@adammorgan I too watched this because of the disparity between critics and audience. And because of Witherspoon, Carell and Aniston, let's be real. I do wonder what your wife said in response.
I found it compelling. I thought it was a refreshing take on the whole me too phenomenon. Especially when we got that flashback episode. You seem to think it got better so I hope you watched all of the show before reviewing.
I think you either feel empathy towards Carell's character or don't. I am a woman, I have been raped, and the dude I accused was convicted and is in jail fyi, I'm not just out here claiming victimhood. Feel free to ignore this comment tho. Identity politics are the very worst. But I still found this enjoyable to watch. Was it just Carell's charisma? We'll never know.
You're absolutely right about how much good tv there is. But I am so, so glad the big names chose to do this project.
Which dramas are you referring to? What are these wonderful dramas? Serious question.
I disagree with you on the crying and losing their s*** scenes. It was good and believable acting.
I would give this show an 8/10. Satire is my favourite tv show genre tho, so I may be biased.
@sixofhearts Thank you for your thoughtful reply. The weird thing about critiquing a show like this is that at some point the reviewer has to separate the subject matter from the quality of the show. I think that too often movies that portray important subject matter get a softer touch in reviews. I do want to be clear that none of my comments are meant to be commentary on the me too movement. I also love satire - I am not sure that I would put this in that category.
I think the problem that I had with the show is that it took a while before it figured out what it wanted to be. It just felt really scattered at the beginning - I read speculation that this may have been a result of the fact that so many cooks ended up being involved in the production once it was perceived that things were off track. To be honest I thought Bombshell did a better job at portraying a similar environment at Fox. They finally allowed Anniston's character to stop whining and crying halfway through the series and gave her some decent lines.
I can't say that I felt empathy for anyone other than the victims and their stories weren't really flushed out until the later episodes. Empathy for Carell's character? Not at all, although I would say that one of the better jobs that they did was to show that he did have some points about those that enabled him later in the show (again, this is meant to be a comment on the storytelling and not the acts). I recently read Ronan Farrow's book on the Harvey Weinstein - it's amazing how many people enable these guys.
As for the decent Dramas.... Better Call Saul. The Deuce (made by The Wire's showrunner, it was a more grown-up version of the Wire and unlike the Wire finished with its best work). AfterLife. Better Things. The Sinner. Fargo (it's a must-watch). Fleabag (although not really a drama). Feel free to follow me if you'd like to see what else I watch.
Review by IHateBadMovies.comVIP 8BlockedParent2019-11-05T13:18:21Z— updated 2019-11-12T18:37:59Z
I decided to give this show a look because I was curious about the wide difference between what the critics think and what the audience seems to think. The first 20 minutes or so were ok. I like all of the actors in the show and Aniston appeared to be doing some really good work. That said, I said to my wife "the only thing keeping this show was a music bed behind the dramatic scenes".
And then came the music bed and it went full-on network drama. This is not a compliment.
The main problem with this show is that the story just isn't compelling. It might be one thing if something like this happened mid-series once we got to know the characters. The last third of the show was completely unwatchable. As good as Aniston was at the beginning it was uncomfortable watching her cry in scene after scene.
I don't get what attracted the actors to this show. There have been soooooo many good series on cable these days - couldn't they find a better one? This is especially true of Steve Carell as he has been in some wonderful dramas.
EDIT The show did get better in later episodes as new storylines and conflict developed. That said, it's pretty safe to say that in just about every scene where someone cries or loses their s*** it's a bad scene.
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