11:15 – Just another work day for me. Barbara is over at her sister’s house for the day.
We finished watching S7 of Despicable Housewives last night. The four lead housewives are, to put it mildly, not likable characters. They lie, cheat, steal, and backstab, and that’s among their “friends”. They are selfish, greedy, self-centered, and profoundly stupid. They in fact have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. This series is supposedly a comedy, but I see nothing funny about it. I instinctively like Marcia Cross, the actress who plays Bree, although her character is about as despicable as the others. I instinctively dislike the other three actresses, to the extent that I’ll probably never watch anything else in which any of them is featured. The fact that this series is a world-wide hit puzzles me.
Just another work day for me, too. More productive than most because the house is empty — everyone’s off doing church stuff and then a Christmas dinner at a friend’s house later. There was a bit of noise and tumult as the four-year-old went through her presents with impressive efficiency, but that’s ok; I don’t have to work all the time.
Agreed, on the uselessness of Deranged Housewhores. I’ve never seen an episode but have caught pieces when my wife watched the first two or three seasons. Seemed stupid and utterly without merit (whether you’re talking about the characters or the show) even by the low low low standards of American shows targeted at women.
“The fact that this series is a world-wide hit puzzles me.”
Well, nobody can understand those who are 70 IQ points lower.
My pet peeve on TV is the sitcoms with their laugh tracks. My take is that the producers realized that the lines are not funny and people will not laugh on their own. So they insert the laugh tracks assuming that the watchers are stupid enough to be tricked into thinking that those lines are funny.
My take is that the producers realized that the lines are not funny and people will not laugh on their own. So they insert the laugh tracks assuming that the watchers are stupid enough to be tricked into thinking that those lines are funny.
It’s not that simple. Research has shown that laughter is somewhat contagious. Watching a comedy alone will not be as amusing as if in a crowd. Laugh tracks are an attempt to compensate for the audience at each viewing site being so small.
RBT wrote:
“Despicable Housewives…The fact that this series is a world-wide hit puzzles me.”
I never understood the attraction of Seinfeld, although many family and friends loved it and made watching it a priority.
I won’t watch anything with a laugh track. Barbara and I watched about five minutes of the first episode of that comedy series with the physicists, but I simply couldn’t tolerate the laugh track. That was on DVD, and I couldn’t believe they didn’t have an alternate audio track without the laugh track.
I couldn’t believe they didn’t have an alternate audio track
If they did have an alternate track it was probably in Spanish for the southern California and Arizona crowds.
I never understood the attraction of Seinfeld, although many family and friends loved it and made watching it a priority.
I’ve always thought that those who have ever lived in NYC would have a little better appreciation for Seinfeld.
That makes sense. I’m not that into Seinfeld, and I’ve never lived in NYC. Not only that, it’s about the last place in the US I’d want to live. I wouldn’t mind visiting, but I think everything there is overpriced, so it would be a short visit.
I’m at a loss as to how Despicable Housewives can be so popular. I’m also at a loss to explain the success of the Really Obnoxious Housewives of ______ shows. I suspect the moral deficiencies of the characters (or real life subjects) extends to the audience as well. I wonder if the audience aspires to be more like the people they watch on TV? Or if they somehow identify with the characters?
I liked Seinfeld for the first couple of seasons, but his whiny tone drove me nuts. I wouldn’t want to live in NYC, either, but WHAT a city to visit. I was there for a week, and I didn’t find it “that” much more expensive than every where else I stayed. The 4 star hotel I stayed at on 28th and Madison was less per night than the 4 star hotel in Ktown, and was much more “4 star”. Food was about the same per plate as any restaurant in Canada, but came with twice as much food, and far better service.
Don’t get me wrong, to properly enjoy NYC, you need oodles of cash, but that’s because there is SO much to do and see. I’ve been twice to NYC, and I would go again.
But let me save up for a couple of years, first!