Party of One: Unpopular TV Opinions

[Haleth]

Loved, loved her on The Good Fight.  She and Audra McDonald.  So much talent.

[bluegirl147]

8 hours ago, Haleth said:

Loved, loved her on The Good Fight.  She and Audra McDonald.  So much talent.

I just did a rewatch of the last season and I'm going to miss that show so much. 

Christine Baranski is one of those actresses that owns every scene she is in. 

If it had been any other actress playing Leonard's mom on BBT I would have hated that character but I could overlook her faults because it was CB.

 

[andromeda331]

On 4/17/2023 at 11:47 AM, SnapHappy said:

She was great as egotistical Maryann in the TV show "Sybil".  She was supposed to be OTT, and she absolutely was.  I loved her with Sybil Shepherd.  

 

On 4/17/2023 at 12:25 PM, Elizabeth Anne said:

This was my first intro to her.  The way she said "Dr. Dick" her voice just dripping with venom!

Another role she was in where she played quite a different character was as the birth mother of Val in the movie The Birdcage.  It was a relatively small part but an important one and she was amazing in it!  Never realized what long dancers legs she had until I saw her dancing with Robin Williams.

I loved Maryann! She was my favorite character on the show. She was so funny. It was the first thing I saw Christine in every role she played except Leonard's mother in TBBT. She was horrible bitch to everyone (except Sheldon) but especially to Leonard. She actually had the nerve to be "hurt" when Leonard didn't invite her to his wedding. Why would he after everything she did to him?

[Bastet]

On 4/17/2023 at 10:47 AM, SnapHappy said:

She was great as egotistical Maryann in the TV show "Sybil".  She was supposed to be OTT, and she absolutely was.  I loved her with Sybil Shepherd.

Cybill, but yes, she was fantastic on that (great) show.  I think that was the first thing I saw her in.  I've liked her in everything else in which I've seen her -- but that leaves plenty I haven't seen.

On 4/17/2023 at 9:06 AM, Ohiopirate02 said:

I normally love her, but she's a theatre actress who's over-projection often reads as camp.  She needs scene partners who match her intensity.

Many of my favorite actors have drama degrees and started in theatre (I don't think anyone better learns "acting is reacting" than on the stage), but I agree that even after they tweak their style to the different requirements of film and TV, sometimes they lapse and play a screen scene like they'd have played a stage scene and it doesn't quite work.  I have not personally seen that with Baranski, but I have no trouble imagining it happening.

[Ohiopirate02]

5 hours ago, Bastet said:

Cybill, but yes, she was fantastic on that (great) show.  I think that was the first thing I saw her in.  I've liked her in everything else in which I've seen her -- but that leaves plenty I haven't seen.

Many of my favorite actors have drama degrees and started in theatre (I don't think anyone better learns "acting is reacting" than on the stage), but I agree that even after they tweak their style to the different requirements of film and TV, sometimes they lapse and play a screen scene like they'd have played a stage scene and it doesn't quite work.  I have not personally seen that with Baranski, but I have no trouble imagining it happening.

I do think Christine is a fantastic actress and I love watching her on my TV.  But, she's the type of actress who is not the best at elevating her screen partners when she's in a scene with a lesser actor.  Some great actors make their more average costars shine when acting with them, others expose their flaws.  Every post here talking about how they love Christine in various projects also mentions great actors working with her.  She's great in The Good Fight when she's sharing scenes with Audra Fucking McDonald or with Robin Williams in The Birdcage or in Mamma Mia with Meryl.  When she's acting with the cast of The Big Bang Theory, she's going to overtake the screen with Kaley or Johnny.  They can't match her talent or commitment or intensity.  Her performance in A Bad Mom's Christmas is interesting because Susan Sarandon, Peter Gallagher, and Cheryl Hines are on Christine's level but Mila Kunis is not.  

[Notabug]

On 4/18/2023 at 3:05 PM, bluegirl147 said:

I just did a rewatch of the last season and I'm going to miss that show so much. 

Christine Baranski is one of those actresses that owns every scene she is in. 

If it had been any other actress playing Leonard's mom on BBT I would have hated that character but I could overlook her faults because it was CB.

 

I've loved Christine since Cybill too.  And loved her even more when I discovered she was married to the wonderful Matthew Cowles, aka Billy Clyde Tuggle, pimp extraordinaire, from All My Children.  A role which he not only played, but wrote himself.  Alas, he died too young in 2014; but I always loved the thought of Maryann teaming up with Billy Clyde for some shenanigans.

Edited April 19, 2023 by Notabug

[ABay]

Wasn't it Billy Clyde?

 

[Notabug]

Just now, ABay said:

Wasn't it Billy Clyde?

 

You're right!  I fixed it.

[ABay]

It's been so long, I wasn't sure.

I also loved that Christine Baranski and Matthew Cowles...or Diane Lockhart & Billy Clyde... were married.

Edited April 19, 2023 by ABay

[proserpina65]

5 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

She's great in The Good Fight when she's sharing scenes with Audra Fucking McDonald or with Robin Williams in The Birdcage or in Mamma Mia with Meryl. 

I haven't liked Audra McDonald in anything I've seen.  I find her mediocre as an actress and I don't care much for her singing voice either.

On a similar note, I can't stand Kristen Chenowith.  Her voice makes me want to stab my eardrums out.

Edited April 19, 2023 by proserpina65

[bluegirl147]

29 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

I can't stand Kristen Chenowith.

Yeah I don't like Kristen Chenowith.

And since we are talking about people we don't like.  I watched a Kate Hudson movie over the weekend and realized I dislike any character she plays.  I think I just dislike Kate Hudson.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

On a similar note, I can't stand Kristen Chenowith.  Her voice makes me want to stab my eardrums out.

Gods, same.  I know that's just what she sounds like, and I hate the policing of women's voices, but her speaking voice drives me crazy.  (Her singing voice, maybe not, depending on the song.)  When I start to feel bad hating on her for an innate characteristic, I remind myself my cousin - who's one of those annoyingly pleasant people - went to college with her and didn't like her, and then I move on content in my disgruntlement. 

[Crashcourse]

The only Kate Hudson movie I liked was Almost Famous, where she was perfect as Penny Lane. 

[sistermagpie]

5 hours ago, Bastet said:

Gods, same.  I know that's just what she sounds like, and I hate the policing of women's voices, but her speaking voice drives me crazy.  (Her singing voice, maybe not, depending on the song.)  When I start to feel bad hating on her for an innate characteristic, I remind myself my cousin - who's one of those annoyingly pleasant people - went to college with her and didn't like her, and then I move on content in my disgruntlement. 

I read an article about her years ago and disliked her from that, so I feel vindicated.

[WritinMan]

On 4/15/2023 at 10:12 PM, Bastet said:

 

 

Ugh. Pop Culture Detective sucks.

And that has nothing to do with this show. I hated The Big Bang Theory....

[Bumblebee84047]

On 4/13/2023 at 7:14 PM, juno said:

that was one of my favorite scenes, the napkin was signed by Leonard Nimoy and it almost made Sheldon pass out with excitement.

"All I need is a healthy ovum and I can grow my own Leonard Nimoy!"

[juno]

1 minute ago, Bumblebee84047 said:

"All I need is a healthy ovum and I can grow my own Leonard Nimoy!"

That was probably my favourite scene from the entire series.

[sistermagpie]

1 hour ago, WritinMan said:

Ugh. Pop Culture Detective sucks.

And that has nothing to do with this show. I hated The Big Bang Theory....

I've never seen it before that video. What sucks about it?

[Bastet]

17 hours ago, WritinMan said:

Ugh. Pop Culture Detective sucks.

I'm not familiar with it beyond the two videos about TBBT, both of which, especially the "Adorkable Misogny" one, seemed spot on based on my limited exposure to the show (and just based on American TV and society in general).  Looking it up, it's produced by Jonathan McIntosh, and from the little bit of info in the Wikipedia article about him and what he covers, I might check out more.

Edited April 20, 2023 by Bastet

[supposebly]

I love Pop Culture Detective. It's very insightful, carefully done, and enlightening.

 

[Wiendish Fitch]

4 minutes ago, supposebly said:

I love Pop Culture Detective. It's very insightful, carefully done, and enlightening.

 

Same, though I do think he was off the mark on Groundhog Day in his video "Stalking for Love" ... but that's a topic for another forum and another day.

Edited April 20, 2023 by Wiendish Fitch

[willco]

On 4/19/2023 at 7:37 PM, Crashcourse said:

The only Kate Hudson movie I liked was Almost Famous, where she was perfect as Penny Lane. 

I thought she was pretty good in The Skeleton Key , but you have to like that genre of movie to enjoy it.

[Crashcourse]

Ok, I never saw The Skeleton Key.

[peachmangosteen]

I've only seen 2 movies with Kate Hudson, Almost Famous and Glass Onion. I liked her in both.

[willco]

6 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

Ok, I never saw The Skeleton Key.

I'd recommend it if you like suspense / horror type movies. It's definitely "freaky" ( as my nephew used to say when he was a kid ). But very suspenseful. 

[andromeda331]

52 minutes ago, willco said:

I'd recommend it if you like suspense / horror type movies. It's definitely "freaky" ( as my nephew used to say when he was a kid ). But very suspenseful. 

I agree. It was a really good movie. 

[AstridM]

19 hours ago, willco said:

I thought she was pretty good in The Skeleton Key , but you have to like that genre of movie to enjoy it.

I enjoyed that movie, but what I’ll always remember about it is that it was the movie that Kate Hudson was slated to do when she was pregnant with her first child. She gained quite a bit of weight during the pregnancy and then lost all the weight in an extreme way in a very short period of time. It was said that the studio and the director put a huge amount of pressure on her to be very thin again in order to keep the role. But her character could have been any size. It wasn’t a romantic role at all and if a male actor had played it, I highly doubt there would have been such extreme pressure on him to lose so much weight so quickly. The whole thing just really underscored the double standards and misogyny still prevalent in Hollywood at that time (and even now 🥲).

Edited April 22, 2023 by AstridM

[EtheltoTillie]

On 4/12/2023 at 3:40 PM, Gharlane said:

I always called it "Steve Urkleing". 

I call it "Flo-ing," from Alice, as in "Kiss my grits!"  Ugh.  I was astounded when I found out that dim-bulb Vera was in the original cast of Company on Broadway. 

Edited April 23, 2023 by EtheltoTillie

[EtheltoTillie]

On 4/7/2023 at 1:47 PM, bluegirl147 said:

 

Even the very best sitcoms like Cheers and Frasier lost something the longer they stayed on. 

I never liked Modern Family.  I rewatch Cheers and Frasier a fair amount late at night on Hallmark.  Cheers lost me in the Kirstie Alley years, whereas IMO Frasier was good throughout. 

[scarynikki12]

I recently watched one of those doctor reacts to videos and the guy did Izzie cutting Denny's LVAD wire on Grey's. When I do a rewatch I always leave the Denny saga out because it was infuriating the first time and I don't want to relive that nonsense if I don't have to but it reminded me how astounding it was as to how few repercussions there are for Izzie and the other characters. None of them get fired, Izzie does not end up on trial for killing Denny, and instead everyone feels sorry for her for losing her fiance and she inherits millions of dollars from his estate.

The reacting doctor points out Izzie could have pulled the LVAD plug rather than cut the wire (and was quick to point out he wasn't endorsing that either just that cutting the wire can't be undone) and that actually would have provided some deniability for the characters. When they're trying to keep Denny alive long enough to get into surgery they're pulling out their notes for ideas because they're interns and don't have this stuff memorized yet. Having the cause of all of this turn out to be the wire was unplugged and the newbies panicked rather than realizing it would have at least been understandable. Instead Izzie cutting the wire was seen as a desperate gesture from a lovesick woman rather than grounds for firing, arrest, and incarceration. 

I would love to see a show reenact this scene and have the George, Meredith, or Christina stand in actually step in and pull Izzie stand in away from the patient rather than just ask "what are you doing" over and over.

It's funny because I started watching Grey's after Izzie left when it became available on streaming. I knew some things already, like Denny died and later came back for ghost sex, but I was under the impression they were in an actual relationship that ended tragically based on the things I overheard friends say when gushing about the show. Then I watch and was supposed to buy this was real? I'm supposed to be mourning with Izzie instead of wanting her arrested for killing Denny? I'm supposed to be relieved no one got fired or lost their licenses? 

Grey's plays fast and loose with ethics on a good day but the Izzie and Denny nonsense was excessive even for them.

[Wiendish Fitch]

I'm loving Yellowjackets and am excited to check out S2... but I already loathe the constant speculation about Shauna's baby. There are a million other things going on, so many unanswered questions, but that's what everyone's fixated on?!?!?

 

[badhaggis]

3 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

I'm loving Yellowjackets and am excited to check out S2... but I already loathe the constant speculation about Shauna's baby. There are a million other things going on, so many unanswered questions, but that's what everyone's fixated on?!?!?

 

Exactly! Several compelling stories are being told and that is what you focus on?!

[Cloud9Shopper]

On 4/16/2023 at 11:46 PM, juno said:

Flashbacks. I know they help tell the back story of the characters, but damn do they take you out of the story. They interrupt the story and force your attention away from the present.

I love the flashback/highlight reel episodes of The Golden Girls because they tend to include scenes not always shown in other episodes. Plus it’s fun to see Estelle Getty out of all the Sophia makeup and young Dorothy. (I don’t know the name of the actress who played the younger version of Dorothy but she was a great ringer for her.)

ER did flashbacks a few times during their run and the only two times I thought it was done well was an S7 episode during Luka’s arc with the bishop (and we saw how he lost his family back in Croatia) and in the final season when they brought in the guy who pioneered emergency/trauma as we knew it during the series and he was having visions of the staff dressed as 1960s nurses and doctors. Other than that, I could take or leave the other times. Does anyone really need to see flashbacks of Abby moping and hand-wringing about her pregnancy (who really cared if she kept the baby or not?) or what happened before Luka nearly killed a med student in a car accident? And the one episode in S2 where Susan kept looking for that stuffed animal while her niece was screaming…can’t stand it. 

[sistermagpie]

6 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

I'm loving Yellowjackets and am excited to check out S2... but I already loathe the constant speculation about Shauna's baby. There are a million other things going on, so many unanswered questions, but that's what everyone's fixated on?!?!?

 

It's also annoying because it's like there can't be anybody in the world who doesn't fit in somewhere. Like Shauna's baby has to be somebody--anybody--as long as they're the right age (or even if they're not, since many people seem to keep thinking it's Callie). It gets presented like it's a twist if nobody can exist in the world unless they're related to somebody we already know.

But my personal most hated thing about that is fixating on the postcards from the first season as if they're an unanswered question when that one seems totally answered to me and to the characters in the show.

[Wiendish Fitch]

5 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

It's also annoying because it's like there can't be anybody in the world who doesn't fit in somewhere. Like Shauna's baby has to be somebody--anybody--as long as they're the right age (or even if they're not, since many people seem to keep thinking it's Callie). It gets presented like it's a twist if nobody can exist in the world unless they're related to somebody we already know.

But my personal most hated thing about that is fixating on the postcards from the first season as if they're an unanswered question when that one seems totally answered to me and to the characters in the show.

Wait, wait, wait... people think Callie is Shauna's baby?!!* Jeez, and I thought my math skills were lacking! And, for the record, no, it couldn't possibly have been Adam, because Adam is too old!  

Also, ew.

You know what? I'll clear up the mystery now: Shauna's baby was adopted by the dude who was the baby Peggy Olson gave up for adoption on Mad Men. There, satisfied?

 

*I mean, she is Shauna's baby, but, y'know, not that baby... you know what I mean!!

[Danny Franks]

I watched the first two episodes of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, because I finally played the Cyberpunk 2077 game.

However, I cannot get over my disdain for Japanese anime. I'll be blunt - the vast majority of it is made for teens and adults with cases of arrested development. All the tropes are so juvenile and geared directly towards thirteen year old boys and men who think like them.

Moody, dickhead teen boy protagonist who mopes and lashes out emotionally all the time. He's an arse to people who care about him because they just don't get how deep he is. 

A scantily clad, sex object female lead who is inexplicably attracted to the moody, teen boy protagonist even though she's presented as far more capable and knowing than him. If I watch long enough, I feel sure there will be a second female character introduced, who is shy and sweet and also falls for the moody teen boy, but just can't bring herself to say anything.

Voice work that makes my skin crawl, with all the gasping and squealing (usually, but not exclusively, by the female characters). A lot of the animation is just as bad, with comically exaggerated facial expressions and the female lead sticking her arse in the viewer's face half the time she's on screen.

Frankly, it's embarrassing to watch.

Yes, I know there are some exceptions but, as a genre, I find it near unwatchable despite having tried with several different movies and shows.

This is not, by the way, an invitation to tell me what anime I should watch to make me realise how wonderful the genre actually is.

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by Danny Franks

[Wiendish Fitch]

On 4/24/2023 at 6:26 PM, Danny Franks said:

This is not, by the way, an invitation to tell me what anime I should watch to make me realise how wonderful the genre actually is.

InuYasha is the only anime I've ever truly loved (okay, fine, I sometimes get nostalgic for Sailor Moon), but on the whole, I find most anime to be a bit much.

I also think Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of the most disappointingly overrated things ever. I mean... that was it?!

[Gharlane]

On 4/16/2023 at 11:46 PM, juno said:

Flashbacks. I know they help tell the back story of the characters, but damn do they take you out of the story. They interrupt the story and force your attention away from the present.

Get A Life did a funny flashback episode that was initiated when Chris Elliot stepped out of an airplane en route to Iran. As he fells, he remarks about his life flashed before his eyes, but nothing before the beginning of the show. 😃

 

On 4/24/2023 at 6:26 PM, Danny Franks said:

I watched the first two episodes of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, because I finally played the Cyberpunk 2077 game.

However, I cannot get over my disdain for Japanese anime. I'll be blunt - the vast majority of it is made for teens and adults with cases of arrested development. All the tropes are so juvenile and geared directly towards thirteen year old boys and men who think like them.

Moody, dickhead teen boy protagonist who mopes and lashes out emotionally all the time. He's an arse to people who care about him because they just don't get how deep he is. 

A scantily clad, sex object female lead who is inexplicably attracted to the moody, teen boy protagonist even though she's presented as far more capable and knowing than him. If I watch long enough, I feel sure there will be a second female character introduced, who is shy and sweet and also falls for the moody teen boy, but just can't bring herself to say anything.

Voice work that makes my skin crawl, with all the gasping and squealing (usually, but not exclusively, by the female characters). A lot of the animation is just as bad, with comically exaggerated facial expressions and the female lead sticking her arse in the viewer's face half the time she's on screen.

Frankly, it's embarrassing to watch.

I loathe anime as well because every time I watch I end up seeing catholic high school girls being raped by tenacled demons. 🤢

I started watching it and found my attention alternating between drifting and undivided. 

 

[DoctorAtomic]

22 minutes ago, Gharlane said:

Get A Life did a funny flashback episode that was initiated when Chris Elliot stepped out of an airplane en route to Iran. As he fells, he remarks about his life flashed before his eyes, but nothing before the beginning of the show. 😃

This show was far far ahead of its time. Back in the 'experimental' Fox era. 

[Kel Varnsen]

1 hour ago, Gharlane said:

Get A Life did a funny flashback episode that was initiated when Chris Elliot stepped out of an airplane en route to Iran. As he fells, he remarks about his life flashed before his eyes, but nothing before the beginning of the show. 😃

That sounds pretty funny. I remember liking that show as a kid but having very little memory about episode plots. Community did a flashback episode that was set up like a standard sitcom clip show. But all the clips were for things viewers had never seen before. I think I read somewhere that it was one of the most expensive episodes they did because of all the different scenes they had to set up. Compared to a standard clip show which is usually a money saver. As for actual reveal a mystery story in flashback kind of thing, it seems like after Lost it would be hard to do that well without looking like a copy (even though I doubt Lost invented that).

[sistermagpie]

2 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

This show was far far ahead of its time. Back in the 'experimental' Fox era. 

I remember watching it when it was on and it was the first show I ever saw where they would make absurd references to things that weren't current. Like there's the ep where Chris gets a girlfriend with a lot of Easter Eggs to Annie Hall. Seems like in the past the only time you'd see a real reference to a pop culture thing without people openly talking about the thing, it would have to be current because they'd assume the audience wouldn't know anything else. 

[DoctorAtomic]

Wasn't Brian Doyle Murray the dad? I remember him and the mother always wore bath robes. 

[Kel Varnsen]

2 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Wasn't Brian Doyle Murray the dad? I remember him and the mother always wore bath robes. 

Ok apparently I do remember more. Brian Doyle Murray was either his landlord or maybe his boss. His dad was played by Chris Elliott's actual father.

[DoctorAtomic]

They were in the robes though.

[Egg McMuffin]

Brian Doyle Murray was Chris’ landlord in the second season. Bob Elliott didn’t want to do the show anymore, so Chris moved out of his parents’ house and into an apartment above the garage owned by Murray’s character.

[proserpina65]

I just can't with Ted Lasso the series.  The commercials upon which it was based, with him presented as a well-meaning but clueless American pretending to be a soccer coach, were amusing.  But the series making his bumbling positivity as somehow a way to make a team successful in the Premier League just annoys the hell out of me.  Maybe it's because I've been watching the Prem for more than 2 decades, but I find the entire concept of the show laughable, and not in a good way.

[Danny Franks]

This trend of making documentary series that are half talking heads, half badly acted, cheap looking 'dramatised events' needs to die.

All that controversy over the ethnicity of the woman playing Cleopatra in the new Netflix series, I didn't see one article talking about how superficial and lazy the entire production was.

It's all surface and baseless assumptions from people who, I would hope, are historians, cut into fragments by acted scenes that are equally as superficial.

Either make a historical drama or make a documentary. Trying to blend the two just ensures you get a product that works on neither level. And it's a real shame, because there are so many topics recently covered in this format that could have been really interesting if they weren't so unutterably lame.

Off the top of my head, Netflix alone have done Cleopatra, the Roman Republic, the Samurai and the history of Caribbean piracy, and they've butchered them all.

[Notwisconsin]

On 5/1/2023 at 6:41 PM, Kel Varnsen said:

His dad was played by Chris Elliott's actual father.

...who was one of the greatest comedians of all time.

[tribeca]

I think Seth Rogan could be a decent actor. He just automatically goes for the cheap easy laugh instead of anything meaningful.  

[DoctorAtomic]

Did you see the Kevin Smith movie about making a porn? Rogan was good in that. I mean, you know for the most part what you're getting with Kevin Smith, but there was some dramatic beats that he landed well.