Popular Shows that You Hate

[jvcarroll]

I've been wondering, with all these big movie stars turning to television now, as opposed to the old days when they were considered "too big" and "too important" to even consider lowering themselves to television work, like James Caan, and now more recently even Samuel L. Jackson, I wonder how long it's going to be before we start seeing the likes of George Clooney and Brad Pitt starring on their own show?

Entertainment is undergoing a seismic shift. People aren't going to see the sorts of movies Clooney and Pitt are known for making. To be honest, I'm waiting for DeNiro to get his cable show. That would be the final nail in the coffin!

It's unclear what makes for a good movie as opposed to a limited cable series these days. Programs like Mad Men, American Horror Story and Breaking Bad can explore their rich worlds a lot more in one season than a two-hour film can do. And it seems that movie audiences only want to see superhero movies and teenage vampire pictures. Or, at least that's what studios think. I don't think they have it all sorted yet.

There are countless films in the theaters that I have left thinking, "Wouldn't this have made a better Netflix series?" And there are canceled TV shows that couldn't milk enough story content to justify an entire season that would probably have been better-suited for the movies.

 

[Drtooth]

That terrible show about Baseball seems like it should have been a movie. I don't think there's enough justification of a full season of watching a bunch of Ralph Wiggum expies making obvious jokes so some woman can get the approval of the stereotypical "Well Done Son Guy" type dad... in this case Well Done Daughter.

I'd see big time stars going to cable for some big time Mad Men/Breaking Bad quality shows, but James Caan is absolutely slumming in this series. To make it worse, he's exactly like the father from the recently cancelled Family Tools. The whole program seems to be "Family Tools but with Baseball." They made a clone of a show that failed. What does that say to you?

And on the subject, I'm digging the Robin Williams series so far. He goes off just far enough for the show to have a plot.

 

[MikaelaMuppet]

The show Yes Dear is very funny. Mike O'Malley is what makes that show funny.

 

[D'Snowth]

They made a clone of a show that failed. What does that say to you?

Well, look at NEW GIRL. That apparently is a VERY successful series, and THAT was a clone of a failure (that TBS sitcom MY BOYS, which only lasted two seasons before disappearing forever).

 

[MikaelaMuppet]

Well, look at NEW GIRL. That apparently is a VERY successful series, and THAT was a clone of a failure (that TBS sitcom MY BOYS, which only lasted two seasons before disappearing forever).

Now, TV shows are TRASH. TRASH TV NEVER used to happen before. Look at Dance Moms. A PERFECT example of TRASH TV.

 

[charlietheowl]

Entertainment is undergoing a seismic shift. People aren't going to see the sorts of movies Clooney and Pitt are known for making. To be honest, I'm waiting for DeNiro to get his cable show. That would be the final nail in the coffin!

Robert DeNiro is in negotiations to take over for the late James Gandolfini in a miniseries for HBO called Criminal Justice, where he would play a defense lawyer or something similar to that. So he's even willing to do TV now.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/09/25/hbo-criminal-justice-robert-de-niro-james-gandolfini/

 

[D'Snowth]

I've been saying it for a while now, there's absolutely nothing on television BUT trash anymore. I've been trying for years to give new shows chances that claim to be "different", only to find they're still the same ol' filth that keeps polluting the television landscape; that's why even though I like Robin Williams and Michael J. Fox, I'm not even going to bother with their new shows.

Gone are the days where shows had appealing/believable characters, intelligent writing, solid directing, and actual plots that engaged you, that's all been dropped in favor of putting people in bed with each other.

And what gets me is how the term "family show" has been taken completely out of context, and instead of using it to describe a series that's suitable for family audiences (TMS for example), NOW it's more literal: it describes a show about a family. Uh, there was already a term for describing shows about families, it's "Domcom", short for domestic comedy.

 

[Drtooth]

Well, look at NEW GIRL. That apparently is a VERY successful series, and THAT was a clone of a failure (that TBS sitcom MY BOYS, which only lasted two seasons before disappearing forever).

I'd say that New Girl was more of a knockoff of ABC's (superior) Happy Endings to the point where it almost had the same cast member. Not kidding. Damon Wayans Jr. was in the pilot for New Girl because Happy Endings was close to getting cancelled the first time. The humor is almost exactly the same, only the characters were better.

Now, TV shows are TRASH. TRASH TV NEVER used to happen before. Look at Dance Moms. A PERFECT example of TRASH TV.

Congratulations. You just compared a scripted sitcom to a reality show and made your point completely invalid.

Reality TV is always trash no matter what else is on television, and it gets its reputation AND audience for being trash. The entire Reality TV viewing public only watches that garbage ironically. And what's worse, even if no one was watching, they're not quite in the same danger of being cancelled as a scripted show due to the cost and slave labor tactics that Reality TV thrives on. I'm sure no one watches Survivor anymore.

 

[MikaelaMuppet]

I'd say that New Girl was more of a knockoff of ABC's (superior) Happy Endings to the point where it almost had the same cast member. Not kidding. Damon Wayans Jr. was in the pilot for New Girl because Happy Endings was close to getting cancelled the first time. The humor is almost exactly the same, only the characters were better.



Congratulations. You just compared a scripted sitcom to a reality show and made your point completely invalid.

Reality TV is always trash no matter what else is on television, and it gets its reputation AND audience for being trash. The entire Reality TV viewing public only watches that garbage ironically. And what's worse, even if no one was watching, they're not quite in the same danger of being cancelled as a scripted show due to the cost and slave labor tactics that Reality TV thrives on. I'm sure no one watches Survivor anymore.

Sitcoms are not trash.

 

[Drtooth]

Backpedaling? Never said they were.

Gone are the days where shows had appealing/believable characters, intelligent writing, solid directing, and actual plots that engaged you, that's all been dropped in favor of putting people in bed with each other.

Again, we get into the quality = matter of taste thing that drives me nuts. There is such a nostalgia filter there that makes everyone forget how completely goofy and unrealistic most classic sitcoms were. Not to mention the fact that for every Andy Griffith Show and Taxi, there were hundreds of pieces of crap that no one even remembers or I'd list them. There's a lot of smart writing and humor, problem is, it's not your humor. There were some great sitcoms the past few years... just, for some reason, this season is full of stuff that, at best, is okay, I guess, and at worst... well, I guess I can stop complaining about the Baseball series now, as I've done it enough.

Still, I look at 1980's sitcoms and while some of them were genuinely good, a lot of them were juvenile and anvilicious about their morals. That isn't to speak of early 80's NBC sitcoms... that network was desperate and made so many grievously terrible shows. As far as 90's shows go, we all remember Seinfeld and F.R.I.E.N.D.S (which, frankly, BOTH had a lot of bed hopping and sex scenes), but then no one remembers the terrible stuff NBC used to shove in between those shows. I can't even remember anything but Caroline in the City and Single Guy. Talk about uninspired. And don't get me STARTED on ABC's 2000 line up. WOOOO! Stinkers all.

As far as family friendly shows. They still have those. They're on Disney and they mostly suck.