Party of One: Unpopular TV Opinions

[scarynikki12]

8 minutes ago, Shannon L. said:

Lafayette's rap was insane and The Cabinet Battles were fun.  I also liked how Thomas Jefferson's song "What Did I Miss?" was more jazzy while others had moved on to something more modern like rap and hip-hop.  It showed that while he was gone, America was moving right along into a new phase.  LMM is brilliant, imo.

Totally! I remember watching that...PBS? special on Hamilton and Lin talking about how giving Jefferson a jazz style for his songs was to demonstrate how he was stuck in the past culturally/politically blew my mind. I'd just assumed he'd done that so Jefferson would have his own style but it being a way to show how out of touch he was was fucking brilliant. 

[JustHereForFood]

6 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

The show manufactured drama for the sake of drama instead of mining the inherent drama found in the premise of the show.

That's a good description. Plus, later they also recycled most of that drama.

[sistermagpie]

1 hour ago, Enigma X said:

I think you mean "It's Quiet Uptown" 😀. This is my favorite song from Hamilton and I like them all. I am always bawling on this one.

When Hamilton sings the reprise of, "Look around, look around Eliza!" in that song it gets me every time.

[juno]

working on a music theme upthread. My UO is I absolutely hate music in shows. Not the theme song or end credits music but the sappy sad music that is being played to manipulate me to get the "feels" during a specific part of the show.

I remember trying out Station 19 when it premiered and there was a scene where the father is in the hospital. Suddenly this loud sad music comes on. I couldn't even hear the dialogue. I clicked it off and never came back.

I am not saying that all music is bad, some music is okay is small doses like scary music in a scary scene. But this loud sad soap opera music that seems to be in so many episodes drives me nuts.

[Haleth]

11 hours ago, Enigma X said:

I think you mean "It's Quiet Uptown" 😀. This is my favorite song from Hamilton and I like them all. I am always bawling on this one.

Omigosh, the pain.  

I love, love Hamilton the movie.  I'm an old lady so rap isn't my thing but Daveed Diggs is outstanding in his roles.  I really enjoyed the performances of Renée Elise Goldsberry and Leslie Odem Jr too.  What a brilliant cast all around!

[Kel Varnsen]

9 hours ago, juno said:

working on a music theme upthread. My UO is I absolutely hate music in shows. Not the theme song or end credits music but the sappy sad music that is being played to manipulate me to get the "feels" during a specific part of the show.

I generally don't mind music in shows but I had when it is used as filler or because the story/acting isn't good enough to express how you should feel. Filler is the most annoying though. I remember those last few seasons of Some of Anarchy, when it was really popular, they started doing 90 minute episodes. And each one guaranteed had 2 musical montages to fill up that time.

[DearEvette]

10 hours ago, juno said:

I am not saying that all music is bad, some music is okay is small doses like scary music in a scary scene. But this loud sad soap opera music that seems to be in so many episodes drives me nuts.

Ugh.  I hate this too.  I don't know where it started but the Shonda shows are repeat offenders. And yes, it is not all music used in scene, but that certain brand of mopey open mic coffee house music that is always  few ticks higher in decibel than the normal dialogue.  Some shows really over use it. 

OTOH, some shows use music so effectively.  9-1-1 on Fox uses music really excellently.  There was one episode that every rescue/storyline was thematically tied to people dealing with some sort of pressure -- physical or personal.  In one scene they used Billy Joel's song 'Pressure' and in another scene they used David Bowie's 'Under Pressure.'  In a recent episode there was a person hanging off the side of a building and they used Sam & Dave's 'Hold on, I'm Coming' as the First Responders snapped into action. 

[Kel Varnsen]

3 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

OTOH, some shows use music so effectively.  9-1-1 on Fox uses music really excellently. 

That show must have an insane music budget. They always have really great really popular songs by big artists. It's rarely cover songs or songs by indie bands that aren't big. There was one episode that had a Radiohead song and a Foo Fighters song.

[DoctorAtomic]

On music, I also want to point out the technique of opening the show with a whimsical or silly song, typically with characters that have never been on before for a long drawn out scene of them doing banal things that's only tangentially related to the current goings on of the show. 

Sure, foreshadowing is good, but the technique itself is played out, and to get to the payoff itself always takes too long. It's never to move the plot along. On a 45 minute show, it's upwards a chunk of 10% out. 

 

[AstaCharles]

1 hour ago, DearEvette said:

And yes, it is not all music used in scene, but that certain brand of mopey open mic coffee house music that is always  few ticks higher in decibel than the normal dialogue.  Some shows really over use it.

The soft cover songs bother me, I always think it sounds like a baby or someone waking up from a nap. "What are they saying? Is this a Bowie cover?"

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by AstaCharles

[Shannon L.]

1 hour ago, DearEvette said:

OTOH, some shows use music so effectively.  9-1-1 on Fox uses music really excellently.  There was one episode that every rescue/storyline was thematically tied to people dealing with some sort of pressure -- physical or personal.  In one scene they used Billy Joel's song 'Pressure' and in another scene they used David Bowie's 'Under Pressure.'  In a recent episode there was a person hanging off the side of a building and they used Sam & Dave's 'Hold on, I'm Coming' as the First Responders snapped into action. 

Playing "And So It Goes" over the final montage of the latest episode of This is Us had me sobbing.

[Crs97]

One of my kids always hears the music in everything, even to the point of being able to say, “Oh that melody is when the two side characters are walking to ___.”  I’m amazed because rarely do I even notice music playing, and I almost never know a song in the montage.  For some people like my kid (on the spectrum), the music is paramount.

[juno]

8 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

One of my kids always hears the music in everything, even to the point of being able to say, “Oh that melody is when the two side characters are walking to ___.”  I’m amazed because rarely do I even notice music playing, and I almost never know a song in the montage.  For some people like my kid (on the spectrum), the music is paramount.

I get it, I am very musical and I can pick up on all kinds of background sounds and noises, even in Supermarkets.

The idea of playing Under Pressure during an intense scene is hilarious. The idea of playing loud violins in a hospital scene makes me turn off the TV. Music to manipulate me to feel emotions like happy or sad during a scene is obnoxious and cheap film making.

[Mabinogia]

On the music front, I am quite over the playing fast/happy music over a dark/murderous scene. It was cool the first 20 times. Now it's just overdone and not nearly as clever as the filmmakers think. 

I also hate overwrought, emo covers of songs, especially if the song was already sad and depressing and they are trying to make it even more sad and depressing. 

[andromeda331]

10 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

Playing "And So It Goes" over the final montage of the latest episode of This is Us had me sobbing.

That song played in Signed, Sealed, and Delivered series that Shane picked for her and Oliver to dance to for the final dance lesson they were taking. It made me cry then. They played the song again in the last movie when they got married. It's such a great song but it makes you cry.

12 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Ugh.  I hate this too.  I don't know where it started but the Shonda shows are repeat offenders. And yes, it is not all music used in scene, but that certain brand of mopey open mic coffee house music that is always  few ticks higher in decibel than the normal dialogue.  Some shows really over use it. 

OTOH, some shows use music so effectively.  9-1-1 on Fox uses music really excellently.  There was one episode that every rescue/storyline was thematically tied to people dealing with some sort of pressure -- physical or personal.  In one scene they used Billy Joel's song 'Pressure' and in another scene they used David Bowie's 'Under Pressure.'  In a recent episode there was a person hanging off the side of a building and they used Sam & Dave's 'Hold on, I'm Coming' as the First Responders snapped into action. 

I do love when shows use music effectively. Cold Case was always really good at picking the right songs for each episode they played. 

[Zella]

6 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

I do love when shows use music effectively. Cold Case was always really good at picking the right songs for each episode they played. 

Same here. I thought the folks who did the music for The Americans, Person of Interest, and The Good Wife all had a good ear for the right song for the moment. 

[Annber03]

23 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

I do love when shows use music effectively. Cold Case was always really good at picking the right songs for each episode they played. 

Agreed. There's quite a few songs out there that, when I hear them, immediately make me think of a particular moment or scene or whatever from a TV show, and the emotions, happy or sad, that came with that. And some TV shows have also introduced me to good songs and artists as well. 

I've always said that if I worked in the TV industry, I'd love to work either as a writer on a TV show, or be in charge of the musical soundtrack :D. That'd be my bread and butter, right there. 

[Hiyo]

The OC also did a good job with music as well.

[proserpina65]

On 5/6/2022 at 7:10 PM, sistermagpie said:

I don't understand why people don't just let people alone with this. Not only do people just have different tastes, but I'd much rather just have somebody not be interested in what I like than have them dislike it even more because I assigned it to them like homework. 

My best friend and I are generally "if you're not interested, no biggie" people, but she still has the unfortunate habit of occasionally describing episodes of The Walking Dead to me despite knowing that I hate zombie stuff.  Although once she could discuss the show with her Scwann man, it happened less frequently.

On 5/7/2022 at 10:55 AM, sistermagpie said:

es, it's kind of rap written by a musical theater lover and lots of other styles.

And yet, still more rap than I want to listen to.  Which is one of the reasons I will likely never watch Hamilton.  I'm fine with that and fortunately don't have any friends who insist I just have to see it because "it's sooo good". 

On 5/7/2022 at 1:42 PM, Zella said:

That was also how Outlander got recommended to me by multiple people. You like history and you like Scotland--you'll like this! Um no. 

I had that, plus "you love science fiction/fantasy so you'll love the time traveling".  Yes, but I prefer my time traveling, history and Scottish things to be well written and neither the book nor the tv show are.

[BlackberryJam]

18 hours ago, Zella said:

Same here. I thought the folks who did the music for The Americans, Person of Interest, and The Good Wife all had a good ear for the right song for the moment. 

The Americans! I absolutely remember the use of Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and U2's With or Without You. Both songs were perfect for those scenes and absolute hit on all the right notes. 

I also think Westworld does a great job with music. I like all the Poundy Drums of BSG.

Many times, I'll watch shows on mute with closed captioning on because I don't like the "forced emotion" that some soundtracks try to bring.

I also hate it when the screen is too dark to make things out. And rapid cuts for fight/chase scenes. I hate rapid cuts so much. 

[Zella]

10 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said:

The Americans! I absolutely remember the use of Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and U2's With or Without You. Both songs were perfect for those scenes and absolute hit on all the right notes. 

Yes! My personal favorite musical moments on there were Peter Gabriel's "Games Without Frontiers" and "We Do What We're Told," Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain," Bauhaus's "Slice of Life," The Cure's "Siamese Twins," and Leonard Cohen's "Who By Fire." I usually tend to find montages set to music cheesy, but they had it down to an artform! 

[Cinnabon]

24 minutes ago, Zella said:

Yes! My personal favorite musical moments on there were Peter Gabriel's "Games Without Frontiers" and "We Do What We're Told," Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain," Bauhaus's "Slice of Life," The Cure's "Siamese Twins," and Leonard Cohen's "Who By Fire." I usually tend to find montages set to music cheesy, but they had it down to an artform! 

And the opening sequences set  to “Tusk” was one of the most memorable, best uses of music I can remember. They were spot on in their use of music in that show! 
 
Ryan Murphy also does a fantastic job with getting the music right in his shows. “Nip/Tuck” hooked me with the music. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 9, 2022 by Cinnabon

[Zella]

8 minutes ago, Cinnabon said:

And the opening sequences set  to “Tusk” was one of the most memorable, best uses of music I can remember. They were spot on in their use of music in that show! 

I really loved that, too, but I am embarrassed to admit that when I first heard that, my reaction wasn't a normal person's. Instead of "Hey, Fleetwood Mac!" I was like "Hey, the Hogs band plays that all the time!" 😂

[Cinnabon]

6 minutes ago, Zella said:

I really loved that, too, but I am embarrassed to admit that when I first heard that, my reaction wasn't a normal person's. Instead of "Hey, Fleetwood Mac!" I was like "Hey, the Hogs band plays that all the time!" 😂

Ha! I didn’t know about that, but the disturbing Kevin Smith movie “Tusk” also memorably uses the song in a key scene 🤣. I feel a bit ashamed that I didn’t hate the movie. 

[bluegirl147]

1 hour ago, Zella said:

Yes! My personal favorite musical moments on there were Peter Gabriel's "Games Without Frontiers" and "We Do What We're Told," Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain," Bauhaus's "Slice of Life," The Cure's "Siamese Twins," and Leonard Cohen's "Who By Fire." I usually tend to find montages set to music cheesy, but they had it down to an artform! 

I cannot hear The Chain without thinking of the Americans. 

All this talk about the show makes me want to do a rewatch. 

[Zella]

5 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

I cannot hear The Chain without thinking of the Americans. 

All this talk about the show makes me want to do a rewatch. 

I've been wanting to rewatch it ever since I watched it for the first time last year! 

[Mabinogia]

4 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

I had that, plus "you love science fiction/fantasy so you'll love the time traveling".  Yes, but I prefer my time traveling, history and Scottish things to be well written and neither the book nor the tv show are.

That's a great point. Just because something might tick all your boxes doesn't mean you're going to like the writing or the acting or that particular interpretation of all the things that ticked your boxes. 

 

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, Cinnabon said:

And the opening sequences set  to “Tusk” was one of the most memorable, best uses of music I can remember. They were spot on in their use of music in that show! 

As good as the show was, I really think it was Tusk that hooked me.

[festivus]

Yeah, I think the pilot of The Americans was one of the best I've ever seen and the use of Tusk was inspired. Unfortunately we stopped with cable so I only saw the first season. I'm gonna have to catch up someday.

Another show that uses music in a great way is Fargo. Since this is the UO thread I'll say that I had a hard time making it through season 3 even though it had some great actors. Idk, I was just bored. It was going to be hard to live up to season 2 for me which I thought was just darn near perfect.

[BlackberryJam]

Downton Abbey ticked all my boxes and I couldn’t make it through one episode.

[Cinnabon]

“Her Smell” (with Elisabeth Moss as a fucked up punk rocker) should have been right up my alley, but I couldn’t even finish watching it. 

[DrSpaceman73]

53 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said:

Downton Abbey ticked all my boxes and I couldn’t make it through one episode.

And now a downtown abbey movie 

I watched for awhile got the idea of it and lost interest. No desire at all for a movie. 

 

Also mad Men was great with music.

Except I hated when Bert Cooper died and did that song. Was completely out of tone with the rest of the series. Like the writers of alley Mcbeal took over for a scene. 

And don't bother yesci know he was a former Broadway star and its a song from one of his old musicals. Don't care. Hated it!

Edited May 10, 2022 by DrSpaceman73

[Bort]

Ok, I hated The Americans. That was hard pass for me. I noped out of it after only one episode.

[Hiyo]

Quote

I had that, plus "you love science fiction/fantasy so you'll love the time traveling"

I also get quite a few variations of "Wait, you're gay, you're supposed to like this, no?"

Quote

Ok, I hated The Americans

I wouldn't say I hated it, but I did think it was ok-ish at best.

[peachmangosteen]

11 hours ago, kariyaki said:

Ok, I hated The Americans. That was hard pass for me. I noped out of it after only one episode.

 

10 hours ago, Hiyo said:

I also get quite a few variations of "Wait, you're gay, you're supposed to like this, no?"

I wouldn't say I hated it, but I did think it was ok-ish at best.

This. I tried with it for 1 season (actually, I might have noped out before the end of season 1) but I realized I cared more about Stan and Nina than Elizabeth and Matthew Rhys.

[DoctorAtomic]

10 hours ago, Hiyo said:

I had that, plus "you love science fiction/fantasy so you'll love the time traveling"

That's what I thought Outlander was going to be. I mean, the guy from Battlestar Galactica developed the show. Time travel? Scotland? Nooooope. 

[bluegirl147]

7 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

 

This. I tried with it for 1 season (actually, I might have noped out before the end of season 1) but I realized I cared more about Stan and Nina than Elizabeth and Matthew Rhys.

I loved Stan.   I actively rooted for him to catch Phillip and Elizabeth.  

[SusieQ]

On 5/9/2022 at 5:42 PM, Cinnabon said:

And the opening sequences set  to “Tusk” was one of the most memorable, best uses of music I can remember. They were spot on in their use of music in that show! 
 
Ryan Murphy also does a fantastic job with getting the music right in his shows. “Nip/Tuck” hooked me with the music. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The "Tusk" sequence was fabulous!! Absolutely memorable and so exciting!

[Haleth]

13 hours ago, bluegirl147 said:

I loved Stan.   I actively rooted for him to catch Phillip and Elizabeth.  

Me too.  After missing all the clues for years, never catching on to who they were, I was hoping he'd finally put the pieces together.  

[EtheltoTillie]

On 5/6/2022 at 9:19 PM, Zella said:

 

I do have a standing agreement with three separate friends that have similar taste to me. If one of us pops up with a recommendation, usually of the batshit crazy variety, the other one follows down the rabbit hole, so we discuss. And this is how I ended up watching Cats, Bad Vegan, Abducted in Plain Sight, and Tiger King. 😂

This is the basis for my three-person book club.  We try reading and watching all kinds of things and no one is required to finish.  We like finding connections and new recommendations from what follows down rabbit holes.

As for unpopular opinions, I have previously posted about disliking Hamilton, so no one is alone there.  I walked out after the first act of Rent.  It was so loud and incoherent.  It had been around for several years by then.  

[Popples]

28 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

As for unpopular opinions, I have previously posted about disliking Hamilton, so no one is alone there.  I walked out after the first act of Rent.  It was so loud and incoherent.  It had been around for several years by then.

Rent and Wicked were why I was hesitant to give Hamilton a try. They were so overhyped and I was extremely underwhelmed by them. I eventually did come around to Hamilton though.

[EtheltoTillie]

5 minutes ago, Popples said:

Rent and Wicked were why I was hesitant to give Hamilton a try. They were so overhyped and I was extremely underwhelmed by them. I eventually did come around to Hamilton though.

I'm the other way about Wicked.   I resisted it for years, then when I finally saw it (Broadway) I really liked it.  I even saw it a second time, in London.

[Ohiopirate02]

43 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

As for unpopular opinions, I have previously posted about disliking Hamilton, so no one is alone there.  I walked out after the first act of Rent.  It was so loud and incoherent.  It had been around for several years by then.  

I grew up too poor to be able to stomach Rent, or Reality Bites, or Tick, Tick, Boom.  Anything where the protagonists look down on those of us out working for a living.  I don't find nobility in poverty especially when the protagonist is choosing it to make "art."  I feel differently when watching shows like Pose where the protagonists are dirt poor because of circumstances beyond their control.  Like being kicked out of your home as a teenager for being queer.  

[EtheltoTillie]

49 minutes ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

I grew up too poor to be able to stomach Rent, or Reality Bites, or Tick, Tick, Boom.  Anything where the protagonists look down on those of us out working for a living.  I don't find nobility in poverty especially when the protagonist is choosing it to make "art."  I feel differently when watching shows like Pose where the protagonists are dirt poor because of circumstances beyond their control.  Like being kicked out of your home as a teenager for being queer.  

Well, I guess you won't want to watch the new TV version of Reality Bites, a promo for which just popped up in my email LOL.

[Ohiopirate02]

7 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Well, I guess you won't want to watch the new TV version of Reality Bites, a promo for which just popped up in my email LOL.

I think I'll pass.  

[sistermagpie]

59 minutes ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

I grew up too poor to be able to stomach Rent, or Reality Bites, or Tick, Tick, Boom.  Anything where the protagonists look down on those of us out working for a living.  I don't find nobility in poverty especially when the protagonist is choosing it to make "art." 

OMG, I hated that movie. I couldn't believe I was supposed to like those people. Like Winona Ryder basically quitting, then pretending that she got fired and that she'd take any job, and acting like stealing money from her father is the same as earning money. That movie and Singles that came out at the same time made no sense to me.

[Ohiopirate02]

Just now, sistermagpie said:

OMG, I hated that movie. I couldn't believe I was supposed to like those people. Like Winona Ryder basically quitting, then pretending that she got fired and that she'd take any job, and acting like stealing money from her father is the same as earning money. That movie and Singles that came out at the same time made no sense to me.

I do think using that gas card as a way to make some extra cash was a stroke of genius.  Dad said he'd pay the bill for a year no questions asked.  I feel the same about HBO's Girls.  I didn't make it past the first episode where Lena Dunham's character pitched a fit after her parents told her they were no longer going to pay her rent, then she steal the maid's tip money, and then another character asks why she just can't get a job and she pitches another fit.  I have no desire to watch a show where the protagonist thinks he/she is above everyone else who has to work two jobs in order to pursue their passions.  

[RunningMarket]

There's a funny joke about realizing you've grown up when you side with Benny (from RENT).

[DoctorAtomic]

I probably like Reality Bites more than Singles because I was a little older so I could kind of 'get it'. I also like Winona Ryder in anything. It was a top notch cast. 

I also recognize that Singles basically invented grunge. I never really cared for it, but I can recognize the significance. 

However, both are of their time. You're constrained by that in having to set the show in the 90s, but I don't think it translate to today well. 

[Sweet Tee]

I still like the music in Rent but I do feel like I've definitely outgrown the story.  As a teen when I first saw it, I was totally on their side.  Now, my eyes roll out of my head when Mark whines about how he 'sold out' by getting an actual job, and then quitting said job because he has to finish his crappy 'documentary.'  Mark sucks, is what I'm saying.  

He, more than the rest of them, has no reason why he can't work.  None at all.  He just chooses not to.

Tick Tick Boom I like better, because Jonathan did have a job.  Yeah, he was a jerk in the office scene but Michael sufficiently called him out on that, IMO.  Yes, he was more focused on his art than anything else but at least he had some sort of a job.

Edited May 12, 2022 by Sweet Tee