i agree. their friendship was a moving part of the show. david's development in general was pretty incredible. it's hard to fit that kind of growth into a modern sitcom without making it seem forced or hackneyed.
― treeship., Monday, 7 December 2020 15:15 (three years ago) link
yes!! man thank you for articulating that so perfectly
xpost
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Monday, 7 December 2020 15:15 (three years ago) link
David was incredible precisely because, other than Moira, he seemed least likely to adapt to the new surroundings.
― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Monday, 7 December 2020 15:38 (three years ago) link
Re Stevie: To understand her, I imagine if I had never been able to leave my rural hometown, pop. 3500, and had been surrounded by the same people I went to school with for the rest of my life; how embittered and isolated I would have been.
It's bleak, folks.
― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Monday, 7 December 2020 15:42 (three years ago) link
completely otm. he pretty much says exactly that when she inherits the hotel from her late aunt
― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Monday, 7 December 2020 15:42 (three years ago) link
*she
Like, you are not an appealing person who can make friends in that state. You trust no one and everything you do hurts. It's a lot.
― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Monday, 7 December 2020 15:43 (three years ago) link
that's also precisely why, while it scares her at first, doing the town's production of Cabaret has a somewhat transformative effect on her
― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Monday, 7 December 2020 15:44 (three years ago) link
she says a lot of things during S1 that hint at that - something about not wanting to have sex with anybody at the party (after David mentions it) because she knows way too much about everybody in this town to want to do that.
― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Monday, 7 December 2020 15:45 (three years ago) link
I'll happily wave it away because the series in general is so amazing on so many other levels, but one weak spot is the 'having its cake and eating it too' aspect of the town itself. It seems to vacillate between being a miserable Schitthole and a tiny utopia depending on the immediate needs of the plot.
― You will notice a small sink where your sofa once was. (Old Lunch), Monday, 7 December 2020 15:50 (three years ago) link
I mean that's kinda how small towns are? it sucks when you want to go to a movie and you only have one theater and it's 15 miles away and only shows 2 movies, or how the nearest hospital seems to be over a half hour away, and all the nice stuff is in Elmdale.
but sometimes you're sitting in Twyla's cafe and your'e in a good mood with people you cherish and in that moment, it feels like bliss?
I can't imagine how that council gets anything done with Roland, though.
― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Monday, 7 December 2020 15:52 (three years ago) link
Moira -- overall best imo Alexis -- idk why but she always cracked me up and I loved her, I loved when she went back to school and the thing with Ted was very sweet even if every younger man in this show is some kind of fantasy boi Jocelyn -- hilarious, sort of the anti-Stevie
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Monday, 7 December 2020 15:55 (three years ago) link
xpost I guess. My own bliss aggressively evaporates the further I move away from my mom's home into my podunk high school town but maybe that's just me.
― You will notice a small sink where your sofa once was. (Old Lunch), Monday, 7 December 2020 15:56 (three years ago) link
Jocelyn's near meltdown in the apothecary when she wanted to ask David to do her baby shower sends me into fits each time. it's the friendly demeanor barely concealing bubbling rage that kills me about her. esp with Moira.
I loved the one ep where David mocked the way Alexis talks - "why would I do thahhhht"
― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Monday, 7 December 2020 15:57 (three years ago) link
I also think Moira is probably the empirically correct answer here, but I'm tempted to vote for Alexis. Anne Murphy does so much--mostly physically--with what starts as a really tired cliche of a character. Also, the running gag of matter-of-factly referring to her ludicrous tabloid past somehow never gets old (contrast with a similar running gag on The Good Place that does get very old).
― rob, Monday, 7 December 2020 16:07 (three years ago) link
yeah, I lost track of how many drug lords, sultans, or other people of power she either had to seduce or escape
― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Monday, 7 December 2020 16:08 (three years ago) link
Annie Murphy is a stealth MVP for sure. Her various character tics are endlessly hilarious. So glad all of the main cast won Emmys this year.
― You will notice a small sink where your sofa once was. (Old Lunch), Monday, 7 December 2020 16:19 (three years ago) link
There is a great line in Gilmore Girls, which is said about TJ and also applies to Roland. That he has terrible instincts, but he combines them with zero follow-through, so it all works out.
Also, the running gag of matter-of-factly referring to her ludicrous tabloid past somehow never gets old
Partly because they never, ever delve too deeply into it. I will be heartbroken if Netflix does an Alexis Rose origin story.
every younger man in this show is some kind of fantasy boi
If I want to see regular-looking men in sitcoms, there is plenty of Chuck Lorre on offer. Clearly Dan Levy likes to surround himself with beautiful things and people, and I am fine with that.
― trishyb, Monday, 7 December 2020 17:31 (three years ago) link
― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Monday, December 7, 2020 4:08 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink
I tried to find a tweet last week but came up short--something to the effect that Alexis is INCREDIBLY resourceful, adventurous, morally suspect enough not to look back too critically at whatever worked, in complete control of her sexuality... in short, an international woman of mystery! She has been kidnapped, borderline prostituted/sex trafficked??, has pick-pocketed and scammed and bluffed and seduced her way around the world and no one has ever seen her as anything but a beautiful object, which is why she gets away with half of it. She's a whole universe in one character and I agree it only works because they never elaborate but really...she's the whole deal.
― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Monday, 7 December 2020 17:41 (three years ago) link
xp - i'm not talking about their looks, though there's that too! -- i was referring to the combination of their looks + their personalities. i like them, they just don't seem like people i have ever encountered irl. it's a nice contrast to the roses as well as more typical portrayals of "men alexis might date" (esp considering her reckless behavior in the past -- i think this is why i love her so much!)
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Monday, 7 December 2020 17:43 (three years ago) link
There’s no way I can pick a favorite although I like some characters more than others.
Twyla’s amazing in her faux-friendly presence and matter-of-fact delivery of the rare bits of insight she drops that are almost always hinting at bad personal circumstances. Never as over the top as Alexis’s stories, just more relatable and depressing. How do you know if you’re actually close to someone so guarded? They opened that up toward the end but she keeps everything so close to the chest
― mh, Monday, 7 December 2020 21:22 (three years ago) link
i got legit choked up when my folks up on the Cabaret season finale today. just in the moment where Stevie really launches into "Maybe This Time" and simultaneously realizes things as Sally and herself, and then her friends give her a warm standing ovation afterwards.
I think Always Sunny in Philly brought on the "toxic protagonist" comedy trend where comedy after comedy would trot out complete assholes with no redeeming qualities and we were supposed to root for them getting comeuppance week in and out. Some shows pulled that off really well, but after several seasons of it, I often would get frustrated that there'd be no actual warmth or character development, just a new way for the mains to act like pieces of shit and then get the shit beat out of em for it.
I wouldn't say Schitt's Creek subverted it in that it never really painted its main characters as complete assholes, more narcissistic fish out of water who are rich and entitled and aren't used to living in a small town or do things for themselves,but it was refreshing that they grew as people and found the town changing them as much as the inverse - slowly and gradually.
― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Monday, 7 December 2020 21:27 (three years ago) link
*when my folks put on
― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Monday, 7 December 2020 21:28 (three years ago) link
Annie Murphy is so physically talented, and so pretty, and she brings so much life and likeabilty to what could otherwise be a flat character. Patrick is the same. Roland seems like he's from a broader show. But my vote goes to Jocelyn, who started out funny and stayed that way for the entire time. I would totally hang with any of these characters in real life.
― mildew and sanctimony (soda), Monday, 7 December 2020 21:44 (three years ago) link
it probably should be Moira but voted Jocelyn
― timber euros (seandalai), Monday, 7 December 2020 21:47 (three years ago) link
still just midway thru s4 but i'm ngl patrick is kind of grating on me. like yes david's a big baby and a mess but the way patrick talks to him feels super condescending. and when him and stevie gang up on david it's the worst!
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Monday, 7 December 2020 23:27 (three years ago) link
There’s only one honest answer but I voted Gwen.
― Yelploaf, Tuesday, 8 December 2020 00:05 (three years ago) link
Bob constantly expecting Johnny to actually do work for his garage and constantly misreading things was another favorite element of this show.
― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 00:07 (three years ago) link
i voted Alexis because I know Moira will win
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 00:18 (three years ago) link
ok y'all have convinced me to restart despite roland
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 8 December 2020 00:29 (three years ago) link
(thanks!)
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 8 December 2020 00:30 (three years ago) link
Roland is pretty unbearable in S1 but then somehow manages to become hilarious doing the same things after that
― howls of non-specificity (sleeve), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 00:34 (three years ago) link
also, in orbit devastatingly otm about Stevie's inner life
― howls of non-specificity (sleeve), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 00:35 (three years ago) link
"Roland, will you GET THE FUCK OUT?" = have never agreed with a tv character more
― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 00:49 (three years ago) link
Gwen as a character was kind of forgettable but I love every story about her.
― Mr. Cacciatore (Moodles), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 02:46 (three years ago) link
She's a wild lady living her beat life, but we mostly only get to experience that via Bob's grief
― Mr. Cacciatore (Moodles), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 02:48 (three years ago) link
Am I the only one who likes Roland? I voted for Jocelyn though.
There's too much David in this show, is my challops. You can have too much of a good thing.
― Alba, Tuesday, 8 December 2020 04:33 (three years ago) link
I enjoyed Roland! I especially like the way him & Eugene Levy played off each other
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 04:57 (three years ago) link
^^^ no
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 8 December 2020 05:03 (three years ago) link
I liked Roland fine, but him winning would be a travesty. He's just there to fluster everybody
― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 05:13 (three years ago) link
jeez calm down i voted for moira
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 06:01 (three years ago) link
lol i support your Roland defense!
― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 06:15 (three years ago) link
Roland’s entire shtick as a character reminds me of when David Letterman would find something innocuous funny at the beginning of an episode, and keep on it throughout the night until it became a little funny, then irritating, and finally back to funny again. The only example that comes to mind was when he decided the phrase “shetland pony” was funny and kept mumbling it between segments
― mh, Tuesday, 8 December 2020 12:58 (three years ago) link
Is 'Roland Schitt' a pun?
― Bidh boladh a' mhairbh de 'n láimh fhalaimh (dowd), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 19:00 (three years ago) link
ooooh
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 19:01 (three years ago) link
Jaqueline = jack schitt? I don't know.
― Bidh boladh a' mhairbh de 'n láimh fhalaimh (dowd), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 19:02 (three years ago) link
Roland Schitt! OMG!
― Lavator Shemmelpennick, Tuesday, 8 December 2020 19:08 (three years ago) link
Oh, I made up Jacqueline - it's Jocelyn of course.
― Bidh boladh a' mhairbh de 'n láimh fhalaimh (dowd), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 19:13 (three years ago) link
Roll in shitJostle in shitMutt shit
Makes you think....
― Mr. Cacciatore (Moodles), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 19:15 (three years ago) link
that's kind of amazing. was Mutt his real name? I don't see any other reference.
― howls of non-specificity (sleeve), Tuesday, 8 December 2020 19:39 (three years ago) link