Television Meme -- Day 05

[rabid1st]

Here we go with another one...has it been a few days already?

Here is a link to the full meme, if you want to do it yourself...

http://rabid1st.livejournal.com/275285.html

Day 05 - A Show You Hate

Wow! Hate is such a strong word. I believe I have used it. I can vaguely recall snarling, "I hate this show" from time to time in the past. But generally, I don't care about enough shows to flat out hate them. It is hard for me to work up hate for a show that sucks, because I won't watch really awful shows. Like, I didn't care for the premise of Dollhouse. I didn't care for the long slide into crap that Battlestar Galactica had. Had I continued to watch BSG, I might have come to hate that show. But, I stopped watching when it started getting on my nerves. Most shows, if I don't like them, I just don't watch. It's not like I can hate them being out there somewhere. Most shows aren't THAT offensive.

I do sort of hate a couple of genres. I hate pundit shows, where some guy vents his personal prejudices, like Glenn Beck or Bill O'Reilly or Keith Olbermann. I also can't stand the confessional/manipulation shows...like Big Brother or The Bachelor or Jerry Springer or Montel Williams or Top Chef. I don't like shows that make me spend time with people I wouldn't spend any time with in real life. I mean come on...who the hell would want to spend time with Glenn Beck? Or that Top Chef guy? They're both asshats. Seeing people faun over them makes me wince. It's the opposite of entertaining in my opinion.

I also don't care much for the situation comedy. I have found sitcoms that I very much enjoyed for a great cast or for the stellar writing. I can usually watch those for a few seasons...like Frazier or Mad About You. Those shows were brilliant, but they do have that reset switch that keeps the characters stuck in their dysfunctional behavior beyond the point where it is entertaining. This is why I could watch MASH. For the most part, MASH moved people forward, there were consequences for actions.

Rae
who feels a little bit pot and kettle over the whole idea of not liking people who are sharing their personal prejudices, while sharing mine. :smirk:

Comments

[xlostangelx.livejournal.com]

Do you mean Hell's Kitchen? because I would totally be best friends with Tom Colicchio from Top Chef.

I'm with you though and don't want to watch people on TV who I would never want to be around in real life. I don't get people who watch TV with the specific goal of hating the people on the show.

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes, I probably do mean Hell's Kitchen. Now that you mention it...that seems right.

And so many shows seem designed to make you hate the people involved. I seriously dislike when hateful people infiltrate my reality shows. Like Survivor had that Johnny Fairplay guy (oddly the equally despicable Russell didn't turn me off as much, mostly because he was a little amazing to watch). There was some verbally abusive guy on The Amazing Race a few seasons back, who really put me off the show. He was so rude to his wife that the host nearly got into it with him on one of the episodes. And Phil is a very easy going guy for a reality show host.

Rae
enjoying your meme...thanks for introducing me to it.

[xlostangelx.livejournal.com]

I love Phil. That must have been before I watched though because I don't remember it but it seems every season there is someone on the Amazing Race who is just an ass and pretty much ruins the show for me. But I continue to watch that one because there are usually two or three other teams that are amazing and uplifting and just awesome. On the other hand, I disliked Russell more than Johnny Fairplay but I was pretty much the only one in that camp.

Thinking about your comment on situational comedies and how the characters are stuck in dysfunctional behavior so the show can keep it's premise ... that pretty much sums up Bones as well and is probably why I have given that show the boot. Well, I'll probably watch the premiere but if either Booth or Brennan come back married or with a kid (or expecting a kid) I'm out. I quit Alias when they did that and I liked Alias a hell of a lot more than Bones.

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean about Bones. This last season really did go beyond just people with ordinary dysfunction. It moved into the state where there is no way to believe they could actually be part of a successful couple. That's where the line gets crossed on UST.

But also, the whole idea of UST is not correct. I know that shows preach it like gospel and point to the many times when people turn off shows once the couple is together. But what they don't realize is how exhausted the audience is by that time of the entire game. And how ready to leave the pairing behind on a high note. I think if Booth and Bones got together now...a lot of people would turn the show off before it went bad again...just so they could escape from the tension.

And that's the thing...tension is stressful. When Doctor Who started the ship wars of people who hated Rose and loved Martha, I groaned, because I really loved that the show was free of ship wars. To RTD's credit it did remain free of them in canon...he kept Ten devoted to Rose and Rose devoted to him to their very last scenes. But, of course, he couldn't allow them consummation...which is the flaw at the heart of UST keeps people watching. But also...with Doctor Who it was just THIS...not so much the UST but that the Doctor was stuck in his own dysfunction. Which is why S5 is failing, if you ask me.

Anyway, enough about a show you don't watch. I have to say I did hate Russell more than Johnny in his first season. But by the Heroes vs Villians one...I was on his side. He should have had the support of the type of cut-throats that reach the top of the survivor Villians list. But since he was such an ass in real life...he didn't. I mean, I hate Sandra, too, and Boston Rob going down was one of my favorite bits. But the one thing that Survivor shows season after season is that it really isn't about survival of the fittest, like it claims. It is about relationships. People would do well, I think, to realize that about life. :wink:

Rae