Party of One: Unpopular TV Opinions

[Dirtybubble]

Can we PLEASE cancel all The Bachelor shows and their spinoffs?!  Dating reality tv shows seem sooo....dated.

Also these summer shows:  Holey Moley, America's Got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance, etc.  please STOP! 

[DearEvette]

7 hours ago, Blergh said:

As in the cases of Good Times J. J. Evans

I mean... J.J. was no looker but he had personality to burn.  No way is he is the same class as you-need-a-chisel-to-pry-an-expression-on-her-marble-face Mary.

[Mabinogia]

20 hours ago, Zella said:

Yeah whenever a character has every other character slobbering over them, it almost always seems to me like they are a writer's pet, and the writing for them is almost always terrible. I'm not sure I've ever liked a character when the show kept feeling the need to tell me that they are irresistible. 

I feel like the writers just assume that since they love this character, everyone else will love this character and they don't actually try to make said character lovable to anyone else. The writers forget that we can't see what is in their heads. We don't see the character the way they do unless they write the character in a way that shows it. 

With character like JJ Evans, Urkele, it's more a case of the writers seeing fans love a certain side character and instead of realizing that we love them because they are a small part of a bigger whole, the writers just go all in with the character until we can't stand the sight of them. 

[Cinnabon]

3 hours ago, Dirtybubble said:

Can we PLEASE cancel all The Bachelor shows and their spinoffs?!  Dating reality tv shows seem sooo....dated.

Also these summer shows:  Holey Moley, America's Got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance, etc.  please STOP! 

YES. Hire some good writers and get back to creating something other than “reality” nonsense.

[festivus]

Yeah, I quit watching Good Times when it became the all JJ all the time show. I liked Thelma and Michael. I need JJ to be in small doses.

[Mabinogia]

2 hours ago, festivus said:

Yeah, I quit watching Good Times when it became the all JJ all the time show. I liked Thelma and Michael. I need JJ to be in small doses.

I stuck with it for a long time but JJ was my least favorite. I loved Willona, Thelma, Michael, really everyone except JJ. JJ could have been a good character, a young man from the ghetto with artistic talent trying to work his way out while also helping provide for his family. Instead he was a cartoonish buffoon who overtook the show. 

Didn't one of the parents, I think it was the father, leave the show because it became the JJ Show? (did research...) actually Esther Rolle left because she felt JJ was a negative stereotype that was a bad role model for young Black people. John Amos left over "creative differences" but it has also been said that he didn't like the character of JJ. And yet, JJ Evans was the most popular character with television viewers. These so called "television viewers" really do seem to gravitate towards the lowest hanging fruit. Actually, they tend to gravitate towards the rotted fruit that fell off the tree ages ago and is now a fetted pile of mush on the ground. 

[Zella]

I never watched Good Times in an orderly fashion--used to catch reruns a few years ago and enjoyed it well enough but yeah JJ was pretty hard to taken when he started to take over. I hadn't realized it was a progression because of the way I watched, but it makes sense.

He's still working "Dyn-O-Mite!" for all its worth on some Medicare Extra benefits commercials on the off-brand TV channel I catch other reruns on. Every commercial break, he or Joe Namath try to pitch me on calling now and asking about those benefits. LOL

Edited June 2, 2022 by Zella

[Notabug]

44 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

I stuck with it for a long time but JJ was my least favorite. I loved Willona, Thelma, Michael, really everyone except JJ. JJ could have been a good character, a young man from the ghetto with artistic talent trying to work his way out while also helping provide for his family. Instead he was a cartoonish buffoon who overtook the show. 

Didn't one of the parents, I think it was the father, leave the show because it became the JJ Show? (did research...) actually Esther Rolle left because she felt JJ was a negative stereotype that was a bad role model for young Black people. John Amos left over "creative differences" but it has also been said that he didn't like the character of JJ. And yet, JJ Evans was the most popular character with television viewers. These so called "television viewers" really do seem to gravitate towards the lowest hanging fruit. Actually, they tend to gravitate towards the rotted fruit that fell off the tree ages ago and is now a fetted pile of mush on the ground. 

Yes, both Esther Rolle and John Amos left the show, at least in part, because the character of JJ began to dominate the storylines.  Good Times was originally a spin-off from Maude, which spun out of All in the Family.  Both Amos and Rolle thought that Good Times would continue in that vein as a sitcom for adults that touched on serious subjects; with humor so it didn't turn out to be the show they signed up for.

As for the audiences preferring JJ; it isn't like there was any choice in the matter.  Like a lot of shows where a single character takes off and is popular with fans; his role got expanded and he became the focus of most episodes.  A little bit of JJ went a long way, especially when he was in practically every scene.  It happens a lot in shows, like the Fonz on Happy Days, who was supposed to be a recurrning character, but became the star or Sterling K Brown on This is Us.  Sometimes it turns out ok, but often the audience grows tired of a character that was once a favorite just because the show goes overboard in featuring him.

[sistermagpie]

1 hour ago, Mabinogia said:

Didn't one of the parents, I think it was the father, leave the show because it became the JJ Show? (did research...) actually Esther Rolle left because she felt JJ was a negative stereotype that was a bad role model for young Black people. John Amos left over "creative differences" but it has also been said that he didn't like the character of JJ. And yet, JJ Evans was the most popular character with television viewers. These so called "television viewers" really do seem to gravitate towards the lowest hanging fruit. Actually, they tend to gravitate towards the rotted fruit that fell off the tree ages ago and is now a fetted pile of mush on the ground. 

I think this whole story was sort of fictionalized on the show "I'm Dying Up Here." It was about comics and one of them fell into a dumb character on a show like Good Times--the cast hated him and his catch phrase and he felt stupid about it too. (Though on this other show it was even worse as the comic was the one white guy on the show.)

[festivus]

I never even watched the show that had Urkel. I saw that character and knew what would happen there. That's why I loved What's Happening so much. Rerun was kinda the "character" on that show but he never took over. I thought it was well balanced between him, Raj, and Dwayne.

[Haleth]

16 hours ago, Dirtybubble said:

Also these summer shows:  Holey Moley, America's Got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance, etc.  please STOP! 

SYTYCD is one of the few reality shows I watch, but I tape it so I can ff through all the judging nonsense.  When you do that it is a very entertaining show, with extremely talented young dancers trying to get their break.  It's not silly stuff, the dancers are serious about getting noticed and making a career.  I was so happy it came back this summer.

[bluegirl147]

10 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

These so called "television viewers" really do seem to gravitate towards the lowest hanging fruit. Actually, they tend to gravitate towards the rotted fruit that fell off the tree ages ago and is now a fetted pile of mush on the ground. 

10 hours ago, Notabug said:

As for the audiences preferring JJ; it isn't like there was any choice in the matter.  Like a lot of shows where a single character takes off and is popular with fans; his role got expanded and he became the focus of most episodes.  A little bit of JJ went a long way, especially when he was in practically every scene.  It happens a lot in shows, like the Fonz on Happy Days, who was supposed to be a recurrning character, but became the star or Sterling K Brown on This is Us.  Sometimes it turns out ok, but often the audience grows tired of a character that was once a favorite just because the show goes overboard in featuring him.

I do think TV execs produce shows meant to appeal to the biggest audience which unfortunately doesn't always have good taste.   Years ago I wrote a blog post asking are reality shows really that popular or is that the only thing viewers have to watch. This was before streaming really took off.  Now viewers do have more choices than what is offered on network TV. 

IMO This is Us suffered when Randall became a bigger focus.  But I enjoyed Happy Days more when Fonzie became a main cast member.  But it was his relationship with the Cunninghams and especially Ritchie that made his character so beloved.  At least for me.  

Sometimes you have an actor who thinks their character is more important than the rest of the cast. Suzanne Sommers I'm looking at you. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

11 hours ago, Notabug said:

It happens a lot in shows, like the Fonz on Happy Days, who was supposed to be a recurrning character, but became the star

And when the network/Brass wanted to change the name of the show to Fonzi's Happy Days, Henry Winkler shut that down quick. Yes, the show veered from the show about Richie to Fonzi, but like @bluegirl147 stated, it was the relationship between Fonzi and Richie and the Cunninghams that made the show for me. Especially Fonzi and Richie, and you knew there was mutual respect, admiration and love between Henry and Ron.

As for Good Times? Yes, JJ did overtake the show and it was obnoxious, but by the time that Thelma got married and Penny joined the show, JJ had matured. Michael was always my favorite though.

[sistermagpie]

2 hours ago, bluegirl147 said:

IMO This is Us suffered when Randall became a bigger focus.  But I enjoyed Happy Days more when Fonzie became a main cast member.  But it was his relationship with the Cunninghams and especially Ritchie that made his character so beloved.  At least for me.  

Yes, seems like that was a great example of the show getting--at a time when spin-off shows were such a thing--that it was the relationship that made Fonzie work so well because you know people wanted a spin-off show.

[Crs97]

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Yes, the show veered from the show about Richie to Fonzi, but like @bluegirl147 stated, it was the relationship between Fonzi and Richie and the Cunninghams that made the show for me. Especially Fonzi and Richie, and you knew there was mutual respect, admiration and love between Henry and Ron.

I loved hearing a head writer talk about his daughter watching the shows.  After Ron Howard left, she asked him why they kept it going when it clearly didn’t work anymore.  He laughed that his child understood at an early age what TPTB didn’t:  Richie was the heart of the show and his relationship with Fonzie was the focus of the show.  It didn’t work without them together.

[proserpina65]

2 hours ago, Crs97 said:

After Ron Howard left, she asked him why they kept it going when it clearly didn’t work anymore.

They were waiting for Ted McGinley to come along and kill it.

[Gharlane]

On 5/29/2022 at 3:17 PM, Wiendish Fitch said:

I'm sick to death of Downton Abbey. Make it stop already.

Ditto for Sex In The City. 

On 6/1/2022 at 11:26 PM, festivus said:

I never even watched the show that had Urkel. I saw that character and knew what would happen there. 

I felt the same way about Sheldon on Big Bang Theory after a couple seasons when he became like Steve Urkel.

[callie lee 29]

Somewhat UO:

I used to really like King of the Hill back in the day but upon rewatch Hand and Peggy are just awful, awful people and parents to the point that most episodes are just unwatchable now.

Really UO:

Also the Belcher kids ruin Bob's Burgers. Gene's going to grow up to be living in his parents basement and making a life size doll out of his mother's clothes and the girls have sex either and serial killer written all over them. 

Edited June 11, 2022 by callie lee 29

[DoctorAtomic]

I really don't like when they write Gene as a brat. 

[Mr. Sparkle]

6 hours ago, callie lee 29 said:

Somewhat UO:

I used to really like King of the Hill back in the day but upon rewatch Hand and Peggy are just awful, awful people and parents to the point that most episodes are just unwatchable now.

I like Hank. I find Peggy's horribleness to be the most entertaining part of the show. But yes, she is horrible! 

[nodorothyparker]

Peggy Hill is one of my all-time favorite TV moms precisely because she is such an overblown piece of work. Most sitcoms, both live action and animated, follow a pretty predicable format where the male of a pairing is some degree of self-involved buffoon that the long-suffering female of the pairing has to endure/love anyway. Hank certainly has his quirks, but he's generally the level headed straight man while Peggy is a glorious mashup of obliviousness, mediocrity, and overinflated belief in her own superiority papered over some real insecurity. That she really does mean well more often than not makes things like competing with her own child funny to me rather than insufferable.

[Mr. Sparkle]

Spa-peggy and meatballs still cracks me up! 

[Kel Varnsen]

16 hours ago, nodorothyparker said:

Peggy is a glorious mashup of obliviousness, mediocrity, and overinflated belief in her own superiority papered over some real insecurity. That she really does mean well more often than not makes things like competing with her own child funny to me rather than insufferable.

I watched a great analysis of Peggy on YouTube once that pointed out that a lot of her over confidence comes from the wins she does get in life. Like how she is the Texas State boggle champion, one of the best softball players in Arlen, and 3 time substitute teacher of the year. So it's not just like she is terrible at everything and thinks she is great. It's funnier because there are things that she is very good at, so that makes her thinks she is an expert at everything.

[Gharlane]

On 6/11/2022 at 2:27 PM, callie lee 29 said:

I used to really like King of the Hill back in the day but upon re-watch Hand and Peggy are just awful, awful people and parents to the point that most episodes are just unwatchable now.

I'm not a big fan of King of the Hill, but I don't remember peggy being so bad. OTOH, I also watch Family Guy and Married with Children, whose mothers are worse. 

[Hiyo]

Yeah but in Peggy's case, she was supposed to be horrible.

[Ohiopirate02]

16 minutes ago, Hiyo said:

Yeah but in Peggy's case, she was supposed to be horrible.

Are you talking about Mrs. Hill or Mrs. Bundy?  

[Hiyo]

Whoops lol Bundy.

[Mr. Sparkle]

On 6/11/2022 at 2:27 PM, callie lee 29 said:

Really UO:

Also the Belcher kids ruin Bob's Burgers. Gene's going to grow up to be living in his parents basement and making a life size doll out of his mother's clothes and the girls have sex either and serial killer written all over them. 

I'm a big fan of Prime Time animation - Simpson's, Family Guy, Futurama, even American Dad and Cleveland. For whatever reason, I just can't get into Bob's Burgers. If it's on when I'm in the room, I'll watch and think - "that's kind of funny!" But I never turn it on or seek it out. No idea why. 

[festivus]

I can't stand Bob's Burgers. That's all I'll say since I got me a new one ripped last time I posted about it. In the UO thread. 

[DrSpaceman73]

On 6/11/2022 at 2:27 PM, callie lee 29 said:

Somewhat UO:

I used to really like King of the Hill back in the day but upon rewatch Hand and Peggy are just awful, awful people and parents to the point that most episodes are just unwatchable now.

Really UO:

Also the Belcher kids ruin Bob's Burgers. Gene's going to grow up to be living in his parents basement and making a life size doll out of his mother's clothes and the girls have sex either and serial killer written all over them. 

Really?  I feel just the opposite. Bobs burgers is far from my favorite cartoon family but I enjoy it.  And one of the reasons is the kids. They all stick up for each other and get along despite each of their .....eccentric personalities. They truly care for one another and don't constantly fight or argue like other sitcom siblings. 

[DoctorAtomic]

Who doesn't like Regular Size Rudy though? 

[AgathaC]

I was a big The West Wing fan back in the day but am currently doing a rewatch with my husband and I’m realizing I have very mixed feelings. Things that niggled a little before now downright annoy me:

The characters all talk the same

They all know the same random bits of trivia (except Donna, who’s the resident “moron” half the time)

They can be insufferably self-righteous, even though I tend to agree with their positions

It’s not nearly as feminist as it thinks it is

I find I cannot stand Bartlet or Josh. I like Leo and CJ ok. I go back and forth on Sam and Toby.

There are still great moments, but the shine has worn off for me.

[Zella]

1 minute ago, AgathaC said:

I find I cannot stand Bartlet or Josh.

You can come sit by me. I actually had to stop rewatching it because they were so insufferable. I've noticed a lot of people are willing to admit Josh is awful, but they get really upset if you also call out Bartlett as being an asshole.  

[AgathaC]

7 minutes ago, Zella said:

You can come sit by me. I actually had to stop rewatching it because they were so insufferable. I've noticed a lot of people are willing to admit Josh is awful, but they get really upset if you also call out Bartlett as being an asshole.  

Yes! We have a close friend who remains in love with the show and Sorkin. She’s now trying to convince my husband we should watch The Newsroom. I’m giving that a hard no. (I actually saw parts of the first season and that was enough. But I also used to work in news so my “that wouldn’t happen” threshold is even lower than for TWW.)

[Hiyo]

The Newsroom...a show even more insufferable overall than TWW.

[Zella]

I was on a trip with some friends about 10 years ago, and we were fighting over the remote. One of them wanted to watch True Blood but then got embarrassed because of the vampire orgy going on, so another friend then demanded we watch The Newsroom. After a few minutes, we all opted for sitting through the vampire orgy instead. 😂 I like Jeff Daniels, but that few minutes was so overbearing that I never wanted to see any more of The Newsroom. This was also incidentally chronologically in between me watching The West Wing and liking it and then rewatching it and being put off by it. So, I wasn't already primed to dislike it on principle. 

[DrSpaceman73]

Aaron sorkin shows in general are just hard to binge watch.  The way he writes dialog is just annoying. 

It works much better movies. For two hours you can stand it. Trying to watch a whole series.....I tried sportsnight.  It's actually not a bad show. But not as great as everyone claims. And also not a comedy (another unpopular opinion  of mine....dramas passing themselves off as comedies with very few laughs annoy me) and after like 10 episodes you're like 'shut up all of your smug pieholes!'

Edited June 18, 2022 by DrSpaceman73

[Bastet]

6 hours ago, AgathaC said:

Things that niggled a little before now downright annoy me

That's how I am with Sports Night, so I have to really limit my re-watches.  The things I loved the first time around, I adore just as much and possibly more, but some of the things that bugged me have reached outright insufferable status at this point.

[AgathaC]

38 minutes ago, Bastet said:

That's how I am with Sports Night, so I have to really limit my re-watches.  The things I loved the first time around, I adore just as much and possibly more, but some of the things that bugged me have reached outright insufferable status at this point.

I watched and loved Sports Night before even starting TWW, but I’m afraid to do a rewatch because I’m afraid my Sorkin tolerance level is low enough that I’d turn against it, too.

[bros402]

Okay, so probably no one will reply to this message - but I just watched the show Chasing Life on Hulu and I think it had a great unintended ending.

As a sidenote, I was surprised at how accurately that show handled young adult cancer, like *damn* did it get some stuff very right.

With the way it ended:
 

Spoiler

It showed that the main character, April, after failing chemo + a clinical trial, decided to just live her life with the time she had left. Her type of cancer (AML) has around a 25% 5 year survival rate in her age group (everyone over 20), so I felt that that was accurate.

However, googling afterwards, people did not like that ending - but IMO it made sense. I would do the same if I have an acute leukemia instead of a chronic in the same situation (I have failed three treatments, current on my fourth - a clinical trial, but responding decently to it).

[Haleth]

19 hours ago, AgathaC said:

There are still great moments, but the shine has worn off for me.

Yeah, TWW didn't hold up well, but I'd still consider it one of the best shows ever on tv.  It was groundbreaking; the writing was outstanding and the acting was superb, even if these days it's not so easy to watch.  I loved The Newsroom too but agree there were problems.

[sistermagpie]

10 hours ago, bros402 said:

However, googling afterwards, people did not like that ending - but IMO it made sense. I would do the same if I have an acute leukemia instead of a chronic in the same situation (I have failed three treatments, current on my fourth - a clinical trial, but responding decently to it).

Was their problem that confuse palliative care with "giving up" or something?

[bros402]

13 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

Was their problem that confuse palliative care with "giving up" or something?

Well the the series ended with the main character
 

Spoiler

on a trip to Italy, staring at the sunset saying she could die happy (or something like that) and that she didn't want to do any more treatment - and in an interview, the showrunners said that the main character's mother would've gone to Italy to attempt a bone marrow transplant while still having signs of cancer

Edited June 20, 2022 by bros402

[SmithW6079]

On 6/11/2022 at 2:27 PM, callie lee 29 said:

Also the Belcher kids ruin Bob's Burgers. Gene's going to grow up to be living in his parents basement and making a life size doll out of his mother's clothes and the girls have sex either and serial killer written all over them. 

I like Bob's Burgers, and I like how the kids all seem to love and support each other, but I don't disagree with your assessment of the Belcher children.

They've dialed up Gene's oedipal tendencies to 11, and it's uncomfortable to watch. (The only reason he's not going to actually sleep with Linda as an adult is because psycho Teddy has killed Bob and is keeping Linda as a sex slave in his basement.)

Tina is already a serial sexual harasser and the family seems to accept it instead of telling her that her relentless and unwelcome pursuit of Jimmy Jr. is wrong and will eventually get her into a #MeToo situation. 

Louise is a sociopath who is just one dead rabbit from becoming a future serial killer.

[Wiendish Fitch]

I've tried more than once to get into Bob's Burgers, and I just don't get the appeal. Something about the pacing and the characters rub me the wrong way. Too bad, because the potential is there.

I wish more animated shows just followed Bojack Horseman's lead, had a clear ending in mind, and stuck to it. Animated shows are just as guilty of spinning their wheels and growing stale as live-action shows (do the examples even bear mentioning?).

[Enigma X]

1 hour ago, SmithW6079 said:

I like Bob's Burgers, and I like how the kids all seem to love and support each other, but I don't disagree with your assessment of the Belcher children.

They've dialed up Gene's oedipal tendencies to 11, and it's uncomfortable to watch. (The only reason he's not going to actually sleep with Linda as an adult is because psycho Teddy has killed Bob and is keeping Linda as a sex slave in his basement.)

Tina is already a serial sexual harasser and the family seems to accept it instead of telling her that her relentless and unwelcome pursuit of Jimmy Jr. is wrong and will eventually get her into a #MeToo situation. 

Louise is a sociopath who is just one dead rabbit from becoming a future serial killer.

Bob’s Burgers is one of my favorite animated shows but I can’t disagree. I have said before that Bob would be the only one I could hang out with if they were real.

Bojack Horseman was an animated show I hated with a passion. 

[JustHereForFood]

I think I could enjoy some current animated series, but I just find most of them so ugly now. I even had to stop watching those top 10 videos when they talk about animated series, because some of them just make me feel like I want to unsee them or gouge my eyes out. Bob's burgers, BoJack Horseman, Big Mouth, some others. Yes, I get that they are probably good and I had so many recommendations for BoJack Horseman because I would love to watch series with asexual characters and this one apparently has a well written one, but sorry, I wouldn't be able to watch it without having nightmares about horse-people hybrids afterwards. Where has all the nice animation gone to?

[DoctorAtomic]

I think some of the appeal of Bob's Burgers is that it's a little throwback in that the kids just go off and do stuff and the parents don't even know what's going on. 

[Cinnabon]

1 hour ago, JustHereForFood said:

I think I could enjoy some current animated series, but I just find most of them so ugly now. I even had to stop watching those top 10 videos when they talk about animated series, because some of them just make me feel like I want to unsee them or gouge my eyes out. Bob's burgers, BoJack Horseman, Big Mouth, some others. Yes, I get that they are probably good and I had so many recommendations for BoJack Horseman because I would love to watch series with asexual characters and this one apparently has a well written one, but sorry, I wouldn't be able to watch it without having nightmares about horse-people hybrids afterwards. Where has all the nice animation gone to?

Ugly in what ways?

[Popples]

56 minutes ago, Cinnabon said:

Ugly in what ways?

Not the original poster, but maybe they mean the animation style. Bob's Burgers was my pandemic binge and it took me a while to get used to it, but I really came around and enjoyed it.

My Bob's Burgers UO:

I don't miss Jimmy Pesto, Sr. at all! Even if his voice actor hadn't done what caused his indefinite suspension (the show hasn't really said anything one way or the other), I'm always irritated when he's on screen. I appreciate a good foil to the protagonist but there are better characters on the show to go against Bob.