The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » Do You Ever Feel Left Out Over A Show Critics Rave About?

RadioActive · August 11, 2024 5:22 pm

I was able to see the first four or five episodes of the FX series "The Bear," about an award winning chef taking over a small run down restaurant in Chicago. This program has won rave reviews from critics and a ton of Emmys. It's up for even more this year.

And yet after seeing the shows I did, I simply can't figure out what all the hype is about.

Most of the characters are not well developed, the stories go nowhere, it's not all that absorbing and - probably the most egregious of all, it keeps winning for Best Comedy and it has absolutely no laughs in it at all, robbing other more deserving shows of that award.

I'm just wondering if a) anyone else who has seen this show feels the same way and b) are there any other TV programs that have gotten rave reviews and critical praise that you simply can't understand getting all the hype?

RadioActive · August 11, 2024 5:32 pm

As an example, my sister - who lives in Staten Island, N.Y. - cannot stand "Seinfeld," one of my all time favourites and one TV Guide actually called the greatest comedy of its era.

She sits there stone faced when it comes on and can't understand why anyone is laughing. I feel the exact same way she does about one of her faves, "The Big Bang Theory."

She thinks that show is hilarious and laughs all the way through it. I can't take any of it and find the Sheldon character too obnoxious to ever be in any way remotely amusing. Yet it was extremely popular and ran for years. (To be honest, I feel that way about a lot of Chuck Lorre shows, which all seem to have the same kind of "joke-one liner-sex joke" rhythm to every script and repeats that formula ad nauseam.)

I tried watching a few episodes of The Sopranos when it first debuted a long time ago. I couldn't sit through it. But shows about the Mafia - regardless of the flawed characters and the great actors in it - just don't appeal to me. So I may have come predisposed to dislike it.

It's an odd feeling to not see what the majority of others do in a TV show or movie. Especially one that wins awards every single season and you simply can't figure out why.

Chrisphen · August 11, 2024 5:32 pm

'Gilmore Girls' always bugged the shit out of me. Characters machine-gunning witty dialogue toward each other doesn't equal engaging drama.

And 'Grey's Anatomy' should have ended after 'Children's Hospital' came out. There was nothing more they could add after that to save the show.

Edit - yeah 'Seinfeld's success far outreaches the quality of the show itself. It's a middling, undistinguished comedy.

Last edited by Chrisphen (August 11, 2024 5:36 pm)

newsguy1 · August 11, 2024 6:02 pm

I have felt left out by the raves critics have given to hit TV shows lots of times.
But then again I can't understand why some people I know hate some shows I absolutely loved.
I put a lot of it down to what you were brought up to like or admire or at least got imprinted with.
I was raised in a fairly British atmosphere with a Welsh mother and grand parents and a father who was Canadian but spent many years living in England.
Growing up I loved Peter Sellers, and later Monty Python and of course dramas like the (original) Avengers with Diana Rigg or Secret Agent with Patrick McGoohan.
But I also loved classic American shows like Get Smart, or Man From Uncle, or The Wild Wild West.
Like some other people on the Board I could not stand Seinfeld, but I loved most stuff from Woody Allen.
I loathed The Sopranos and Breaking Bad.
I am a dedicated Star Trek fan, but never really liked Dr. Who.
So go figure.

mace · August 11, 2024 6:03 pm

RA: Your sister and I would get along famously. Like her, I can sit through an entire Seinfeld episode and not find anything remotely amusing about it. As for BBT, Sheldon is incredibly obnoxious which is why I find him so funny. However, there are two sitcoms that I can watch forever and get belly laughs every time. 1. Green Acres. 2. Frasier [The Original] As for critics opinions of a series differring from the views of the audience, the Beverley Hillbillies come to mind. Critics hated it, Viewers at home loved it, as the Neilsen ratings proved. BH was the top rated series in its first two seasons.

Paul Jeffries · August 11, 2024 6:33 pm

I never understood the big deal about The Office. Admittedly, I haven't watched a full episode from start to finish, so maybe I'm not giving it enough of a chance, but I've seen parts of it online and it doesn't seem to grab me, and I enjoy dry humor from time to time. I haven't seen the UK original, so I don't really have an opinion on that.

PJ

RadioActive · August 11, 2024 7:12 pm

I'm sure I'll get hammered for this one, but I really, really, really wanted to like "Schitt's Creek" because of its former SCTV stars. I tried to watch it, but after about the third or fourth episode with no improvement, I gave up on it. It wound up winning more comedy Emmys in a single night than any other TV show in history, but I will never understand why.

And before a certain poster here chimes in about my hating it because it was Canadian, that's not true. I disliked it because it simply wasn't funny - at least not to me. And I tried really hard to give it a chance. I'm definitely in the minority on this one, but it just didn't make me laugh.

Not once.

Paul Jeffries · August 11, 2024 7:20 pm

RadioActive wrote:
I'm sure I'll get hammered for this one, but I really, really, really wanted to like "Schitt's Creek" because of its former SCTV stars. I tried to watch it, but after about the third or fourth episode with no improvement, I gave up on it. It wound up winning more comedy Emmys in a single night than any other TV show in history, but I will never understand why.

And before a certain poster here chimes in about my hating it because it was Canadian, that's not true. I disliked it because it simply wasn't funny - at least not to me. And I tried really hard to give it a chance. I'm definitely in the minority on this one, but it just didn't make me laugh.

Not once.

I watched one episode of the show and had the same reaction.

PJ

RadioAaron · August 11, 2024 7:28 pm

RadioActive wrote:
I'm sure I'll get hammered for this one, but I really, really, really wanted to like "Schitt's Creek" because of its former SCTV stars. I tried to watch it, but after about the third or fourth episode with no improvement, I gave up on it. It wound up winning more comedy Emmys in a single night than any other TV show in history, but I will never understand why.

And before a certain poster here chimes in about my hating it because it was Canadian, that's not true. I disliked it because it simply wasn't funny - at least not to me. And I tried really hard to give it a chance. I'm definitely in the minority on this one, but it just didn't make me laugh.

Not once.

I'm with you on this one. Dan Levy's over-acting and other characters killed believability for me. And I liked Corner Gas, so go figure.

TomTV · August 11, 2024 7:29 pm

Same here. I wanted to like it, but there were no laughs or even a chuckle garnered after finishing the first episode. Then again, I wasn't a SCTV fan either for that same reason and didn't understand the love for that show.

To each their own.

paterson1 · August 11, 2024 7:34 pm

I agree only watched Schitts 3 or 4 times. I liked Catherine O'Hara's character and Eugene Levy and that was about all. Never found it funny, and didn't really understand why critics loved it so much and why it cleaned up at the Emmy's. Same as RA, I watched it since I enjoyed SCTV so much and O'Hara and Levy.

However, SCTV was never a ratings hit. I thought it was pretty funny at the time, even the early shows on Global, but many didn't find it funny. Critics loved it. I remember Playboy had an article around 1978 musing about SCTV being a better and funnier show than Saturday Night Live. That's when SCTV was only syndicated in the US and not on any American network. The early SNL years haven't aged well in my opinion.

newsguy1 · August 11, 2024 8:01 pm

I always thought most of SCTV was freekin' hilarious.
The stuff that didn't work was vastly outnumbered by the stuff that did.
And it was so quotable.
Everything from Bob and Doug Mckenzie to the Shmegee brothers.And so many of their cast members went on to make it in Hollywood, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Andrea Martin, Catharine O'Hara, Martin Short and more.
BTW, glad to see on this board that there will be a project to save and refurbish the boat from "The Beachcombers."
I once auditioned for a part in the show when I was about 15 years old. Didn't get it.
But Bruno Gerussi lived in the same apartment building I did when growing up in the West End of Vancouver.
I would occasionally ride in the same elevator with him and make small talk... "nice day, today, eh?" etc.

RadioActive · August 11, 2024 8:15 pm

When it comes to judging TV shows I've never seen before, I follow the Cleveland Amory rule. He's the old critic for TV Guide in the 60s, who always gave every new show three episodes before he'd review it. His logic, to me, was sound.

The first episode might not quite have all the characters and writing nailed down. Show #2 could still be working out the bugs. But after the third script, he'd write his review, good or bad.

I think that's a fair way to do it, because judging anything on its first attempt is unfair as the cast and scribes are settling into the show. If it ain't clicking for me by #3, I'm out.

By the way, I agree with many of the choices at the story below, although I haven't seen them all. Certainly, the Twilight Zone one is pretty universal as the best of the best. And so is the Mary Tyler Moore choice. The All In The Family script with Sammy Davis Jr. is also a definite classic.

But when it comes to Seinfeld, I'd pick "The Contest." They did the whole thing without ever once mentioning the "m"-word - but you knew exactly what they were talking about when they were "Masters of Their Domains."

15 Classic & Iconic TV Episodes That We Are STILL Thinking About

g121 · August 11, 2024 8:21 pm

RadioActive wrote:
I'm sure I'll get hammered for this one, but I really, really, really wanted to like "Schitt's Creek" because of its former SCTV stars. I tried to watch it, but after about the third or fourth episode with no improvement, I gave up on it.

Everyone's funny bone is a bit different. "Schitt's Creek" just didn't do it for me but I found "Kim's Convenience" great !!

newsguy1 wrote:
I loathed The Sopranos and Breaking Bad.

While "The Sopranos" and "Breaking Bad" are indeed great shows, I liked "The Wire" better.
Reason being no-one in "The Sopranos" and "Breaking Bad" has any good qualities & none were likeable whereas even most of the bad guys in "The Wire" had some good or likeable qualities.

Last edited by g121 (August 11, 2024 8:36 pm)

TomTV · August 11, 2024 8:44 pm

It's possible that Schitt's Creek got better in season 2 or later. I can see for example, someone new to Star Trek being told that TNG is a fantastic sci-fi show, they then watch season 1 and will think that people are totally nuts. TNG only took off around season 4 in my opinion, thanks to the showrunner and writers finding their groove at last.

NOTE: I personally don't think season 1 was all that bad, but you really had to be a Star Trek fan to be willing to stick with it.

RadioActive · August 11, 2024 8:48 pm

TomTV wrote:
It's possible that Schitt's Creek got better in season 2 or later. I can see for example, someone new to Star Trek being told that TNG is a fantastic sci-fi show, they then watch season 1 and will think that people are totally nuts. TNG only took off around season 4 in my opinion, thanks to the showrunner and writers finding their groove at last.

NOTE: I personally don't think season 1 was all that bad, but you really had to be a Star Trek fan to be willing to stick with it.

Agree with you on one thing. I hated Capt. Picard in those early episodes. But after a few weeks, he started growing on me and couple that with Patrick Stewart being a great actor and finding the character, I now think he's the best of all the Star Trek captains. from any version of the show. He was able to "make it so."

newsguy1 · August 11, 2024 9:18 pm

And the interesting thing about Patrick Stewart was when he was offered to come to LA to audition for the part of Picard he had never heard of Star Trek, so he tells the story about how he called an American friend of his in Hollywood and asked if it was a good idea.
His friend told him, he could not refuse, but to be warned, if he got the part it might change his life forever.
Well he got the part, but after the first season or so he started to become disgruntled.
Picard was depicted in the first couple of seasons as a sort of chairman of the board, always holding meetings to discuss situations and then come to a wise solution.
He finally went to the producers and told them he was a trained Shakespearian actor, who could do sword fights, run up and down stairs, etc and he missed that.
So they wrote the famous two parter when Picard has a vacation on a pleasure planet and runs afoul of an unscrupulous female Indiana Jones type character who is trying to steal an object from the Ferengi.
That was his first love interest Vash.
Anyway he finally got to do fight scenes and love scenes, and the rest is history..

TomTV · August 11, 2024 10:32 pm

And of course, he then infamously had a torrid affair with Jennifer Hetrick, who played Vash (I mean, who wouldn't... they had chemistry for sure). It ended his marriage.

And yes, in those early seasons, Picard was annoying -- always grumpy, always complaining (get that child off my bridge!) and barking orders to his crew. At least that is what I most vividly recall as to why I didn't like the character.

That completely changed though with two season 3 episodes: "Who Watches the Watchers" and "Yesterday's Enterprise" (with a story so good, that it could've been a feature film). Both cast Picard in a kinder light, as a more thoughtful and introspective leader willing to sacrifice himself for the ideals of his society (and of course, to make sure that history never forgets the name, Enterprise).

So it may be that long after most of us gave up on Schitt's Creek, those who stuck around were rewarded with comedy that marked the reason why critics love the show today. The writing team figured out how to write the show to its fullest potential. This also happened with Deep Space Nine, a Trek show that I absolutely loathed, which ultimately became the best Trek show as far as I'm concerned, after "Way of the Warrior".

EDIT: for fun, I googled this HR article about Yesterday's Enterprise, and turns out one of the staff agreed with me:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/star-trek-episode-saved-next-generation-1280374/

“I wish we did this as the plot for Generations,” Moore says, referencing the first Star Trek feature film featuring The Next Generation crew that he co-wrote with Brannon Braga. “If we hadn’t have done that episode, then [the movie] would have been the Enterprise-A coming through that wormhole, and you’d have Spock and Kirk and everyone on that ship, we’d play the same story. They — the original crew — they had to go back to their deaths. And Guinan knew Kirk, and Guinan knew Picard, and that would have been an amazing movie.”

Last edited by TomTV (August 11, 2024 10:45 pm)

RadioActive · August 12, 2024 7:00 am

The corollary to this whole thing is when you see something you thought was great and the critics universally hated it.

In my case, that likely meant the final episode of one of my all time favourite shows, St. Elsewhere, where (spoiler alert!) the entire show is revealed to have taken place in the mind of a character's autistic son.

I thought it was perfectly in keeping with the writing and tone of the show and that it was a brilliant way to end it. Those who review TV for a living almost universally condemned it as a dumb and terrible choice.

But to me, it's still one of the best finales in television history.

mic'em · August 12, 2024 7:10 am

To answer the question in the original post, I didn't find Only Murders in the Building amusing at all. I found Marty Short just irritating at times. I realize it was meant to be campy . I won' be viewing season two.

mace · August 12, 2024 1:22 pm

Of those 15 Classic television episodes, I would switch "Lucy Does a TV Commercial" with "Job Switching" aka the Chocolate Factory.

Leslieville Bill · August 12, 2024 2:11 pm

I never enjoyed Breaking Bad or The Sopranos. Succession is another that escapes me. To each his own.

RadioActive · August 12, 2024 2:18 pm

Same here on all three.