes of season two that the writers and producers had no idea of what to do with the show  after they got renewed. 

[Enigma X]

I will be honest. Certain terms get used so much with so many varying subjects that I don't know what they mean other than the person using them doesn't like something (prestige shows, Mary Sue, mansplain, manpain, etc. Yes, I get the gist but these terms and others are way over used and inappropriately in my opinion).

I am not a watcher of Shonda Rhimes' shows but don't all of them have a female lead. Would they be considered prestige shows? 

Edited December 30, 2016 by Enigma X

[Chaos Theory]

17 minutes ago, Enigma X said:

I will be honest. Certain terms get used so much with so many varying subjects that I don't know what they mean other than the person using them doesn't like something (prestige shows, Mary Sue, mansplain, manpain, etc. Yes, I get the gist but these terms and others are way over used and inappropriately in my opinion).

I am not a watcher of Shonda Rhimes' shows but don't all of them have a female lead. Would they be considered prestige shows? 

Prestige shows are in the eye of the beholder and I would consider her shows to be Mid-Reputable shows.  Shows midway between normal network shows and prestige shows.   

[ganesh]

Except on Penny Dreadful. Frankenstein had the most dainty manpain. 

[Blergh]

Thanks a lot Kathy Griffin and Ryan Seacrest for making the last two entertaining New Year's Eve Countdown shows completely unwatchable. Yeah I know this is VERY MUCH an UO!

[Ms Blue Jay]

8 hours ago, Jack Shaftoe said:

Homeland says hi.

And I am yet another viewer tired of critics and ordinary viewers confusing edginess with quality. 

Pilot of Homeland.  Another one I'm talking about.  Just think of all the most horrifying "pretend edgy" things you could watch in a pilot and I saw it.  That's not for me.

[Enigma X]

14 minutes ago, Blergh said:

Thanks a lot Kathy Griffin and Ryan Seacrest for making the last two entertaining New Year's Eve Countdown shows completely unwatchable. Yeah I know this is VERY MUCH an UO!

That us a UO? Well, it must be because they keep getting invited back to host it. I did not really watch before and definitely won't tune in now.

 

5 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Pilot of Homeland.  Another one I'm talking about.  Just think of all the most horrifying "pretend edgy" things you could watch in a pilot and I saw it.  That's not for me.

I liked the first season of Homeland but saw no reason for Brody to live beyond that, no chemistry between Danes and Lewis, no stellar acting ability in Danes and Lewis (Lewis did some weird thing but I have now forgotten what it was...a sigh maybe?), Carrie is vastly unlikable (even people with mental illnesses can be a bona fide self-electable asshole), and oh the humanity with the Carrie distorted ugly cry that produces no tears!

[HunterHunted]

57 minutes ago, ganesh said:

Except on Penny Dreadful. Frankenstein had the most dainty manpain. 

That show was filled with the whiniest most self-absorbed male characters. Sir Malcolm, Victor, Frankenstein. Ugh. Meanwhile, Vanessa is being possessed and these dopes are navel gazing. My favorite characters ended up being Sembene and Dorian because they complained the least.

[bilgistic]

I loved that show. So sad it's over.

[SmithW6079]

On 12/29/2016 at 4:03 PM, Neurochick said:

You're completely right about Oz on HBO.  It was a soap opera set inside a prison.  Because the show was filmed in NYC, they had a steady stream of NY stage actors in the show so the acting was great. 

Plus, Chris Meloni bad-ass and bare-ass.  Winning!

2 hours ago, Blergh said:

Thanks a lot Kathy Griffin and Ryan Seacrest for making the last two entertaining New Year's Eve Countdown shows completely unwatchable. Yeah I know this is VERY MUCH an UO!

I was just bemoaning the death of Dick Clark and "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin Eve" or even Guy Lombardo's New Year's Eve show. I find most of the New Year's Eve shows to be unwatchable.

Edited December 30, 2016 by SmithW6079

[ennui]

3 hours ago, Blergh said:

Thanks a lot Kathy Griffin and Ryan Seacrest for making the last two entertaining New Year's Eve Countdown shows completely unwatchable. Yeah I know this is VERY MUCH an UO!

Is it? I haven't watched a countdown show in years.  I usually watch the ball drop on cable in an earlier time zone.

I enjoyed Guy Lombardo. Everyone dressed in their finest, in a ballroom, sipping champagne. Very elegant.

Edited December 30, 2016 by ennui

[Chaos Theory]

Sometimes I forget that this is unpopular opinion thread and am actually surprised that my opinion is "popular".  Go me!  Finally part of the In crowd.

Anyway since Homeland came up unpopular opinion:  I actually enjoyed the Brody family storyline and thought it was one of the more fascinating parts of the first few seasons.  I don't think the Show has been the same since the Brody's were written off.  

Edited December 31, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[vibeology]

I didn't hate Dana. I felt a great deal of sympathy for her and found her emotional arc interesting. A few of her plots weren't as strong but that was true of every character on Homeland.

[Enigma X]

I liked Dana. At least she got a pass for acting her age (emotional teenager) while all the other adults were also acting her age.

[Sandman87]

I'm amused by the discussion of "prestige" shows. It's a new term for me, so I guess I don't pay enough attention to industry-specific bullshit jargon. There's exactly one of the shows mentioned that I enjoyed watching at all, Game of Thrones, which I stopped watching when the prestiginess became too much to bear ("We need some exposition! Quick, do a scene with the exposition hooker!")

[HunterHunted]

2 minutes ago, Sandman87 said:

I'm amused by the discussion of "prestige" shows. It's a new term for me, so I guess I don't pay enough attention to industry-specific bullshit jargon. There's exactly one of the shows mentioned that I enjoyed watching at all, Game of Thrones, which I stopped watching when the prestiginess became too much to bear ("We need some exposition! Quick, do a scene with the exposition hooker!")

I believe the prefered term is sexposition scenes. It was coined as such by either the TV Club or TWoP, but I loved it. A bare set of boobs is not going to distract me and keep me from realizing that I sat through boring exposition. It's like David and David or HBO are operating in this weird universe where there is no internet and easy access to porn. 

[ganesh]

I actually don't mind gratuitous nudity. People are just naked a lot irl, or at least mrl. I'm surprised there's not more on the networks that allow it. 

[Miss Dee]

I'd like to see more *real* nudity - as in, non-sculpted bodies staying nude during activities that make sense in real life - going to bed and waking up, morning or nightly ablutions, wandering around the house, even doing housework. And of course, actual before/during/after sex scenes where it doesn't make sense to be wearing underwear because no one does that in real life!

That said, the sort of sexposition scenes we saw on Game of Thrones were completely ridiculous and not "sexy" in the least!

Edited December 31, 2016 by Miss Dee

[amensisterfriend]

*deep breath* I love Ghost Whisperer. It's to the point where I'm considering using my Amazon gift card to buy the full series on DVD and am genuinely disappointed that we don't have a Ghost Whisperer thread on this forum! I'll take it a step further and add that I think there's something incredibly likable about Jennifer Love Hewitt and never quite got the widespread hate for her. There are a lot of actors and actresses that are FAR worse IMO, both on and off camera :)

Ghost Whisperer can be extremely cheesy, but somehow that's part of its charm :) I love the premise behind it and just how I feel while watching it. In a TV world where grim and bleak often seem synonymous with high quality TV, there's a real pleasure for me in just watching an unabashedly uplifting, sappy, inspirational show filled with less complex but genuinely likable (to me) characters.   

Edited December 31, 2016 by amensisterfriend

[Shannon L.]

12 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

I believe the prefered term is sexposition scenes. It was coined as such by either the TV Club or TWoP, but I loved it. A bare set of boobs is not going to distract me and keep me from realizing that I sat through boring exposition. 

HBO uses it.  George RR Martin told a friend of mine (yes, they are friendly acquaintances) that when making the first season of GOT he asked why they were throwing in even more sex and nudity than was in his books and they told him exactly what you just described and used the term "sexposition". 

I don't mind nudity at all.  I'm just don't need all the sex scenes.  As we discussed a few pages ago, one or two every so often is sufficient for me.  Making out in bed, then fading out of the scene is enough for me (but, they don't turn me off, either--I just roll my eyes sometimes, if it's the umpteenth scene).

Quote

 I'll take it a step further and add that I think there's something incredibly likable about Jennifer Love Hewitt and never quite got the widespread hate for her.

I have another friend who worked on Ghost Whisperer and loved Jennifer*.  Said she was kind to everyone, including the crew, and was very funny.

Seeing all of the posts about the actor who voiced Mr. Heat Miser dying makes me think that this is an UO:  I'm sorry he died, although he did live a long, hopefully good, life. It's always sad when someone dies.  But, I hated the Heat and Snow Misers and that show.  They were creepy.  I find claymation in general kind of odd looking and difficult to sit through. 

*I feel like, after all of this time, I should apologize for name dropping.  But, I live just outside Hollywood, my husband worked in the movie industry and most of our friends still do, so I have some stories--both personal and second hand through our friends. 

Edited December 31, 2016 by Shannon L.

[Enigma X]

I have read the Song of Ice and Fire series (the books Game of Thrones is based on). In my opinion, the sex, nudity, and ribaldry in the books are not shown much more on the TV show. And I feel like the book has way more actual rape or allusion to rape than the TV show. 

In any case, none of this has bothered me enough to stop reading or watching. Overall, I enjoy both bodies of work.

UO: I have come to like the TV show more than the books.

[Ambrosefolly]

2 hours ago, amensisterfriend said:

*deep breath* I love Ghost Whisperer. It's to the point where I'm considering using my Amazon gift card to buy the full series on DVD and am genuinely disappointed that we don't have a Ghost Whisperer thread on this forum! I'll take it a step further and add that I think there's something incredibly likable about Jennifer Love Hewitt and never quite got the widespread hate for her. There are a lot of actors and actresses that are FAR worse IMO, both on and off camera :)

Ghost Whisperer can be extremely cheesy, but somehow that's part of its charm :) I love the premise behind it and just how I feel while watching it. In a TV world where grim and bleak often seem synonymous with high quality TV, there's a real pleasure for me in just watching an unabashedly uplifting, sappy, inspirational show filled with less complex but genuinely likable (to me) characters.   

 

It is nice to have a show that doesn't have a stick up its own ass about how important and serious it is. All in all, I prefer formats that stay with the MOTW. While Riverdale might be great, it looks so self serious and far removed from the source material, I am a bit underwhelmed. 

[Neurochick]

20 hours ago, ennui said:

Is it? I haven't watched a countdown show in years.  I usually watch the ball drop on cable in an earlier time zone.

I enjoyed Guy Lombardo. Everyone dressed in their finest, in a ballroom, sipping champagne. Very elegant.

I don't know if this is unpopular but I liked Guy Lombardo's New Years Eve too.  I never thought that people really celebrated like that until I went on the Queen Mary 2 for the holidays and New Years Eve was just like that; formal attire, ballroom dancing, sipping champagne (seltzer for me) a countdown and balloons dropping at midnight, there was even a Conga line (LOL)

If I'm home on New Years Eve, I just watch the local news channel because from about 11:45pm, they'll show Times Square without all the "cute, witty banter" of the hosts.  I guess my UO is that I can't stand any of the countdown shows.

[ennui]

NYE has changed with the rise of media. When I was a child, NYE was all about midnight. Now, I watched New Year's arrive in Australia over my morning coffee. It doesn't seem special. I can watch the ball drop on one of the news channels and be in bed by 11.

I have never been a big New Year's person, thinking it's just an arbitrary date on a calendar, but I miss that it was sort of a special evening. 

[ribboninthesky1]

5 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

But, I hated the Heat and Snow Misers and that show.  They were creepy.  I find claymation in general kind of odd looking and difficult to sit through. 

Same.  I don't mind animation at all, but that style was always a turn-off. 

[ganesh]

7 hours ago, Miss Dee said:

I'd like to see more *real* nudity - as in, non-sculpted bodies staying nude during activities that make sense in real life - going to bed and waking up, morning or nightly ablutions, wandering around the house, even doing housework.

That would be fine with me. That's how much of life is. I'd rather watch this than sex scenes because we all know they're so staged. 

[Ohwell]

I'm tired of women being off-limits for any type of criticism.  I'm tired of being labeled a misogynist if I do criticize a woman for something she's said or done or even the way she looks.  (Personally, I am an equal opportunity criticizer.)  I'm tired of "nobody says anything if a man does it" because I think that is utter bullcrap.  Men get shit upon, too.

Now could we all be nicer to each other?  Yes, of course.

But that ain't happenin', lol.

[zxy556575]

wrong thread

Edited January 1, 2017 by lordonia

[Drogo]

Topic is TV opinions.

[editorgrrl]

I'm an Anglophile, but I just can't get into Game of Thrones. And I stopped watching Doctor Who during the Matt Smith era (the Eleventh Doctor).

[Blergh]

editorgrrl,

 

 I know how it goes. I'm also an Anglophile and a history buff to boot. Yet, not only could I not get into either of the above shows, but I also never got into Downton Abbey . Yes, I've always liked Miss Maggie Smith and am glad she got such a plum role. Moreover I really like that the show's setting was the Real Life home of Lord Carnarvon (King Tut's discoverer's patron) and even has some artifacts on display. Yet, I guess it seemed too much like they were making a jacked up Upstairs Downstairs for me to get into it. 

[Dee]

Thanks for all the 'prestige' show recs everyone! I'll be adding many of them to my 'must watch' list.

[selkie]

While Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffith may get CNN's top billing, it's not officially the new year in our household until they show Don Lemon getting shit-faced in New Orleans for their central time zone coverage.

[HunterHunted]

6 hours ago, selkie said:

While Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffith may get CNN's top billing, it's not officially the new year in our household until they show Don Lemon getting shit-faced in New Orleans for their central time zone coverage.

I know this is a really unpopular opinion, but I think Don Lemon was a much better newscaster/interviewer/journalist when he was in the closet. When he was constantly in fear of saying or doing something that could be perceived as gay, he was more thoughtful about what he was saying in general. I would never want him or anyone to have to hide who they are just to do their job. However, some really stupid shit comes out of Don's mouth now and someone needs to retrain him to be a thoughtful journalist.

[Drogo]

Hi folks,

In an attempt to make Everything Else more navigable, we have combined several related topics (ex: Popular Shows You Hate, Characters Everyone Loves But You Can't Stand) into this "Unpopular TV Opinions" topic.  

 

Your Friendly EETV Mods

[GHScorpiosRule]

I grew up reading and watching Archie, and loved how funny and sweet it was.  So I have no desire to watch a "darker" or forced dramatized version of this (Riverdale).  At all. When I know, based on his other shows, the show runner will twist and massacre the original. There's no need to make this dark or gritty.  No thank you.

[In2You]

17 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I grew up reading and watching Archie, and loved how funny and sweet it was.  So I have no desire to watch a "darker" or forced dramatized version of this (Riverdale).  At all. When I know, based on his other shows, the show runner will twist and massacre the original. There's no need to make this dark or gritty.  No thank you.

I don't know why it has to be dark. Why can't Archie just be a fun teen comedy?

[Ambrosefolly]

18 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I grew up reading and watching Archie, and loved how funny and sweet it was.  So I have no desire to watch a "darker" or forced dramatized version of this (Riverdale).  At all. When I know, based on his other shows, the show runner will twist and massacre the original. There's no need to make this dark or gritty.  No thank you.

 

Like I said, you never know it could be good. I suspect they wanted to make a new PLL, but it would have seen as a complete knock off and Archie is a known product within the American lexicon. I think they don't want to be seen as copying someone else, but making something that has fallen out of favor (like most paper comics) cool and edge. But it looks a bit stupid to me. I wish they would have brought back the same time that made Sabrina the Teenage Witch and created this for the Disney channel.

[In2You]

7 hours ago, Ambrosefolly said:

Like I said, you never know it could be good. I suspect they wanted to make a new PLL, but it would have seen as a complete knock off and Archie is a known product within the American lexicon. I think they don't want to be seen as copying someone else, but making something that has fallen out of favor (like most paper comics) cool and edge. But it looks a bit stupid to me. I wish they would have brought back the same time that made Sabrina the Teenage Witch and created this for the Disney channel.

The shows on Disney are horrible dumbed down messes so Archie definitely doesn't belong on there either. But I do agree that it should've been more like Sabrina

[HunterHunted]

On 1/8/2017 at 4:12 AM, GHScorpiosRule said:

I grew up reading and watching Archie, and loved how funny and sweet it was.  So I have no desire to watch a "darker" or forced dramatized version of this (Riverdale).  At all. When I know, based on his other shows, the show runner will twist and massacre the original. There's no need to make this dark or gritty.  No thank you.

The comic has been more serious and realistic since 2007. The new version is highly serialized. It's highly regarded. There has also been a horror Archie comic since 2013. This new TV version is probably a better reflection of where the comic has been for the past couple of years.