Party of One: Unpopular TV Opinions

[DearEvette]

For me, Community is a case where several stand out episodes tended to carry everything else it made it feel like the whole was greater than the parts, when in truth it was the opposite. 

My favorite episode will always be the Remedial Chaos Theory episode with all the different timelines.  By the time they get to Troy's timeline -- the timing and camera work and scene of Troy coming back to utter chaos will always be just brilliant to me.

I also love the first paintball episode mainly because having worked in at a college many moons ago, I know how crazed students can be about priority registration so the all out war that developed to get the prize just tickled me to death.  That and of course how many action movie callbacks & cultural references they managed to fit into a 20+ minute run time.

And then there are all the time we get to see Troy cry.  My favorite was the chloroform scene where he just freaks out.  Donald Glover's physical comedy in that scene is everything.  It was the episode that made me actually like the show in the first place.

But overall, I do agree it wasn't as great a show in total that a lot of the superfans like to make it out to be.

[Irlandesa]

My unpopular Community opinion is that I actually enjoyed the Yahoo season quite a bit. 

[Annber03]

1 minute ago, Irlandesa said:

My unpopular Community opinion is that I actually enjoyed the Yahoo season quite a bit. 

I liked them, too. I thought Paget Brewster fit in well with the gang, and there were some good episodes throughout. It wasn't perfect, but it was nice to have that sixth season and a proper goodbye.

I decided to check out "Community" simply 'cause of Joel McHale and John Oliver being in it. I didn't (and still don't) follow creator Dan Harmon's career outside of the show, so his involvement wasn't a draw for me the way it was some other people. I love the characters and I thought the show was creative and fun and something a little different. 

But yeah, as I noted a couple pages or so back, some of the fans could definitely be very...over the top about it, and I can see where the hype would've turned some people off and whatnot, too. 

[festivus]

I love Community and Troy was my favorite which is the popular opinion so my UO is that Britta was my 2nd fave. She is not the worst! I think Gillian Jacobs is really funny.

[Annber03]

7 minutes ago, festivus said:

I love Community and Troy was my favorite which is the popular opinion so my UO is that Britta was my 2nd fave. She is not the worst! I think Gillian Jacobs is really funny.

I liked her, too. I could relate to her a little bit, with her awkwardness and such. 

[ABay]

Like a lot of shows I watch, Community was a nice little show blown out of proportion by online hype. Working at a university probably added to my enjoyment...I know that Dean. I know those custodians. I was one of those students, although at a 4 year college rather than a community one. I'm a little afraid I might be one of those teachers now.

[Danny Franks]

21 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

My unpopular Community opinion is that I actually enjoyed the Yahoo season quite a bit. 

The Yahoo season has Paget Brewster playing a coolly efficient, but also kind of nutso, administrator. What's not to like? The only criticism I ever had was that the extra leeway they had for episode length meant that edits weren't as tight, and there were a few jokes and scenes that meandered too much.

[biakbiak]

I have too much of an attention span for NFL RedZone!

[Was-MArsenault]

I like the early seasons of Home Improvement.

I like the later seasons of Night Court.

I like Touched By An Angel starting with the first appearance of John Dye.

[Browncoat]

The early seasons of Home Improvement were definitely better than it was after it became the Jonathan Taylor Thomas show (or whatever that kid’s name was).

[Was-MArsenault]

34 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

The early seasons of Home Improvement were definitely better than it was after it became the Jonathan Taylor Thomas show (or whatever that kid’s name was).

What kid are you talking about?

[GHScorpiosRule]

3 hours ago, MikaelaArsenault said:

What kid are you talking about?

Randy. The middle child.

[Was-MArsenault]

1 minute ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Randy. The middle child.

Ah. Thank you.

[Blergh]

3 hours ago, Browncoat said:

The early seasons of Home Improvement were definitely better than it was after it became the Jonathan Taylor Thomas show (or whatever that kid’s name was).

 Yeah, those were the seasons when Tim actually was reasonably intelligent instead of someone who made Wile E. Coyote seem sensible and accident-free  and before he, Al and Wilson became total cartoon self-parodies of their former selves. I have to wonder if they played up Randy due to his elder and younger brothers becoming significantly bigger than he  did! 

[Browncoat]

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Randy. The middle child.

Thanks!  I couldn't stand that kid -- and it was both the actor and the character who bugged me. 

[Katy M]

OK, I guess my unpopular opinion is that I loved Randy on Home Improvement.

[Haleth]

21 hours ago, Blergh said:

I have to wonder if they played up Randy due to his elder and younger brothers becoming significantly bigger than he  did! 

It was because tween girls everywhere were ~in love~ with JTT.  My daughter included.

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 hours ago, Haleth said:

It was because tween girls everywhere were ~in love~ with JTT.  My daughter included.

And he was the most talented of the three boys.

[Shannon L.]

My husband, daughter,  and I didn't make it through the first episode of Schitt's Creek.  The three of us kept looking at each other, then back to the tv, until I finally asked "Are either of you enjoying this?" and both of them said "no", so we turned it off.  Maybe it got a lot better, but what we saw didn't even make us  want to give it a chance.

[Blergh]

On ‎9‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 11:40 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

And he was the most talented of the three boys.

Considering that the eldest had all the personality of a speed bump and the youngest had to be put in goth stuff to get anyone to notice, that wasn't that difficult for Randy (Mr. Thomas) to somehow outshine the other kids on Home Improvement.

[cleo]

Good Place UO: D'arcy Carden's peformance is good but it's not the best thing evah and I certainly don't think she deserved an Emmy nod. 

The episode where she pretended to be the other characters and everyone raved about it- I actually thought she did a terrible job. 

Side note: best I've ever seen that done is the bodyswapping on BTVS.

[kiddo82]

9 hours ago, cleo said:

Side note: best I've ever seen that done is the bodyswapping on BTVS.

Probably not unpopular but Sarah Michelle Gellar playing Eliza Dushku playing Faith playing Buffy is pretty damn good. 

[Danny Franks]

12 hours ago, cleo said:

Side note: best I've ever seen that done is the bodyswapping on BTVS.

Farscape did that really well, in the episode Out of Their Minds. And managed to be more kinky than Faith in Buffy's body.

[DoctorAtomic]

Farscape hands down. Why are you wearing a picture of Rygel? Claudia Black and Simcoe stole the episode playing Crighton and Chiana. 

And the protagonist in the episode was a Skeksis!

In the DVD commentary they said they workshopped a ton before filming. 

[cleo]

I've never seen farscape but now I kind of want to.

[DoctorAtomic]

Buy a case of kleenex. 

[jah1986]

1 hour ago, cleo said:

I've never seen farscape but now I kind of want to.

2 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Buy a case of kleenex. 

Totally recommend watching Farscape. 

I would second buying a case of Kleenex and add: don't eat while watching.

[Danny Franks]

2 hours ago, cleo said:

I've never seen farscape but now I kind of want to.

You should. It's a great show. Starts off slow and a bit tropey, but the rules all just get thrown out of the window before the end of the first season. There are several episodes of that show that rank up there with the weirdest television I've ever seen.

Out of Their Minds works really well because six characters swap bodies, more than once, and the show seems more interested in exploring the ways that each one reacts to being in a new body than it is in solving the mystery of the week.

Rygel having to learn how to pee when he's in John's body was fantastic. "Pull it out. Point it like a gun. And shoot." John in Aeryn's body has... well... he takes some liberties. And it turns out Aeryn does too, while in John's body.

1 hour ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Buy a case of kleenex. 

I don't know about that. It isn't that kinky.... oh wait... I see what you mean.

Edited September 20, 2019 by Danny Franks

[DoctorAtomic]

We could have a whole 'subversion of tropes' thread just for Farscape. 

[meep.meep]

My unpopular opinion is that Farscape sucked.  Totally and completely.  Forever and ever.

My other unpopular opinion is that the only thing worse than Farscape is Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

21 hours ago, kiddo82 said:

Probably not unpopular but Sarah Michelle Gellar playing Eliza Dushku playing Faith playing Buffy is pretty damn good. 

Probably can't hold a candle to Tatiana Maslany in Orphan Black who did the same thing, but not just in 1 episode, but in almost every episode in five seasons.

[kiddo82]

I've never seen Orphan Black but I've heard nothing but raves about Tatiana Maslany.  Been meaning to check it out but I haven't gotten around to it.

[Gramto6]

1 hour ago, kiddo82 said:

I've never seen Orphan Black but I've heard nothing but raves about Tatiana Maslany.  Been meaning to check it out but I haven't gotten around to it.

If you can find it DO!! It is an amazing show. She is a fantastic actress and you won't believe it is her playing all those parts. It is an awesome show!! Well deserving of every award available.

[Danny Franks]

So one of my unpopular opinions, which seems ever more relevant - Peaky Blinders isn't that good. It's not "prestige TV", it's not award-worthy. The acting isn't particularly good, and the writing really isn't particularly good. It's perfectly acceptable television, but I would never recommend it to anyone as something they must watch.

[Irlandesa]

10 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

So one of my unpopular opinions, which seems ever more relevant - Peaky Blinders isn't that good. It's not "prestige TV", it's not award-worthy. The acting isn't particularly good, and the writing really isn't particularly good. It's perfectly acceptable television, but I would never recommend it to anyone as something they must watch.

Interesting because it's on my list but I find it a bit intimidating that I'm 5 seasons behind on it compared to new shows with only a season I need to binge.

[DearEvette]

On 9/21/2019 at 1:18 AM, Danny Franks said:

So one of my unpopular opinions, which seems ever more relevant - Peaky Blinders isn't that good. It's not "prestige TV", it's not award-worthy. The acting isn't particularly good, and the writing really isn't particularly good. It's perfectly acceptable television, but I would never recommend it to anyone as something they must watch.

Speaking of Award Worthy Prestige TV (or Not).  I am not sure if this is unpopular or not, but even given all the supposedly superior shows on streaming platforms and cable that air new content year-round, I have to say I get the most excited about tv when the new Broadcast tv seasons starts.  A lot of my favorite shows are returning this week (yay 9-1-1, I have missed you so) and a couple of new ones I plan to check out and I am looking forward to them.

Sure I loved watching Stranger Things, Four Weddings,  and Dear White People this summer and even when they announce a new episodes of favorite series on cable or streamers, it just doesn't make me anticipatory in the way that new Fall tv on broadcast does.

Edited September 23, 2019 by DearEvette

[bmoore4026]

On 9/8/2019 at 4:54 AM, Anduin said:

Anime. It's a perfectly valid artform, I'm not knocking it. But it just never clicked for me. That said, I really don't like Cowboy Bebop. I tried a couple of episodes, but it rubbed me the wrong way. Good music, though.

I hear ya.  I can count on one hand the Japanese TV cartoons I like and it comes exactly to five.

- Sailor Moon

- Revolutionary Girl Utena

- The Slayers TV series

- Neon Genesis Evangelion

- Paranoia Agent

Attack on Titan and One Punch Man can kiss my ass.

Edited September 24, 2019 by bmoore4026

[Haleth]

On 9/20/2019 at 8:16 PM, meep.meep said:

Probably can't hold a candle to Tatiana Maslany in Orphan Black who did the same thing, but not just in 1 episode, but in almost every episode in five seasons.

Tatiana immediately came to mind.  Not only was she brilliant at playing dozens of unique characters, she especially shined when one character was pretending to be another, such as Sarah pretending to be Allison.  Tatiana would play it a bit off, like the mannerisms or speech pattern were not quite right.  She was amazing.

[ratgirlagogo]

5 hours ago, Haleth said:

 She was amazing.

When one of the clone sistra characters who hadn't been on the show for a while would reappear, I would think to myself, I'm so glad this actress is back! and then remember that the actress had never gone anywhere.   Amazing on every level.

Edited September 24, 2019 by ratgirlagogo

[Danny Franks]

13 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

When one of the clone sistra characters who hadn't been on the show for a while would reappear, I would think to myself, I'm so glad this actress is back! and then remember that the actress had never gone anywhere.   Amazing on every level.

I remember watching an episode where Alison (my favourite) didn't appear, and I genuinely thought, just for a second, 'I guess the actress wasn't available this week.'

I still need to watch the last couple of seasons of Orphan Black, but I'll be honest and say that the way Rachel was treated as an irredeemable enemy, despite being no worse than Helena, really bugged me. She was just as broken and manipulated and used, but she gets no leeway or chance of forgiveness, because she dared to kidnap that annoying kid.

[DoctorAtomic]

I loved the beautician clone. She was hilarious. And anything with Donny. 

[scarynikki12]

28 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I loved the beautician clone. She was hilarious.

Crystal! God her reaction to meeting Sarah and learning about the clones: "is this what you think I look like?" is still one of my favorite moments in anything ever.

[DoctorAtomic]

Yes her. She was a big wackadoo conspiracy theory person at the start. 

I just loved that she was, yeah some of you clones aren't much. 

Edited September 25, 2019 by DoctorAtomic

[krankydoodle]

I know it's considered one of the best sitcoms ever, but I've tried watching Fawlty Towers a few times over the years and have never been able to get into it.

[taanja]

On 9/20/2019 at 7:16 PM, meep.meep said:

My unpopular opinion is that Farscape sucked.  Totally and completely.  Forever and ever.

My other unpopular opinion is that the only thing worse than Farscape is Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Probably can't hold a candle to Tatiana Maslany in Orphan Black who did the same thing, but not just in 1 episode, but in almost every episode in five seasons.

Unpopular opinion -- I couldn't even make it through 1 ep of Orphan Black. Waaaay overrated IMO.

[proserpina65]

On ‎09‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 2:16 PM, taanja said:

Unpopular opinion -- I couldn't even make it through 1 ep of Orphan Black. Waaaay overrated IMO.

A friend and I watched all of ep 1 when it first aired, but never made an effort to continue with the show.  We just weren't impressed.

[DearEvette]

On 9/25/2019 at 2:16 PM, taanja said:

Unpopular opinion -- I couldn't even make it through 1 ep of Orphan Black. Waaaay overrated IMO.

I liked it well enough in Season 1.  For me sometimes watching it, it felt like it was sometimes self-aware of its own gimmick.

I think Tatiana Maslany does a good job with the different personas, but my UO is that it isn't that groundbreaking, a lot of actors could do the same.  A lot of it is aided by visual cues such as different hair, make up etc.  Sketch comedians do it all the time.  I was discussing the Black Lady Sketch Show on HBO with someone and we were talking about our favorite recurring characters and one of the main actors on the show, Robin Thede, manages to create so many different characters:  There is the female Hotep Dr. Hadassah Olayinka Ali-Youngman, the unibrowed Gangbanger Shanedra, the Professional Athlete Girlfriend from the Bad Bitch sketch, The Negro League groupie Feather Atwood... etc.  She uses the same techniques.. different speech patterns, body language, even puts her voice in different registers. 

[NutMeg]

On 9/25/2019 at 5:00 AM, DoctorAtomic said:

Yes her. She was a big wackadoo conspiracy theory person at the start. 

I just loved that she was, yeah some of you clones aren't much. 

Yes not only did she think the clones looked nothing like her, but because she had conspiracy theories of her own she though theirs were really crap - as in I'm better looking than you, and my script is way better than yours.   

[DoctorAtomic]

No, she didn't invent it or perfect it, but there was a fairly wide array of characters that she played really well. And really, the dance scene was just a lot of fun. 

[Mabinogia]

17 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

No, she didn't invent it or perfect it, but there was a fairly wide array of characters that she played really well. And really, the dance scene was just a lot of fun. 

For me it wasn't so much that she played all these different characters but that she constantly had to act with herself, sometimes with more than one of herself and sometimes for fairly dramatic scenes. That shit ain't easy! 

I hated the show the first time I tried to watch it, didn't much care for the first ep the second time I tried to sit through it, but when the second ep came out I tried again and never looked back. (It went off the rails in later seasons but the first few seasons were magic). I also do think it's amazing that half the cast is one person. Tatiana worked her butt off on that show. 

[junemeatcleaver]

Quote

I liked it well enough in Season 1.  For me sometimes watching it, it felt like it was sometimes self-aware of its own gimmick.

I think Tatiana Maslany does a good job with the different personas, but my UO is that it isn't that groundbreaking, a lot of actors could do the same.

I really liked the first season, but the first few episodes of season two completely turned me off.  People said the season got better, but meh.  There are too many tv options out there to sit through something that possibly gets better.  I haven't looked back, I have zero desire to give the show a second chance.

Yes, Tatiana Maslany was good and deserved the Emmy and all that, but I think there were actors on soap operas who did the alter, twin and multiple character thing as well, or better than, Ms. Maslany.  David Canary playing Adam pretending to be Stuart pretending to be Adam on All My Children was an absolute masterclass.