Party of One: Unpopular TV Opinions

[Neurochick]

22 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

Did the last season make that better?

  Reveal spoiler

One of the things that made the last season a chore for me was that Richard wasn't there--and I just wanted to smack the grown-up kid.

 

Spoiler

No, because season 5 erased Richard.  It was as if he never existed.  WTF doing that to a character that was a fan favorite. 

 

[Ambrosefolly]

On Malcolm in the Middle, even until the end, I still preferred Malcolm to Dewey, and while I understand people grow out of things, I preferred the spacey, dreamy kid to the kind of "Mr. Perfect" they turned Dewey into. I also hate how they got rid of most of the Krelboyne, save for Stevie (who I am glad they kept), to make Malcolm more isolated and friendless. I thought the point of Malcolm's character is that no matter the amount of intellectual gifts he possessed (and sometimes because of them), he was also the cause of much of his own misery, so he wasn't supposed to be likable. I liked that Dewey found a great talent in music and it made sense that the dreamer now can have some place to channel his creativity, but they made him the class savior of the special needs kids was much because he became so beloved in the class and that they wouldn't function without him. The only time I find the Special Ed angle interesting was the first episode of it, when it was stated that the kids were more weird than stupid and Dewey could now believe his imaginary friends about his own intelligence, implying he was also mentally disturbed. At least with Krelboynes, they occasionally called Malcolm out on Malcolm own overbearing ways, even if he acted as their own unofficial leader a lot of the time too. 

Also, considering the career of Bryan Cranston, I am incredibly impressed at the acting of all of the actors that played his children, since they had to hold their own with him and Jane Kaczmarek at such young ages. 

Edited July 26, 2020 by Ambrosefolly

[DoctorAtomic]

On 7/24/2020 at 1:43 PM, Zella said:

I recently rewatched Game of Thrones and still really enjoyed it, though the latter half is definitely weaker than what came before. But I'm also one of the weirdos who didn't hate the ending. 

I loved, loved, loved Boardwalk Empire, but I think that jump in time really hurt it. Arnold Rothstein deserved better! Incidentally, I think the show suffered from focusing so much on Nucky. He was interesting to me as a politician, but once he left office, I didn't give a shit about him. I ended up just tolerating the atlantic city scenes to see what was happening in New York or Chicago. On the other hand, I'd have watched a show that was nothing but Arnold Rothstein eating apple cake, gambling, and mentoring Luciano and Lansky on how to be mobsters. 

Remus also liked Remus in that. 

[Zella]

2 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Remus also liked Remus in that. 

Remus thought Remus was great! (I also loved Capone's attempt to explain why this was weird without knowing the phrase third person. Lol)

The entire supporting cast was so good really. 

[DoctorAtomic]

33 minutes ago, Ambrosefolly said:

On Malcolm in the Middle, even until the end, I still preferred Malcolm to Dewey, and while I understand people grow out of things, I preferred the spacey, dreamy kid to the kind of "Mr. Perfect" they turned Dewey into. I also hate how they got rid of most of the Krelboyne, save for Stevie (who I am glad they kept), to make Malcolm more isolated and friendless. I thought the point of Malcolm's character is that no matter the amount of intellectual gifts he possessed (and sometimes because of them), he was also the cause of much of his own misery. I liked that Dewey found a great talent in music and it made sense that the dreamer now can have some place to channel his creativity, but they made him the class savior of the special needs kids was much because he became so beloved in the class and that they wouldn't function without him. The only time I find the Special Ed angle interesting was the first episode of it, when it was stated that the kids were more weird than stupid and Dewey could now believe his imaginary friends about his own intelligence, implying also mentally disturbed. At least with Krelboynes, they occasionally called Malcolm out on Malcolm own overbearing ways, even if he acted as their own unofficial leader a lot of the time too. 

Also, considering the career of Bryan Cranston, I am incredibly impressed at the acting of all of the actors that played his children, since they had to hold their own with him and Jane Kaczmarek at such young ages. 

I really like the monologue at the end of the series by the mother - You're not going to be the president; you're going to be the best president because you are going to *work*. 

There's really something to be said to just showing up on time and putting in work. 

I didn't like how the older brother was shown to have cooking skills but then the plot was seemingly dropped. 

Edited July 25, 2020 by DoctorAtomic

[Ambrosefolly]

4 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I really like the monologue at the end of the series by the mother - You're not going to be the president; you're going to be the best president because you are going to *work*. 

There's really something to be said to just showing up on time and putting in work. 

I didn't like how the older brother was shown to have cooking skills but then the plot was seemingly dropped. 

While I am in the camp that disliked Lois continued micromanagement of her children's lives up until Malcolm graduating, I do think she had a point about the need for Malcolm's ego to be dampened down. No matter if Malcolm worked in private sector or politics, he needed to get his ego under control otherwise he would wind up as Lionel Herkabe: someone obsessed with being the smartest person in the room to the point of it stopping him from growing and making everyone else miserable. 

While I didn't mind Reese being good at cooking, though it fell into the trope of the stupidest person being amazing chefs and also presenting it as something you have to be instantly good at to be good at it, it was more believable that Reese could thrive in the army.

Edited July 26, 2020 by Ambrosefolly

[GHScorpiosRule]

So, I finally tried to watch the 2004 Battlestar Galactica, (after so many friends kept urging and telling me I NEEDED to watch it-it was sooooo good!) and it was a CHORE. I only got through the first season and half of the second before I bailed. And I won't lie and admit, I did a LOT of fast fowarding. EVERYONE except Apollo ANNOYED ME.  It was so dark and depressing and slooooooooow. Not even the prettiness that is Jamie Bamber could induce me to finish it out. And I also cheated. I went to read the comments on the show's thread to see how it ends. No thank you. I still haven't gotten over

Jamie Bamber's death in

Law & Order: U.K. and don't see why I should continue to watch another show where his character is killed off

.

It's interesting though, when Bamber uses an American accent, the pitch of his voice is higher. That is, in his natural Brit accent, his voice is deeper. So I can't tell if it's him or not if I were to just hear his voice. Unlike Hugh Jackman--whether 'tis an English/Aussie/or American accent--I can always recognize his voice.

Anyway. I don't see what was so great about this show. Gimme the '70s version with Ben Cartwright as Adama, Richard Hatch's Apollo, and Dirk Benedict's, YES, DIRK BENEDICT'S Starbuck. THERE. I SAID IT.

[Zella]

@GHScorpiosRule I've noticed a lot of British actors have a higher voice when they're doing an American accent, which is curious to me because I think in general they tend to have better voices than american actors because of their emphasis on theater training. I can't even remember now who it was that totally lost his gorgeous deep voice when he was doing an American accent, but I remember being really shocked (and a touch offended) by it.

I've been watching a lot of Michael McElhatton stuff lately. He's Irish and has an amazing speaking voice, and I noticed if anything his already deep voice gets a bit deeper when he drops his natural Irish lilt to use a British RP accent. But when he uses an American accent, he sounds noticeably higher pitched then too and I think his voice loses a lot of its distinctive qualities in general. Like, why would you cast him in something and then not take advantage of his already amazing voice?

Oh I thought of the other guy. Not a Brit. Another Irishman, Aidan Turner. Has a gloriously deep voice and that doesn't seem to change whether he is using his natural Irish accent or an English one. But his American accent? Totally loses the deepness.

[Blergh]

GH Scorpions,

 

 Don't feel too bad! I couldn't even make it through ONE EPISODE of the depressing, jaded and soul-sapping latter Galactica series!  In any case, I fully agree with you and THEN some. Ben Cartwright's version, as hokey as it was, was much more entertaining and satisfying,IMO!

[Haleth]

Oh, Scorp, you wound me, pal!  😊 BSG was one of my favorites. I didn’t even mind the ending... too much. Some of the episodes were what I’d consider some of the finest hours on tv. Just to watch Tricia Helfer play so many variations of the same character was a treat. 

[sistermagpie]

2 hours ago, Zella said:

@GHScorpiosRule I've noticed a lot of British actors have a higher voice when they're doing an American accent, which is curious to me because I think in general they tend to have better voices than american actors because of their emphasis on theater training. I can't even remember now who it was that totally lost his gorgeous deep voice when he was doing an American accent, but I remember being really shocked (and a touch offended) by it.

I've been watching a lot of Michael McElhatton stuff lately. He's Irish and has an amazing speaking voice, and I noticed if anything his already deep voice gets a bit deeper when he drops his natural Irish lilt to use a British RP accent. But when he uses an American accent, he sounds noticeably higher pitched then too and I think his voice loses a lot of its distinctive qualities in general. Like, why would you cast him in something and then not take advantage of his already amazing voice?

Oh I thought of the other guy. Not a Brit. Another Irishman, Aidan Turner. Has a gloriously deep voice and that doesn't seem to change whether he is using his natural Irish accent or an English one. But his American accent? Totally loses the deepness.

I honestly thought it was the opposite. I even read an interview with a British actor talking about working in the US with an American accent and he said it helped to lower your voice pitch.

[GHScorpiosRule]

3 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

I honestly thought it was the opposite. I even read an interview with a British actor talking about working in the US with an American accent and he said it helped to lower your voice pitch.

Maybe Sophie what'sherface who plays Brianna on Outlander should have done this. Her natural accent is at a lower pitch, but since she's using an "American" accent, there is no affect, no layers. She's just flat. And the American accent is at a higher pitch.

I'd forgotten that Bamber's natural accent was a lower sounding voice, since I watched the L&O: U.K. before I saw him again on NCIS, playing an American, and then again in 2004's Battlestar Galactica. His natural low-pitched voice is oh so much more SEXAY.

Edited July 27, 2020 by GHScorpiosRule

[Zella]

15 minutes ago, sistermagpie said:

I honestly thought it was the opposite. I even read an interview with a British actor talking about working in the US with an American accent and he said it helped to lower your voice pitch.

Now that I realize both of my examples were, in fact, Irishmen, maybe it doesn't apply to the Brits. LOL 

I actually think a lot of British actors who are said to do "good American accents" sound terrible. They never sound British anymore, but they don't sound American to me either. Now I'll have to pay attention to the deepness of their voice too. 

 

[proserpina65]

On ‎07‎/‎24‎/‎2020 at 3:43 PM, Zella said:

I recently rewatched Game of Thrones and still really enjoyed it, though the latter half is definitely weaker than what came before. But I'm also one of the weirdos who didn't hate the ending. 

Come sit at my table.  It's a small, but fun one.

 

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

don't see why I should continue to watch another show where his character is killed off

He isn't.

But if you didn't like the first season and first half of season two, you're not going to like the show, so it's good you bailed.  (I like it, which is hardly ever something I say about sci-fi [you'd have to pay me to watch the original].)

Maybe this is unpopular, but Jamie Bamber's appeal is somewhat lost on me.  I think he's attractive, but not in any sort of stand-out way.  The only thing I've ever seen him in other than BSG was an episode of Major Crimes, and there he played a sleazeball, but I've seen some BSG panels from conventions and he seems personable and funny.  I'm just not drawn to him.

[Zella]

I remember him having a lot of fangirls for Horatio Hornblower, but between Ioan Gruffudd and Paul McGann, he didn't even register on my radar when I watched that show. 

Edited July 27, 2020 by Zella

[DoctorAtomic]

Wow I thought something was seriously wrong with me because I couldn't remember him dying. I remember when he got fat though. 

BSG could get up in its own ass at times, but in terms of showing that space and aliens and robots that isn't Star Trek could make for quality television, I have to give them credit. Part of the problem is that SciFi was floored it was so popular and let them make a ton of episodes, which resulted in clunkers. This is a 50 hour show to tell the story you want to tell. I don't care about your whore girlfriend. 

 

[proserpina65]

7 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Maybe this is unpopular, but Jamie Bamber's appeal is somewhat lost on me.  I think he's attractive, but not in any sort of stand-out way.  The only thing I've ever seen him in other than BSG was an episode of Major Crimes, and there he played a sleazeball, but I've seen some BSG panels from conventions and he seems personable and funny.  I'm just not drawn to him.

I thought he was incredibly sexy in Horatio Hornblower, but not so much in other things.  For me, it was the uniform, I think.

8 minutes ago, Zella said:

I remember him having a lot of fangirls for Horatio Hornblower, but between Ioan Gruffudd and Paul McGann, he didn't even register on my radar when I watched that show. 

There was a lot of eye candy in that.  Paul McGann didn't do much for me, but my friend loved him.  There was literally something for everyone.

[GHScorpiosRule]

40 minutes ago, Bastet said:

He isn't.

30 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Wow I thought something was seriously wrong with me because I couldn't remember him dying.

 

Then I guess I must have misread it, or the posters were talking about his eventual death? Because it read like he'd been killed off. I don't know. But yeah, If something doesn't grab me, I'm not going to watch. It's not for me if I find myself fast forwarding chunks.

[DoctorAtomic]

I think it's worth it just for Balthar and Six at the end - You can see them?!

[BookWoman56]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

Maybe this is unpopular, but Jamie Bamber's appeal is somewhat lost on me.  I think he's attractive, but not in any sort of stand-out way.  The only thing I've ever seen him in other than BSG was an episode of Major Crimes, and there he played a sleazeball, but I've seen some BSG panels from conventions and he seems personable and funny.  I'm just not drawn to him.

To me, Jamie Bamber is just a generically attractive guy without any special appeal. On BSG, I found James Callis (Gaius Baltar) infinitely sexier, along with Tricia Helfer. When the show was going on before I started watching it, I read a lot of hype for Katee Sackhoff's acting but had never seen any photos of her and knew only that she was blonde. So in the pilot, when Tricia Helfer's character was on screen, I assumed it was Sackhoff instead, and it took me a little while to figure out that Sackhoff was instead playing Starbuck. 

[peachmangosteen]

1 hour ago, BookWoman56 said:

I read a lot of hype for Katee Sackhoff's acting ...

I already mentioned my UO of hating Starbuck but this made me realize I also have the UO of thinking Katee Sackhoff is a terrible actor lol.

[scarynikki12]

3 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

Come sit at my table.  It's a small, but fun one.

 

We have snacks!

2 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Then I guess I must have misread it, or the posters were talking about his eventual death? Because it read like he'd been killed off. 

Strictly speaking,

Spoiler

everyone dies since they do a multi-millennia time jump at the end but Lee presumably lives out his life rather than meeting an early death.

Your post reminds me that I haven't done a BSG rewatch in a minute so I'll get going on that.

[DoctorAtomic]

13 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

I already mentioned my UO of hating Starbuck but this made me realize I also have the UO of thinking Katee Sackhoff is a terrible actor lol.

She seems like a fun person, but she never struck me as an actor that can 'rise above the material.' Like, if the writing is stellar, then I think she'd be great. She's never going to be an actor that can take a single line of dialogue and steal the scene. I think terrible might be slightly unfair. 

I thought Starbuck was fine. I felt a lot of times she was being directed to play the character as 'FEMALE STARBUCK LOOK SHE SMOKES A CIGAR', which isn't her fault. So, like if they rebooted/remade Galatica and she was just playing Lead Pilot, I think it might be different. She was green af too, as an actor back then.

I don't think it helped that no one knew who or what she was when Starbuck 'returned'. I'm not sure Moore really did either. If you're not going to tip off the viewers, you have to at least give the actor some vision so they can work within that context. I mean, it wasn't until like the final scene before the epoch time jump that she just whips away on Lee and we were all wtf about it because there was ziltch for foreshadowing. 

Another Life...is a show. That she's in. But I think she's fine in it. She's only got so much to work with there, but she's not playing her character as SPACE CAPTAIN, if you know what I mean.  

BSG was also 15 years ago, so I would assume she's gained some experience to communicate with directors better about her roles. 

 

[peachmangosteen]

She was just so bad imo in BSG and even worse in Another Life, which yes was a very bad show, but still. That's all I've ever seen her in. Oh, and  some scenes from Longmire. She is always just the exact same in everything and her style is just extremely annoying and bad to me lol.

[kieyra]

I just finally watched The Mandalorian. Woof. I seem to be immune to the Star Wars effect, but I’d gotten the sense this was a good tv show on its own merits. Found it cartoony, painfully clunky dialogue, improbable battles where the relative power of a given weapon didn’t make sense, bizarre character choices (I kept yelling at the Mando for his weird decisions), and overall extremely predictable. 

The painful dialogue didn’t do any of the actors any favors, but the actress playing Cara Dune was especially ... unconvincing.

Here’s hoping Favreau lets someone else write the next seasons. Like maybe Taika Waititi. 

[Anduin]

3 hours ago, kieyra said:

I just finally watched The Mandalorian. Woof. I seem to be immune to the Star Wars effect, but I’d gotten the sense this was a good tv show on its own merits. Found it cartoony, painfully clunky dialogue, improbable battles where the relative power of a given weapon didn’t make sense, bizarre character choices (I kept yelling at the Mando for his weird decisions), and overall extremely predictable. 

The painful dialogue didn’t do any of the actors any favors, but the actress playing Cara Dune was especially ... unconvincing.

Here’s hoping Favreau lets someone else write the next seasons. Like maybe Taika Waititi. 

I suppose it helps to be a Star Wars fan. "Oh, hey, a Kubaz! The rifle from the Holiday Special! Mon Calamari money! Tatooine! E-Web blaster!" And frankly, we're used to extremely wonky storytelling. By the standards of certain bits of Star Wars, this is practically Oscar material.

Gina Carano does seem like a decent sort of person, but she's not comfortable in front of the camera.

Not that I'm contradicting your opinions. It's always interesting to see my favourite universes through the eyes of non-cultists. :)

[kieyra]

6 hours ago, Anduin said:

Gina Carano does seem like a decent sort of person, but she's not comfortable in front of the camera.

Aha, I had a feeling she wasn't an actress by trade, so I just looked her up (MMA fighter). 

Quote

I suppose it helps to be a Star Wars fan

It's probably telling that my 'favorite' new SW movies are the less-popular ones (I loved Rogue One, and I enjoyed TLJ more than I was apparently supposed to).

[Anduin]

1 hour ago, kieyra said:

Aha, I had a feeling she wasn't an actress by trade, so I just looked her up (MMA fighter). 

It's probably telling that my 'favorite' new SW movies are the less-popular ones (I loved Rogue One, and I enjoyed TLJ more than I was apparently supposed to).

Former MMA athlete. Some people can't handle getting beaten up. And if you thought her acting was rough, you should see her interviews.

R1 and TLJ are great!

Back onto TV opinions, anyone ever encountered a show you should love, but just rubs you the wrong way? Heroes was like that for me. Even the first episode. I couldn't say what was wrong, only that it was excruciating to watch. The other one was Vikings. Yay, a show about vikings! It'll be awesome, all sorts of cool stuff. But let's throw all the tropes Anduin hates in the first episode. Straw villain, attempted rape, people not telling each other things they should absolutely know! I just tried rewatching after a few years, I quit four times in 20 minutes. 😞

[kieyra]

2 hours ago, Anduin said:

Back onto TV opinions, anyone ever encountered a show you should love, but just rubs you the wrong way?

YES. For me I think it often comes down to some sort of chemistry mismatch between me and whoever did the casting. By all rights I should have loved the recent Gatiss/Moffat Dracula project, but every single actor was Zzzz to me. Their Dracula was like a vampire accountant. And not in a Colin Robinson kind of way. 

Looking at reviews now, it wasn't super well-received anyway, but I wouldn't have known because I found the actors so boring I gave up early. (BORING/uninteresting to watch, not 'unattractive'.)

This has definitely happened to me with other shows, where I've been like "what I find interesting in a performer is exactly the opposite of whoever did this casting". 

[KittyMom4]

On 7/27/2020 at 6:57 PM, peachmangosteen said:

I already mentioned my UO of hating Starbuck but this made me realize I also have the UO of thinking Katee Sackhoff is a terrible actor lol.

 

On 7/27/2020 at 7:30 PM, peachmangosteen said:

Oh, and  some scenes from Longmire. She is always just the exact same in everything and her style is just extremely annoying and bad to me lol.

Having only seen her in Longmire but hearing about her BSG role, I went and watched a few scenes to see if maybe the Longmire role was just not the right one for her. Sadly, I think in this case it was definitely her lack of acting ability in both roles. 

[DearEvette]

 I could not stand Starbuck in BSG.  Really, really could not.  I never really thought about the actress, though, just hated the character so hard.

I haven't seen Katee Sackhoff  really in anything else except her comic villain, scenery chewing role as Amunet Black on The Flash. I liked her in that one, maybe because that character was like the anti-anti-Starbuck.  And she obviously seemed to be having a lot of fun in the role.  In the case of her Flash character, I disliked the  idea of the character, but appreciated that the actress seemed to be having a ball playing her.

[Zella]

1 hour ago, kieyra said:

By all rights I should have loved the recent Gatiss/Moffat Dracula project, but every single actor was Zzzz to me. Their Dracula was like a vampire accountant. And not in a Colin Robinson kind of way. 

I haven't watched this yet--and had been looking forward to it--but wow this . . . has me much less interested in seeing it. (Though I did laugh very hard at the idea of Dracula as a vampire accountant.) 

[festivus]

I quit watching 24 because of Katee Sackhoff who I'd never seen before in anything. I mean, I'd dealt with a lot of wtf on that show but that's what broke me. I forget which season it was but I quit about the 4th episode in. Also she always had her hair pulled over to one side and hanging over her shoulder. It irked me so bad. Yes, I'm weird. I had to stop watching iZombie because of the main characters hair.

[DoctorAtomic]

The recent Dracula was middling at best but worth it for Van Helsing. I will say no more. 

[proserpina65]

1 hour ago, DearEvette said:

 I could not stand Starbuck in BSG.  Really, really could not.  I never really thought about the actress, though, just hated the character so hard.

I haven't seen Katee Sackhoff  really in anything else except her comic villain, scenery chewing role as Amunet Black on The Flash. I liked her in that one, maybe because that character was like the anti-anti-Starbuck.  And she obviously seemed to be having a lot of fun in the role.  In the case of her Flash character, I disliked the  idea of the character, but appreciated that the actress seemed to be having a ball playing her.

She was funny as Howard's fantasy of her in that one episode of Big Bang Theory, which is something, I guess.

[Mabinogia]

7 hours ago, kieyra said:

It's probably telling that my 'favorite' new SW movies are the less-popular ones (I loved Rogue One, and I enjoyed TLJ more than I was apparently supposed to).

You're not alone. I though Rogue One was really good and I actually loved The Last Jedi. I liked all of these newer films, except Solo. I couldn't even finish that one. It was so forking boring to me. And Han Solo is one of my all time favorite characters. I just don't think the cockiness worked on a younger guy. 

[Mabinogia]

3 hours ago, kieyra said:

By all rights I should have loved the recent Gatiss/Moffat Dracula project, but every single actor was Zzzz to me. Their Dracula was like a vampire accountant. And not in a Colin Robinson kind of way. 

I have tried watching it three times now. Got almost half way through the second episode I think. I just...I can't. Their Dracula is, yeah, vampire accountant is perfect as he is not seductive, sexy nor is he terrifying, scary. There is a scene outside the gates of the nunnery I think it was? That I believe was meant to be edgy or provocative or maybe tense but I was too busy laughing my ass off at how corny it was to notice. 

Spoiler

It's when he's naked and pacing back and forth because he can't get in without an invite and I was dying at how ridiculous he seemed. And not at all sexy. I'm not sure if that was the point, to show what a loser he really was, but it made me totally disinterested in his story. 

It's disappointing because I adore Mark Gatiss and I love Dracula. Moffat is a bit more hit or miss for me, and this was a total miss. 

[proserpina65]

19 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

You're not alone. I though Rogue One was really good and I actually loved The Last Jedi. I liked all of these newer films, except Solo. I couldn't even finish that one. It was so forking boring to me. And Han Solo is one of my all time favorite characters. I just don't think the cockiness worked on a younger guy. 

I liked Rogue One, but in the end found it uncompelling because I already knew what the end result would be.  So not a horrible way to spend a couple of hours, but a fairly pointless one.

[DoctorAtomic]

2 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

So not a horrible way to spend a couple of hours, but a fairly pointless one.

That about sums it up. I understand for marketing you want to see if a Star Wars movie can carry water without Jedi/Sith, which for me isn't particularly interesting. The battle and of course Vader was good. It was cool to see ships from the cartoons. They completely blew the last line though. 

[kiddo82]

I hate the timed aspect of most creative, competitive reality shows.  I understand why they do it because (a) you gotta cap it sometime and (b) it adds another layer of drama and you want to see what these contestants can do under pressure but it turns the judges into such dicks.  For once when a judge says "I wish you'd spent a little more time on x" the contestant would answer "Me too but you only gave me 10 minutes to build a lifesized David statue out of Legos with one arm tied behind my back.  This is what you get."  I think Making It was the best show I've seen with this because while there is always going to be that crunch time factor no matter what, the contestants seemed to be set up more for success than the drama factor.  And while being the best with limited resources (time/materials) is definitely a worthy skill, I tend to like it better when I can see what these folks can do when they're less encumbered.

 

I also just have no interest in competitive cooking shows in general.  They seem very esoteric to me whereas I don't get that sense with building shows.  Maybe because I can't taste/appreciate the final result on a cooking show so when a judge says "the cinnamon really brings out the flavor of your duck" I'm like "I guess I'll take you word for  it."  And I don't know why, but they also just sound really elitist to me when they say stuff like that.

Edited August 2, 2020 by kiddo82

[Crs97]

I hate the American cooking shows when they get assigned their dish, they don’t get enough time to make it properly, and then halfway through the emcee comes in and announces they have to incorporate some specific ingredient like grapefruit.  Then we have to hear the judges complain that they didn’t fully incorporate the grapefruit into their chocolate soufflé.  One time I want the tables turned and the judges have to play the game and be critiqued on their dishes.

[andromeda331]

1 hour ago, kiddo82 said:

I hate the timed aspect of most creative, competitive reality shows.  I understand why they do it because (a) you gotta cap it sometime and (b) it adds another layer of drama and you want to see what these contestants can do under pressure but it turns the judges into such dicks.  For once when a judge says "I wish you'd spent a little more time on x" the contestant would answer "Me too but you only gave me 10 minutes to build a lifesized David statue out of Legos with one arm tied behind my back.  This is what you get."  I think Making It was the best show I've seen with this because while there is always going to be that crunch time factor no matter what, the contestants seemed to be set up more for success than the drama factor.  And while being the best with limited resources (time/materials) is definitely a worthy skill, I tend to like it better when I can see what these folks can do when they're less encumbered.

I also just have no interest in competitive cooking shows in general.  They seem very esoteric to me whereas I don't get that sense with building shows.  Maybe because I can't taste/appreciate the final result on a cooking show so when a judge says "the cinnamon really brings out the flavor of your duck" I'm like "I guess I'll take you word for  it."  And I don't know why, but they also just sound really elitist to me when they say stuff like that.

 

54 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

I hate the American cooking shows when they get assigned their dish, they don’t get enough time to make it properly, and then halfway through the emcee comes in and announces they have to incorporate some specific ingredient like grapefruit.  Then we have to hear the judges complain that they didn’t fully incorporate the grapefruit into their chocolate soufflé.  One time I want the tables turned and the judges have to play the game and be critiqued on their dishes.

I hate them all except for the Great British Baking Show, the contestants are great and can actually bake. They support and help each other. There's two rounds where they already know what their going to be making and have usually practiced a lot in the week or weeks before. The only blind one is the second challenge when their given a basic recipe by one of the judges to make which is usually something they contestants have never made and/or heard of before. The judging is usually fair. The one who leaves at the end of the episode is always the one who should where on an American one they make it so certain ones make it to the end whether they actually did a good job or not. The judges do compliment a lot along with critiquing. And most of the finish product looks like something I'd want to eat. Its a great show and really want I want to see from baking/cooking shows. American baking shows they try to make it so dramatic when it doesn't need to be and they always have to have a "story" about what their baking like it was their grandmother's or something. Not every thing someone bakes or cooks has a story. Its just unnecessary. 

Edited August 2, 2020 by andromeda331

[Crs97]

I love Great British Bake Off!  

Regarding the dramatic stories, I was part of a group that auditioned for a reality trivia competition show.  The money went to a designated charity, the producer really liked a local charity connected with our church, and they desperately needed another person on the team who could pass the written test.  We got to the audition part, and the producer desperately wanted us to be picked.  I have a child with some significant special needs and she pointed to me and said, “I am going to make you cry.”  Now, first of all I hate being in front of a camera.  Secondly, a comment like that completely numbs me.  I knew right then that I wouldn’t cry no matter what she said, and let me tell you she stopped that camera a lot and tried her hardest to make me.  We didn’t get picked, thank goodness.  But now every time I see someone cry during an interview on a reality or competitive show, my stomach turns at the manipulation I know happened to get that.

[andromeda331]

44 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

I love Great British Bake Off!  

Regarding the dramatic stories, I was part of a group that auditioned for a reality trivia competition show.  The money went to a designated charity, the producer really liked a local charity connected with our church, and they desperately needed another person on the team who could pass the written test.  We got to the audition part, and the producer desperately wanted us to be picked.  I have a child with some significant special needs and she pointed to me and said, “I am going to make you cry.”  Now, first of all I hate being in front of a camera.  Secondly, a comment like that completely numbs me.  I knew right then that I wouldn’t cry no matter what she said, and let me tell you she stopped that camera a lot and tried her hardest to make me.  We didn’t get picked, thank goodness.  But now every time I see someone cry during an interview on a reality or competitive show, my stomach turns at the manipulation I know happened to get that.

I'm so sorry. That's so horrible.

[Anduin]

2 hours ago, Crs97 said:

I love Great British Bake Off!  

Regarding the dramatic stories, I was part of a group that auditioned for a reality trivia competition show.  The money went to a designated charity, the producer really liked a local charity connected with our church, and they desperately needed another person on the team who could pass the written test.  We got to the audition part, and the producer desperately wanted us to be picked.  I have a child with some significant special needs and she pointed to me and said, “I am going to make you cry.”  Now, first of all I hate being in front of a camera.  Secondly, a comment like that completely numbs me.  I knew right then that I wouldn’t cry no matter what she said, and let me tell you she stopped that camera a lot and tried her hardest to make me.  We didn’t get picked, thank goodness.  But now every time I see someone cry during an interview on a reality or competitive show, my stomach turns at the manipulation I know happened to get that.

Good on you for staying strong! I hate that kind of manipulation too. Of course, I stay away from reality TV. It's highly selective as to what it shows. At least fiction tells you it isn't real.

[kiddo82]

6 hours ago, Crs97 said:

I hate the American cooking shows when they get assigned their dish, they don’t get enough time to make it properly, and then halfway through the emcee comes in and announces they have to incorporate some specific ingredient like grapefruit.  Then we have to hear the judges complain that they didn’t fully incorporate the grapefruit into their chocolate soufflé.  One time I want the tables turned and the judges have to play the game and be critiqued on their dishes.

Ugh!  This bugged me on the lego show too.  (Lego Masters?) Where half way through each challenge there would be a twist.  It never failed that you'd have one team crushing the first part of the challenge and then just could never incorporate the second part because it was the complete opposite of what they had been working for half a day.  Then the judges would be like "I don't really see how you incorporated all the movie genres we kept throwing at you every ten minutes." Whereas some team would inevitably be saved by the twist because what they had been working on for the first part was pretty terrible and it gave them a chance to scrap it.

Maybe it's just the judging on these shows that bugs?  I was watching the Sims reality show and the challenge was to create a mode of transportation using unconventional means.  One contestant made a bus and she explained exactly what building pieces she used like light pieces to make the wheels and wall pieces flipped around, etc.  It wasn't crazy but it was exactly what they asked for.  The other contestant made a time machine--and even though the judging panel admitted you can't make an unconventional time machine because there is no such thing as a conventional one--they all lost their shit.  And then when it came time to give results they were like "You could have interpreted this challenge in different ways" (no.  The directions were pretty clear) And one judge even said that the school bus was "adequate" to which I literally exclaimed "dick" at the TV.  (As an aside, I think that's one of the most passive aggressive, condescending thing anyone can say.)  Granted, the time machine was way cooler, but you can't change your mind about the letter of the law at the end of the challenge.

[Anduin]

1 hour ago, kiddo82 said:

Maybe it's just the judging on these shows that bugs?  I was watching the Sims reality show and the challenge was to create a mode of transportation using unconventional means.  One contestant made a bus and she explained exactly what building pieces she used like light pieces to make the wheels and wall pieces flipped around, etc.  It wasn't crazy but it was exactly what they asked for.  The other contestant made a time machine--and even though the judging panel admitted you can't make an unconventional time machine because there is no such thing as a conventional one--they all lost their shit.  And then when it came time to give results they were like "You could have interpreted this challenge in different ways" (no.  The directions were pretty clear) And one judge even said that the school bus was "adequate" to which I literally exclaimed "dick" at the TV.  (As an aside, I think that's one of the most passive aggressive, condescending thing anyone can say.)  Granted, the time machine was way cooler, but you can't change your mind about the letter of the law at the end of the challenge.

According to TV, time machines either look like police boxes or the USS Enterprise. Anything else, I'd pay as unconventional.

[Shannon L.]

9 hours ago, kiddo82 said:

I hate the timed aspect of most creative, competitive reality shows.  I understand why they do it because (a) you gotta cap it sometime and (b) it adds another layer of drama and you want to see what these contestants can do under pressure but it turns the judges into such dicks.  For once when a judge says "I wish you'd spent a little more time on x" the contestant would answer "Me too but you only gave me 10 minutes to build a lifesized David statue out of Legos with one arm tied behind my back.  This is what you get."  I think Making It was the best show I've seen with this because while there is always going to be that crunch time factor no matter what, the contestants seemed to be set up more for success than the drama factor.  And while being the best with limited resources (time/materials) is definitely a worthy skill, I tend to like it better when I can see what these folks can do when they're less encumbered.

 

I also just have no interest in competitive cooking shows in general.  They seem very esoteric to me whereas I don't get that sense with building shows.  Maybe because I can't taste/appreciate the final result on a cooking show so when a judge says "the cinnamon really brings out the flavor of your duck" I'm like "I guess I'll take you word for  it."  And I don't know why, but they also just sound really elitist to me when they say stuff like that.

My husband and I have been watching a lot of baking/cooking competitions since the beginning of the pandemic:

The Great British Bake Off (our favorite so far)

Final Table

Zumbo's Just Desserts

Crazy Delicious

Sugar Rush

I loving them so much more than most of the American shows we've watched for one reason:  They're kinder.  I hate how mean and bitchy the judges and competitors can get in the American shows (or the shows get ridiculous a few season in--added drama, silly games, etc).   I read a little bit on the Final Table forum here and some people mentioned that they thought Top Chef was better, so we tried it and could barely make it through the pilot episode.  The only competitive American shows I can handle are/were Face Off, Making It,  and the first few seasons of Master Chef (this one also had it's nasty moments, so we stopped watching when it got to be too much) and Project Runway (although that one gets mean and bitchy from time to time as well---but I put up with it because I love seeing the final designs).  Sugar Rush is American and it's pretty good so far.  Final Table, also American, was good (but most of the contestants were from other countries).  Zumbo's Just Desserts was a bit over produced--especially in the first few episodes of each season and Crazy Delicious was way over produced all the way through, but everyone was nice and it was an interesting take on it.  We're also watching Blown Away which is not too bad so far.  It's a glass blowing competition and each episode runs 25 minutes.  It's fascinating to watch them work.

 

 

Edited August 2, 2020 by Shannon L.

[Crs97]

2 hours ago, Anduin said:

According to TV, time machines either look like police boxes or the USS Enterprise. Anything else, I'd pay as unconventional.

Or a DeLorean