Thanks to social media, I get to watch people on a
list named “Friends,” most of whom I’ve never met and likely never will, talk
about the stuff they’re into on a sometimes second-by-second basis. As a
result, I have noticed that even those people that pride themselves on being “different”
and “weird” usually tend to be just as sheep-like in their tastes as the
supposed mainstream they look down upon.
It’s been a rude awakening for me, especially considering how I’ve been
forced to draw the sad conclusion that I have only a little more in common with
them than I do with those who consider my interests bizarre or lacking in merit
of one type of another.
So, most of the television shows these people are
into get discussed and drooled over on a constant. Below is a list of some of
those shows and how I feel about them:
Game
of Thrones- It started out mildly interesting in its first
season until one of the two only interesting characters got killed off. By
season two, I realized I not only didn’t care what was happening, but what was
happening was little more than exploitative melodrama.
The
Walking Dead- As far as I’m concerned, there are two
versions of this show: The brilliant and riveting six-episode first season led
by Frank Darabont, and the slow descent into pointlessness, abject stupidity,
and formulaic claptrap of the later seasons. Guess which one I liked?
Orange
is the New Black- I actually heard a radio interview
with the woman whose actual life story inspired this show, and her apparent
cluelessness intrigued me. Sadly, after three or four episodes, I found myself
bored, annoyed and not at all invested.
The
Big Bang Theory- I’ve written so much about this geek
culture minstrel show that at this point it almost feels self-indulgent. Bad writing,
terrible actors with nearly zero comic timing and shoe-horned geek pop culture
references make this show pure torture to try and sit through.
Castle-
I used to like Nathan Fillion. And I don’t blame him for jumping at his own
major ntwork series, but this one just happened to be a combination of every
show I’ve ever hated. All the clichés are there, from the would-be witty
dialogue, the clunky sexual innuendo, the candy-ass mysteries, the implausible
inclusion of a character who shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near police work (“The
Mentalist,” anyone?) and a chemistry-free casting. So glad to see this one go.
Scandal-
Shonda Rhimes excels at juvenile, tittering shows about the idea of sex from
the perspective of middle school age children, so it’s no surprise that this
ludicrous foray into silliness is equal parts unbelievable plots and screwing.
I know there are more but those are the main ones I’m
constantly reading about. Next up, a list of show I like that everybody seems to hate~