Cringe-Watching

[DaveJavu]

Wow, and they have at least one legit actor!

Define legit.*


I know you're being funny but I 'd still like to know.

[MFA]

Define legit.*


I know you're being funny but I 'd still like to know.

The Family Ties mom.

[DaveJavu]

The Family Ties mom.

No that's not what I mean.. What makes her legit vis a vis the others?

[MFA]

No that's not what I mean.. What makes her legit vis a vis the others?

I'm not saying that the others are bad actors. By "legit," I mean "proven." You can't last umpteen seasons (even on "just a sitcom") if you suck.

[DaveJavu]

I'm not saying that the others are bad actors. By "legit," I mean "proven." You can't last umpteen seasons (even on "just a sitcom") if you suck.

Ok.

[Maestro]

What's the WORST thing .. television/movie (excluding Trump/Politics.. too easy) .. you've endured recently . . .


Me?


Big Brother .. .

I was getting some work done on my car.. Big Brother was on the television.. OMFG ..

Early on in the quarantine, my wife and I decided to finally finish the last few seasons of 3rd Rock from the Sun, a show we have always enjoyed, but had never seen beyond the first 3-4 seasons.

The last couple of seasons were...not up to the same standard as the first few. There were some good episodes, but there were a lot of clunkers, not the least of which were the William Shatner ones (a guy I normally find to be funny, but not here). They got away from the "viewing humanity from the outside" theme and started focusing on the mechanics of the alien world the characters came from, which was neither interesting nor funny.

Someone also decided that putting famous guest stars (Shatner, Megan Mullally, Elvis Costello, Alan Cumming, John Cleese, etc.) on a silly show was, all by itself, wonderfully hilarious, regardless of the writing.

They were wrong. Most of the special guest star episodes in the last two seasons were among the worst of the series. Giving a crappy script to famous people doesn't magically make the script funny.

In addition, they neglected any character growth which is essential in a multi-season show, even in an absurdist slapstick comedy. In fact, they did the opposite. They started making drastic, unexplained changes to characters that were completely divorced from how they had been portrayed before (mostly Don and Sally) and Tommy's character became wildly inconsistent in how he was portrayed, alternating between the voice of experience and complete idiot depending entirely on what the plot required of him.

So, yeah, a lot of the episodes from seasons 5 and 6 of 3RftS weren't our favorite moments of television.

[Maestro]

The Family Ties mom.

Did you catch that Scott Valentine (Nick from Family Ties) was also in it?

[MFA]

Did you catch that Scott Valentine (Nick from Family Ties) was also in it?

I did not!

[DaveJavu]

Early on in the quarantine, my wife and I decided to finally finish the last few seasons of 3rd Rock from the Sun, a show we have always enjoyed, but had never seen beyond the first 3-4 seasons.

The last couple of seasons were...not up to the same standard as the first few. There were some good episodes, but there were a lot of clunkers, not the least of which were the William Shatner ones (a guy I normally find to be funny, but not here). They got away from the "viewing humanity from the outside" theme and started focusing on the mechanics of the alien world the characters came from, which was neither interesting nor funny.

Someone also decided that putting famous guest stars (Shatner, Megan Mullally, Elvis Costello, Alan Cumming, John Cleese, etc.) on a silly show was, all by itself, wonderfully hilarious, regardless of the writing.

They were wrong. Most of the special guest star episodes in the last two seasons were among the worst of the series. Giving a crappy script to famous people doesn't magically make the script funny.

In addition, they neglected any character growth which is essential in a multi-season show, even in an absurdist slapstick comedy. In fact, they did the opposite. They started making drastic, unexplained changes to characters that were completely divorced from how they had been portrayed before (mostly Don and Sally) and Tommy's character became wildly inconsistent in how he was portrayed, alternating between the voice of experience and complete idiot depending entirely on what the plot required of him.

So, yeah, a lot of the episodes from seasons 5 and 6 of 3RftS weren't our favorite moments of television.

I think I saw the John Cleese episode (it was a long time ago) and I kinda liked it. I remember he took a few potshots at the politicians of the time, it was funny. I wonder if they let him improvise those lines. I didn't watch that series in full only a few episodes here and there. I only saw Shatner in a flash-back scene, so I don't know how he was, probably overacting as usual.

[Maestro]

[SEASON FINALE SPOILERS FOR 3rd ROCK FROM THE SUN IN THIS POST!!!]

I think I saw the John Cleese episode (it was a long time ago) and I kinda liked it. I remember he took a few potshots at the politicians of the time, it was funny. I wonder if they let him improvise those lines. I didn't watch that series in full only a few episodes here and there. I only saw Shatner in a flash-back scene, so I don't know how he was, probably overacting as usual.

There were 3 Cleese episodes. There was one early on in Season 3. My guess is that it's the one you're thinking of. Honestly, I don't remember that one all that well because it's been a while, but I don't remember disliking any of the episodes from the first 3 seasons.

His other appearance is in the two-part finale episode (season 6). I'm assuming you'd remember if the episode you were thinking of was last episode of the series.

Keep in mind, I didn't say I disliked the use of guest stars. I said the writers (or probably much more fairly, the NBC executives) fell into a trap during the later seasons of thinking they could give poor scripts to guest stars and it wouldn't matter because "Hey look, it's Kathy Bates tying John Lithgow to a chair! That's hilarious!"

A lot of the later guest star episodes seemed to focus on the bizarre nature of the Solomon's alien world, rather than the fish-out-of-water stories that made the first 3 seasons so funny. Their alien world was only funny when we saw glimpses of it, like Harry being a transmitter for the Big Giant Head. That was funny. But seeing other aliens and technology from their world almost never was.

[SERIOUSLY, SPOILERS FOLLOW THIS LINE!]

The season 6 plot with Cleese involved him coming back to turn the world into an amusement park for chimps. His part ended with Dick using alien technology to turn Cleese into a chimp right in front of Mary, which led to the whole reveal of who he is and such. Frankly, it wasn't handled very well and any time the aliens used technology (something that happened with increasing frequency in the last two seasons) was rarely funny IMO. What was funny was their reaction to humanity's absurdities, not them shooting laser guns, using transporters to go to other dimensions or sending neighbors off to the stars in a flying saucer (all things they did in the later seasons).