Party of One: Unpopular TV Opinions

[Enigma X]

I am in agreement with most of the Branagh sentiment.

[proserpina65]

18 hours ago, Zella said:

I was always convinced Game of Thrones should cast him as the Mad King in flashbacks since his work in Harry Potter proved he could rock a Targaryen-style wig without looking like an Afghan hound. 

I'd have paid money to see this!

[Cloud9Shopper]

Similar to how I feel about how some shows don’t need to be rebooted, not every show needs to drag on forever either, especially when they are so obviously past their expiration dates. It’s one thing to be melancholy or bummed when a show ends, but some groups I’m in for The Resident have become nothing but constant whining that the show is looking likely to be canceled when the reality is, the ratings are down and there’s been rumors that the set is being torn apart and props/wardrobe are being sold. I mean…six seasons is a good run. Why do some people think every show needs to keep going into infinity? The Golden Girls was on for seven years back in its day and that’s plenty of show for me. I’m not old enough to remember its original run but I’m happy to have seven years of episodes to smile and laugh at. That seems just perfect. 

I look at two of my other favorite dramas, ER and SVU, and how long they dragged or are currently dragging on, and for as much as I enjoy them, they both should have ended earlier. The decline in quality is obvious to a blind mouse at a certain point. 

Everything needs to end at some point. You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here and all. And for the people who can’t stop complaining about a cancellation, there’s approximately 500 other shows (may or may not be an exaggeration with all the streaming these days) that you can pick from. You will be fine. 

Edited March 7, 2023 by Cloud9Shopper

[Mabinogia]

6 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Similar to how I feel about how some shows don’t need to be rebooted, not every show needs to drag on forever either, especially when they are so obviously past their expiration dates.

I would 100% rather have 3-4 great seasons of my favorite show than 20 seasons, only 5 of which were good and the rest were just everyone concerned not wanting the money to stop flowing. 

I look at a show like The Good Place, which I love with all my heart, and while I am sad that I'll never see a new episode, I am also so happy that the creator got to tell the story he wanted to tell without having to constantly make shit up because everyone wanted the gravy train to keep rolling (Lost!)

The only time I really get upset (not real world upset but tv upset) is if I really got into a show and it was cancelled after one season. One season is not really enough time for some shows to find their audience. It has also made me apprehensive to try new shows until they've been on more than one season, which then means the show isn't getting it's audience first season and is more likely to get cancelled and it is this terrible hamster wheel that we all ride. 

Do you watch a show with the knowledge that you might fall in love with it only for it to die a quick and painful death? Or do you wait it out hoping enough other people will do the heavy lifting to keep the show on the air a second season? 

I always cave and watch the show and then wait for the inevitable heartache when it doesn't get Squid Games like ratings so it gets pulled. :( I am currently waiting on tenderhooks for the fate of Lockwood & Co which I thought was fantastic, so go watch it everyone!!!!!!! I want a second season!

[ABay]

Seconding the love for Lockwood & Co.

[Gharlane]

Captain Jerico, who substituted for Captain Picard for two eps, was a great Star Trek captain.

 

[DrSpaceman73]

2 minutes ago, Gharlane said:

Captain Jerico, who substituted for Captain Picard for two eps, was a great Star Trek captain.

 

For the situation he was

Also I just realized like last week he's the dueling banjo player in deliverance. On top of being a 'hes that guy ' actor from a number of top 80s movies. He aged a ton though between deliverance and those roles in the 80s/90s

[Ceindreadh]

4 hours ago, Gharlane said:

Captain Jerico, who substituted for Captain Picard for two eps, was a great Star Trek captain.

 

Nitpick, it's Captain Jellico, not Jerico. 

[Dancingjaneway]

Moved to another thread.

Edited March 12, 2023 by Dancingjaneway
Found a better thread to express my feelings.

[BlueSkies]

Baywatch while being all about how the guys and gals looked actually wasn’t a bad show otherwise.   
 

While as a grown up it might seem funny now 2 episodes were impressionable on me as a kid:

 

Pretty sure there was an episode where one of the lifeguards left his shift 5 minutes early to go hang out with Carmen Electras character.  Then someone died during those 5 minutes.  It showed me as a teenager not to be swayed by real beautiful women.  
 

 

I remember too an episode where there was this dwarf and his son and the sun was embarrassed by him.  Then the dwarf saved someone’s life or something like that and the son realized how selfish he was being.  Back in the day I thought it was touching 

[kiddo82]

Charlotte Nicado deserves an Emmy nomination if not an outright win.

Edited due to autocorrect.

Edited March 13, 2023 by kiddo82

[Grrarrggh]

2 hours ago, BlueSkies said:

Baywatch while being all about how the guys and gals looked actually wasn’t a bad show otherwise.   
 

While as a grown up it might seem funny now 2 episodes were impressionable on me as a kid:

Pretty sure there was an episode where one of the lifeguards left his shift 5 minutes early to go hang out with Carmen Electras character.  Then someone died during those 5 minutes.  It showed me as a teenager not to be swayed by real beautiful women.  

That would have shown me that the Baywatch writers and producers were misogynistic assholes. Why are you blaming an innocent woman for happening to be late 20th century attractive? (Something she is required to be to even be allowed near a programme like Baywatch). 

Edited March 13, 2023 by Grrarrggh

[BlueSkies]

7 hours ago, Grrarrggh said:

That would have shown me that the Baywatch writers and producers were misogynistic assholes. Why are you blaming an innocent woman for happening to be late 20th century attractive? (Something she is required to be to even be allowed near a programme like Baywatch). 

I had to look into further.  It’s been 25 years since I watched it.

 

Yeah the lead character left his shift a few minutes early to go on a date with Carmen Electras character and someone went missing on his watch 

https://baywatch.fandom.com/wiki/Missing

 

But he gets in all sorts of trouble in the show and feels guilty about it.  

[Katy M]

12 hours ago, Grrarrggh said:

That would have shown me that the Baywatch writers and producers were misogynistic assholes. Why are you blaming an innocent woman for happening to be late 20th century attractive? (Something she is required to be to even be allowed near a programme like Baywatch). 

I don't see how that's misognynistic.  It was the guy that messed up.  He was meeting Lani at the movies.  he had set his watch 5 minutes ahead so he wouldn't be late for work, then forgot to account for that and left five minutes early.  She literally had nothing to do with it and took 0 of the blame.

[Gharlane]

On 3/12/2023 at 9:18 PM, BlueSkies said:

Baywatch while being all about how the guys and gals looked actually wasn’t a bad show otherwise.   

I don't know why the gang didn't round up all the ugly people on the beach, since they were almost always the trouble-makers each week. 🤔

 

19 hours ago, Katy M said:

It was the guy that messed up.  He was meeting Lani at the movies.  he had set his watch 5 minutes ahead so he wouldn't be late for work, then forgot to account for that and left five minutes early.  She literally had nothing to do with it and took 0 of the blame.

Wait, he didn't purposefully skip out early from work to go on a date?

[Katy M]

37 minutes ago, Gharlane said:

Wait, he didn't purposefully skip out early from work to go on a date?

No.  It was a mistake.  And IIRC, the teenage girl took advantage of his absence to disappear because her mom didn't approve of her boyfriend.  

[Enigma X]

I am not sure if this is just an opinion or unpopular opinion among viewers but, apparently, some showrunners can’t be bothered. I hate when episode titles for a season is something like “Episode 1” and then “Episode 2.” 
 

An example is Perry Mason (on HBO) episodes are “Chapter One,” “Chapter Two,” and so on. Since the main character is a lawyer, I see a little bit of creativity by using the word “chapter,” but not much.

 

I really like the show but hate the episode titles.

[Ohiopirate02]

35 minutes ago, Enigma X said:

I am not sure if this is just an opinion or unpopular opinion among viewers but, apparently, some showrunners can’t be bothered. I hate when episode titles for a season is something like “Episode 1” and then “Episode 2.” 
 

An example is Perry Mason (on HBO) episodes are “Chapter One,” “Chapter Two,” and so on. Since the main character is a lawyer, I see a little bit of creativity by using the word “chapter,” but not much.

 

I really like the show but hate the episode titles.

I would rather a show use generic titles than get cutesy like Friends.  Having every episode title begin with "The One With..." for ten seasons is groan-inducing.

[bluegirl147]

Grey's Anatomy episode's titles are all song titles.  

I didn't mind the Friends episode titles.  Except sometimes The One with the blank the blank wasn't the most important part of the episode. At least to me.  In the One with the Embryos (Phoebe gets implanted with what would become the triplets) I thought the contest between Monica and Rachel against Chandler and Joey for the girl's apartments was the most interesting part of the episode.

[proserpina65]

56 minutes ago, bluegirl147 said:

Grey's Anatomy episode's titles are all song titles. 

I knew a lot of them were but didn't think they all were.  Upon googling, I discovered they WERE all song titles, just some weren't songs I'd ever heard of.  Who says Primetimer isn't educational?

[DoctorAtomic]

I don't pay too much attention to episode titles. I take note prior to watching any particular episode, but I couldn't tell you the next week what the title was last week. However, I do like when the episode title is worked into the show dialogue. 

[Zella]

2 hours ago, Enigma X said:

I am not sure if this is just an opinion or unpopular opinion among viewers but, apparently, some showrunners can’t be bothered. I hate when episode titles for a season is something like “Episode 1” and then “Episode 2.” 

You can come sit by me. I hate that too. I have not watched Perry Mason but was kind of interested in it. Then this week, I saw a recap for it that mentioned the latest episode was called "Chapter 10" and I audibly sighed when I realized that was the episode title. LOL 

Part of it for me is I'm a word person, not a number person. It's easier for me to remember things for whatever reason if I have episode titles. And bonus points if they're interesting and thematically connected to whatever's going on. 

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, bluegirl147 said:

Grey's Anatomy episode's titles are all song titles.  

I didn't mind the Friends episode titles.  Except sometimes The One with the blank the blank wasn't the most important part of the episode. At least to me.  In the One with the Embryos (Phoebe gets implanted with what would become the triplets) I thought the contest between Monica and Rachel against Chandler and Joey for the girl's apartments was the most interesting part of the episode.

Yeah, I actually find Friends titles the easiest to reference where people will know what you're talking about.

"Hey, did you like the Friends episode The one with the Embryos" as opposed to, did you like the Cheers episode "Foos and their Money"  

[sistermagpie]

2 hours ago, bluegirl147 said:

Grey's Anatomy episode's titles are all song titles.  

I didn't mind the Friends episode titles.  Except sometimes The One with the blank the blank wasn't the most important part of the episode. At least to me.  In the One with the Embryos (Phoebe gets implanted with what would become the triplets) I thought the contest between Monica and Rachel against Chandler and Joey for the girl's apartments was the most interesting part of the episode.

Yeah, it's funny on that show when they're obviously trying to call the ep what people would call it, yet so obviously get it wrong. The One with the Game Show Context (not embryos) is maybe the most obvious, but I feel like the one with Little Women is another one.

Quote

I am not sure if this is just an opinion or unpopular opinion among viewers but, apparently, some showrunners can’t be bothered. I hate when episode titles for a season is something like “Episode 1” and then “Episode 2.” 

I just consider that not having a title at all. It seems silly to me on Perry Mason to call them Chapters when each season is a series anyway. Like, seems like we're starting a new book in the series in season 2, not continuing a chapter from the last book!
 

Edited March 14, 2023 by sistermagpie

[DrSpaceman73]

Seinfeld stated he never wanted writers wasting much time on show titles so they went with generic references to the episodes. 

[Mabinogia]

8 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

I just consider that not having a title at all. It seems silly to me on Perry Mason to call them Chapters when each season is a series anyway. Like, seems like we're starting a new book in the series in season 2, not continuing a chapter from the last book!

Yeah, I don't mind if it's called Ep 1, Ep2, etc, but when shows try to get cute with Chapter 1 or some such, which is just a different, and they probably think clever (but they're wrong) way of saying episode.

I hated Friends' title names because, again, I think they thought it was clever, but it was really just trying to make people reference what they choice. Like bluegirl147 said, sometimes what they claimed the ep was about wasn't the most important or interesting part of the ep. It just feels like forced cleverness and that is always a turn off for me. 

[Irlandesa]

Jane The Virgin had Chapter titles.  I suspect Perry Mason uses it because they're loosely basing the series on the book version of the character not the more known Raymond Burr version. 

I don't mind. I sometimes find it just as easy to think of the numbered titles rather than the obscure word titles. 

My unpopular opinion is that I miss shows considered watercooler TV.  I know there are very popular shows that people talk about, but there used to be a time when it was expected that you'd watch a show when it aired. 

For instance, I was listening to the radio this morning, and they wanted to talk about the finale of The Last of Us on Sunday.  But because people watch it at all different times, they were super vague to the point of saying nothing because they didn't want people mad at them for spoiling it.

I'm not saying people should just go and spoil coworkers willy-nilly who haven't seen the episode, but I just feel like a talk show on popular culture and TV shouldn't have to avoid talking about the big cliffhangers or event programs.

And I don't even watch the show.  I accept the risk. 

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by Irlandesa

[proserpina65]

11 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I'm not saying people should just go and spoil coworkers willy-nilly who haven't seen the episode, but I just feel like a talk show on popular culture and TV shouldn't have to avoid talking about the big cliffhangers or event programs.

My one caveat to this is they should start by saying they're going to talk about the ending & to avoid it if you don't want to hear spoilers.  That gives somebody the opportunity to change the station.  Like online sites shouldn't put the spoilers on the main page so you can still look at the site for other shows and not be spoiled, but if you move on to the actual page for that show, you know the risk.  (EW.com, I'm looking at you.)

[DoctorAtomic]

31 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

(EW.com, I'm looking at you.)

Oh, please, with them. The credits roll for 1 ms, and you get "Wow Jon Snow is a Targaryen!" Then someone complains in the comments, "Do you have to put it in the title?" and gets flamed and told to stay off social media. 

They did it with Doctor Who on Thirteen's final episode with posting a picture of Tennant. Come on. 

I've said before, back when Galactica and Dexter were out some of the actors did a youtube video about spoiler policy. It was funny, but it wasn't bad. 

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by DoctorAtomic

[bluegirl147]

11 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

My unpopular opinion is that I miss shows considered watercooler TV.  I know there are very popular shows that people talk about, but there used to be a time when it was expected that you'd watch a show when it aired. 

I've been rewatching Melrose Place and I just finished season two.  When that season originally aired I was taking some classes and everyone watched the show.  Kimberly pulling off her wig to show her horrible scars was the talk of the class the next day.  

11 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I'm not saying people should just go and spoil coworkers willy-nilly who haven't seen the episode, but I just feel like a talk show on popular culture and TV shouldn't have to avoid talking about the big cliffhangers or event programs.

I always watched Scandal the morning after it aired on Hulu.  One morning before I watched it I was on FB and I found out about a character's death because someone casually mentioned it in her post.

If I remember correctly it was a few years ago one of the View cohosts spoiled the Game of Thrones and people were not happy.  

With so many people watching things at different times I don't think it's too much to ask that people be careful with spoiling things for at least 24 hrs.  Of course the threads here are exempted.  The threads exist to specifically talk about shows.  If you haven't watched yet and you are reading the thread you should expect to be spoiled.

Edited March 15, 2023 by bluegirl147

[DoctorAtomic]

I certainly really enjoy all the viewing options I have nowadays compared to even when GOT started, but you're just not going to get watercooler shows anymore. 

The group here that watches Wheel of Time is only a few of us, so I would watch a day or so later to join in the conversation, but it's not like everyone at work is talking about it. I think that's really where it is now, regardless of what the networks or streamers want. 

 

[bluegirl147]

2 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

but you're just not going to get watercooler shows anymore. 

No but you get watercooler events or happenings.  Last year it was the Slap.  I didn't watch the Oscars but I woke up to all the memes and could see the Slap for myself and joined the conversation.  

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, bluegirl147 said:

With so many people watching things at different times I don't think it's too much to ask that people be careful with spoiling things for at least 24 hrs.  Of course the threads here are exempted.  The threads exist to specifically talk about shows.  If you haven't watched yet and you are reading the thread you should expect to be spoiled.

But this was 3 days later.   And it's not like it was a sports show. It was a TV/pop culture show. 

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

My one caveat to this is they should start by saying they're going to talk about the ending & to avoid it if you don't want to hear spoilers.

IA with this. 

[Gharlane]

On 3/14/2023 at 12:00 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

I don't pay too much attention to episode titles. I take note prior to watching any particular episode, but I couldn't tell you the next week what the title was last week. However, I do like when the episode title is worked into the show dialogue. 

You mean like they do in movies?

 

[DoctorAtomic]

I sit in the front and yell at the screen.

 

[Zella]

6 hours ago, Gharlane said:

You mean like they do in movies?

 

Confession: I've not watched Family Guy in over 10 years, but my brother and I still say "There it is!" in Peter's voice to each other whenever they do this in a movie. 

[Katy M]

5 hours ago, Zella said:

Confession: I've not watched Family Guy in over 10 years, but my brother and I still say "There it is!" in Peter's voice to each other whenever they do this in a movie. 

I hope only at home and not in the theater:)

[Egg McMuffin]

On 3/8/2023 at 6:27 PM, Ceindreadh said:

Nitpick, it's Captain Jellico, not Jerico. 

Ronny Cox. He also played the new head of the hospital, John Gideon, in the final season of “St. Elsewhere” and romanced Bonnie Bartlett’s character after she separated from her husband (played by her real life husband). I saw an interview with her and William Daniels and she said that Daniels didn’t care much for Ronny Cox in real life either.

[EtheltoTillie]

I dislike the super generic titles but I Also dislike the cutesy theme titles like the Friends example. 

[Bastet]

I only know episode titles for shows I've watched numerous times.  If I've just watched it once, there's no way I've bothered to register the title unless it was something so clever it stuck with me.  So it doesn't bother me when shows don't give their episodes titles, because most of the time I don't use them anyway (I'll just say "the one with [memorable guest star]", "the one in which [big plot point]", etc. if I need to reference).

[bluegirl147]

Before IMDB how many of us even knew episode titles?

 

[Enigma X]

I pay attention to episode titles specifically for the forums I join here. I have forum emails from the ones I follow delivered to my inbox. These emails are grouped by show and episode titles. 

[JustHereForFood]

I usually remember episodes by their number, like season 2, ep. 13. The only exceptions when I'm aware of the titles are some shows when I'm watching for the first time and getting into the fandom at the same time, like I did with Buffy.

Which is why some discussions here get confusing for me when people refer to some episode by it's title and don't even mention which season it's from and everyone seems to know immediately what they're talking about.

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, bluegirl147 said:

Before IMDB how many of us even knew episode titles?

 

Some shows might have shown the episode titles but most didn't.  And TV Guide didn't usually include them because there was only so much space.  They'd leave a description or a title.

I didn't really pay attention until I got online and that's when I started learning titles for old episodes.

[Annber03]

I remember episode titles because if I'm into a show I like knowing the name of the episode so that I can easily refer to it in fandom conversation. Plus, I like looking up who wrote various episodes to get an idea of who some of my favorite episode writers are and all that, so I'll learn episode titles that way, too. 

I like the creativity some shows use with their episode titles - I remember "Community" used to name theirs after unusual-sounding college courses, and sometimes some shows will have really fun plays on famous literary titles or cute puns or whatever that I like, too.

But I also totally understand shows going with basic/generic episode titles, too, because as somebody who also likes to write, trying to come up with a creative/memorable title is HARD much of the time :p. Basically it just comes down to what works for the show in question. 

[ABay]

There are times when episode titles aren't enough. For example, I appreciate that someone took the time to make episodes of the Great Canadian Baking Show available. However, every series has a Cookie Week so labeling a video GCBS Cookie Week without indicating the season makes watching a single season of episodes in sequence impossible.

[Zella]

45 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

Plus, I like looking up who wrote various episodes to get an idea of who some of my favorite episode writers are and all that,

I do that too! :) 

[Blergh]

7 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I dislike the super generic titles but I Also dislike the cutesy theme titles like the Friends example. 

I agree! However, said theme titles goes along with my basic dislike for the show itself. Yeah, boo me!

[Raja]

4 hours ago, bluegirl147 said:

Before IMDB how many of us even knew episode titles?

 

When there were not as many shows but many more episodes per year after a 60s or 70s show ran through syndication a few times I tended to remember favorite episodes. Quinn Martin shows were especially good for identifying the title in the credits as openings and theme songs were retained. It was later that the split screen with the closing credits and opening credits were played simultaneously on basic cable stations

[Blergh]

8 hours ago, Raja said:

When there were not as many shows but many more episodes per year after a 60s or 70s show ran through syndication a few times I tended to remember favorite episodes. Quinn Martin shows were especially good for identifying the title in the credits as openings and theme songs were retained. It was later that the split screen with the closing credits and opening credits were played simultaneously on basic cable stations

I liked how they broke down each section between commercial breaks as 'Act One', etc. It helped the viewers keep track how far along the story was each time the individual episodes resumed.