Unpopular Opinions about TV

[Captain Syrup]

Sons of Anarchy was a poorly written, melodramatic soap opera.

Hey, Ally Walker, you think that's enough facelifts/plastic surgery?

I can't believe this is the lady from The Profiler.

 

[From The Uncanny Valley]

Sons of Anarchy was a poorly written, melodramatic soap opera. I'm genuinely baffled that there are people who rank it up among the likes of Sopranos, the Shield, the Wire, and the likes of actual good TV. Same with Dexter, though the writers for that show at least occasionally showed some self awareness for how dumb and cheesy it could be.

I haven't heard that name in years...

 

[Gender: Xenomorph]

Just done watching Snowpiercer. Too much Netflix bullshit:
* Shoddily built world that quickly falls apart when you think about it
* Clearly defined 'good guys' and 'bad guys'
* People are assigned 'protagonist' or 'antagonist' and often act simply because they are good or bad
* Plot armor galore
* Obviously the black guy/PoC are good
* Even if they start originally as bad
* And often portrayed as such when their decisions lead to war
* The protagonist devolves into an antagonist...
* ...and is still regarded as a good guy
* Somehow it all ends up in the protagonist's favor (aura plot armor?)

 

[Two Dollars]

The Big Bang Theory’s biggest problem is that it tries too hard to be topical; the over-reliance on “nerd culture” is only a side effect. It focuses on pop culture just enough that consoomers will go “oh yeah, I ‘member that thing!” without ever going beyond surface-level references. For example, there’s one episode that revolves around them binging “the online Star Wars game”. It’s talking about The Old Republic, which was new at the time, but they expect the audience to ignore the fact that there are like 10 different online Star Wars games and just clap at the New Popular Nerd Thing reference. There’s also the main characters frequently being shown playing Wii games for the first few seasons while the system was at the height of its popularity, before turning a hard 180 and bashing the Wii around 2013 when disliking it became cool. It leads to the show not having an identity beyond referencing things that are currently popular.

Even beyond pop culture, it treats Current Year social issues the same way. In one episode, Raj says something like “it’s okay to think a man is attractive without indulging in ‘the love that dare not speak its name’”, then one or two seasons later says thinking that gays should only marry other gays (as opposed to marrying a beard) is homophobic. I liked TBBT as a teenager, but it’s aged terribly, and the best episodes are the ones that stay as far away from pop culture and the Current Year as possible.

Also, fuck Howard “religious Jew or white atheist depending on the situation” Wolowitz.

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

Sons of Anarchy was a poorly written, melodramatic soap opera. I'm genuinely baffled that there are people who rank it up among the likes of Sopranos, the Shield, the Wire, and the likes of actual good TV. Same with Dexter, though the writers for that show at least occasionally showed some self awareness for how dumb and cheesy it could be.

I liked the early seasons of Sons of Anarchy, but holy shit once Ron Pearlman got offed it went downhill because they couldn't let Jax just be "A good guy"

 

[sparklemilhouse]

I wish I could get into this is us, but I can’t stand Chrissy Metz. Fucking beachball on stilts.

Entertainment Tonight has done much damage to lower I.Q.’s in Americans that desperately crave for celebrity and Hollywood culture.

I remember in the late 90s when Ricky Martin was hot, ET talked about him every night for six months. Even shit like his thoughts on hurricane Floyd. That and the show Ally McBeal.

 

[HodgePodgeRogerDodger]

The Wire is for pseudo-intellectuals. Crime dramas in general are, but the Wire attracts the biggest. McNulty is a terrible protagonist because of his actor and the inner city school shit is only entertaining if you are some autistic Scandinavian who lives a life so without trouble that you fetishize black people.
I await your ten paragraph essay.

 

[Frozen in time]

I don't find smiling friends to be funny

 

[Rome's rightful successor]

I can never get used to hour long streaming show episodes.

 

[Jonah Hill poster]

Celebrity musicians hosting Saturday Night Live is not only hit or miss, it can also be pointless.

Spoiler

It was brought to my attention that Lizzo and Billie Eilish hosted the last two episodes, and I have no idea why.

 

[From The Uncanny Valley]

The school reunion episode is the worst episode of 30 rock

 

[Gender: Xenomorph]

Tired of the 'criminals good, cops bad' trope in most crime shows. I get that you need conflict and motivation, but don't sell me any of that "look at this poow wee dwug dealew, he just wants to make money and get back on track, and these ebil white cops just want to ruin it for the fuck of it. They're on the good side of the law but on the bad part of the moral compass" but often omit to show how many people suffer because of one bag of cocaine.

 

[Drag-on Knight 91873]

Tired of the 'criminals good, cops bad' trope in most crime shows. I get that you need conflict and motivation, but don't sell me any of that "look at this poow wee dwug dealew, he just wants to make money and get back on track, and these ebil white cops just want to ruin it for the fuck of it. They're on the good side of the law but on the bad part of the moral compass" but often omit to show how many people suffer because of one bag of cocaine.

Yeah. Clarence Boddicker was a great villain precisely because he was a scumbag.

 

[Sneed (formerly ﷽)]

Boss Baby: Back In Business Opening Song is a BANGER!​

 

[Bobson_Dugnutt]

Twin Peaks The Return was almost unwatchable. Lynch hasn't really been watchable since he realized he doesn't need to edit with digital cameras.

 

[A Sentient Cloud]

Just done watching Snowpiercer. Too much Netflix bullshit:
* Shoddily built world that quickly falls apart when you think about it

This was an issue in the movie, as well. Insane to me that Netflix thought this "world" was a good fit for a series.

 

[Rome's rightful successor]

I miss Live PD, the show was taken off the air for bullshit reasons. I wish it would come back.

 

[Coptakhenaten]

Twin Peaks The Return was almost unwatchable. Lynch hasn't really been watchable since he realized he doesn't need to edit with digital cameras.

There was a lot of things I didn't like about the Return - Dennis appearing at all let alone being a troon (I hope this was just Lynch trying to kill two birds with one stone by ending mid-s2 bs and putting it under the rug in a way people in current year won't bitch), the awkward pacing, and the weird ass camera angles are my biggest issues. I personally preferred the movie way more and felt that was TP at its best, but whenever S3 was good. It was spectacular. I'd take rewatching it over mid season 2 any time.

 

[Bobson_Dugnutt]

There was a lot of things I didn't like about the Return - Dennis appearing at all let alone being a troon (I hope this was just Lynch trying to kill two birds with one stone by ending mid-s2 bs and putting it under the rug in a way people in current year won't bitch), the awkward pacing, and the weird ass camera angles are my biggest issues. I personally preferred the movie way more and felt that was TP at its best, but whenever S3 was good. It was spectacular. I'd take rewatching it over mid season 2 any time.

The show didn't really have awkward pacing. It either was interesting or grinding to a painful hault. Lynch made us watch, what I can only assume was a meta joke, paint dry.

The suits at Showtime sniffed this out as well. Don't forget they offered Lynch less money than he wanted. I'm going to assume the suits saw how much needless fat was surrounding this project. Lynch quit the project, the suits kowtowed and Lynch was free to go way too long.

I freely admit the show is gorgeous to look at, but Lynch's best days are behind him. This is more on the level of Wild at Heart than his top shelf work like Lost Highway.

 

[Jonah Hill poster]

Brooklyn Nine-Nine really is a great example as to what happens when you rely on current day Saturday Night Live humor to make the later seasons’ episodes unfunny, one by one.