Life Sentence - General Discussion

[biakbiak]

31 minutes ago, MostlyC said:

I thought this was the series finale.  Everyone (mostly) gets their shit together and the the future is bright.

Me too. Also reading the episode description for the next two I think I am just going to pretend it was the finale.

[tennisgurl]

It definitely seemed like a series finale, but I’m good with having a few more episodes. They seem to have wrapped things up (even if it’s a rather cliche wrap up) and everyone is in a better place. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Aiden: Come on, Wes. I know bars. I know what makes bars cool because I am the cool one.
Wes: I think we're equally cool.
Aiden: Really? I think your flannel shirt is tucked in.

Miles: Next week we should work on listening. Especially [Stella].

Diego: I suggested to Aiden and Wes that they might need a third partner and they totally ignored me.
Ida: Hey, do you want to open a bar with me?

Stella: What's up?
Dr. Grant: My blood alcohol level for starters.

Aiden: Generally speaking, I make it a point not to look a gift hot chick in the mouth.

Peter: I can't believe the kids who framed his "least likely to succeed" award is a business owner.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Well, this episode confirmed what I thought last week, which is that Aiden should not be opening/running a business. He spent all the money they had and when Wes pointed this out, Aiden's response was to tell Wes to "move some numbers around." Does he not understand how math works? Making up numbers doesn't create money that doesn't exist.

Even if Aiden isn't the brightest crayon in the box, he should have enough common sense to know that you can't just spend all the money the bank loaned you without even discussing it with your business partner. It's selfish and irresponsible and rude. When his dad told him to just talk to Wes, I was like well, there isn't much to talk about now that ALL THE MONEY IS GONE. And is that bank loan only in Wes's name? Either Wes is on the hook for all the money or "only" half the money that Aiden just spent.

I kind of give Stella a pass for not knowing the best way to hand out flyers because she missed high school and college, but you'd think that Wes and Aiden would know that just handing postcards to people means they just get thrown away.

I know that Stella is a volunteer but that doesn't mean Elaine should expect her to do grunt work like cleaning out the refrigerator when something is clearly rotting inside.

I don't know why Ida thinks that there aren't scholarships for older students. There are some scholarships and grants that are just for older/returning/re-entry students. But the point is that she didn't even look. She just said the tuition was too expensive without walking to the financial aid office to ask what the possibilities were.

We have now officially crossed over into WES SUCKS territory. He kissed Pippa because he was mad at Stella. DICK MOVE. Don't get me wrong - he's allowed to be mad, but his response was to go inside, pound back a few shots, walk out, and then kiss Pippa. If that doesn't say "I'm trying to get back at my wife," I don't know what does.

[Free]

1 hour ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Well, this episode confirmed what I thought last week, which is that Aiden should not be opening/running a business. He spent all the money they had and when Wes pointed this out, Aiden's response was to tell Wes to "move some numbers around." Does he not understand how math works? Making up numbers doesn't create money that doesn't exist.

It should be common sense, but this is a completely braindead move.

1 hour ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

We have now officially crossed over into WES SUCKS territory. He kissed Pippa because he was mad at Stella. DICK MOVE. Don't get me wrong - he's allowed to be mad, but his response was to go inside, pound back a few shots, walk out, and then kiss Pippa. If that doesn't say "I'm trying to get back at my wife," I don't know what does.

Unfortunately, that's what a forced, double love triangle has led to, it's a shame that the final episodes are wasted on this.

[ketose]

7 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I don't know why Ida thinks that there aren't scholarships for older students. There are some scholarships and grants that are just for older/returning/re-entry students. But the point is that she didn't even look. She just said the tuition was too expensive without walking to the financial aid office to ask what the possibilities were.

We have now officially crossed over into WES SUCKS territory. He kissed Pippa because he was mad at Stella. DICK MOVE. Don't get me wrong - he's allowed to be mad, but his response was to go inside, pound back a few shots, walk out, and then kiss Pippa. If that doesn't say "I'm trying to get back at my wife," I don't know what does.

I still think there's a "Peter and Ida hook up" situation, so they needed the world of Life Sentence to have no scholarships, thus forcing Peter and Ida to stay married.

The whole quadrangle is set up so that even if Stella and Wes ended up with the other love interests, they'd be miserable anyway. One thing about this show is that Stella is childish because she lost a part of her adolescence. The other characters are just as bad, but they have no excuse.

2 episodes to go.

[possibilities]

Seems like everyone is being stunningly childish right now. It's hard to take. I unexpectedly like the therapist.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

And Lizzie is conveniently meeting with her publisher out of town for days on end which is why she missed out on all of this week’s drama with the bar and Pippa and Dr. No Boundaries. I guess her publisher has never heard of skype, facetime, email, or even good old fashioned phone calls. 

[ketose]

21 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

And Lizzie is conveniently meeting with her publisher out of town for days on end which is why she missed out on all of this week’s drama with the bar and Pippa and Dr. No Boundaries. I guess her publisher has never heard of skype, facetime, email, or even good old fashioned phone calls. 

Considering this is a children's book, I doubt the publisher is interested in accommodating Lizzie's family's drama. Some work is just better in person.

Mostly, it looks like either Brooke Lyons is super busy or super expensive. In either case, she's already out of a job.

[tennisgurl]

I hate this stupid love quadrangle. What a lousy way to end the series, especially when Stella and Wes have such nice chemistry on their own, and their issues on their own are way more interesting than this forced drama. 

On the other hand, their bar actually looks pretty cool, and I like the guys all working together. And, weirdly, I actually like their therapist a lot. He really does seem like a good counselor, despite looking about twelve. I especially loved when he said he was Wes and Stella's kind of therapist because "they stop coming every time they have a good session." Its so true! Thats not how therepy works, guys!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Stella is desperate to talk to Wes, but a problem at the bar keeps getting in the way. Trying to focus on her new job at the hospital, Stella discovers some concerning information about Wes. Peter and Ida celebrate their last anniversary in an unusual way. Meanwhile, the Abbott family comes to a standstill when someone other than Stella gets sick.

Promo:

[Enginerd]

Well...they're doing a good job making me loathe all these characters so that I won't be sad that the show is cancelled. And the show had such a promising premise and beautiful setting, too!

Aiden is the worst. The very worst. And he seems to think he is somehow charming so it's all fine, which is EVEN WORSE.

That said, however, Wes has made a spectacular string of bad decisions. He should NEVER have gone into business with Aiden. Have I mentioned that Aiden is the worst? Oh, he's always dreamed of owning a bar? Since when? More like he's always dreamed of hanging out in a bar and drinking for "free". If he'd really wanted to be a bar owner, why wasn't he working as a bartender all this time, working up to management and learning the business? Oh, because he's a lazy useless ass who doesn't actually want to do anything other than be a leech.

But back to Wes. He gets angry at Stella for being self-absorbed, which is completely justified, but he also seems kind of determined to be a martyr and self-destruct. Every time Stella even tries to listen to him and do something to make his life better, like encourage his furniture building or taking the better job in San Francisco, he ends up going with something he hates to be the hero, without even really looking into other options or trusting her at all to contribute more. And then revenge-kissing Pippa? BAD move. He's right to be angry, but that was stupid. That sort of reactionary move kind of makes his whole marriage to Stella look like a revenge middle-finger to Pippa for leaving him at the altar. Maybe he should stop rebounding and go be alone for awhile. Ending their marriage would probably be the best thing at this point. Then Stella could date Dr. Creep and suffer the consequences and realize what a fool she was.

[possibilities]

I like the idea of people working sincerely on their marriage and finding out that actually if they do the work they both grow as individuals and wind up being happy together, so it was worth it. I don't like the casually disposable attitude toward relationships, as shown on most TV (where you either stay and be a martyr or break up and be free, instead of actually addressing the problems, solving them, and being really glad you did because it's not only good for the relationship, but also good for your genuine happiness and development as an individual).

But I agree that Stella and Wes have way more work to do than the remaining episodes will allow, and the show seems to be determined to actually say the work isn't worth it, is futile, and why bother?

I don't get it. Dr Creepy and Pippa aren't actually supposed to be good choices, are they? Whatever BS Stella is pulling, Pippa LEFT WES AT THE ALTAR. And Dr Creepy is a boundary-pushing, needy, inconsiderate, manipulative, untrustworthy asshole.

[Free]

7 hours ago, possibilities said:

I don't get it. Dr Creepy and Pippa aren't actually supposed to be good choices, are they? Whatever BS Stella is pulling, Pippa LEFT WES AT THE ALTAR. And Dr Creepy is a boundary-pushing, needy, inconsiderate, manipulative, untrustworthy asshole.

They're there to force the love triangles/quadrangle.

Edited June 5, 2018 by Free

[ketose]

CW is promoting next week's episode as the "series finale" which would be fine except that there were likely 0 reshoots. My guess is that there will be a bunch of never to be resolved cliffhangers because this show is pretty much a soap opera now.

The only relationship not currently in trouble is Elizabeth and Diego, and Elizabeth has been missing for half the episodes. Peter keeps going back to Ida every time she put the moves on him, Dr. Creepy is trying to exploit every opportunity to break up Stella's marriage and Wes is too willing to lean on Pippa when he gets jealous. Even Aiden lost a girlfriend almost immediately.

Probably the best series finale would have involved Peter dying, Stella hating Dr. Creepy for his bad advice, him getting fired and moving away and Wes and Stella realizing that they should make it work. Plus, for fun, they could end with Pippa getting hit by a bus.

[Free]

45 minutes ago, ketose said:

CW is promoting next week's episode as the "series finale" which would be fine except that there were likely 0 reshoots. My guess is that there will be a bunch of never to be resolved cliffhangers because this show is pretty much a soap opera now.

The only relationship not currently in trouble is Elizabeth and Diego, and Elizabeth has been missing for half the episodes. Peter keeps going back to Ida every time she put the moves on him, Dr. Creepy is trying to exploit every opportunity to break up Stella's marriage and Wes is too willing to lean on Pippa when he gets jealous. Even Aiden lost a girlfriend almost immediately.

Probably the best series finale would have involved Peter dying, Stella hating Dr. Creepy for his bad advice, him getting fired and moving away and Wes and Stella realizing that they should make it work. Plus, for fun, they could end with Pippa getting hit by a bus.

Episode 10 would've made a better finale ending tbh.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

SERIES FINALE!

Quote

In the series finale, after Stella puts her and Wes's life on social media, they find themselves defending their relationship to the world and forcing them to question what the future holds for them. Peter's health scare makes him realize who he really wants to be with. Meanwhile, Aiden doesn't want to give up on his dream of the bar and clamors to find a solution

Promo:

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Sadie: They put you in charge of mental health? Really? They should have talked to me first.

Peter: What did the plumber recommend?
Aiden: A snorkel.

Aiden: Mom called. We gotta get flowers for the twins. I wish I could bring them top shelf water damaged tequila.

Aiden: Some dude last night told me that if you stick a piece of bologna between your leg and the [ankle monitor] lock, you can sneak a cocktail. The sensor thinks it's your skin. Apparently cold cuts keep your secrets!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

While I appreciate that Dr. Creepy wanted to give Stella's family another option for Peter's surgery, any amount of good will he had from that vanished when he wrote "I love you" on the window of the car in the parking lot. Like I don't even know where to begin complaining so in no particular order:

(1) You don't love Stella. You barely know her. I'm willing to say that they have a connection, but love? You've known her for, like, a month so STFU. You don't know her well enough to love her.

(2) She has made it clear to you MULTIPLE TIMES that she is not interested in pursuing a relationship with you, including LAST NIGHT WHEN YOU KISSED HER. You clearly have no respect for her if you repeatedly refuse to acknowledge and accept her boundaries.

(3) You know she is married and you keep acting like she's single and just playing hard to get. She has told you repeatedly that she is committed to her marriage and that she loves her husband, but you keep ignoring what she's saying and continuing to pursue her.

(4) You are already dating someone (who just happens to be Stella's former doctor). If you loooooove Stella so much, then continuing to date someone else is a dick move.

(5) You are a doctor and Stella is a volunteer at the same hospital which makes your advances even more inappropriate due to the power dynamic.

(6) You are a grown ass man. If you can't even verbalize "I love you" then you are too immature to be in a real relationship. Writing that on a car window instead of saying it is something a 12 year old would do, as is immediately running away afterward.

I will admit that I'm biased because I have not liked Dr. Creepy from the moment he was introduced, but he has gotten worse as the season went on. I'd rather see Stella divorced and single than dating Dr. Creepy (not that I think she and Wes need to get divorced - their marriage is still fixable).

The most disappointing thing about this show is that the concept of a girl who had cancer and is now finally getting to live a normal life had so much potential and they wasted way too much time on this stupid, pointless, and unappealing love triangle with Dr. Creepy. And don't even get me started on Pippa. Stella needs to tell Wes exactly what Pippa said to her at the hospital so that he understands Pippa isn't just trying to be a good friend - she is clearly gunning to get him back which makes everything she does suspect. Sound familiar, Dr. Creepy?

Aiden continues to be a dumbass. Seriously, you believed that bologna story? And you were willing to risk violating your probation and going to jail based on what some drunk guy told you at a bar? I guess that just goes to show that his judgment still sucks.

Interesting that at the beginning of the season, Lizzie made it sound like her marriage was a little rocky but at this point she and Diego have the healthiest relationship of everyone on the show. Sure, they get exhausted and frustrated sometimes, but they are communicating with each other and working together as a team and happy with each other.

[Free]

3 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

While I appreciate that Dr. Creepy wanted to give Stella's family another option for Peter's surgery, any amount of good will he had from that vanished when he wrote "I love you" on the window of the car in the parking lot. Like I don't even know where to begin complaining so in no particular order:

(1) You don't love Stella. You barely know her. I'm willing to say that they have a connection, but love? You've known her for, like, a month so STFU. You don't know her well enough to love her.

(2) She has made it clear to you MULTIPLE TIMES that she is not interested in pursuing a relationship with you, including LAST NIGHT WHEN YOU KISSED HER. You clearly have no respect for her if you repeatedly refuse to acknowledge and accept her boundaries.

(3) You know she is married and you keep acting like she's single and just playing hard to get. She has told you repeatedly that she is committed to her marriage and that she loves her husband, but you keep ignoring what she's saying and continuing to pursue her.

(4) You are already dating someone (who just happens to be Stella's former doctor). If you loooooove Stella so much, then continuing to date someone else is a dick move.

(5) You are a doctor and Stella is a volunteer at the same hospital which makes your advances even more inappropriate due to the power dynamic.

(6) You are a grown ass man. If you can't even verbalize "I love you" then you are too immature to be in a real relationship. Writing that on a car window instead of saying it is something a 12 year old would do, as is immediately running away afterward.

I will admit that I'm biased because I have not liked Dr. Creepy from the moment he was introduced, but he has gotten worse as the season went on. I'd rather see Stella divorced and single than dating Dr. Creepy (not that I think she and Wes need to get divorced - their marriage is still fixable).

The most disappointing thing about this show is that the concept of a girl who had cancer and is now finally getting to live a normal life had so much potential and they wasted way too much time on this stupid, pointless, and unappealing love triangle with Dr. Creepy. And don't even get me started on Pippa. Stella needs to tell Wes exactly what Pippa said to her at the hospital so that he understands Pippa isn't just trying to be a good friend - she is clearly gunning to get him back which makes everything she does suspect. Sound familiar, Dr. Creepy?

Aiden continues to be a dumbass. Seriously, you believed that bologna story? And you were willing to risk violating your probation and going to jail based on what some drunk guy told you at a bar? I guess that just goes to show that his judgment still sucks.

Interesting that at the beginning of the season, Lizzie made it sound like her marriage was a little rocky but at this point she and Diego have the healthiest relationship of everyone on the show. Sure, they get exhausted and frustrated sometimes, but they are communicating with each other and working together as a team and happy with each other.

Yeah, it's no wonder this show didn't work out, the relationship drama is really bad here.

It should've only focused on Stella getting her life back together.

Edited June 9, 2018 by Free

[possibilities]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who's outraged and disgusted by the squandered potential and out-right offensive direction the show has taken. Stella is so immature and unlikable, it's really off-putting. She doesn't know if they will make it? Well, sure she doesn't; she keeps sabotaging it, plus she quit therapy as soon as it started to work. Meanwhile, Wes resorts to threats of violence as soon as he feels jealous-- awesome, dude! Way to represent for toxic masculinity! Stella may be a childish, selfish, lazy spoiled brat, but she's not a piece of property to be fought over and won in a contest of fists, either. Also, they make Ida as immature and lazy as Stella, so: ick! And Aiden is about the same. It's hard to guess how Lizzie turned out better, but the writing team's inability to imagine it is probably why she's been off screen most of the time. And daddy is like Wes, minus the violence. I think we're supposed to see him as a hero, and a victim, and sad but amazing, and he gets to be loved by everyone, but his sad and tireless devotion breaks his heart. Oh woe!

[ketose]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who's outraged and disgusted by the squandered potential and out-right offensive direction the show has taken. Stella is so immature and unlikable, it's really off-putting. She doesn't know if they will make it? Well, sure she doesn't; she keeps sabotaging it, plus she quit therapy as soon as it started to work. Meanwhile, Wes resorts to threats of violence as soon as he feels jealous-- awesome, dude! Way to represent for toxic masculinity! Stella may be a childish, selfish, lazy spoiled brat, but she's not a piece of property to be fought over and won in a contest of fists, either. Also, they make Ida as immature and lazy as Stella, so: ick! And Aiden is about the same. It's hard to guess how Lizzie turned out better, but the writing team's inability to imagine it is probably why she's been off screen most of the time. And daddy is like Wes, minus the violence. I think we're supposed to see him as a hero, and a victim, and sad but amazing, and he gets to be loved by everyone, but his sad and tireless devotion breaks his heart. Oh woe!

The writing on Life Sentence would be acceptable for the CW if Stella's chemo gave her super powers and her family joined her crime fighting team. Unfortunately, this is supposed to be a dramedy and it doesn't do very well at drama or comedy.

So, Sean and Aiden have no problem finding girlfriends, but then something always keeps the relationships from going long term. Wes has a lot of issues. He was going to go through with a marriage he probably didn't want. Then he marries a girl he knew was going to die. Now he's projecting his dissatisfaction onto Stella by assuming she wants to go off with Dr. Creepy. Aside from a couple of sex dreams, Stella has made no moves to that end.

As for the women, Ida is a hot mess. She hooks up with the family friend / neighbor, then breaks up with her off-screen, and Poppy is never seen again. Since then, she's only hooked up with ex-husband Peter. One has to wonder why she wanted to get divorced at all. Elizabeth pushed down all her feelings and now she gets to live her dream. Luckily, her husband is pretty much an amiable doormat. Stella, on the other hand, is mainlining idealism. Because she's married, her relationship drama is not fun, it's sad. The only way to make it fun and exciting is if she divorced Wes.

[Halting Hex]

I'm doing my catch-up even later (saw the first few episodes before putting this aside, not out of dislike, it just got shuffled lower down the list), but the one thing that always bugged me about the pilot is why nobody suggested that Prof. Dad declare bankruptcy?  That way, he could have kept the house.  (And we wouldn't get "wacky roommate hijinks with Austin in the guest-house", which I guess was the purpose, but which was the single most annoying thing I found in the three eps I watched.)

I mean, as I understand it, medical expenses are the single largest cause of bankruptcy in the country.  Well, Dad's got an excuse here; save the house, sacrifice your credit score, and take comfort in the fact that you have a steady job to use to pay off your debt and rebuild your credit down the road.  Very annoying.

[KaveDweller]

On 6/9/2018 at 10:16 AM, possibilities said:

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who's outraged and disgusted by the squandered potential and out-right offensive direction the show has taken. Stella is so immature and unlikable, it's really off-putting. She doesn't know if they will make it? Well, sure she doesn't; she keeps sabotaging it, plus she quit therapy as soon as it started to work. Meanwhile, Wes resorts to threats of violence as soon as he feels jealous-- awesome, dude! Way to represent for toxic masculinity! Stella may be a childish, selfish, lazy spoiled brat, but she's not a piece of property to be fought over and won in a contest of fists, either. Also, they make Ida as immature and lazy as Stella, so: ick! And Aiden is about the same. It's hard to guess how Lizzie turned out better, but the writing team's inability to imagine it is probably why she's been off screen most of the time. And daddy is like Wes, minus the violence. I think we're supposed to see him as a hero, and a victim, and sad but amazing, and he gets to be loved by everyone, but his sad and tireless devotion breaks his heart. Oh woe!

 It's weird how they have chosen to write this show. After the first few episodes, I was really rooting for Stella and Wes to make things work. But after the last couple, I kind of hate them both and want them to split up.  But I still don't think she deserves to end up with creepy doctor. Who tells a woman they love her when they barely know her and she has continually made it clear she's not interested? Is it supposed to be romantic?

[tennisgurl]

I really have no idea why they decided on all this relationship stuff, when they had a good premise already? I was sad when the show got canned, but if this was all we would be getting, maybe its for the best. Quit before I hate everyone on the show, and not just some of them.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I'm sadder than I thought I would be about watching the final episode. I'm just so disappointed that they had a perfectly good cast and an interesting premise for the show and this is all they came up with.

For any PLL fans, I have enjoyed Stella's very non-Aria outfits (not a feather in sight!) but that pineapple dress she's wearing in the screencap above is giving me not quite Aria vibes, but some sort of related feeling.

[ketose]

That was more of a series finale than I thought it would be. They went with the "I choose me" ending, which at least means Dr. Creepy is presumably out of her life.

I pretty much called Peter and Ida getting back together early on.

I laughed at Finley's approval of Aiden's business plan that the audience never heard. That was obviously a Season 2 idea to keep her in the cast.

I still think Life Sentence is better than half the crap on the CW. Looking at the Summer schedule, the shows aren't getting any better.

Good-bye and here's hoping the cast finds some long-running series in the future.

[WhosThatGirl]

I’m kind of sad about this too. But I mean.. mid season shows are always a hit or miss, aren’t they? And I had a real bad feeling when they took this show away from it’s normal time slot after having Riverdale as it’s lead in. And then put it on a break for like three weeks. I’ll miss this show a little bit. I hope Lucy finds something good.

My favorite moment was when after peter proposed to Ida and Aidens big smile coming up behind the bar only to hear Idas “no” and slowly going back under it.

Edited June 16, 2018 by WhosThatGirl

[Free]

11 minutes ago, ketose said:

Looking at the Summer schedule, the shows aren't getting any better.

That's because they barely put much effort with their Summer scheduling.

[WhosThatGirl]

2 hours ago, Free said:

That's because they barely put much effort with their Summer scheduling.

Yeah.. I don’t put much stock into summer schedules. Most networks are filled with reality tv during the summer anyways. I know cable has more  scripted type shows during the summer but most of the basic networks stick primary to reality or game show type shows. 

[ketose]

The fall schedule looks bad too, especially since the CW is adding another night.

It's not like Life Sentence was going to save the network, but the current TV landscape can't handle this kind of light comedic hour program and it's too bad.

[Free]

7 hours ago, WhosThatGirl said:

Yeah.. I don’t put much stock into summer schedules. Most networks are filled with reality tv during the summer anyways. I know cable has more  scripted type shows during the summer but most of the basic networks stick primary to reality or game show type shows. 

Yeah, usually it's only some unscripted shows that work in Summer for broadcast and scripted shows are more likely low rated dumps and/or ending, cable has more scripted shows.

2 hours ago, ketose said:

The fall schedule looks bad too, especially since the CW is adding another night.

It's not like Life Sentence was going to save the network, but the current TV landscape can't handle this kind of light comedic hour program and it's too bad.

The CW sort of did with Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend but they're ending next season so they're also moving away from those types of shows.

[WhosThatGirl]

Yeah.. I’m not really the market for The CW-I watch supergirl(sometimes? I haven’t really liked this season)  and Riverdale but it’s been a while since I’ve watched more than that on The CW. And that’s also why I don’t think Life Sentence didn’t work on the network. It didn’t really fit in within the network.

And honestly like I said I had a bad feeling that Life Sentence wasn’t going to make it when it went on the break and then changed nights. I know the network needed to put a a slot in for The Originals(which I don’t watch) but isn’t that show in its final season? Why didn’t they just put that on Friday’s? I feel like when I heard it was going to be put on Friday’s I just knew.

Edited June 16, 2018 by WhosThatGirl

[Free]

2 hours ago, WhosThatGirl said:

And honestly like I said I had a bad feeling that Life Sentence wasn’t going to make it when it went on the break and then changed nights. I know the network needed to put a a slot in for The Originals(which I don’t watch) but isn’t that show in its final season? Why didn’t they just put that on Friday’s? I feel like when I heard it was going to be put on Friday’s I just knew.

The Originals?  Yes.

[ketose]

I can tell when I don't like a show if I DVR it and figure I can watch it or a bunch of them later. That's what's happening with me and The Originals this season. It's just filler. Life Sentence may not have been groundbreaking, but I either watched it live or as soon as I could this year.

[WhosThatGirl]

42 minutes ago, ketose said:

I can tell when I don't like a show if I DVR it and figure I can watch it or a bunch of them later. That's what's happening with me and The Originals this season. It's just filler. Life Sentence may not have been groundbreaking, but I either watched it live or as soon as I could this year.

Yeah  I just don’t understand why te network would give away a prime tv spot(which 9 pm after Riverdale kind of is, at least for the cw) to a show that’s ending? 

Also the cw doesn’t really do much promotion in general for their shows, except for exceptions. Like I know when the vampire diaries was big it was promoted. And last fall they really promoted Riverdales second season but not much for their other shows. It does look like from previews they are already showing that they might promote the rebooted charmed and/or the new football show teen drama they have coming up for the fall. We shall see. But they do promote Riverdale quite. A lot.

[sweetandsour]

13 minutes ago, WhosThatGirl said:

Yeah  I just don’t understand why te network would give away a prime tv spot(which 9 pm after Riverdale kind of is, at least for the cw) to a show that’s ending? 

I'm going to talk in generalities here because I don't really know specifics and may be wrong about the broad strokes anyway. Life Sentence was basically pulling the lowest ratings on the network in the Wednesday 9 pm slot. It either set or tied the record for lowest demo rating on a weeknight across all broadcast networks. Even Friday shows were beating it. No network is going to keep a show in that spot to potentially continue to do that for multiple episodes until the end. It would be embarrassing, never mind any financial component. And the idea of "spend more money to advertise it" isn't appealing when that money could go elsewhere and how much of a bump can you really get vs. how much you'd have to spend?

Now as far as why swap timeslots with The Originals? A spin-off of The Originals was pitched prior to the May upfronts and picked up to series in the fall. So from that perspective, yes, the Originals is ending, but leveraging its ratings (which are hands-down higher than LS's) and audience interest can still be good for the network going forward.  I find The Originals to be tedious, but that's just me, and the viewers watch it more than LS.

Also, my basic understanding about selling advertising time at certain rates is based on projected ratings that the network can deliver. So if advertisers buy time at upfronts and afterwards, they're paying an amount based on the audience the network is projected to have. I think advertisers can get credits, refunds, comped ad time, etc. to make them "whole" if the ratings fall short and they essentially overpaid for the benefit they actually got. So LS' really low ratings in a timeslot that had the most hyped show on the network (Riverdale) as a lead-in - I assume that had an impact on the ad revenue as well.

The Originals last year held onto their ratings fairly decently, even after being moved to Fridays, and those ratings were much better than LS'.  So I'm guessing the execs figured it was a better scenario to air The Originals on Wednesdays to at least match last year's Friday ratings, if not improve on them, and move LS to Fridays since it's low (and possibly dropping even more) ratings wouldn't be as impactful there.

[WhosThatGirl]

I didn’t know all of that info. And yeah I don’t watch the originals.. even so I liked life sentence I also stand by that the show didn’t really fit on what the cw as a network wants to be. That’s why when I see previews for that new football show, I doubt that’s going to last. That’s not a good fit for this network either. At least not from the lreviews I’ve seen.

[ketose]

Life Sentence's low ratings are relative. It has an audience of about 450K. Riverdale and the Originals are around 1 million. Those shows also have bigger effects budgets.

I'm pretty tired of the concept of ratings driving programming anyway. Lucifer just got picked up by Netflix because Fox either interfered too much or didn't support it enough. I'm looking forward to a micro-payment model where the studio that produces Life Sentence would just charge $10 a season per viewer and bypass the concept of TV entirely.

[sweetandsour]

3 minutes ago, ketose said:

Life Sentence's low ratings are relative. It has an audience of about 450K. Riverdale and the Originals are around 1 million. Those shows also have bigger effects budgets.

I'm pretty tired of the concept of ratings driving programming anyway. Lucifer just got picked up by Netflix because Fox either interfered too much or didn't support it enough. I'm looking forward to a micro-payment model where the studio that produces Life Sentence would just charge $10 a season per viewer and bypass the concept of TV entirely.

Demo ratings are more important to advertisers than total audience, but the ratios of the demo ratings across those three shows is around the same as total audience.  (Well, Riverdale is the highest of the three.)

Ratings don't really make sense considering they're really for the advertising part of the business model, but so many people consume programming these days through other ways. I get that CW Seed still makes you "watch" commercials, but the no-ads package on Hulu (for non-CW shows) doesn't.  But that's a whole other topic of the evolving landscape and where does the revenue actually come from.  Ratings don't matter at all for a show like Dynasty that had better ratings than LS, but not by much, and was also moved to Fridays.  But Dynasty makes it profit through international licensing, so any advertising money on US broadcast is just a cherry on top.  LS didn't have a revenue stream like that.

You bring up an interesting concept with charging viewers per show per season. I wonder how this would actually work, though. The viewers of a show who can watch for free are not the same as the viewers of a show who have to pay for it. Even assuming that 450,000 viewers per ratings is underscoring the current viewer base (because so many watch through another avenue), the viewers who would actually pay vs. casually watch is a smaller base.  Plus I think there'd be a lot of people who wouldn't pay to try out shows. They'd wait to hear if others recommend it and think it's "worth it" unless there are free episodes in the beginning that are compelling.  I think new shows really rely on people trying them out and deciding to keep watching, rather than if they hear it's good, then they'll go back and pay to watch.  And some people would be like, "well, I already pay to watch x number of shows that I really like, so I can't pay to watch shows I only average like or am casual about." If that's the main revenue stream to cover production costs over as few as 10 episodes, recouped only after production has been completed, I'm not sure how that leaves studios in the red or black.

Anyway, I'm glad Stella chose herself because that was the right choice for her.  Ugh, and I wanted to punch Dr. Will in the face after he took ZERO responsibility for his pushiness about interfering with Stella's marriage AND blamed her for it.  Because it's always the other person's fault when someone behaves in a certain way, right?  But you know, choose him, go to Papua New Guinea with him because he's the right guy to make her happy ...

[ketose]

Apparently, Doctor Creepy was only a symptom since Stella and Wes were looking for different things in a life-long relationship.

Netflix and Amazon are the current model for non-advertiser programming. They will produce a season (or a pilot in Amazon's case) and mine the viewer data for subscribers to gauge popularity. I remember Netflix tweeted about a couple dozen subscribers who watched "A Christmas Prince" every day for two weeks straight.

[sweetandsour]

Just now, ketose said:

Netflix and Amazon are the current model for non-advertiser programming. They will produce a season (or a pilot in Amazon's case) and mine the viewer data for subscribers to gauge popularity. I remember Netflix tweeted about a couple dozen subscribers who watched "A Christmas Prince" every day for two weeks straight.

Right, I get that, and it's not that different from premium cable channels like HBO.  I was responding more to what you mentioned in terms of charging for the season of a show, not a blanket subscription that covers all of the available programming.  Because for a specific season, that's exactly what people are buying, not access to a catalog.

Myself, I put something on streaming and fall asleep to it, so it might look like I watch something constantly, but it's really just ambient noise for zzzz's.  Hulu would think I can't survive without ending my day with multiple episodes of Lucifer.

[ketose]

4 minutes ago, sweetandsour said:

Right, I get that, and it's not that different from premium cable channels like HBO.  I was responding more to what you mentioned in terms of charging for the season of a show, not a blanket subscription that covers all of the available programming.  Because for a specific season, that's exactly what people are buying, not access to a catalog.

Myself, I put something on streaming and fall asleep to it, so it might look like I watch something constantly, but it's really just ambient noise for zzzz's.  Hulu would think I can't survive without ending my day with multiple episodes of Lucifer.

I hope micro-payment is coming, but I was referring to Netflix and Amazon being the precursor to that. The "networks" can't really adopt that model because broadcasting means anyone can watch without a direct payment. They will continue due to news and sports, I just don't want to deal with "ratings" and "advertisers" to explain why shows end when they start getting good and crapfests continue for 8 seasons.

I think the market will figure out the launch pad for that kind of programming in the future, where you get to see a little for free.

[WhosThatGirl]

16 minutes ago, ketose said:

I hope micro-payment is coming, but I was referring to Netflix and Amazon being the precursor to that. The "networks" can't really adopt that model because broadcasting means anyone can watch without a direct payment. They will continue due to news and sports, I just don't want to deal with "ratings" and "advertisers" to explain why shows end when they start getting good and crapfests continue for 8 seasons.

I think the market will figure out the launch pad for that kind of programming in the future, where you get to see a little for free.

Yeah.. it’s odd to me that some shows seem to go on forever when they should have ended and it doesn’t make sense and yet even when it’s teally bad, you know it’s just going to keep going. 

And it’s odd that I have so much to say on this show fr nr.. it wasn’t my favorite show ever but it had potential. Also I have a question, does anyone think the shows power that be filmed different endings? I only ask because Riverdale lads season was a mid season show and they shot deleted  scenes that seemed like they would have used if the show hadn’t gotten picked up for a second season, I was wondering if LS did this too. 

Edited June 16, 2018 by WhosThatGirl

[possibilities]

On 6/15/2018 at 8:22 PM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I'm sadder than I thought I would be about watching the final episode. I'm just so disappointed that they had a perfectly good cast and an interesting premise for the show and this is all they came up with.

I feel the same way. I think I could have accepted the break up-- it makes sense that a marriage undertaken the way they did would have problems. But the way they did it was so stupid. They never actually discussed the future before going live on the web?? I guess it's established that they are impulsive, but it just seemed to ridiculous to me.

I did like that Aiden and Wes decided to stay brothers. I don't really like Aiden, but he does seem to get the bro thing.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Aiden: You were going to sell my bar without talking to me first?
Wes: OUR bar. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but Richard's company could take over our lease and pay back the debt.
Aiden: So we walk away with nothing but your stupid sex painting? Yes, I know that is a sex painting. And while I am grossed out because it's my sister, I have to admit it's kind of cool and I can't believe I've never made one.

Wes: Aiden, look, we can't reopen without running water.
Aiden: So what would you say if I found the money?
Wes: I would say that you have robbed a bank or you've made a deal with a dark wizard because there is literally nothing I haven't tried.

Aiden: Hey, sis. I will need one free coffee and a free muffin stat.
Finley: You do realize I'm standing right here.
Aiden: I do, but I am broke and hungry. Plus I have an important meeting with a potential investor. 
Stella: That's great. 
Finley: Seriously? Who would be rich enough and dumb enough to invest in you?
Marlene: Oh, my God, Stella! 
Stella: Marlene.

Marlene: My water just broke.
Aiden: Do you need a ride to the hospital? 
Stella: Um, you don't have a car.
Aiden: Or a license.

Will: Stella, hey, can we talk?
Stella: There's nothing left to talk about. I think I made that perfectly clear. I don't think that we should even see each other anymore.

Stella: Sadie, you're going to make it through this trial. And you are going to graduate from high school with honor, and go to college somewhere warm and sunny, and you're probably going to become a doctor. Or president. Or a doctor president.
Sadie: You have an oddly clear vision of my future.

Aiden: So that's my pitch. Considering the high volume of foot traffic, the POS retail channel, not to mention certain non-liquid assets like my face and body, I think we got a real chance to do something special here.

Lizzie: Wait, what? You guys got married because mom was pregnant?
Peter: No, we got married because we loved each other. We just did it quickly so you wouldn't be a bastard.

Stella: You have three first names, which make you sound like a serial killer.

Stella: I love you too much to let you go.
Wes: And I love you too much to not let you. On our wedding day, I promised your father that I would take care of you, and I know now that the only way I can really do that is to let you go. You'll never be able to figure out what you want out of life if you have to worry about keeping our marriage afloat. Listen, the truth is, it just hasn't been as buoyant as we'd have hoped. But you know what? That's okay. Because our marriage was a life boat. And I think that it's done exactly what it needed to do. It saved us both. It was meant to be, Stell. It just wasn't meant to be forever.

Wes: I'm still going to love you for the rest of my life. You're just not going to be around to see it.

Edited June 17, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Dr. Creepy continues to be creepy. I couldn't believe he had the nerve to blame Stella for HIS feelings, claim that he can't ruin her marriage by telling her how he feels, demanding to know how she feels about him, and once again refusing to respect her boundaries. Let's look at his exact words:

Quote

Stella: Will! Why are you trying to ruin my marriage?
Will: Stella, if your marriage is solid, then I can't ruin it by by telling you how I feel.
Stella: I'm sorry, but that is not my fault. I did not ask you to fall in love with me.
Will: No, you just made it impossible not to. 
Stella: How did I do that?! 
Will: By being you, Stella. Can you please just be honest with me about how you feel?
Stella: I love Wes.
Will: No. How you feel about me. 
Stella: I can't answer that.
Will: Well, then I can't walk away from this.
Stella: Well, maybe you can't, but I can.

Seriously, there is nothing he said in that conversation that wasn't dickish, selfish, and manipulative. Then he decided to gaslight her later when Stella went to the airport to give him an explanation and he said, "You don't owe me anything." What the actual fuck, dude? If you really believed that, you wouldn't have been pursuing her after she told you to stop. And then he had the nerve to say that he just wanted her to be happy. Uh, no. if that were true, then again, you would have respected the boundaries that she REPEATEDLY gave you instead of being so inappropriate.

I am glad she pulled a Kelly Taylor because she really does need to figure out what she wants out of life and who she is. She spent her formative years being sick and then she jumped into marriage with the first guy who wasn't related to her (she even admitted that "Once upon a time, all I wanted was to find someone who would tell me he loved me" so she wasn't exactly being picky). She got swept up in the fairy tale of it all, partly because she thought she was going to die. She has never really given much thought to what she wants to do with the rest of her life so in many ways, she is still a teenager, unformed and unsure.

The one thing I liked about Stella and Wes ending their marriage is that they both realized you can love someone and not be married to each other. Just because they love each other doesn't mean that they HAVE to stay married. He needed this marriage as much as she did because Pippa had just crushed his heart, so I agree with what Wes said about how their marriage saved both of them. They each gave the other something they needed at the time.

I'm just glad she didn't run off with Dr. Creepy. There is no need to reward that kind of behavior, even on tv.

[ketose]

Most of the TV I watch is on the CW. Shows like Arrow and the Flash continue past the point where I quit watching. Legends is hanging in because they retooled a bit. I think after stuff like No Tomorrow and Life Sentence, this kind of TV may not be possible on the CW anymore. I kind of wish they'd stop trying to strike gold, then immediately cancel when they inevitably don't

[ursula]

5 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Dr. Creepy continues to be creepy. I couldn't believe he had the nerve to blame Stella for HIS feelings, claim that he can't ruin her marriage by telling her how he feels, demanding to know how she feels about him, and once again refusing to respect her boundaries. Let's look at his exact words:

Seriously, there is nothing he said in that conversation that wasn't dickish, selfish, and manipulative. Then he decided to gaslight her later when Stella went to the airport to give him an explanation and he said, "You don't owe me anything." What the actual fuck, dude? If you really believed that, you wouldn't have been pursuing her after she told you to stop. And then he had the nerve to say that he just wanted her to be happy. Uh, no. if that were true, then again, you would have respected the boundaries that she REPEATEDLY gave you instead of being so inappropriate.

I am glad she pulled a Kelly Taylor because she really does need to figure out what she wants out of life and who she is. She spent her formative years being sick and then she jumped into marriage with the first guy who wasn't related to her (she even admitted that "Once upon a time, all I wanted was to find someone who would tell me he loved me" so she wasn't exactly being picky). She got swept up in the fairy tale of it all, partly because she thought she was going to die. She has never really given much thought to what she wants to do with the rest of her life so in many ways, she is still a teenager, unformed and unsure.

The one thing I liked about Stella and Wes ending their marriage is that they both realized you can love someone and not be married to each other. Just because they love each other doesn't mean that they HAVE to stay married. He needed this marriage as much as she did because Pippa had just crushed his heart, so I agree with what Wes said about how their marriage saved both of them. They each gave the other something they needed at the time.

I'm just glad she didn't run off with Dr. Creepy. There is no need to reward that kind of behavior, even on tv.

Honestly, the smidgen of interest I had in this show evaporated once I saw they were introducing this completely unnecessary love triangle. They had enough emotional narrative to mine with the circumstances of the marriage. They didn't need to thrown an Alternate (White) Male Love Interest in the mix and I peaced out. I watched the finale just out of a sense of curiosity/completion/boredom? and I'm really glad she chose herself - but this storyline did not do the show any favors.  

[Free]

1 hour ago, ursula said:

Honestly, the smidgen of interest I had in this show evaporated once I saw they were introducing this completely unnecessary love triangle. They had enough emotional narrative to mine with the circumstances of the marriage. They didn't need to thrown an Alternate (White) Male Love Interest in the mix and I peaced out. I watched the finale just out of a sense of curiosity/completion/boredom? and I'm really glad she chose herself - but this storyline did not do the show any favors.  

Agreed, the show focused on the wrong things, Stella should've already chosen to focus on herself from the very beginning after just getting her life back together.