wth is Whitney?!
― wolf kabob (ENBB), Friday, 20 April 2012 15:10 (twelve years ago) link
http://www.nbc.com/whitney/
― boy, was that Dan Fielding hungry for some cake! (forksclovetofu), Friday, 20 April 2012 15:11 (twelve years ago) link
i don't want to live in a world where "not as bad as whitney" is any kind of laudable achievement
― bene_gesserit, Friday, 20 April 2012 15:17 (twelve years ago) link
yeah that looks dreadful
― wolf kabob (ENBB), Friday, 20 April 2012 15:17 (twelve years ago) link
bene, no argument; what i'm asking is what is it WORSE than within its field? how many directed by/written by/starring sitcoms are better than GIRLS even after one episode?
― boy, was that Dan Fielding hungry for some cake! (forksclovetofu), Friday, 20 April 2012 15:30 (twelve years ago) link
currently running of course, i know "Mary Tyler Moore was so much better"
Whitney is the most trad-sitcom crap ever. Characters and plots calculated to appeal to a cross-section of groups that might watch tv in that timeslot and everything.
― mh, Friday, 20 April 2012 15:31 (twelve years ago) link
xp not that she wrote MTM, whatever, you get what i'm getting at
― boy, was that Dan Fielding hungry for some cake! (forksclovetofu), Friday, 20 April 2012 15:32 (twelve years ago) link
Can I just take a moment to lament abt my v wonderful but maybe a bit too feministy friend who seems to think the only reason people don't like this show is that it's centered around women, and that How To Make It In America is the EXACT SAME SHOW but with men and how nobody hated on that, etc.
― Time, a group with Jam and Lewis (Stevie D(eux)), Friday, 20 April 2012 15:33 (twelve years ago) link
i think that definitely makes it more of a target, there is no doubt
― A Little Princess btw (s1ocki), Friday, 20 April 2012 15:35 (twelve years ago) link
xpost
No one watched it either
― Moodles, Friday, 20 April 2012 15:35 (twelve years ago) link
i think it's true that a lot of pressure is being placed on this show in part because a young woman created it. i mean, i am putting a lot of pressure on this show for that reason. but it's a little more complex than people hate this show because they hate women. i think part of the reason i was a little bummed there were no people of color in prominent roles is because i was so excited about and invested in the show.
xxp
― horseshoe, Friday, 20 April 2012 15:35 (twelve years ago) link
but yes, also, s1ocki otm. the bruni response is frankly insane, for example.
― horseshoe, Friday, 20 April 2012 15:36 (twelve years ago) link
haha bruni frankly
― lag∞n, Friday, 20 April 2012 15:38 (twelve years ago) link
How To Make It In America is the EXACT SAME SHOW but with men and how nobody hated on that, etc.
well nobody hated on 'how to make it...' cuz nobody watched it, tbf
― Lamp, Friday, 20 April 2012 15:38 (twelve years ago) link
I h8d on it and also did not watch it
― lag∞n, Friday, 20 April 2012 15:39 (twelve years ago) link
what was bruni's thing
― A Little Princess btw (s1ocki), Friday, 20 April 2012 15:39 (twelve years ago) link
part of the complexity at play is that it's a show about easy-to-hate women, written by/directed by/starring a womanso you're supposed to hate the characters but they want you to like the showexcept many people connect the characters to the creators which is a ley line she's seemingly intentionally left intactso everybody gets to play hunt the wumpus on everyone involved's social media and promo press to get an AHA they ARE really just dumb bitcheswhich tbf is absolutely NOT the way any normal male-centric sitcom would work but they're absolutely intentionally playing to that dynamicthough i suppose if james franco started an HBO sitcom...
― boy, was that Dan Fielding hungry for some cake! (forksclovetofu), Friday, 20 April 2012 15:40 (twelve years ago) link
http://bruni.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/31/naked-in-new-york/
― horseshoe, Friday, 20 April 2012 15:40 (twelve years ago) link
no such thing as a bit too feministy tbrr
wait no:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/opinion/sunday/bruni-the-bleaker-sex.html
― horseshoe, Friday, 20 April 2012 15:41 (twelve years ago) link
I never saw How To Make It In America but didn't Kid Cudi star in that?
― da croupier, Friday, 20 April 2012 15:42 (twelve years ago) link
i watched this with my anarchist activist NYU assistant professor friend and her take was that all the characters were perfect dopplegangers for her undergrads (and i felt the same way, just about my fleet of interns) but that she didn't want to spend time with these people in real life and had no interest in spending leisure time with them either
― boy, was that Dan Fielding hungry for some cake! (forksclovetofu), Friday, 20 April 2012 15:42 (twelve years ago) link
yeah thats why I couldn't watch the sopranos
― iatee, Friday, 20 April 2012 15:43 (twelve years ago) link
― horseshoe, Friday, April 20, 2012 11:40 AM
for realllllll
― bene_gesserit, Friday, 20 April 2012 15:47 (twelve years ago) link
i wouldnt want to spend time in real life with the characters on a lot of shows i enjoy, that argument is silly whether you're an assistant NYU professor or not
― A Little Princess btw (s1ocki), Friday, 20 April 2012 15:51 (twelve years ago) link
"if i could only hang out with littlefinger! :("
xps
sorry, that was totally and stupidly misworded; I just meant she sometimes oversimplifies or reduces things to "People hate this bcz WOMEN" which is often but certainly not always true.
― Time, a group with Jam and Lewis (Stevie D(eux)), Friday, 20 April 2012 15:52 (twelve years ago) link
slocks, you're missing the point; it's more like it you work in a hospital that it's coals to newcastle to watch, say, nurse jackieit's not enlightening and it's exposure to a world you're exhausted with already
― boy, was that Dan Fielding hungry for some cake! (forksclovetofu), Friday, 20 April 2012 15:54 (twelve years ago) link
I get the comparisons to How To Make It In America (young, New York) but they're really not very alike.
― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Friday, 20 April 2012 15:54 (twelve years ago) link
Stevie I've read that a couple places and agree that it probably has something to do with it but don't think that's the sole or overriding reason it's gotten so much criticism. It's oversimplifying it.
― wolf kabob (ENBB), Friday, 20 April 2012 15:55 (twelve years ago) link
ha x-posts
not all of us have a fleet of these lil stereotypes
― lag∞n, Friday, 20 April 2012 15:55 (twelve years ago) link
I want to watch a show about asshole nyu profs
― iatee, Friday, 20 April 2012 15:56 (twelve years ago) link
'profs'
― boy, was that Dan Fielding hungry for some cake! (forksclovetofu), Friday, April 20, 2012 11:54 AM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
k fair enough, but as i'm not a nyu prof, and few ppl are, it's like...
― A Little Princess btw (s1ocki), Friday, 20 April 2012 15:58 (twelve years ago) link
I don't have to watch the show... I lived it
― lag∞n, Friday, 20 April 2012 15:59 (twelve years ago) link
loooooooool
― Lamp, Friday, 20 April 2012 15:59 (twelve years ago) link
the nieghborhood has changed so much
also ppl love watching shows about what they do, it gives the something to pedantically complain abt and feel superior to
― Lamp, Friday, 20 April 2012 16:00 (twelve years ago) link
slocki, normal people don't "review" shows, they decide whether or not it's worth their time based on their interests and lifstyle. you're allowed to crack jokes about getting enough of this shit at work.
― da croupier, Friday, 20 April 2012 16:00 (twelve years ago) link
thats why i wish more shows were abt posting on msg boards, playing elf warrior 6
good drama or comedy can overcome familiarity - the most popular sitcoms revolve around 'shit lots of people experience' taken to an absurd extreme
If you don't find Girls (thru one episode, of course) to be funny or well-written as melodrama, it's just going to be like hanging out with a bunch of people you dislike.
― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Friday, 20 April 2012 16:00 (twelve years ago) link
what sitcoms do anarchists like anyway
― iatee, Friday, 20 April 2012 16:01 (twelve years ago) link
'alf'
― Lamp, Friday, 20 April 2012 16:02 (twelve years ago) link
How I Met Your Mother, Louie IME (ie mine)
― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Friday, 20 April 2012 16:02 (twelve years ago) link
a lot of ppl also perversely like watching/commenting on things they dislike or that irk them, like, A LOT so that's a p good premise for a tv show tbh
― johnny crunch, Friday, 20 April 2012 16:04 (twelve years ago) link
from everything i've seen lena seems unsure herself to what extent the sexual relationships her character engages in are degrading/problematic (in one interview she says something like that she thinks the character will snap with anger at the way she is abused by the end of the season), sex-positive (she says that the character is completely choosing what is happening, there is no coercion, 'i did enjoy it!' etc), or something in between (and in that Bruni piece she notes that tension in the way the second sex scene was shot and Apatow says, 'you look like you're being murdered'). there's nothing wrong with that tension, and afaik it's the most interesting thing about the show, but also it seems like ppl feel ambiguous about that being at the center of discussion re the show?
obv it's a little unfair to try to break all this stuff down after one episode - and a pilot no less - it does seem a little early to really start putting pressure on that dynamic, but it also seems like the text of the show and i kinda wish ppl would discuss it more but maybe it's too personal a thing to talk about? (in particular, i wish everyone who has said that they relate the most to those scenes would discuss that more and explain exactly how, etc, but maybe that's asking too much)
― Mordy, Friday, 20 April 2012 16:11 (twelve years ago) link
sorry if this is one note of me - lol - but it's kinda the only part of the show i found interesting
― Mordy, Friday, 20 April 2012 16:12 (twelve years ago) link
it's funny to watch people go "i can't believe we're talking this much about this after only one episode!" and then keep posting about it. it's ok, guys, people talk about pilots, it's allowed.
― lathe darkman (some dude), Friday, 20 April 2012 16:13 (twelve years ago) link