Shout by cabbagehead
VIP10Very slow, very boring, very pretentious, very crap, I would rather sever my leg than sit through another episode.
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Wow, tough crowd. Don’t watch it then?
I was excited seeing another Pendleton Ward animation, but after watching the first 2.5 episodes I lost all interest. It’s full of pseudo intellectual conversations about religion, existentialism, drug use, etc. I’m all for the latter two topics of conversation especially, but this show really had no idea wtf they’re talking about regarding any of it. It’s basically a very poorly done rip off of the brilliant film, Waking Life. Also I’d like to note that I rarely give up on finishing a show before judging it, but this was the exception. It’s sooooo bad.
PS. I’d like to add the actual animation, atmosphere of the scenery/planets/dimensions, and the gore gratis were pretty stellar. It’s the subject matter and format of the show itself that’s so terrible.
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@todkon "I’m all for the latter two topics of conversation especially, but this show really had no idea wtf they’re talking about regarding any of it."
Can you provide examples of what you found incorrect and then explain how it could be improved?
To be sure, a "pseudointellectual" pretends to be smarter than they are. You can talk about things in which you don't know everything or the topic is considered serious or deep colloquially, and still speak to your understanding of it.
Waking Life has meant more to me than any singular film, and it has its fair share of "empty" or "out there" sequences and conversations. I don't take every line as a mockery of what could have been said nor as gospel. Other creators are allowed to explore how they present conversations, and Linklater is far from the first to present a kind of flowing surrealism while people are talking.
Just done with this. Although I can't say I love it as a whole series or among my favorite comedies, this is surprisingly sturdy the whole way through. Even its worst season (in its late run) has at least one great episode and a few very good ones sprinkled throughout. Above all though, this has to be among the most perfect comedy ensemble castings ever? Not a weak link here, which carries it some way through even at its worst writing. I've seen comment here and there that often singles out Kudrow at the only "real" actor of the cast, which must be career retrospective bias or otherwise it's insane, since all work so well individually and together from the start, and honing their skills over time as the series progresses and even as their characters become more caricatures. Ross as a character, for example, regresses bad around the time of his second marriage crumple in Season 5, but that conversely frees Schwimmer up for some of the best physical bits ever in the show.
Not ranking the cast (genuinely can't do it at the moment), but (alphabetic) praise for each:
Aniston - best dramatic acting
Cox - best (barely suppressed) manic energy
Kudrow - best throwaway airiness/non-sequiturs
LeBlanc - best facial expression/reaction
Perry - best line delivery
Schwimmer - best physical comedyloading replies
As for favorite episodes, from ones I rated 9 and 10 on here (I categorize the scores by 9 as a show's all-timer, and 10 as among my all-time favorite episodes ever):
10/10
1. The One Where Everybody Finds Out
9/10
2. The One with the Embryos
3. The One with the Morning After (Schwimmer and especially Aniston here are so great)
4. The One with Ross's Sandwich
5. The One Where No One's Ready
6. The One with All the Resolutions
7. The One Where Ross Got High
8. The One with the Proposal
9. The One with Rachel's Going Away Party (l like this more than the series finale actually, as it's pure characters-oriented goodbye rather than plot-oriented one)
10. The One with the Two Parties
11. The One Where the Stripper Cries
12. The One Where Paul's the Man
