Making History - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

Your Media Topic!

[Cranberry]

Trailer:

[aradia22]

I watched the trailer. I am SO down for this. Normally, I wouldn't be into the typical goofy/schlubby/nerdy/insert adjective here for the new everyman prototype protagonist flopping around and failing but learning life lessons or a show that at least at this point has male characters outnumbering female characters to this degree. But I loved Happy Endings and I didn't hate Peter on The Mindy Project so Adam Pally has some goodwill from me. Leighton Meester is a goddess and I need her on my TV again. And I actually laughed a couple of times during this trailer. This show will probably get cancelled but I'll enjoy it until it does.

[legaleagle53]

I'll give it a shot.  I think this is the parody of Timeless that viewers of that show have been waiting for.

[legaleagle53]

First official trailer:

Second official trailer:

Timeless meets "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure."  I'm in!

[Tara Ariano]

Quote

Series premiere of a comedy series about three friends who find themselves traveling through time.

[Primetimer]

Or will Fox's time travel comedy get sent to the principal's office?

View the full article

[WendyM]

I really enjoy "Another Period" so I'll check this out...even though it doesn't sound as silly (not a bad thing, mind you).

[teddysmom]

Adam Pally is hilarious. I'll check it out.

[Girl in a Cardigan]

2 hours ago, teddysmom said:

Adam Pally is hilarious. I'll check it out.

This! The trailers have looked really funny, so maybe I am in that *cringe* Family Guy *cringe* demo. We'll see!

[sacrebleu]

So, this is just a slightly less sleazy version of Dmitri Martin's "Time Gigolo"?

[TVSpectator]

I am kind of hoping that the show will find itself soon. This pilot wasn't terrible but it wasn't really anything remarkable, in my opinion. 

[ottoDbusdriver]

On 3/2/2017 at 3:30 PM, sacrebleu said:

So, this is just a slightly less sleazy version of Dmitri Martin's "Time Gigolo"?

I thought it was more of a TV version of Hot Tub Time Machine, only replace the hot tub with a massive duffel bag and leave out Chevy Chase.  What would you need a duffel bag that large for ?  Even hockey bags aren't that big that you can comfortably fit 2 people into them.
 

[Arynm]

I thought it was fine. I really hopes it picks up because I love this kind of show.

[Lantern7]

I'm hoping this show proves to be for Yassir Lester what Lip Sync Battle has been for Chrissy Teigen . . . a nice step forward after Snack Off.

At least the agita isn't as present as with Timeless, though history shouldn't be slowly updated. And I have to question why the black history professor would go back to Revolutionary America, since he's . . . y'know . . . black. Also, did anybody back then wear glasses besides Benhamin Franklin?

So Paul Revere's daughter will be a regular? I'm good with that, though I wonder if she'll find out she can do so much better than Daniel. Then again, I never questioned why the Historical Babes would stick with Bill & Ted.

[GaT]

It was OK, I'll give it a few episodes before I decide how I feel.

[tominboston]

My first thought was that it's kind of silly and lightweight, but it doesn't give me any immediate reason to want to change the channel after The Simpsons. I'll give it a shot.

[marketdoctor]

Quote

So Paul Revere's daughter will be a regular? I'm good with that, though I wonder if she'll find out she can do so much better than Daniel.

That might be how they write her out (if they eventually do.)  She'll realize that he's kind of like Booster Gold:  using future technology to seem incredible, but only because he borrows from hundreds of years of innovation.

Ben Franklin invented bifocals, but glasses were around (less common and more expensive than today, but if memory of history serves, they'd been around about a hundred years.)

[Bort]

The black plastic frames were definitely out of place. Did the locals of the time period think they were painted wood?

[ChromaKelly]

This was silly and fun. I'm in. At the end it seemed like the campus had been evacuated. Wonder if anything is up with that?

[cpcathy]

I agree, it was silly and fun, with some good laughs.  I'm staying with it.

[Arkay]

I understand that we are suspending disbelief as to the mechanics of time travel. However, I was surprised that when Daniel and Deborah duffeled their way to 2016, they were still wearing colonial garb. That's not what happened to Chris and Daniel when they went back in time, when their modern clothes transformed into colonial clothing.

I don't know, I liked some parts and disliked others. I can handwave the time travel, but not that a history professor with a specialty in the revolutionary era, and who is black, would be confounded that he would be mistaken for a slave. (Or that a tavern full of men would not sit still for his speech).

[EyewatchTV211]

1 hour ago, Arkay said:

I understand that we are suspending disbelief as to the mechanics of time travel. However, I was surprised that when Daniel and Deborah duffeled their way to 2016, they were still wearing colonial garb. That's not what happened to Chris and Daniel when they went back in time, when their modern clothes transformed into colonial clothing.

I don't know, I liked some parts and disliked others. I can handwave the time travel, but not that a history professor with a specialty in the revolutionary era, and who is black, would be confounded that he would be mistaken for a slave. (Or that a tavern full of men would not sit still for his speech).

I thought Chris and Daniel were in their modern clothing originally (I remember thinking that would make them even more obvious) and then in the following scene they were dressed appropriately, so I figured they had gotten era appropriate clothing somewhere in between. 

I otherwise agree about the show. It had its moments, but there were also many I disliked. Not sure I'll be able to stick with the show, but I will give it a few more episodes.

[SlackerInc]

4 minutes ago, VMepicgrl said:

I otherwise agree about the show. It had its moments, but there were also many I disliked. Not sure I'll be able to stick with the show, but I will give it a few more episodes.

Yeah, I don't need this to be a "serious" time travel show.  I mean, I enjoyed Hot Tub Time Machine, so...

But while I'm fine with jokes that are dumb, silly, and/or crude, I don't get why they are featuring jokes that are just flat-out stupid.  I thought when the history prof's high-minded speechifying was going over like a lead balloon, and the main character urged him to "use something from a movie", he'd go for something like the "You can't handle the truth!" speech in A Few Good Men, or a motivational "coach pep talk" like in Remember the Titans or Friday Night Lights.  Even Bluto's speech from Animal House ("Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?") would have worked.  But "Show me the money"?  Seriously?  Why?

[TVSpectator]

22 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I'm hoping this show proves to be for Yassir Lester what Lip Sync Battle has been for Chrissy Teigen . . . a nice step forward after Snack Off.

At least the agita isn't as present as with Timeless, though history shouldn't be slowly updated. And I have to question why the black history professor would go back to Revolutionary America, since he's . . . y'know . . . black. Also, did anybody back then wear glasses besides Benhamin Franklin?

So Paul Revere's daughter will be a regular? I'm good with that, though I wonder if she'll find out she can do so much better than Daniel. Then again, I never questioned why the Historical Babes would stick with Bill & Ted.

 

3

I would say that it is because he is an American history professor and also wanted to time travel. 

Edited March 7, 2017 by TVSpectator

[Big Mother]

I loved that twist at the end :D

Looking forward to what's gonna happen in the next episode.

Oh, I had a really really good laugh when Chris asked him in the garage, 'when has a man being lured into a garage had a Happy Ending?' :D

[jumper sage]

7 hours ago, VMepicgrl said:

I thought Chris and Daniel were in their modern clothing originally (I remember thinking that would make them even more obvious) and then in the following scene they were dressed appropriately, so I figured they had gotten era appropriate clothing somewhere in between.

Yes he would pack the clothes he needed in the duffel bag.  Bring a ham too for bartering.

It was ok, a bit too much "guy" humor for me and I did fall asleep.  Falling asleep during a 1/2 hour show does not bode well.

[Johnny Dollar]

I love the two leads in the show and how they hit it off from the start instead of having them be antagonistic to each other. I'll stay with it for a while. 

[Evagirl]

On 3/5/2017 at 8:51 PM, Arynm said:

I thought it was fine. I really hopes it picks up because I love this kind of show.

I liked it too.  I thought it was very funny.  I've not seen any of the shows/movies mentioned above, so I've nothing to compare it with. 

I thought the squirrels (along with flies) on the counter and him saying, "Hey, that's a gift from my girlfriend!"  was very funny.  Even the bear-skin hat (along with the head attached) was funny to me.  I guess I don't get out much.

Anyhoo, I found it refreshing and a decent "family" comedy for a change.  I'll enjoy it while it last.

[legaleagle53]

So, did anyone else watch this?

I thought it was hilarious to see Chris bonding with Davey.  I wonder which team the professor bats for?

And Deborah's standing up to her father (after doing the famous ride that he refused to do) very nearly qualifies as a "Hell, yeah!" moment for me.

The show's actually pretty funny, now that it's moving away from the toilet humor.  But the colonials still seem a little too modern to me; their fluency in 21st-Century slang is just a bit jarring.  And Daniel still comes across as a Tandy-level tool (The Last Man on Earth reference).

I don't know how this show is doing in the ratings, but I'm in for as long as it's around.  :)

Edited March 14, 2017 by legaleagle53

[MrSmith]

I watched this. My wife and I thought this episode was even funnier than the first episode. We enjoyed Chris bonding with Davey, and were kind of sad when Davey got blown up.

The colonials are only fluent in 21st-Century slang to the point that Chris or Daniel have taught it to them. They didn't seem to us to use "Show me the money" correctly in this episode, which is part of what made it funny for us. And the satire involving the colonials being willing to revolt when they thought their guns were going to be taken away was absolutely brilliantly hilarious. We had to pause the show because we were laughing so hard.

We're excited for the next episode. We think someone else is going to find the time machine since Daniel left it lying around and they'll use it to mess something else up.

[AConspiracy]

Yeah Chris had a real bromance with Davey. Or was it leading to more?

[BooBear]

Wow that was funny. I am a conservative but enjoyed the running joke about taking guns from Americans. 

[Hero]

I think this show is hilarious. The York Peppermint Patricia line had me cracking up. 

[Evagirl]

Agree with everybody.  I LIKE this show.  I think it's very funny.  There are only a couple of comedies that actually make me laugh really hard, and this one.  I hope the writing stays topical and crisp.

[Big Mother]

I found the episode a bit confusing. It seems you have to be really well read up on the American revolution to enjoy it fully. Also, there was no cliffhanger for next week - it felt like a two-part mini-movie.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Adam Pally talks about Making History on Build:

[Ripley68]

The whole "we're coming to get your guns because you have too many," "We only have so many because you're coming to get them," exchange had me dying laughing.

I'm loving that they are totally not going with a realistic view - and hope the nitpickers will just let be.  The handful of British soldiers against the handful of colonials (who are just milling in a pack) was hilarious too.

[legaleagle53]

11 hours ago, Ripley68 said:

The whole "we're coming to get your guns because you have too many," "We only have so many because you're coming to get them," exchange had me dying laughing.

I'm loving that they are totally not going with a realistic view - and hope the nitpickers will just let be.  The handful of British soldiers against the handful of colonials (who are just milling in a pack) was hilarious too.

Oh, I don't think anybody's taking this show too seriously.  It's not Timeless or Time after Time, after all.  It's just a fun (and funny) little riff on both of them, if you want to think of it that way.

[legaleagle53]

So, what does everyone think of Tandy -- er, I mean, Dan -- as a boyfriend?  If you were Deb, would you trust him as far as you could throw him?

Oh, and Chris?  I'd have told your obnoxious mentor to shove it and to get the hell out of my house if he just let himself in and lay in wait for me like a hidden viper.

[LaChavalina]

"You gave me a key for emergencies."

"What's the emergency?"

"TENURE!"

I've seen a couple of posts making the comparison between this show and Last Man on Earth. I stopped watching Last Man after the first season because I found the characters so unlikable and I was so skeezed out by Tandy's continual attempts at lying his way into women's pants. Dan has definitely been scheming on Deb, but as this episode shows he does really care about her. I think the writers are smart to have him come clean just three episodes in so that the character becomes kind of redeemable.

I suspect the tenure issue will become important to future episodes. Only a matter of time before Chris realizes that going back to the Revolution to get some "previously undiscovered artifacts" will make him a shoo-in for tenure.

[legaleagle53]

12 minutes ago, LaChavalina said:

I suspect the tenure issue will become important to future episodes. Only a matter of time before Chris realizes that going back to the Revolution to get some "previously undiscovered artifacts" will make him a shoo-in for tenure.

I've seen from the promos that the gang travels to at least three other eras as well: 

Spoiler

1920s/30s Chicago, Nazi Germany, and sometime in the late 19th/early 20th Century.  John Hancock and Samuel Adams also visit 2017 at some point.

So I agree with you that Chris is an idiot for not realizing that having direct access to a working time machine would have his tenure set in stone. Of course, he'd have to explain where and how he got those "previously undiscovered artifacts," but that's his problem, not mine.

[HotRats2112]

Interesting comparison to the Tandy-man.  I think the amount I love Will Forte made me blind to how horrible he was.  Granted season 1 of TLMOE is shaky, especially in the middle, but it ended very strong and (for me anyway) totally redeemed Tandy.  That last scene with Carol made up for the whole season.  Since then they've made him more lovable, while still being completely annoying.

Making History is a bit of a different story.  I'm not invested in Dan at all and while I found him funny in the first two episodes it wasn't so much here.  There were parts of this episode I really liked but none involved Dan.  I'm curious to see how they can make Dan a more likable character going forward.   

[legaleagle53]

I think the problem with Dan -- and this is why I drew the comparison to Tandy -- is that like Tandy, he tries way too hard, which is what leads to his constantly screwing up.  Probably the reason he's never had a girlfriend from the present era is that he tries too hard to impress them, which makes him come across as needy and desperate, and his neediness and desperation would be a huge turn-off to them.  Deb is simply too inexperienced with men (particularly with men from THIS century) for her to be turned off by it yet.  She's still at a point where she thinks it's charming that he's going to so much trouble to make her happy and show her respect (something that the men of her time never did for her), which is why she forgave him so readily after that idiotic Cher stunt that was painfully unfunny and went on for far too long (and really, Dan, it never once occurred to you that doing a horrible drag impersonation of Cher would do nothing for Deb because she has no idea who Cher even is, let alone what she looks or sounds like?).

Don't get me wrong. I love the show and I think it's hilarious, but I really don't need Dan to be Tandy 2.0.  I want to see him actually learning from his mistakes, such as remembering why it's not a good idea to run the time machine in the house.

[aradia22]

I thought episode 1 was relatively strong for a pilot and episode 2 was still pretty decent. I liked the balance between the modern timeline/characters and the past. I think this one was just a little too much of the modern stuff for me. I hope they keep going back to the past. Also, I like Adam Pally but the character is really wearing on me. I liked him in Happy Endings and I liked him more than others did in The Mindy Project. But this just feels lazy to me. It's like they're suppressing the unique parts about him and making him play the typical schlub (not that he looks bad) who still gets the girl. I do like that they dealt with his lies though I can't really see Deborah staying in the present and not eventually finding someone better and also maybe getting a job and acclimating to the future. I did like the joke where he was testing her with the images on the tablet. 

Speaking of Deborah, Leighton Meester really carried this episode. She was painfully adorable and completely giving it her all. It was reminding me of why I loved her so much on Gossip Girl.

[aradia22]

Quote

And Deborah's standing up to her father (after doing the famous ride that he refused to do) very nearly qualifies as a "Hell, yeah!" moment for me.

I was wondering where they were going with that. I vaguely remember a story about a woman who actually did make the same ride as Paul Revere. I did think it was kind of odd that in episode 1, he was so threatening, and then they just deflated all the stakes by having him walk away from her. I mean, I get that it's a comedy but you need some drama. Like Bill and Ted for instance. 

I thought they should have kept Davey around. The actor was having fun with it and he could have been a good short-term adversary. Imagine now you have this British soldier with a vendetta against his "milk first" friend and he slowly comes to realize he's from the future. Or something like that. 

Edited to add... I wasn't crazy about Dan's joke where he kept adopting a weird fake name. It reminded me a lot of Sean in Psych. I think that's part of my issue. Adam Pally is funny but they're making this character a watered down version of this man child/screw up character type.

Edited March 24, 2017 by aradia22

[aradia22]

Quote

Oh, and Chris?  I'd have told your obnoxious mentor to shove it and to get the hell out of my house if he just let himself in and lay in wait for me like a hidden viper.

That was nonsense but if Ben Vereen was my mentor, I'd put up with a lot too until things got too crazy. I was worried he would have somehow figured out about the time travel but it seems like the show is really pacing itself and letting things play out slowly.

[biakbiak]

6 minutes ago, aradia22 said:

vaguely remember a story about a woman who actually did make the same ride as Paul Revere

Sybil Ludington was 16 years old and rode twice as far as Revere.

[legaleagle53]

1 minute ago, aradia22 said:

That was nonsense but if Ben Vereen was my mentor, I'd put up with a lot too until things got too crazy. I was worried he would have somehow figured out about the time travel but it seems like the show is really pacing itself and letting things play out slowly.

Let's just say that the mentor is lucky that Chris is apparently not the type to own a gun or carry on on his person.  In the real world nowadays, anyone who has been caught just letting himself into someone else's home and sitting there waiting in the dark would be automatically assumed to be a hostile presence and would be immediately shot first, with questions only being asked later.

[biakbiak]

3 minutes ago, legaleagle53 said:

 In the real world nowadays, anyone who has been caught just letting himself into someone else's home and sitting there waiting in the dark would be automatically assumed to be a hostile presence and would be immediately shot first, with questions only being asked later.

Not in real life Massachusetts and actually not in several real world places in the US since it would mean Chris was carryon a weapon on him.