Party of One: Unpopular TV Opinions

[MargeGunderson]

5 minutes ago, Neurochick said:

I've been on grand jury in NYC, and L&O, all of them got it wrong, wrong, wrong.

What did they get wrong? Not challenging you, just really interested. I’ve never been on a grand jury. I was on the jury of a murder trial once and it was both upsetting and mundane at the same time. No Jack McCoy righteous indignation!

[Neurochick]

4 minutes ago, MargeGunderson said:

What did they get wrong? Not challenging you, just really interested. I’ve never been on a grand jury. I was on the jury of a murder trial once and it was both upsetting and mundane at the same time. No Jack McCoy righteous indignation!

Twenty three people are on the grand jury.   The grand jury room is very sparse, not a lot of furniture, not elegantly furnished.

The hallway outside the grand jury room is also very stark and blank looking.

The grand jury is in the criminal court building but you enter through a different entrance.  

Usually a junior ADA (ONE PERSON) questions the witnesses and they don't ask long winded questions.

Each case is very short.  

It's boring.

[MargeGunderson]

55 minutes ago, Neurochick said:

Twenty three people are on the grand jury.   The grand jury room is very sparse, not a lot of furniture, not elegantly furnished.

The hallway outside the grand jury room is also very stark and blank looking.

The grand jury is in the criminal court building but you enter through a different entrance.  

Usually a junior ADA (ONE PERSON) questions the witnesses and they don't ask long winded questions.

Each case is very short.  

It's boring.

Do the members of the jury get to ask questions? I’ve seen it on TV.

[Neurochick]

3 hours ago, MargeGunderson said:

Do the members of the jury get to ask questions? I’ve seen it on TV.

Yes, but you have to ask the ADA first and then the ADA asks the witness the question.

Also, IRL, the ADAs always carry the HUGE book that is the NY Penal law, every time one of them came in the room, they'd have that darn book with them (this was in the 1980's).

Edited October 30, 2020 by Neurochick

[Anduin]

19 minutes ago, Neurochick said:

Yes, but you have to ask the ADA first and then the ADA asks the witness the question.

Also, IRL, the ADAs always carry the HUGE book that is the NY Penal law, every time one of them came in the room, they'd have that darn book with them (this was in the 1980's).

These days, surely they'd have it on a tablet. Even a phone.

[Katy M]

Superunpopular opinion:  I liked Andy and Erin as a couple on The Office.

[ifionlyknew]

43 minutes ago, Katy M said:

Superunpopular opinion:  I liked Andy and Erin as a couple on The Office.

Bet my unpopular opinion is even more unpopular.  I liked 90210 the sequel.  Wasn't as good as the original but I enjoyed it enough that I am currently doing a rewatch.

[Katy M]

57 minutes ago, ifionlyknew said:

Bet my unpopular opinion is even more unpopular.  I liked 90210 the sequel.  Wasn't as good as the original but I enjoyed it enough that I am currently doing a rewatch.

i don't think I ever watched it.  Figured I was too old for a high school show at that point.  I found that thing they did last summer to be more enjoyable than I thought it would be, though.

[ifionlyknew]

3 minutes ago, Katy M said:

i don't think I ever watched it.  Figured I was too old for a high school show at that point.  I found that thing they did last summer to be more enjoyable than I thought it would be, though.

I was too old.  LOL. But I still liked it.  I didn't watch BH90210 when it aired because I thought oh I will catch it online. Well it is no longer online so I guessed I missed out.

[Avabelle]

Annie Wilson was awful at the beginning but I actually quite like Shenae Grimes that it made me hate the character a little less. Erin Silver was the worst. Naomi Clark for the win despite suffering the worst writing ever. It’s crazy that Ethan ended up on Schitts Creek.

3 hours ago, Katy M said:

Superunpopular opinion:  I liked Andy and Erin as a couple on The Office.

Their break up and the appalling one note writing where we clearly meant to side with Erin made me HATE Erin.

Erin and Plop were the worst.

[Stats Queen]

8 hours ago, Katy M said:

Superunpopular opinion:  I liked Andy and Erin as a couple on The Office.

I did too

[GHScorpiosRule]

Granted I haven’t watched SNL regularly in quite some time, but man was their “election special” LAME. It was nothing but a clip show.

When Hammond, Carvey, Hartman, Hooks, Sweeney did them, at least it was new material.

Like I said, haven’t watched in a looong time. 

[Spartan Girl]

So I don’t know if this is unpopular or not but the Ducktales reboot is way, way better than the original cartoon.

I know that sounds blasphemous because the original show was such a classic and like most of you guys I loved it when I was little. However, watching it on Disney+ after all these years...it’s just so corny and silly! Alan Young will always be Scrooge to me, though.

Edited November 14, 2020 by Spartan Girl

[peachmangosteen]

On 11/6/2020 at 12:08 PM, ifionlyknew said:

Bet my unpopular opinion is even more unpopular.  I liked 90210 the sequel.  Wasn't as good as the original but I enjoyed it enough that I am currently doing a rewatch.

The second season of the reboot is probably in my Top 10 seasons of TV ever. I stopped watching sometime in season 3 though, I think, and never finished it.

[Wiendish Fitch]

Barney Miller UO:

I thought Yemana was funnier than Fish. 

[Blergh]

On 11/27/2020 at 12:03 PM, Wiendish Fitch said:

Barney Miller UO:

I thought Yemana was funnier than Fish. 

Agree! I liked both Mr. Soo and Mr. Vigoda a great deal  as performers and personalities but how it was that Fish's self-titled spin-off lasted two episodes much less two seasons, I will never understand. Fish  and his long-suffering wife Bernice were BOTH far better taken in small doses than being central characters (and I also liked Bernice's performer Florence Stanley). 

Edited November 29, 2020 by Blergh

[kiddo82]

Season 1-3 Jim on The Office always kind of bugs me.  Way too much of the nice guy trope for me.  And I hate both the way he and Pam treat Katy in The Fire epsiode when Katy says she likes Legally Blonde.  Don't be jerk gatekeepers, guys.  Just be cool.*  Also, not to be a spoil sport, but some of Jim's pranks are really mean.  Not that Michael would discipline anybody, but some of those pranks would get someone in a real office summarily fired.  

*For what it's worth, Jenna Fischer said on The Office Ladies podcast that she disagreed with Pam's behavior in that moment.  

[scorpio1031]

On 11/27/2020 at 10:03 AM, Wiendish Fitch said:

Barney Miller UO:

I thought Yemana was funnier than Fish. 

OMG!!!  When Wojo brought in the hashish brownies - mushy mushy mushy🤣

[proserpina65]

On ‎11‎/‎28‎/‎2020 at 11:43 PM, scorpio1031 said:

OMG!!!  When Wojo brought in the hashish brownies - mushy mushy mushy🤣

Still my favorite episode of Barney Miller.

[janie jones]

On 11/28/2020 at 7:19 PM, kiddo82 said:

Season 1-3 Jim on The Office always kind of bugs me.  Way too much of the nice guy trope for me.  And I hate both the way he and Pam treat Katy in The Fire epsiode when Katy says she likes Legally Blonde.  Don't be jerk gatekeepers, guys.  Just be cool.*  Also, not to be a spoil sport, but some of Jim's pranks are really mean.  Not that Michael would discipline anybody, but some of those pranks would get someone in a real office summarily fired.  

*For what it's worth, Jenna Fischer said on The Office Ladies podcast that she disagreed with Pam's behavior in that moment.  

I was never really into The Office, but I thought Jim was a total asshole, every time I caught an episode.

[GreekGeek]

On 11/27/2020 at 1:03 PM, Wiendish Fitch said:

Barney Miller UO:

I thought Yemana was funnier than Fish. 

I wonder if this is really an UO. I recently re-watched some of Barney Miller, and thought that Fish’s character relied too much on bathroom jokes and “take my wife please” jokes. I believe Bernice should have remained unseen, like Maris on Frasier or Vera on Cheers, because once she appeared, she was such a sweetheart that Fish’s remarks about her just seemed mean. 

[Wiendish Fitch]

2 hours ago, GreekGeek said:

I wonder if this is really an UO. I recently re-watched some of Barney Miller, and thought that Fish’s character relied too much on bathroom jokes and “take my wife please” jokes. I believe Bernice should have remained unseen, like Maris on Frasier or Vera on Cheers, because once she appeared, she was such a sweetheart that Fish’s remarks about her just seemed mean. 

It's not that Fish isn't somewhat amusing, but he feels like a one-note quip machine, as opposed to the fully fleshed out character that, say, Yemana was. Plus, I know he was aiming for deadpan, but sometimes Abe Vigoda seemed to just be reciting his lines off of cue cards. Jack Soo's facial expressions, deep, gloomy voice, and his comic timing really won me over.

ITA about Bernice, and that she should have been unseen like Maris. She seemed like a perfectly nice woman, and Fish was the real jerk in the marriage (Is that the joke they were aiming for? Because it feels like they missed).

Edited December 2, 2020 by Wiendish Fitch

[Blergh]

Maybe they could have had Florence Stanley play the unseen Bernice's sister- and totally avoided the spinoff plot of them becoming foster parents so late in life since Fish especially had had no real interest in raising kids prior to that! 

[DoctorAtomic]

Tis the season - I don't like the Nutcracker. 

[Brandi Maxxxx]

On 11/7/2020 at 3:20 AM, Katy M said:

Superunpopular opinion:  I liked Andy and Erin as a couple on The Office.

 

On 11/7/2020 at 6:51 AM, Avabelle said:

Their break up and the appalling one note writing where we clearly meant to side with Erin made me HATE Erin.

Erin and Plop were the worst.

"Well we just spent 3 seasons dragging out this 'will they, won't they' plotline that could have been done in 1. Now that they're finally together... let's make the guy start acting like a total dick for no reason and give the girl a boring new love interest. Then as soon as they get together, make sure the new guy stops being relevant. Keep giving him lines in the script but never let them make it into the final cut."

[janie jones]

17 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Tis the season - I don't like the Nutcracker. 

I wouldn't say I dislike it, but now that I've seen it, I don't have any need to see it again.

[Katy M]

17 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Tis the season - I don't like the Nutcracker. 

I'll top that.  I don't like, no, I hate It's a Wonderful Life.  

[janie jones]

18 hours ago, Katy M said:

I'll top that.  I don't like, no, I hate It's a Wonderful Life.  

Admittedly, it's been decades since I've seen it, so I could be misremembering the plot, but the guy wants to kill himself, and the angel shows him what would have happened if he'd never been born? What's the point of that? The angel should have showed him what would happen if he killed himself.

Edited December 4, 2020 by janie jones

[Irlandesa]

43 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I'll top that.  I don't like, no, I hate It's a Wonderful Life.  

I'll give you guys the Trifecta (or maybe quadfecta)

A Christmas Story is boring as heck
I don't like The Nutcracker
I hate It's A Wonderful Life
And I hate pretty much every adaptation of A Christmas Carol except for maybe Scrooged but I can't watch that one over and over either

So there's at least on Saturday evening in December on NBC that I won't watch their channel.  I have to avoid so many A Christmas Carol knockoffs that seem to come out every year and TNT's (or TBS's) marathon is the bane of my existence if my uncle has control of the remote.

 

 

[Ohiopirate02]

41 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I'll top that.  I don't like, no, I hate It's a Wonderful Life.  

I also hate that movie.  I hate how the movie glorifies George being the towns doormat.  All the poor man wants is to go on a vacation and see the world, but the town sucks him dry.  It's a really dysfunctional relationship.   And dont get me started on Mary.  I feel personally attacked that the horrible fate to befell her in the darkest timeline is a spinster librarian who inexplicably wears glasses. 

[festivus]

Ah, the annual roll call for those that hate It's a Wonderful Life. Tis the season.

 

Here!

[Shannon L.]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

I'll top that.  I don't like, no, I hate It's a Wonderful Life.  

I've never seen it, but my mother absolutely hated it--especially the line "Every time a bell rings, an angel get it's wings".  She thought that was just too sappy.

[Wiendish Fitch]

Re: It's a Wonderful Life

The citizens of Bedford Falls were a mob of parasites who conspired to keep George from leaving the town he hated because they wanted him to be forever bound to the Savings and Loan.

Go ahead, dispute me.

[MargeGunderson]

For the haters of It’s a Wonderful Life: The Most Most Terrifying Movie Ever and Occupy Bedford Falls

 

[Katy M]

32 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

A Christmas Story is boring as heck

I hate that too.

[Browncoat]

31 minutes ago, festivus said:

Ah, the annual roll call for those that hate It's a Wonderful Life. Tis the season.

 

Here!

Present!

[raven]

42 minutes ago, janie jones said:

the angel shows him what would have happen if he'd never been born? What's the point of that? The angel should have showed him what would happen if he killed himself.

After Clarence jumps in after him, George says it would have been better if he'd never been born, so Clarence shows him what would have happened if he hadn't.

3 minutes ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

Go ahead, dispute me.

Hey, you asked 🙂

George is ready to leave the first time and then his father dies; the Board of the Building & Loan was going to close down or sell if George didn't stay on.  George decides to stay; he could have left.  No one would have lost any money or anything.

George's brother returns from the army ready to take over the B&L and George, again, lets someone off the hook because the brother's wife said her father had a job waiting for him.  They were ready to stay in Bedford Falls though so George could leave.

George could have left on his honeymoon and instead stayed, using all of his honeymoon money to keep the B&L afloat.   He could have let Potter take it over but couldn't stand that idea.  Again, his own choice.

Each "crisis", George decides to stay.  He could have invested with his friend (don't remember the guy's name) who ended up getting rich and he decided not to.  

George doesn't want Potter to take over the B&L, which drives most of his decisions. 

I know I'm not going to change anyone's minds, it's interesting to me how the movie is viewed by some as the town pressuring George when every time, he has a choice and he decides to stay; usually to spite Potter (who is nasty, even threatening to frame George at the end of the movie, which honestly is ridiculous and never would have stuck, but "movie").

Plus "She's an old maid!!!  She's just about to close up the LIBRARY!!!!" makes me and my friends laugh, every single year 😄

Unpopular?  Scrooged - I HATE IT.   There's not enough capital letters for me to express my hatred of Carol Kane's screeching character.

 

 

[peachmangosteen]

I've never even seen It's a Wonderful Life.

I absolutely hate A Christmas Story. I find it terrifying.

[Lugal]

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

A Christmas Story is boring as heck
I don't like The Nutcracker
I hate It's A Wonderful Life
And I hate pretty much every adaptation of A Christmas Carol except for maybe Scrooged but I can't watch that one over and over either

Agree on A Christmas Story, don't know if I ever watched the whole thing.

I don't mind It's A Wonderful Life, it's not something I'll seek out to watch, but I give props to a movie that dared to portray bankers as evil when such a thing for verboten. (That's Commie talk, after all!)

Sort of the same with A Christmas Carol I like the versions that keep Dickens' bite and don't get sappy.

As for The Nutcracker, I used to know some dancers and here's a secret: most dancers hate The Nutcracker with a passion.

[Annber03]

I've never seen A Christmas Story.

1 hour ago, Shannon L. said:

I've never seen it, but my mother absolutely hated it--especially the line "Every time a bell rings, an angel get it's wings".  She thought that was just too sappy.

I can't hear that bit without thinking of the end of an episode of "Rocko's Modern Life". After Rocko goes through the DMV and manages to get his car back, as he's driving away, there's this exchange between a boy and his dad:

Boy: Daddy, Daddy, teacher tells me every time someone drives with a gas cap on, an angel gets its wings!

Father: Your teacher's full of snot!

Edited December 4, 2020 by Annber03

[Shannon L.]

Add me to the Christmas Story list, too.  Although, as a bloodhound owner, I love the neighbors bloodhounds  🙂

I've never seen The Nutcracker and never wanted to.  I never got into Elf, either. 

[raven]

7 minutes ago, Shannon L. said:

I've never seen The Nutcracker and never wanted to.  I never got into Elf, either. 

Nutcrackers are freaky so.....no.  I'd have nightmares about one standing over me, holding a knife.  Can't stand Will Ferrell so no to Elf as well.

Best Christmas movie is Die Hard (not unpopular) with George C. Scott's A Christmas Carol second (probably unpopular).  And of course!

 

 

[Browncoat]

1 minute ago, raven said:

Can't stand Will Ferrell so no to Elf as well.

Same.

The best Christmas Carol is A Muppet Christmas Carol.

Edited December 4, 2020 by Browncoat

[kiddo82]

28 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

The best Christmas Carol is A Muppet Christmas Carol.

Agree.

[Rose Quartz]

White Christmas is the best traditional Christmas movie.  Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye spend half the movie bouncing zingers off each other, it's nice to see how the relationship between Bob and Betty grows, and Phil's terror when Judy proposes to him is hilarious.  Heck, all the characters are sympathetic.  Even the traditional busybody who works at the hotel has a heart of gold and just wants what's best for the general.  This one is at the top of my annual holiday watch list.

[DoctorAtomic]

I don't even know what the plot of the Nutcracker is. 

Muppets yes, but the Blackadder version is the exception to the rule. 

 

[Callietwo]

3 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I'll give you guys the Trifecta (or maybe quadfecta)

A Christmas Story is boring as heck
I don't like The Nutcracker
I hate It's A Wonderful Life
And I hate pretty much every adaptation of A Christmas Carol except for maybe Scrooged but I can't watch that one over and over either

So there's at least on Saturday evening in December on NBC that I won't watch their channel.  I have to avoid so many A Christmas Carol knockoffs that seem to come out every year and TNT's (or TBS's) marathon is the bane of my existence if my uncle has control of the remote.

 

 

I’ll co-sign the hate for all of these and add in Charlie Browns Christmas.  
 

As kid I found it incredibly boring and it never got better. 

[Zella]

It's A Wonderful Life is the only Christmas movie I like besides National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. (Because I'm a 90s kid, I still have a lot of residual affection for Jingle All The Way, too, but I only admit that in the anonymous confines of the internet.) I like a lot of the cast, and even though I'm not much of a crier, I always get a little weepy at the end. I could do without Clarence, though. Every time George says, "You look like the kind of angel I'd end up with," I start nodding. Actually it sounds like something my dad would say. LOL 

Edited to add: I have a pretty low capacity for holiday cheer. I don't dislike the holidays--actually kind of enjoy them--but I can only handle so much holiday-themed entertainment. I usually end up reading a bunch of murder mysteries to counteract it all. 

Edited December 4, 2020 by Zella

[Haleth]

11 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Same.

The best Christmas Carol is A Muppet Christmas Carol.

Absolutely. 

I don't mind A Christmas Story (I have a nostalgic love for Jean Shepard) or It's a Wonderful Life, but I haven't watched the whole thing in ages.  I usually catch bits and pieces.  Same with White Christmas.

Now for my annual rant:  The Rudolph cartoon sucks.  Beside all the bullying and body shaming, the thing that infuriates me most is Santa saying they'll have to cancel Christmas because he can't deliver presents.  What kind of message is that for kids?  No presents means no Christmas?  The Whos in Whoville have it right- no presents, no decorations, no roast beast, but Christmas comes anyway.  The point is driven home even more this year, Christmas is about being with loved ones.  Now I'm going to go suck on a candy cane and whimper into my eggnog.

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, Haleth said:

Absolutely. 

I don't mind A Christmas Story (I have a nostalgic love for Jean Shepard) or It's a Wonderful Life, but I haven't watched the whole thing in ages.  I usually catch bits and pieces.  Same with White Christmas.

Now for my annual rant:  The Rudolph cartoon sucks.  Beside all the bullying and body shaming, the thing that infuriates me most is Santa saying they'll have to cancel Christmas because he can't deliver presents.  What kind of message is that for kids?  No presents means no Christmas?  The Whos in Whoville have it right- no presents, no decorations, no roast beast, but Christmas comes anyway.  The point is driven home even more this year, Christmas is about being with loved ones.  Now I'm going to go suck on a candy cane and whimper into my eggnog.

I remember liking Rudolph as a kid, but seeing it as an adult, I hate it. Santa is completely unlikeable.   Rudolph is ostracized because of a birth defect or whatever. But, then when they need him, they're more than happy to use it.  The elves are basically slaves.  I remember the first time I saw it as an adult, i was about 24 or 25, I think.  I was visiting my parents, and I was like why is Santa so grouchy?  I don't remember this.  My mom said "He has a toothache.  that dentist elf is going to fix it."  That didn't happen, and my mom was like "I think they changed it."    Oddly, enough, when I went to work, I shared that little exchange and someone worked with said, "I think your mom's right.  Santa did have a toothache." So, now I can't decide if there's some big Rudolph conspiracy to cover up that Santa gets toothaches.