Party of One: Unpopular TV Opinions

[Silver Raven]

6 minutes ago, Anduin said:

I don't care either. In fact, I remember when the modern Battlestar Galactica won a Peabody Award. That's nice, but I've never heard of the Peabody Award before, or in any context not involving BSG. For all I know, one of the producers called a friend and got them to create an award specifically for the show.

The Peabody Awards have been issued every year since 1940.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peabody_Award

[Anduin]

3 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

The Peabody Awards have been issued every year since 1940.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peabody_Award

That's fair enough. But I've never heard of them outside of BSG.

[paulvdb]

7 hours ago, festivus said:

My UO is that I don't give a shit about award shows.

I agree with that part of your post, but for a different reason. I like it when an award goes to a show or movie that I like. But I'm not going to waste hours watching the show when I can look up the list of winners online and scroll through it in 5 minutes,

[Mulva]

My The Good Doctor UO:

I think Dr. Han has a good point about Shawn's disability and agree that yes, Pathology is a better fit for him.

[2727]

6 hours ago, paulvdb said:

But I'm not going to waste hours watching the show when I can look up the list of winners online and scroll through it in 5 minutes,

Or when I can readily catch up on any moving or amusing acceptance speeches, plus flip through an entire online gallery of fashion. Seeing dresses or presenter banter live adds nothing for me.

[Morlock]

15 hours ago, festivus said:

My UO is that I don't give a shit about award shows. Genre shows are rarely recognized and I watch some that have wonderful writing and acting that I know is as good as the stuff that does get nominated. I've also read stuff so many times about Oscar voters that say they didn't bother to watch all the movies or performances that were nominated. How do you have an informed vote if you haven't seen everything? I also just don't enjoy watching people give speeches. It's nice for them that they get their moment and all but I don't care about watching it. Also, the fact that Andre Braugher hasn't won five straight Emmys for his portrayal of Captain Holt on Brooklyn Nine-Nine tells me enough. He is brilliant.

(I won't lie though that I love seeing the next day what people wore)

I agree. I also realized a long time ago that these awards aren't based on the quality of anything whether it be music, film or TV. It is based on how much money something has made or in the case of people's choice awards based on how many people bothered to vote and how many times the more obsessed fans voted for the same shows and people! 

I hate the speeches too, they all say the same thing. 

I used to get amused by The Razzies at one point but that has become PC, how did that Ghostbusters remake not get an award for something?!

[DrSpaceman]

I do pay attention to Award show results because I like to see what is popular and if I am missing out on any potentially good shows that I am not watching.  Its why I started watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, for example.  I had literally never heard of that show until I saw it won some Emmy's, so I tuned in.  Its good, I enjoy it.  Wouldn't have given it an Emmy, but yet, its a quality show, I will give it that. 

There are others, same thing.  Especially as I get older and have less time and the TV universe expands with so many shows, its almost impossible to keep up with all of them when they first come out

As far as actually WATCHING the awards show, no, never.  I have not watched on in decades.  Not just because its so easy anymore to find the results online and the highlights on youtube either.  All of them are such self congratulatory Hollywood PC crap with that it makes me want to puke.  Its like the whole industry giving itself fellatio for 3-4 hours.  All of them. 

And the worst is when they are so hypocritical about it all.  Like when they all came out so strongly whenever it was against Harvey Weinstein one year whenever it was.  Uh......YOU ARE THE ONES THAT CREATED HIM!!!  The SAME INDUSTRY that allowed him to use his power and money to be a creepy perve for TWENTY FIVE YEARS and gave him award after award despite.  Then when it all comes public so people OUTSIDE the industry find out how it really works in Hollywood and how totally perverse, illegal, sleazy and corrupt it all is, the SAME INDUSTRY tries to make themselves into the heroes by saying "Look at us standing up to this power man!!!!  Aren't we great!!!"

No, you aren't.  If you were great you wouldn't have allowed him to become the figure he was in the first place.  You would have stopped it, not allowed it to happen for 25 years and then turned on him when public opinion changed based on the true person you ALL KNEW he really was the entire damn time.

OK, rant over

But no, I don't watch awards shows

[Anduin]

1 hour ago, Morlock said:

I used to get amused by The Razzies at one point but that has become PC, how did that Ghostbusters remake not get an award for something?!

It wasn't great, but it wasn't entirely terrible. I've seen worse.

[Silver Raven]

I think all of the Real Housewives shows are stupid.  I think the Bachelor/Bachelorette is stupid.  I think Love Island is stupid.  I think the Kardashians are stupid.  But I don't bother to watch them, so I don't call for them to be removed from the air.  People can watch shows I think are stupid.  Let me watch shows that you think are stupid, without calling from them to be removed from the air

[Morlock]

7 minutes ago, Anduin said:

It wasn't great, but it wasn't entirely terrible. I've seen worse.

I only saw the trailers, from those alone I could nominate it for worst script, worst chemistry among an onscreen team, most unfunny comedians and comic actors, worst reboot/sequel/remake just what the hell was it supposed to be anyway? and most counter productive promotional methods ie calling anyone who didn't like it or criticized it "sexist". 

Oh and also Most ugliest cast. 

[Annber03]

40 minutes ago, Silver Raven said:

I think all of the Real Housewives shows are stupid.  I think the Bachelor/Bachelorette is stupid.  I think Love Island is stupid.  I think the Kardashians are stupid.  But I don't bother to watch them, so I don't call for them to be removed from the air.  People can watch shows I think are stupid.  Let me watch shows that you think are stupid, without calling from them to be removed from the air

Agreed. 

And on a related note, can people please stop with the "I guess x kind of TV is what the dumbed down masses want" type comments? Good lord, I swear, I roll my eyes every time I come across one of those kinds of comments online, and they seem to be most common whenever people are upset about a show they like being cancelled. I totally get being mad a show you like is cancelled, especially if it's abrupt and the show's barely had a chance to find an audience. I've had that happen with a few shows I've liked, too, and it definitely sucks. 

But there's no need to dump on the other shows that are still on the air, or the people who watch those shows. People need to learn that the TV shows one watches and enjoys are not an indicator of one's intelligence level, and there's a whole host of reasons why some shows don't take off that have nothing to do with the preferences of "the dumbed down masses" or whatever. 

[Anduin]

1 hour ago, Morlock said:

I only saw the trailers, from those alone I could nominate it for worst script, worst chemistry among an onscreen team, most unfunny comedians and comic actors, worst reboot/sequel/remake just what the hell was it supposed to be anyway? and most counter productive promotional methods ie calling anyone who didn't like it or criticized it "sexist". 

Oh and also Most ugliest cast. 

I actually saw it. While it was lacking, it wasn't as bad as you're saying. Besides, Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon are very much not ugly.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 2/14/2019 at 2:57 PM, Chaos Theory said:

My issue is with ones that focus on kids.  By the nature of being kids they have no free speech and rely on their parents to look out for their best interest.   Since the makers of these programs have gone out of their way to make sure none of these people are labeled as “actors” their is zero protection for kids growing up with a camera being shoved in Their face.

So much agreement on this one. I have read at least on article/interview with reality show stars (it may have been the stars of The Hills, why I read it I don't remember) and I remember they talked about how it doesn't take long before you forget about the cameras and trying to censor yourself. Like weeks if not days and after that you just act how you normally would without caring that you are being filmed. Now I think about that with respect to kids/teens on these shows and how they could easily be filmed doing shit they would never do in public. How do they deal with that when they become adults?

[Shannon L.]

1 hour ago, Anduin said:

I actually saw it. While it was lacking, it wasn't as bad as you're saying. Besides, Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon are very much not ugly.

I'll still tune into it because Chris Hemsworth and Kate McKinnon kill me every time.  I also think she's really pretty and Wiig and Melissa McCarthy are adorable.

[Mabinogia]

I actually love the rebooted Ghostbusters. It's not perfect, it really falls apart at the end, but I loved the chemistry between the four women, there are some bloody funny bits, Chris Hemsworth is just so pretty and it's a fun movie. 

The trailer was crap though. The movie was far better than it made it seem. It's not high art, but The Favourite could be considered such and IMO it sucked balls. I loved Olivia Coleman but everything else about that movie was pretentious crap. 

[juno]

8 hours ago, Mulva said:

My The Good Doctor UO:

I think Dr. Han has a good point about Shawn's disability and agree that yes, Pathology is a better fit for him.

I wrote the same thing in the show thread and got killed for it. I agree with you that it is a better fit.

[Morlock]

2 hours ago, Anduin said:

I actually saw it. While it was lacking, it wasn't as bad as you're saying. Besides, Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon are very much not ugly.

Not much good looking either.

[vibeology]

10 hours ago, Morlock said:

Not much good looking either.

Because Bill Murray was good looking guy? 

[Morlock]

5 minutes ago, vibeology said:

Because Bill Murray was good looking guy? 

He was funny at least. The "comedians" in the GB remake certainly weren't funny or attractive. 

[auntlada]

3 hours ago, Morlock said:

He was funny at least. The "comedians" in the GB remake certainly weren't funny or attractive. 

While I really like Ghostbusters (the original -- I haven't seen the remake as I haven't seen a new movie in more than five years), I don't really find Bill Murray that funny here. I like Bill Murray, but he's mostly a jerk here. Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Rick Moranis and Annie Potts were much funnier.

That, of course, is just my opinion, as, I believe, any pronouncement on a person's beauty (or lack thereof) or comedic ability is he opinion of the person pronouncing it, rather than an established fact.

[proserpina65]

17 hours ago, Annber03 said:

But there's no need to dump on the other shows that are still on the air, or the people who watch those shows. People need to learn that the TV shows one watches and enjoys are not an indicator of one's intelligence level, and there's a whole host of reasons why some shows don't take off that have nothing to do with the preferences of "the dumbed down masses" or whatever. 

Sometimes even brilliant people just want some mindless entertainment for awhile.  Trying to judge people's intellect by their tv viewing is what's dumb.

15 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

The trailer was crap though.

It definitely made it look like the least funny movie ever.  Sounds like they had a terrible marketing plan.

[proserpina65]

4 hours ago, vibeology said:

Because Bill Murray was good looking guy? 

I always kinda thought so, but I realize that's probably a minority opinion.

As for the reboot cast, I think they're all attractive in their own way.  Yeah, Chris Hemsworth is the only one who'd probably qualify as movie star attractive, but the rest of the cast looks good.

[topanga]

On 2/25/2019 at 8:08 PM, Archery said:

My Oscars UO:  The Academy Awards broadcast needs song performances.  Without the musical numbers, they could just put out a glossy magazine and be done with it.  Here's the list of nominees.  Here's the winner.  Here's the text of his/her speech.  Here's a photo gallery of all the fashion.  It's the songs that make the Oscars into a variety/entertainment show (the category it's always nominated for at the Emmys).  Otherwise, it's just a bunch of people you'll never meet naming other people you don't know and don't care about.  

But the musical performances on the Oscars are usually terrible—boring, not sung well, paced slower than the actual song for some reason. even if the song is one I like, the live performance ruins it. Is it the orchestra? I either ff through musical numbers or take my snack/bathroom breaks.  I’m trying to remember a good musical number on the Oscars, but Im drawing a blank. Oh, Billy Crystal’s opening numbers were usually good, but that’s different. 

[Minneapple]

21 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Agreed. 

And on a related note, can people please stop with the "I guess x kind of TV is what the dumbed down masses want" type comments? Good lord, I swear, I roll my eyes every time I come across one of those kinds of comments online, and they seem to be most common whenever people are upset about a show they like being cancelled. I totally get being mad a show you like is cancelled, especially if it's abrupt and the show's barely had a chance to find an audience. I've had that happen with a few shows I've liked, too, and it definitely sucks. 

But there's no need to dump on the other shows that are still on the air, or the people who watch those shows. People need to learn that the TV shows one watches and enjoys are not an indicator of one's intelligence level, and there's a whole host of reasons why some shows don't take off that have nothing to do with the preferences of "the dumbed down masses" or whatever. 

Yep. I like a wide range of TV shows. Some "smart" and some "dumb." I don't think there's anything wrong with comfort food TV, or TV you can just sit and space out on for a half hour, or "teenage" TV. And this goes for all entertainment. You like what you like and it doesn't say anything about your intelligence or "cool" factor if you like romance novels or pop music or the Kardashians.

[Kel Varnsen]

20 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

I actually love the rebooted Ghostbusters. It's not perfect, it really falls apart at the end, but I loved the chemistry between the four women, there are some bloody funny bits, Chris Hemsworth is just so pretty and it's a fun movie. 

That's kind of funny because I thought it was the beginning of the movie that was the biggest problem. It seemed like it took so long to set up the premise, explain who the women were and there backgrounds. It seemed like forever before they were actually fighting ghosts.

Honestly it wasn't a terrible movie, but it was somewhere in the middle of Melissa McCarthy movies. I really just think she should stick to doing R rated movies where she can say whatever the hell she wants. Her scene in This is 40 was funnier than anything she did in Ghostbusters.

[Archery]

2 hours ago, topanga said:

But the musical performances on the Oscars are usually terrible—boring, not sung well, paced slower than the actual song for some reason. even if the song is one I like, the live performance ruins it. Is it the orchestra? I either ff through musical numbers or take my snack/bathroom breaks.  I’m trying to remember a good musical number on the Oscars, but Im drawing a blank. Oh, Billy Crystal’s opening numbers were usually good, but that’s different. 

Off the top of my head, I can think of:  Amy Adams doing "Happy Working Song" from Enchanted; Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic; Geoffrey Owens' "Under The Sea" from The Little Mermaid; Jerry Orbach's "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast; Mariah and Whitney's "When You Believe" from Prince of Egypt; Madonna's "Sooner or Later" from Dick Tracy and "You Must Love Me" from Evita. "Once," by that couple whose names I can't remember right now; Annie Lennox's "Into the West" from one of the Lord of Rings movies. "How Far I'll Go," from Moana by that girl whose name I don't know how to spell.  (Don't judge -- I can't Google right now, and as I said, this is off the top of my head.)

Part of the problem is that often the producers shorten the song, so that they feel truncated and unfinished.  Great songs have a shape, and when you chop them up, it's noticeable. I also think that, when you have powerful, Broadway caliber voices like Jennifer Hudson's and Idina Menzel's, the sound producers just don't handle them correctly, and the performances are disappointing (Adele as well).  Contrast the Tony Awards, where they take the music seriously, and the performances are often sublime.

[Anela]

On 2/26/2019 at 5:46 PM, Anduin said:

I actually saw it. While it was lacking, it wasn't as bad as you're saying. Besides, Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon are very much not ugly.

I liked it, too, and I'm annoyed that they're making another one and "giving it back to the fans" which means repaying all of the people who thought it sucked, because women were the stars. I won't be watching it. 

On 2/26/2019 at 7:21 PM, Shannon L. said:

I'll still tune into it because Chris Hemsworth and Kate McKinnon kill me every time.  I also think she's really pretty and Wiig and Melissa McCarthy are adorable.

I loved that Hemsworth was the pretty secretary, LOL. 

23 hours ago, Morlock said:

Not much good looking either.

It would have been better with supermodels? Not for me.

[Shannon L.]

3 hours ago, Archery said:

Off the top of my head, I can think of:  Amy Adams doing "Happy Working Song" from Enchanted; Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic; Geoffrey Owens' "Under The Sea" from The Little Mermaid; Jerry Orbach's "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast; Mariah and Whitney's "When You Believe" from Prince of Egypt; Madonna's "Sooner or Later" from Dick Tracy and "You Must Love Me" from Evita. "Once," by that couple whose names I can't remember right now; Annie Lennox's "Into the West" from one of the Lord of Rings movies. "How Far I'll Go," from Moana by that girl whose name I don't know how to spell.  (Don't judge -- I can't Google right now, and as I said, this is off the top of my head.)

I'd add This is Me and Can't Stop the Feeling (which I know a lot of people hate, but it's a guilty pleasure of mine and I love how they used it to kick off the show.  It gave it a real party atmosphere, much like Queen did this year, even if I wish they'd done something different).

[Browncoat]

I've said this before somewhere on this board, but I wasn't a fan of the most recent Ghostbusters.  Not because it had women as the leads, but because it had no connection to the past ones.  It would have been better, IMO, if the women could have been related somehow to our original quartet -- nieces, younger cousins, children, etc.  Yes, I understand what a reboot is, but you can reboot something without completely ignoring the original.

Kate McKinnon was funny as hell in it. 

[andromeda331]

2 hours ago, Browncoat said:

I've said this before somewhere on this board, but I wasn't a fan of the most recent Ghostbusters.  Not because it had women as the leads, but because it had no connection to the past ones.  It would have been better, IMO, if the women could have been related somehow to our original quartet -- nieces, younger cousins, children, etc.  Yes, I understand what a reboot is, but you can reboot something without completely ignoring the original.

Kate McKinnon was funny as hell in it. 

My biggest problem with the movie was it was a reboot. I can't remember the last time I liked a reboot so that was a big turn off for me.  A reboot and none of the characters are connected to the original characters? Two reasons for me to skip right over it. Had they had some connection like nieces or children or something I probably would have at least given it a try. 

[Morlock]

8 hours ago, Anela said:

I liked it, too, and I'm annoyed that they're making another one and "giving it back to the fans" which means repaying all of the people who thought it sucked, because women were the stars. I won't be watching it. 

Yeah, I'm sorry. This is the attitude that helped the movie tank. The film sucked, the funniest person in it was Hemsworth who is neither female nor a comedian. 

I am tired of remakes, reboots and pre/sequels altogether. There is a line in the trailer of this god awful film, the big black woman stage dives and the crown separate leaving her to face plant. She asks "So is this a black thing or a woman thing?"

It's neither. It's a "You're too damn big to be jumping off a stage and expecting people to support you thing". Just like this film is not a female thing, it is a "This movie sucks" thing. 

[biakbiak]

2 minutes ago, Morlock said:

Yeah, I'm sorry. This is the attitude that helped the movie tank. The film sucked, the funniest person in it was Hemsworth who is neither female nor a comedian. 

Having actually seen the movie that is in no way the case. 

[Morlock]

17 hours ago, auntlada said:

While I really like Ghostbusters (the original -- I haven't seen the remake as I haven't seen a new movie in more than five years), I don't really find Bill Murray that funny here. I like Bill Murray, but he's mostly a jerk here. Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Rick Moranis and Annie Potts were much funnier.

That, of course, is just my opinion, as, I believe, any pronouncement on a person's beauty (or lack thereof) or comedic ability is he opinion of the person pronouncing it, rather than an established fact.

I love dry sarcastic humour so Bill Murray is a fave of mine. Dan Aykroyd I can take or leave. The others you mentioned I am indifferent about but in the film they worked well together. 

[Drogo]

Moderator's Note:

This topic is for unpopular television opinions.  There's a lovely Movies forum for talking about movie UO's.

[Hanahope]

Reading about NBC's renewal of its "Chicago" lineup.  I just think, Really?  More derrivative police, fire, medical sob shows?  People are still into that sort of thing?  Its just the same recycled episodic plots over and over again.

No wonder most of my "tv" watching is Netflix, Amazon and other original stories.  Actual story lines.

[Ohwell]

Well, I've got shit for brains, so I enjoy my procedurals.  : )

[Shannon L.]

5 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

Well, I've got shit for brains, so I enjoy my procedurals.  : )

I love them.

[proserpina65]

22 hours ago, Archery said:

Off the top of my head, I can think of:  Amy Adams doing "Happy Working Song" from Enchanted; Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic; Geoffrey Owens' "Under The Sea" from The Little Mermaid; Jerry Orbach's "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast; Mariah and Whitney's "When You Believe" from Prince of Egypt; Madonna's "Sooner or Later" from Dick Tracy and "You Must Love Me" from Evita. "Once," by that couple whose names I can't remember right now; Annie Lennox's "Into the West" from one of the Lord of Rings movies. "How Far I'll Go," from Moana by that girl whose name I don't know how to spell. 

I hated most of those performances, but that's probably because I hate most of those songs.  I will say that the Glen Hansard/Marketa Irglova performance of Falling Slowly was stunningly beautiful, though.  And Tim McGraw's performance of Glen Campbell's I'm Not Gonna Miss You was heartbreaking.  (Possibly an unpopular opinion: that song should've won instead of Glory.)  I think I tend to prefer more minimalist performances rather than overblown ones. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

32 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

Well, I've got shit for brains, so I enjoy my procedurals.  : )

So do I. Hell, I don't think I'm watching any new shows at all. There was just one, and that was Murphy Brown. What I'm watching now? All Retro channels and Perry Mason, Law & Order (MOTHERSHIP!), Without A Trace, Boston Legal, Nash Bridges, and apparently this only airs on holidays: PSYCH!

[CoderLady]

30 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

Well, I've got shit for brains, so I enjoy my procedurals.  : )

25 minutes ago, Shannon L. said:

I love them.

Me too. There's something deeply satisfying about watching a team of people with various skills and skill levels mobilize to solve a crime. I like British procedurals more than American ones because they seem to be more about the case and less about personal drama between team members -- also less fascination with super-duper serial killers. I really hate those. But otherwise, procedurals are my comfort food.

[Ohwell]

Oh but I've seen a lot of British dramas with serial killers.  In fact, they seem to relish showing the most unusual, creative ways of killing people.   : )  *

* too many emojis to choose just one

[CoderLady]

True. I can deal with the ones who get caught by the end of a episode but the killers that just keep getting away and coming back over and over season after season are, to me, total crap. I'm really happy to be able to check episode descriptions before I tune in to a show so I can avoid these.

To keep it on topic: this must be an unpopular opinion because it seems like most successful cop dramas eventually get saddled with their own recurring serial killer. Ick.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I miss Jon Stewart.

[Bastet]

I hate most police procedurals - mostly because they glorify bad practices and behavior by the police, but also for the lack of characterization/character development - but my two exceptions, Cold Case and, especially, Major Crimes, are total comfort TV that I can watch over and over.  CC I used to marathon weekly when it aired in a long block on ION (I don't get whatever station it's on now, dammit), and MC I watch on DVD frequently and still watch the syndicated episodes every weekend. 

[Morlock]

8 hours ago, Hanahope said:

Reading about NBC's renewal of its "Chicago" lineup.  I just think, Really?  More derrivative police, fire, medical sob shows?  People are still into that sort of thing?  Its just the same recycled episodic plots over and over again.

No wonder most of my "tv" watching is Netflix, Amazon and other original stories.  Actual story lines.

I agree and all 3 shows are so similar even to each other. A fireman in Chicago Fire even played undercover cop in one episode! They all have the same PC sermon telling as well. 

[roamyn]

Everybody Loves Raymond... I don’t get it.  Marie is passive aggressive, Robert & Ray are dolts, Debra whines abt everything, the father’s an ass.  Only Amy seems normal.

And why are Debra & Ray even married?  They don’t seem to love each other and they fight all the time.

[Browncoat]

I’m with you, @roamyn.  Everybody does NOT love Raymond.

[Hanahope]

14 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I miss Jon Stewart.

me too.  i like Trevor Noah, but i do really miss Jon.

[Blergh]

13 hours ago, roamyn said:

Everybody Loves Raymond... I don’t get it.  Marie is passive aggressive, Robert & Ray are dolts, Debra whines abt everything, the father’s an ass.  Only Amy seems normal.

And why are Debra & Ray even married?  They don’t seem to love each other and they fight all the time.

Yeah, there doesn't even seem to have been a happy time in the first part of either the parental or younger Barone couple's marriages as though each couple got individually randomly  thrown together and only grudgingly had babies which only Marie didn't seem to resent (as incredibly flawed and toxic as she otherwise was).  Frank, Ray and, yes, Debra ALL seemed to be unhappy to have become parents and took out their frustrations on both their spouses as well as the didn't-ask-to-be-born progeny! 

[DrSpaceman]

16 hours ago, roamyn said:

Everybody Loves Raymond... I don’t get it.  Marie is passive aggressive, Robert & Ray are dolts, Debra whines abt everything, the father’s an ass.  Only Amy seems normal.

And why are Debra & Ray even married?  They don’t seem to love each other and they fight all the time.

I actually liked the show.  I would watch it. 

But I never understood its high ratings or accolades.  It wasn't that great.  It was an above average sitcom. 

I never understood why Brad Garrett won Emmys for his role in the show as the brother.  The show won FIFTEEEN Emmys.  I mean, it wasn't that good.

The Middle, also with Patricia Heaton, was a better family sitcom

I thought King of Queens, starring Rays friend Kevin James, was better as well

I have a theory that Raymond took advantage of a lull in the sitcom world to do as well as it did.  it did not have a whole lot of competition at the time in the category.  This was pre-Hulu/Netflix and the explosion of online shows.  It was before or just at the beginning of when HBO and the cable series started putting out original programming.  Sex and the City was on, but not much else with cable.  There were some other good sitcoms at the time, but it was like Frasier and Friends.  Seinfeld went off the air towards the beginning of its run. 

Somehow it beat out Arrested Development once or twice for best sitcom.  Can't explain that.  Its competition though at the time was Will and Grace, Frasier, Friends, Sex and the City, throw in Newsradio and maybe a Just Shoot Me.  Those weren't all at the same time though, those are all at different times over a decade.  There wasn't the number and quality of sitcoms out there like now, IMO

I would put it this way for Raymond :  I watched it at the time when it was on and enjoyed it.  I never sit down and watch reruns of it now, even if I run across it somewhere on TV.

I feel the same way about the Office in terms of the reruns.  I never sit and watch those