Party of One: Unpopular TV Opinions

[GHScorpiosRule]

I've been trying not to repeat old hates--the things posted on TWoP (RIP Tubey) but posts above have just rekindled my deep, deep loathing of Seinfeld, which in turn reminds me that I personally loved neither Raymond nor Lucy.

Hey Alexandria! That is you, isn't it?

 

While I do love Lucy, I didn't nor don't love Raymond. Nor could I understand the love all my friends, had for, Friends, pardon the pun.

[ABay]

C'est moi, GHScorpiosRule!

 

While I'm here...I dislike Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead--the whole obsession with dystopias and zombies can end anytime now, thanks--wanted to like Penny Dreaful but it lost me in the first 10 minutes.

[DXD526]

I can't stand Friends. Not funny, and the characters are all obnoxious. I likely would have just disliked the show and ignored it, if not for it getting inexplicably popular and omnipresent and impossible to avoid. All the attention and head-scratching praise made me hate it all the more.

 

And I couldn't have less of an interest in anything Game of Thrones related if you paid me.

[ramble]

And I couldn't have less of an interest in anything Game of Thrones related if you paid me.

Agree to completely agree. In fact I'd pay not to have to hear about it.

[Shannon L.]

I hate (on different levels from dislike to loathing) characters so stupid it's a wonder they survived past the age of 16.  Mallory on Family Ties, Woody on Cheers, Kramer on Seinfeld, Brittany on Glee!, Kevin on The Office, Jeff and Lester on Chuck, etc, etc....  There must be some love for these types of characters or they wouldn't still be writing them.  Heck, it goes back decades--remember cousin Ernie on I Love Lucy?  I just don't find them funny, except for maybe the extremely rare moment that might make me smile.

[Anna Yolei]

While I'm a fan of the Colbert Report, I don't care much for Jon Stewart or the first two-thirds of most Daily Show episodes. The few weeks when Jon Oliver guest hosted last summer was the first time I found the show remotely entertaining in years.

[ribboninthesky1]

While I'm here...I dislike Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead--the whole obsession with dystopias and zombies can end anytime now, thanks--wanted to like Penny Dreaful but it lost me in the first 10 minutes.

 

Agreed - especially dystopias.  I took one look at a Penny Dreadful promo, saw Josh Hartnett, and said to myself, "Fuck no."  I remember when he was the "hot" guy in the 90s/early 00s, and I never understood why. I remember thinking, "He's tall...which is nice....and?"

[Enigma X]

Jonah Hill always portrays a version of Jonah Hill no matter what movie I see him in. In a comedy, he is a comedic Jonah Hill. In a drama, he is a dramatic Jonah Hill. Basically, unlike many actors, I never lose myself in his performance and forget that I am watching the actor Jonah Hill. 

[Bastet]

I can't stand Friends. Not funny, and the characters are all obnoxious.

 

I thought it was okay early on, when it was very sitcomish and the characters could be laughed at as cartoons.  When I was asked to care about these people, however, I was out.  Whenever one my friends sighs wistfully over that show, saying, "That was my twenties," I have to protest.  No, it wasn't.  I was there in your twenties.  If you'd been like those fools, we would not still be sitting here as friends.  

 

And do not get me started on Ross and Rachel.  That relationship becoming some great TV romance that people swooned over is downright disturbing to me.  Yay for petulance, irrational jealousy, dismissiveness and subjugated ambitions? 

[Tunia]

Letter-turner Vanna White has to be the most overrated and overpaid personality on TV.  And it's time she stops wearing those damn prom dresses that are more suited to someone 40 years younger.  She's not pretty, she's not talented, and she's boring as hell when Pat tries to have an off-the-cuff moment with her at the end of the show.  I don't even watch Wheel - just catch the end of it when tuning in for Jeopardy! - but even that moment is too much Vanna for me.

 

Apparently it's not an UO from all the posts here, but another Friends and Seinfeld hater here.  There wasn't one single likeable character in either.  How did these shows stay on the air so long if so many dislike them?

[Anna Yolei]

I never hated Friends so much as I thought it was way overhyped. It certainly was never ten seasons good, imho.

Another overhyped show? Chappell. Except for the blind black Klansman sketch, I could never get into this show. Hell, I found Mencia to be funnier than him.

I asl didn't mind that Roseanne won the lotto. For some reason, people thinking they'd won the lotto was a common trope in 90's sitcoms so I was pleasantly surprised that they actually no bullshit won. The last episode erasing everything we knew of the show was shit though.

Eta: Tunia, both shows aired on NBC iirc. That network loves to ride out its winning horses, then beat 'em for so long after they die that you get a ton of glue....ie, SNL, Law and Order original recipe (tied for longest running drama in TV history), ER, Fraiser....does any other network have this many decade plus-long TV shows in its history?

Edited June 8, 2014 by Anna Yolei

[WedgeOfSpite]

I hated Tara, and while I get that her life makes it so that she appears mousy, she's really not blah blah blah. She was a BORING character, and that wasn't helped by a not-great actress. And Tara/Willow had zero-chem as a couple. Sure, Willow had anti-chem with Kennedy, but even that isn't enough to make me root for Tara/Willow or Tara anything.

 

I was overjoyed when her character was killed off. Huzzah! 

[callie lee 29]

 

-I see no appeal or mystery in Twin Peaks.

I liked Twin Peaks, but it wasn't nearly as good as it's remembered to be.

 

 

I stopped watching Chuck because Morgan annoyed me.

 

Damn, he was annoying, wasn't he!!

 

The only character I never liked was the newbie chick. Everyone else, to varying degrees, I like. Aex, Elle (I actually like those two way more than Garcia and Prentiss). And yeah, I totally love JJ (sorry!).

 

And while I'm not sure how UO this is, since I'm watching Law and Order SVU I'm thinking "I would watch this show way more if they got rid of Olivia".

[kiddo82]

I don't think it's necessarily a good thing when cancelled shows come back from the dead years later. (reboots excluded as they are a diffent animal). Not that they can't be serviceable entertainment but it just seems as if the moment has passed most of the time.

Edited June 9, 2014 by kiddo82

[mstaken]

The only character I never liked was the newbie chick.

 

I actually liked Seaver, which I fully realize is quite possibly the most unpopular Criminal Minds opinion ever ;) Except for maybe this one: The more I rewatch, the more I think Rossi may be my very favorite character. Yeah...Rossi. I'll show myself the door! 

[Lillybee]

Rachel Berry is a bitch. There I finally said it. She has been a self indulgent bitch since the show started.

[Jeebus Cripes]

I hated Tara, and while I get that her life makes it so that she appears mousy, she's really not blah blah blah. She was a BORING character, and that wasn't helped by a not-great actress. And Tara/Willow had zero-chem as a couple. Sure, Willow had anti-chem with Kennedy, but even that isn't enough to make me root for Tara/Willow or Tara anything.

 

I was overjoyed when her character was killed off. Huzzah! 

 

Testify! Tara was the worst! I hated the way she spoke, and her crappy roots, and even her hunched over posture. She gave me the shits.

Edited June 9, 2014 by Jeebus Cripes

[DangerousMinds]

Letter-turner Vanna White has to be the most overrated and overpaid personality on TV.  And it's time she stops wearing those damn prom dresses that are more suited to someone 40 years younger.  She's not pretty, she's not talented, and she's boring as hell when Pat tries to have an off-the-cuff moment with her at the end of the show.  I don't even watch Wheel - just catch the end of it when tuning in for Jeopardy! - but even that moment is too much Vanna for me.

 

Apparently it's not an UO from all the posts here, but another Friends and Seinfeld hater here.  There wasn't one single likeable character in either.  How did these shows stay on the air so long if so many dislike them?

The ratings for Friends and Seinfeld were phenomenal. I don't think Friends holds up very well, but I still find Seinfeld as brilliant as ever. Until these boards, I had never known anyone to dislike Seinfeld.

[DittyDotDot]

The ratings for Friends and Seinfeld were phenomenal. I don't think Friends holds up very well, but I still find Seinfeld as brilliant as ever. Until these boards, I had never known anyone to dislike Seinfeld.

 

I never cared for Friends, but adored Seinfeld and still find it massively amusing today. I think all the characters being assholes was the point and the appeal, to me at least. Why, yes, I do know that I'm kinda twisted, thank you very much!

 

My current unpopular opinion: Veronica Mars is one the dippiest, self absorbed, judgemental and obnoxious women to grace my screen and be called a heroine. I just didn't get her appeal. While I liked many other characters on the show--Mac and Wallace to name a few--I just never understood why they would be friends with Veronica let alone idolize her so. And don't get me started on the whole Logan and Veronica together/not together/together/not together/together/not together...and so on for eternity.

Edited June 9, 2014 by DittyDotDot

[Misslindsey]

My UO is that I hate River Song from Doctor Who. At first I thought she was fine, but that went downhill fast. I thought she was obnoxious and grating. I usually do not comment on my hatred of River Song, because she seems like a popular character. 

 

Another Doctor Who UO is that I did not like Amy Pond either. I thought Rory was a saint/doormat for putting up with her. 

[mstaken]

And don't get me started on the whole Logan and Veronica together/not together/together/not together/together/not together...and so on for eternity.

 

Table for two! They were pretty much show-ruining for me. 

[FormerMod-a1]

My UO is that I hate River Song from Doctor Who. At first I thought she was fine, but that went downhill fast. I thought she was obnoxious and grating. I usually do not comment on my hatred of River Song, because she seems like a popular character. 

 

Another Doctor Who UO is that I did not like Amy Pond either. I thought Rory was a saint/doormat for putting up with her. 

I so agree about River Song, except for me I started out thoroughly annoyed with her smug juvenile "I know something you don't know" attitude and speech intonations.  When I heard she would return I nearly threw a fit.  I ended up being "ok" with her as she made more appearances, and then I was just plain tired of her by the end.  Like, please stop bringing her back already!

 

I'm more "meh" on Amy Pond, but do agree about Rory.

[ABay]

My UO is that I hate River Song from Doctor Who. At first I thought she was fine, but that went downhill fast. I thought she was obnoxious and grating. I usually do not comment on my hatred of River Song, because she seems like a popular character. 

 

Another Doctor Who UO is that I did not like Amy Pond either. I thought Rory was a saint/doormat for putting up with her. 

Oh, hell yes. I'd add Clara. I'm glad Sally Sparrow was only in one episode because she was clearly Moffat Model Female #1 (well...there is just the one model, really) and, while utterly lovely for one episode, would've become as tedious as all of the iterations soon enough. If only he'd left the Weeping Angels alone, too. If ever there was an example of the Law of Diminishing Returns, they're it.

Edited June 9, 2014 by ABay

[ramble]

And while I'm not sure how UO this is, since I'm watching Law and Order SVU I'm thinking "I would watch this show way more if they got rid of Olivia".

Right there with ya! After the 3 billionth time Olivia was kidnapped or stalked or assaulted I quit watching new shows & now only watch the old ones unless I want to punish myself. I've always liked L&O shows for the procedural style, but SVU has become the Olivia Benson personal story hour. Ugh.

[galax-arena]

While Orange is the New Black has some funny moments, I haven't been able to get into the show as a whole. I'm happy for its success and acclaim because we could always do with more female-dominated shows and lots of well-rounded POC characters - and despite my apathy, I can recognize that it's a decent series - but I'm not personally on the bandwagon.

[MyAimIsTrue]

Nor could I understand the love all my friends, had for, Friends, pardon the pun.

 

Neither could I.  I watched a little bit of the first season and found it not just completely unfunny but the characters insufferable.

[Neurochick]

While Orange is the New Black has some funny moments, I haven't been able to get into the show as a whole. I'm happy for its success and acclaim because we could always do with more female-dominated shows and lots of well-rounded POC characters - and despite my apathy, I can recognize that it's a decent series - but I'm not personally on the bandwagon.

 

My issue with Orange is the New Black are the promos.  Why is it in the promos, the black women look so unfeminine and crazy, while the white women look like...well women?

[Athena]

@ABay , @Misslindsey and @aquarian1 (hey gurl!), you are my Doctor Who people. I disliked River Song from the get-go. I don't think she had chemistry with 11 or those five seconds with 10. I found her smug, grating, and propped up plot device character. I've pretty much disliked all of the Mofatt females or been indifferent to them from Amy to Clara to Reinette. I think I only like Sally Sparrow because she was a one-off, not in love with the Doctor as they often seem to be, and played by Carey Mulligan. I also liked the TARDIS as a woman from the "The Doctor's Wife" episode, but I'm crediting Neil Gaiman.

 

I agree about liking Rory, but it's not exactly like he's a best character either. Oddly, I think the scene I like best with River Song is when she interacts with Rory because of their connection that never got developed.

[ribboninthesky1]

My issue with Orange is the New Black are the promos.  Why is it in the promos, the black women look so unfeminine and crazy, while the white women look like...well women?

 

I think you know the answer to that question, neurochick! Perhaps the second season is better, but I watched the first season, and I never really bought the "we have to have a white woman lead in order to tell the stories of women of color" schtick from TPTB.  It's one thing if that's how the show was promoted, but from what I could tell, Piper still had the primary point of view as written. Which, okay, it's based on the book written from the Piper perspective.  Just don't claim it's a bait and switch when it's status quo, so you can bask in your "progressiveness."  Not to mention, I just didn't give a damn about Piper in all of her faux-hipster, WASPy glory.  Oh yeah, I didn't hate Larry.   

 

I didn't hate Seinfeld, I just never thought it was funny.  I watched a few episodes, and was bored. 

[Chip]

A little River Song goes a looooong way. 

[mightycrone]

 

 

 

I can't stand Debra Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond. I have a handful of episodes where I don't mind her and actually like her character, but overall, I could never get behind her being frustrated with Ray and his family. I actually enjoyed Marie, and I got a kick out of her character so much more than Debra. 

Marie was the reason I watched the show!  

Two 90's/00's heavy hitters:  Sex in the City and Ally McBeal.  No and no.

[VanillaBear85]

I like some of the early Friends episodes/moments, but overall it is a fairly bland and predictable show that lasted far too long.

I dislike Seinfeld as well since it wasn't funny to me.

Marie Barone is mostly a terrible person on ELR in the few episodes that I watched.

[BrittaBot]

I actually really liked Annie on Copper and the relationship between her and Corky was one of my favorite things about the show. In fact, for me, the show started losing a little something when they wrote her off the show. I also never bought that Corky would never check up on her when she went to go live with that family in NJ.

[Enigma X]

 

I actually really liked Annie on Copper

I can't say that I was an Annie fan, but I do think that Copper was a much better show than Ripper Street.

[BrittaBot]

After finishing both, I think I would say so too. I think S2 lost something when it didn't focus on Corky as much as the "main character." I really wish it had continued. What was Amazon's logic for picking up Ripper Street, not Copper? Why does BBC America keep canceling 1800s cop shows that I enjoy?

[blueray]

I honestly didn't like Buffy all that much and stopped watching in season 3.

Edited June 11, 2014 by blueray

[Helena Dax]

I don't like Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes. In fact, I think the show is overrated. I'm not saying it's bad, but I don't think it's that good either.

[Athena]

I don't like Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes. In fact, I think the show is overrated. I'm not saying it's bad, but I don't think it's that good either.

 

I like Cumberbatch, but the acting isn't my issue with the show. I do agree with you that the show is overrated.

 

Not to long ago, I had an online dating profile and listed "British shows" as a TV interest among other things but was decidedly vague. Every time a man brought this up in a message, they would ask "Have you seen Sherlock?" as if it was the only UK show they knew. This happened at least five to ten times which makes me wonder about Sherlock's popularity with certain demographics. 

[LakeGal]

I don't like medical dramas.  I never watched ER.  Everyone I knew watched that show and they were always trying to get me to watch.  I didn't want to.  I didn't watch Chicago Hope or Grey's Anatomy either.  I just don't get the appeal of hospital dramas.

[ribboninthesky1]

I don't watch nearly as much TV as I used to, but when I'm in a marathon-watching mood, I always get sucked into Law & Order.  It made me realize that 1) I don't mind procedurals because the story arcs are usually within episodes, so no need to have watched X episodes to get the gist of what's going on, and 2) I commonly get disappointed in shows with season/series arcs because it seems like the showrunners don't really have a story to tell - they're making things up as the season progresses.  And while that's not inherently bad, I wish that the creative process would be worked out before a show or season premieres.  I know that makes no sense at all, especially since TV and books, where the process is presumably done before publishing, are different media with their own unique demands. 

 

I'm always conflicted about "know your audience" vs "tell the damn story."

 

I guess that's why I've never gotten into fanfiction, since, aside from how disturbing it can get, I've always been annoyed with the "publish a chapter, solicit feedback and validation" cycle.     

Edited June 12, 2014 by ribboninthesky1

[Anna Yolei]

As an aside to fanfiction, I tend to agree. A lot of the more seasoned ones usually have some sort of guideline and with reviews may do only minor tweaks to the stories. Those are as rare as jade, however.

As a soap viewer, I'm kind of sick of show writers catering to EVERY group. The best example is the Young & Restless when the guy playing Cane got sacked and some fans petitioned for him to return and even rented a banner to fly over the CBS studios. So he gets hired, but it involves some horrid story where Cane has to gaslight his wife with young twins to care for alone which the character....has never recovered from, to put it mildly.

On the opposite extreme, you have nearly every supercouple that writers push on the audience, no matter how many times they've wish death on each other, shot each other in the head, caused their daughter to become bulimic with the stress of each fucking breakup or in the case of B&B's Ridge and Brooke bore the audience to tears.

[bosawks]

I'll be disappointed if So You Think You Can Dance doesn't have their usual 18 year old female blonde.

I love my yearly journey from hate to begrudging admiration to joy.

Or the flip side of hate to disgust to despair as they keep on keeping on.

Don't take this summer fun away from me!

[AntiBeeSpray]

I can't stand Friends. Not funny, and the characters are all obnoxious. I likely would have just disliked the show and ignored it, if not for it getting inexplicably popular and omnipresent and impossible to avoid. All the attention and head-scratching praise made me hate it all the more.

 

And I couldn't have less of an interest in anything Game of Thrones related if you paid me.

I couldn't stand Friends either. Other than certain moments (ugly naked guy and Smelly Cat), it drove me nuts. Their arrogance made me want to run out of the room screaming.

 

As for GoT, guilty as charged. I'm a fan of it. Better than some of the reality tv shows on. I watch it for the plots and fast forward through the sex scenes.

[catluvr]

Some of the popular tv show that I hate are:  Friends, I Love Lucy, Everyone Loves Raymond, Full House, and How I Met Your Mother.  I can't stand Michelle from Full House; I don't find her cute or anything like that. I found her very annoying. I also didn't like Buffy after season 3, it went downhill imo and it didn't help when they brought in Dawn and made Anya a regular character, both were annoying.  L & O SVU went downhill a little after Stabler left.

[spaceytraci1208]

Third Watch UO... I found Bobby way sexier than Jimmy. Don't get me wrong, Jimmy was fine as hell; but he was such a dick. Bobby was handsome and sweet, and I cried when he died...fuckin Paulie Edited June 14, 2014 by spaceytraci1208

[Ronin Jackson]

I got through five seasons of Sons of Anarchy and finally quit on it.  It's certainly not a poorly made show, but after a while I realized I found absolutely nothing of value in any of the characters or the story as a whole, and really didn't give a crap to see where any of it was going.  The plot was just far too driven by dumb characters making the same dumb mistakes over and over and never evolving, and while the violence was generally effective, I suppose you could say the same thing about being beaten over the head with the same friggin' stick over and over and over again, which is sort of how I would describe the experience of watching that show.

[Anna Yolei]

Some of the popular tv show that I hate are: Friends, I Love Lucy, Everyone Loves Raymond, Full House, and How I Met Your Mother. I can't stand Michelle from Full House; I don't find her cute or anything like that. I found her very annoying. I also didn't like Buffy after season 3, it went downhill imo and it didn't help when they brought in Dawn and made Anya a regular character, both were annoying. L & O SVU went downhill a little after Stabler left.

Now that I think about it, I've never met anyone in real life that didn't find Michelle Tanner to be anything other than cloying, including the one open Olson Twins fan I went to school with. Which begs the question of why did the show last for eight seasons? Even by late 80s sitcom standards it was never good.

[Bastet]

Yeah, I think that's my UO: I always hated Full House.  I don't look back on it now and wonder what I was thinking (which I will admit is the case with Growing Pains; I watched the hell out of that show for many seasons, and wouldn't sit through half an episode now), I refused to watch it at the time unless I was forced to by virtue of being at someone else's house.  I could not stand a single character and found the storylines painfully lame even by family sitcom standards.

 

It's somewhat the same with Family Matters.  There I kind of liked a few of the adults, but Urkel the Stalker presented as a sympathetic character ruined the show for me very early on and there certainly wasn't anything particularly new or even funny worth sticking around for. 

[x1013x]

I don't know how unpopular these opinions are for the Orphan Black fandom in general, but they seem to be around some of the corners of the internet that I hang around in.

 

Cophine: Number 1 favorite part of the show. No it is not because I am starving for queer women to be represented on TV in any way, shape, or form. If I was just happy to have a lesbian character on TV, I'd be sitting through the dreck that is Two and Half Men. I am elated that these characters and their story is not "OMG I like women!". The show creators have mentioned how their story is a love story first and foremost. Delphine's character could have easily been a male character and the story would remain the same. Chemistry is in the eye of the beholder I guess because I think EB and TM have tons with some to spare.

 

Delphine/EB: Was Delphine doing some shady shit most of this season? Yes. Her intention was never to hurt Cosima. The woman she loves is dying. She is making choices from the heart instead of the head. I don't think it makes her extremely stupid, it just makes her human. Once she took it too far, Cosima called her out. She then tried to hold up her proimse to love them all by warning Sarah of a possible danger. She got played as they all did.  I have seen EB in other projects and I don't see where anyone gets the idea that she is a bad actress. People praise how JG is able to pull off all these different relationships with many different characters all played by TM. I'd say EB is doing a pretty bang up job at it too.

 

Cosima's story line: I have enjoyed her science storyline all season. I didn't think it was dragging or boring.

[galax-arena]

Delphine/EB: Was Delphine doing some shady shit most of this season? Yes.

What I didn't get were all the people saying how they didn't trust Delphine in the sense that they thought she was still on DYAD's side or meant to screw Cosima over. Yes, Delphine had her own agenda, and yes, she deliberately disregarded Cosima's own wishes, but I thought it was pretty obvious that said agenda was to save Cosima at any cost. Her priorities are: 1. Cosima, 2. Cosima, and 3. Cosima. 

Edited June 15, 2014 by galax-arena