Party of One: Unpopular TV Opinions

[andromeda331]

2 hours ago, Browncoat said:

I stopped watching Person of Interest when they killed off Taraji P. Henson's character.

So did I. I hated the direction the show was going with Root and Shaw killing off Carter was the last straw. 

[Chaos Theory]

On 4/16/2024 at 1:37 PM, Zella said:

I watch a lot of cable prestige drama, and I still maintain that season 5 of The Good Wife is one of the best seasons of television ever made. 

I do too. I'd heard for years how groundbreaking it was, but when I finally tried to watch it, I found Archie absolutely insufferable. Every episode to me was like enduring some unpleasant family Thanksgiving dinner from hell, and I usually like crazy family sitcoms. I also know way too many people who genuinely love the show because they think Archie just tells it like it is to find it successful as satire. 

Same issue today with Al Bundy and Married With Children.    Don’t get me wrong MWC was a fun sitcom in its day but both Archie Bunker and Al Bundy were written to be the butt of the joke not the moral line in the sand.   I  think that is why a lot of shows written 10 20 30 years ago need to be viewed through the mirror of the time they were written.     I can’t stand MASH anymore because most of the male character bug the shit out of me.   But back then they were standard if not well meaning men.     I can only watch The Nanny because I actually really like the relationship between Niles and CC even though it might be viewed under a negative lense today.   What bugs me is Fran and her obsession with marriage.    
 

Shows need to be viewed under a weird time travel lense.   Some do stand the test of time some do not but I would still recommend some of them to fans of a particular genre.   I would still recommend Xena and BTVS.   But that is just me.  

Edited April 17 by Chaos Theory

[Zella]

2 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

I can’t stand MASH anymore because most of the male character bug the shit out of me. 

Oh I absolutely cannot abide Hawkeye. I actually like Winchester the best of the doctors. LOL 

[ABay]

Colonel Flagg always made me laugh.

 

[kathyk2]

3 hours ago, Zella said:

Oh I absolutely cannot abide Hawkeye. I actually like Winchester the best of the doctors. LOL 

I loved Hawkeye and Winchester. My least favorite character was Frank Burns by a mile. I thought BJ was too good to be true.

[andromeda331]

6 hours ago, Zella said:

Oh I absolutely cannot abide Hawkeye. I actually like Winchester the best of the doctors. LOL 

So did I. He never got off his soap box. I liked Winchester better because there were more sides to him. My favorite character was Klinger. He was so funny.

[Zella]

7 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

So did I. He never got off his soap box. I liked Winchester better because there were more sides to him. My favorite character was Klinger. He was so funny.

Yeah he was super preachy, and I also thought he was one of the worst actors on the show. 

But the side characters were great. I loved Radar, Potter, Father Mulcahy, etc. 

[Chaos Theory]

9 hours ago, kathyk2 said:

I loved Hawkeye and Winchester. My least favorite character was Frank Burns by a mile. I thought BJ was too good to be true.

I absolutely hate BJ.   Most of his episodes revolve around how much harder he has it then everyone else because he wuvs his wife and daughter.   But God forbid they are happy in the US without him or the wife picks up a side gig to pay the bills.    Again I have to remember it’s the time when men expected their wives to be housewives so having a wife who needed to work must have been an ego blow to him.   

[kathyk2]

4 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

I absolutely hate BJ.   Most of his episodes revolve around how much harder he has it then everyone else because he wuvs his wife and daughter.   But God forbid they are happy in the US without him or the wife picks up a side gig to pay the bills.    Again I have to remember it’s the time when men expected their wives to be housewives so having a wife who needed to work must have been an ego blow to him.   

BJ annoyed me when he was upset that Erin thought Radar was her daddy. Erin was too young to remember her father and Radar went home due to a terrible family tragedy. Both of my grandmothers worked during the 50's to support their families.

[sistermagpie]

4 minutes ago, kathyk2 said:

BJ annoyed me when he was upset that Erin thought Radar was her daddy. Erin was too young to remember her father and Radar went home due to a terrible family tragedy. Both of my grandmothers worked during the 50's to support their families.

TBF, he wasn't annoyed, he was heartbroken for exactly that reason. His child didn't know him. IIRC, Peg told the story because she thought it was funny, not thinking that there's no way that would be funny to BJ. 

Edited April 18 by sistermagpie

[ribboninthesky1]

I enjoyed The Bear well enough, but thought season 1 was superior to season 2. I still intensely disliked Richie by season 2's end and didn't find his "growth" convincing at all.  

[Crashcourse]

As much as I loved the first two seasons of Abbott Elementary, I'm getting tired of it now.  The kids are still adorable, but Melissa, Barbara, and Jabob are becoming annoying to me (never liked Ava).   

So, I switched to watching Animal Control and I might watch Abbott a week later on the ABC website, but it's no longer must-see tv.  

[proserpina65]

On 4/17/2024 at 1:19 PM, JustHereForFood said:

The showrunners of GoT were always talking about Cersei like "Well, you know, she is a murdering psychopath who hates and hurts everyone, but at least she deeply loves her children, so that is her redeeming quality ..." No, it isn't. She was partially responsible for one of her children being a complete monster and some of her worst actions were justified by some viewers as "protecting her children". No, thanks. That doesn't redeem her at all in my eyes.

I suppose that made her marginally better than the characters who were monsters and didn't love their children, but yeah, she was a monster who did terrible things allegedly to protect her children.  Neither her love for her children or her supposed oppression by the patriarchy excuses any of the horrible acts she committed or which were committed at her order.  I hated the character.  She was marginally less insane than in the book but that's it.

[proserpina65]

1 hour ago, Crashcourse said:

As much as I loved the first two seasons of Abbott Elementary, I'm getting tired of it now.  The kids are still adorable, but Melissa, Barbara, and Jabob are becoming annoying to me (never liked Ava).   

So, I switched to watching Animal Control and I might watch Abbott a week later on the ABC website, but it's no longer must-see tv.  

I never thought Abbott Elementary was all that good to begin with, which is why I stopped watching partway through season 1.  I watched an episode the other night because it was the only thing available to fill the time before Amazing Race, and I really have to wonder why it gets all the praise and Emmy love.

[supposebly]

2 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

Neither her love for her children or her supposed oppression by the patriarchy excuses any of the horrible acts she committed or which were committed at her order.

I found her interesting up to about season 5, maybe? I often felt she was, or trying to be like her father. Without the intelligence and the ability for emotional restraint. Lancaster family over everything without actually caring for the children as people. 

[Domestic Assassin]

2 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

I never thought Abbott Elementary was all that good to begin with, which is why I stopped watching partway through season 1.  I watched an episode the other night because it was the only thing available to fill the time before Amazing Race, and I really have to wonder why it gets all the praise and Emmy love.

I liked Abbott Elementary well enough, but nothing kills a show faster for me than "will they/won't they" bullshit. I held out as long as I could stand, finally gave up some time in season two.

[Affogato]

On 4/15/2024 at 8:52 PM, Anduin said:

While I'm prepared to believe there's a thousand episodes of NCIS shows now, I have watched none of them. I couldn't tell you the content of a single episode.

I'm not slamming the fans or anything like that, it's just odd to realise that for something apparently popular enough to go this long, I know nothing about it.

There have been times for me  when it wasthe only borderline watchable thing on the ymca exercise machine tvs, but I can’t remember the details of any episodes. 

[Guest]

On 4/17/2024 at 9:53 PM, kathyk2 said:

My least favorite character was Frank Burns by a mile.

For me Frank was the character that made the show.  Once Larry Linville left I stopped watching.  Frank was awful but so believable in his awfulness.  And Larry Linville was such a wonderful actor that you could feel sorry for old Ferret Face at the same time that you were glad he was getting his comeuppance.

[Raja]

On 4/16/2024 at 6:38 AM, Ohiopirate02 said:

I rarely watch anything on CBS.  Out of all of the American networks, I feel they are the ones who rely upon focus groups the most.  There's rarely any risk or experimentation in their lineup.  They end up airing the blandest content that appeals to the most people.  I'm not surprised to find out they have a show that has aired 1,000 episodes.  

It was worse than just CBS. Just over a decade ago with a couple of hundred episodes on tap syndicators that held NCIS  rights replaced Memorial Day and Veterans Day holiday movie marathons and replaced them with NCIS reruns as if it was the same honoring the veterans ideal since the N stands for Navy, even if they are not in the Navy.

[Jaded]

I'm going to miss So Help Me Todd which CBS recently cancelled. 

[annzeepark914]

On 4/19/2024 at 8:34 PM, Mona Lisa said:

For me Frank was the character that made the show.  Once Larry Linville left I stopped watching.  Frank was awful but so believable in his awfulness.  And Larry Linville was such a wonderful actor that you could feel sorry for old Ferret Face at the same time that you were glad he was getting his comeuppance.

Ferret Face. He did a very good job acting to engender so much hatred! But I got a kick out of the arrogant Winchester. Once Alan Alda got a chance to start writing episodes, that's when Hawkeye got so holier than thou. This was early on and was the reason that Wayne Rogers (Trapper John) quit. He was my favorite.

 

[Glitches]

Angela Rizzoli as a parent, she interferes, overprotects, acts out her insecurities and gaslights all camouflaged as caring. I would have gone low/no contact long ago. 

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, Glitches said:

Angela Rizzoli as a parent, she interferes, overprotects, acts out her insecurities and gaslights all camouflaged as caring. I would have gone low/no contact long ago. 

Thankfully, that was a popular opinion in the R&I forum, because I needed someplace to grumble about it on a weekly basis when the show was airing.  I cannot believe the show expected us to find it cute, just Ma being Ma, and had other characters chastising Jane when she got angry. 

The worst, for me, was how she kept ragging on Jane for being a cop, a job Jane absolutely loved, because it made her worry all the time; that would have been bad enough under any circumstances, but the fact she had a son who was a cop, too, and didn't give him that shit made it so much worse.  Remember when she hid Jane's clearance letter from her?  Jane had recovered from an injury (gunshot, maybe?) and was going stir crazy waiting to be cleared to return to duty.  Angela didn't want her to go back, so kept it from her.

And, of course, telling people about the pregnancy when Jane had asked her not to was a particularly low point, too.

[Shannon L.]

We finally finished Mr. and Mrs  Smith.  It did not get better. In fact, by the next to last episode, we were still so bored with it that we decided to skip the finale for a while until we could get into the right frame of mind to watch it. If there's a season 2, we will not waste our time with it. 

[DXD526]

Quote

Remember when she hid Jane's clearance letter from her? 

Ugh, that was exceptionally low, even for Ma Riz. And what did she think would happen, that the police department would wait a few days, and then figure, 'huh, we never heard from Jane, guess she's not coming back', and drop it? And that Jane would just drop it? It made zero sense, and made Ma look worse than she already did. If that's possible. 

[Blergh]

Although, especially in the early years, Mr. Linville did a good job playing the show's main foil, with everyone else having evolved (especially Margaret), I was frankly relieved [no pun intended] when Maj. Burns was shipped out.

I definitely think Maj. Winchester should have come in earlier- if for no other reason than to have SOMEONE to be an actual challenge for for Hawkeye  to who actually was a good surgeon and wasn't entirely a negative character (while Frank was such an annoying and incompetent dolt that even when he attempted to courtmarshall Hawkeye, the latter seemed as threatened as an elephant about to step on an ant)!

I thought it was funny how, in the beginning, there was an awkward attempt at having the now-married Margaret flirt with the still-single Winchester but their clashing tempers quickly (and permanently) derailed it. IIRC, she got sick from eating a canned pheasant he'd had shipped over and he got furious over her openly berating him for 'that rotten bird'!  Thereafter, they seemed to struggle just to be civil to each other .

I also thought it interesting how Winchester was the one person who refused to adore Radar yet DID [somewhat] befriend Klinger despite pulling no punches in calling out the latter's incompetence as a clerk!

 While I'm doing M*A*S*H UO's I wasn't sorry to see Trapper John go. Not only due to the origins of his nickname  [think about it] but who was HE to call out Frank's adulterous hypocrisy?! Unlike  B.J. or even Henry Blake, he NEVER expressed the slightest remorse for blatantly fooling around on his faithful Stateside wife (and co-parent of their minor offspring). .and seemed to have been an open adulterer long before he got posted  overseas -   his ENTIRE marriage! Hawkeye also was a playa but at least he stayed single!

[annzeepark914]

Trapper John was married? And had a child? I had no idea. 

[AgathaC]

15 hours ago, Blergh said:

Although, especially in the early years, Mr. Linville did a good job playing the show's main foil, with everyone else having evolved (especially Margaret), I was frankly relieved [no pun intended] when Maj. Burns was shipped out.

I definitely think Maj. Winchester should have come in earlier- if for no other reason than to have SOMEONE to be an actual challenge for for Hawkeye  to who actually was a good surgeon and wasn't entirely a negative character (while Frank was such an annoying and incompetent dolt that even when he attempted to courtmarshall Hawkeye, the latter seemed as threatened as an elephant about to step on an ant)!

I thought it was funny how, in the beginning, there was an awkward attempt at having the now-married Margaret flirt with the still-single Winchester but their clashing tempers quickly (and permanently) derailed it. IIRC, she got sick from eating a canned pheasant he'd had shipped over and he got furious over her openly berating him for 'that rotten bird'!  Thereafter, they seemed to struggle just to be civil to each other .

I also thought it interesting how Winchester was the one person who refused to adore Radar yet DID [somewhat] befriend Klinger despite pulling no punches in calling out the latter's incompetence as a clerk!

 While I'm doing M*A*S*H UO's I wasn't sorry to see Trapper John go. Not only due to the origins of his nickname  [think about it] but who was HE to call out Frank's adulterous hypocrisy?! Unlike  B.J. or even Henry Blake, he NEVER expressed the slightest remorse for blatantly fooling around on his faithful Stateside wife (and co-parent of their minor offspring). .and seemed to have been an open adulterer long before he got posted  overseas -   his ENTIRE marriage! Hawkeye also was a playa but at least he stayed single!

I loved Charles. Pompous, but with the brains and skills to back it up.

(Personally, I always loved the story about the book and phone number business with Margaret/Loretta Swit.)

But, yeah, I got tired of Hawkeye and his sanctimoniousness real damn quick.

[Wiendish Fitch]

I've never watched M.A.S.H., have zero interest in starting. 

As much as I love Kathryn Hahn, I have ceased to care about that damn Agatha Harkness series (assuming if it ever actually sees the light of day). It's been too long, and some us are over the MCU.

 

[Raja]

15 hours ago, Blergh said:

While I'm doing M*A*S*H UO's I wasn't sorry to see Trapper John go. Not only due to the origins of his nickname  [think about it] but who was HE to call out Frank's adulterous hypocrisy?! Unlike  B.J. or even Henry Blake, he NEVER expressed the slightest remorse for blatantly fooling around on his faithful Stateside wife (and co-parent of their minor offspring). .and seemed to have been an open adulterer long before he got posted  overseas -   his ENTIRE marriage! Hawkeye also was a playa but at least he stayed single!

I think that going after Frank in the early days of the TV show was a holdover from Robert Duvall's vocal Christianity and "hidden" adultery in the movie M*A*S*H.

Edited April 22 by Raja

[GHScorpiosRule]

13 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

Trapper John was married? And had a child? I had no idea. 

Oh yeah. Though by the time he got his own series, Trapper John, M.D., played by Pernell Roberts, I think he was divorced. And years later, Timothy Busfield showed up as his son-also a doctor. I didn't realize that he was the same Trapper from M.A.S.H. though. I was all about Gonzo.

Edited April 22 by GHScorpiosRule

[DXD526]

Quote

Trapper John was married? And had a child? I had no idea.

 

Married with two daughters. Not that it stopped him from trying to bed every woman he met. Henry was a bit more selective, but also had zero problem breaking his marriage vows. 

The show definitely changed tone after the first three seasons. The philandering-and-not-shy-about-showing-it Trapper and Henry, were replaced with the happily married B.J. and Potter, who often referenced their wives. And there was also the increasing sanctimoniousness of Hawkeye, of course. 

[proserpina65]

On 4/20/2024 at 8:34 AM, Raja said:

Just over a decade ago with a couple of hundred episodes on tap syndicators that held NCIS  rights replaced Memorial Day and Veterans Day holiday movie marathons and replaced them with NCIS reruns

Personally I was happy when they did since I never cared for the holiday movie marathons.  And I don't even like NICS that much.

On 4/20/2024 at 7:12 PM, Jaded said:

I'm going to miss So Help Me Todd which CBS recently cancelled. 

Oh no!  I didn't realize they'd cancelled it.  I don't watch it every week but I've enjoyed the episodes I've seen.  And now I see they renewed that horrible Elsbeth crap.  Damn.

 

[andromeda331]

On 4/21/2024 at 10:09 AM, Glitches said:

Angela Rizzoli as a parent, she interferes, overprotects, acts out her insecurities and gaslights all camouflaged as caring. I would have gone low/no contact long ago. 

 

21 hours ago, Bastet said:

Thankfully, that was a popular opinion in the R&I forum, because I needed someplace to grumble about it on a weekly basis when the show was airing.  I cannot believe the show expected us to find it cute, just Ma being Ma, and had other characters chastising Jane when she got angry. 

The worst, for me, was how she kept ragging on Jane for being a cop, a job Jane absolutely loved, because it made her worry all the time; that would have been bad enough under any circumstances, but the fact she had a son who was a cop, too, and didn't give him that shit made it so much worse.  Remember when she hid Jane's clearance letter from her?  Jane had recovered from an injury (gunshot, maybe?) and was going stir crazy waiting to be cleared to return to duty.  Angela didn't want her to go back, so kept it from her.

And, of course, telling people about the pregnancy when Jane had asked her not to was a particularly low point, too.

God yes! Angela was the worse! She always treated Jane like crap. The shooting was how Jane lost the baby. She was trying to protect a witness when the killer showed up and attacked Jane. That should have been the breaking point and Jane should have told off her mother and cut her out of her life. 

 

3 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

Personally I was happy when they did since I never cared for the holiday movie marathons.  And I don't even like NICS that much.

Oh no!  I didn't realize they'd cancelled it.  I don't watch it every week but I've enjoyed the episodes I've seen.  And now I see they renewed that horrible Elsbeth crap.  Damn.

 

I'm surprised by both. I thought So Help Me Todd was doing well and Elsbeth was doing terrible. 

[MadyGirl1987]

I was just thinking today that an unpopular opinion I have is that I can't stand Jennifer Coolidge, and don't get why she seems to be so popular.

[Affogato]

9 hours ago, Raja said:

I think that going after Frank in the early days of the TV show was a holdover from Robert Duvall's vocal Christianity and "hidden" adultery in the movie M*A*S*H.

They are a series of books that I read and enjoyed. Less socially appropriate than either movie or show, but great characters. 

[BlueSkies]

Maybe it's because I'm so many years removed from watching it but re-watching the last season of Family Matters it's actually not bad.  

[kathyk2]

I'm getting tired of ads like Freshpet and Sheba where people are choosing pets over the people in their lives. Pets are important but so are friends and family.

[Crashcourse]

The absolute worst one for me is the Sheba commercial where the mother ignores her son saying he's hurt while she's cuddling her cat.  I hope the actress never finds work again.  

[Wiendish Fitch]

Re: the aforementioned pet commercials

Lord knows I sometimes prefer animals to people... but the problem with that attitude is that, like it or not, we do share the world with other people. If we don't attempt to connect and be civil with one another, humanity will only get worse, not better. 

I get those commercials are going for a snidely comedic tone, but they just feel needlessly mean-spirited. 

[Ohiopirate02]

50 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

The absolute worst one for me is the Sheba commercial where the mother ignores her son saying he's hurt while she's cuddling her cat.  I hope the actress never finds work again.  

whispers sheepishly, I actually like that commercial.  The kid is too calm for it to be an emergency, and they sound like they are old enough to 1. find a bandaid 2. apply said bandaid 3. clean up whatever mess.  Also, that cat was comfortable and I remember with my kitties how long it took before they got all comfortable like that.  I hated getting up once they were settled because that meant I would have to go through the whole rigmarole of kneading and shifting as soon as I sat back down. 

[kathyk2]

54 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

The absolute worst one for me is the Sheba commercial where the mother ignores her son saying he's hurt while she's cuddling her cat.  I hope the actress never finds work again.  

I don't blame the actress she's reading from a script. I blame the creators of the ad.

[Bastet]

10 minutes ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

whispers sheepishly, I actually like that commercial.

I do, too; it makes me laugh.  It plays to me like the kid is one of those who wants a bandage for every little thing (they probably have ones with superheroes or whatever the kid is into on them), and this is an exchange the two of them have.  I love the actor's delivery on "Take two".

[Crashcourse]

43 minutes ago, kathyk2 said:

I don't blame the actress she's reading from a script. I blame the creators of the ad.

Oh, I blame the writers, but surely the actress could have found another commercial to be in.  On Reddit and other sites, the commercial has gotten a lot of negative feedback, and she should have known that would happen.

[Notabug]

23 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

Oh, I blame the writers, but surely the actress could have found another commercial to be in.  On Reddit and other sites, the commercial has gotten a lot of negative feedback, and she should have known that would happen.

Most actresses don't earn enough to be picky about the roles they choose.  If this particular actress took the job because she needed the income to pay her bills, then I don't blame her.

[ABay]

I don't blame her even if she took the part because she thought it was funny. I think it's hilarious.

[DoctorAtomic]

I like that commercial. It's so throw back before helicoptering. I used to come home with all sorts of scrapes. 

[Browncoat]

Oh yeah.  We didn't bother mom unless bones were broken or we needed stitches.  

[Shannon L.]

I have mixed feelings over the commercial. I love animals, but would never put them above people,  especially kids. However, I grew up in the 'rub some dirt on it' generation.  My parents would've come to me if I couldn't come to them, but if I sounded like the kid in the commercial did, they wouldn't have been in a big hurry. If they were in the middle of something, they'd have probably asked if I could get a bandaid or did I need help, then said, "ok, hang on a minute " if I said yes. 

[bluegirl147]

18 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

Also, that cat was comfortable and I remember with my kitties how long it took before they got all comfortable like that.  I hated getting up once they were settled because that meant I would have to go through the whole rigmarole of kneading and shifting as soon as I sat back down. 

This.  There are a ton of things I have not done or postponed doing because a cat was comfortable on me. 

15 hours ago, Browncoat said:

 We didn't bother mom unless bones were broken or we needed stitches.  

Yep if it's not broken or bleeding profusely you were OK.  

17 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

Oh, I blame the writers, but surely the actress could have found another commercial to be in.  On Reddit and other sites, the commercial has gotten a lot of negative feedback, and she should have known that would happen.

She is just doing her job.  If people didn't take jobs that might have negative feedback there would be a lot of job openings.