Unpopular TV Opinions You Hold

I have to say the idea of Penny/Sheldon has always kind of grossed me out.

I saw a lot of pro-Penny/Sheldon talk before I ever saw an episode, and I was STUNNED by the time I actually got around to watching a few episodes of the show. Penny and SHELDON??? That guy? Really??? I mean, really, to each his own, and people like what they like, but I was not expecting Sheldon to be so...Sheldony. I think the only people who would be more weirded out by the concept than me are Penny and Sheldon themselves.

I don't get Homeland. It's not bad. It's, you know, fine. But the "ZOMG -- brilliance!!" thing? I don't get it. Claire Danes is good, even though I kind of dislike her as a human being. Mandy Patankin is good, even though he's a loon. Damian Lewis is good too. But I find the writing sort of predictible and it felt like the entire first season was just a circle where not much happened. Then there's the fact that there's probably a mole in the CIA and no one seems particularly concerned about it, nor does the show seem to be particularly invested in the storyline. I don't know. I just don't get it, I guess. But I'm terrified to admit that, because people who love it, well, they LOVE it and their defense of it is so over the top sometimes that it's just easier to be like, "Oh, yeah. Amazing show. Totally."

I still have Homeland in my TIVO - not sure if to watch or not because this show is based and written by the same person on the Israeli show (which everyone watched here and was in awe of) - I too am not sure if this is the show for me...

I've watched half the season, and I'm interested in watching the back half via Showtime On Demand, but I'm not DYING to watch it. It's really good, yes, but I'm with you: not OMFGBLOWMYBRAINSOUT good.

demgirl wrote:Then there's the fact that there's probably a mole in the CIA and no one seems particularly concerned about it,

As soon as I learned this show had the same producers as 24, I figured out exactly where it was going to go. It was pretty much the same twists. At some point, they shouted something about the perimeter, and I giggled like a crazy person. With that said, I loved it. But I do worry that season 2 will follow the same shitty path season 2 of 24 did, where half of the season is good and half is utterly dreadful.

I want to try Homeland because everyone's raving about it and because Damian Lewis is cool people, and yet I can't get myself to actually download an ep.

I managed to go until last week without ever watching an episode of American Idol

Game of Thrones - Can't get into it. I thinks its endlessly complicated, I can't keep straight who is whom, and gratuitous sex doesn't make for a interesting plot.

I feel like I'm missing something, since so many folks feel the love - but its just not doing it for me.

dday515 wrote: I can't keep straight who is whom.

I love it myself, but...when I watch it, I do wonder how the people who haven't read the books keep track of everyone. I think I would have trouble myself if I wasn't already familiar with the characters.

I watched the first season before reading the books and I didn't know how a majority of the characters were related until I read the books.

This is where my love of soap operas come in to play. I'm usually trying to work out how certain characters can date without it being incest so with GoT it's a little easier to keep track of people.

Yeah, I watch with my husband and I tell him who everyone is when he asks (he has a hard time keeping track of them all as well). This is especially tough for GoT bc you can't really google it without spoiling the hell out of yourself.

I don't know if it comes from years of watching The Wire or not but I haven't read the books and can follow okay. Though it was definitely easier when I rewatched series 1.

I read Book 1, then watched most of Season 1, then read Book 2, and I have found the combo helpful. I get really bogged down with Ser This Guy and Ser That Guy, this Lannister cousin who's married to this lord, this castle that's currently occupied by that guy who took it from this other guy, Boras Thisname and Boras Thatname, Varys, Viserys, Jory, Jorah, Aemon, Aerys, Aenys (yes, there is a guy named Aenys) the Tarlys, the Tyrells, the Gold Cloaks, the Red Cloaks, the Kingsguard, the City Watch, etc. In particular there's a scene in Book 2 at Winterfell where there's basically an unending list of nobles and knights and shit sitting around talking about their relatives and their castles and their interactions past and present, and I was like, I hope if I actually need to know any of these people later the book will remind me, because I am NOT GOING TO RETAIN ANY OF THIS.

Reading the book, then having it reinforced in the series with (and this is key) only the most important characters given names and faces, has helped me sort it out. Now I can even distinguish more of the minor characters by how they're NOT in the TV show (or not very much). And reading Book 2, I had a better handle on it. I expect after seeing Season 2 I will have a better handle on the folks who are prominent in the second book.

So basically, after both reading the book and watching the season I have a decent grasp of most people, but before that I have some trouble.

Hell, in the second book

Spoiler:

I haven't read the books, but I've mostly been able to keep everyone straight. I can't always match names to faces, but I can retain that this person is that person's friend/rival/brother/lover/mortal enemy. Maybe, like TiffanyNichelle, my years of soap watching is coming in handy.

dday515 wrote:Game of Thrones - Can't get into it. I thinks its endlessly complicated, I can't keep straight who is whom, and gratuitous sex doesn't make for a interesting plot.

I feel like I'm missing something, since so many folks feel the love - but its just not doing it for me.

That's pretty much what I've been thinking from the point of view of the books. I just started reading the first book and I know I've only kept reading because I've been watching the series - having those faces and voices in my mind as I'm reading has helped make the material more accessible and interesting. Without that, the book's over-written/over-plotted type of story and style does nothing for me but make me kind of stabby. I'm just curious as to how it was adapted - how the characters translated, what was left out, what was put in, that sort of thing, but honestly, for such a long and convoluted book series I think I'm happy just sticking to the show to see what happens.

I really like the show, but I couldn't get through the first book either. So it goes.

FWIW, I've found the Game of Thrones Wiki extremely useful for figuring out what the hell is going on without getting spoiled -- the contributors have been very good about not posting major book spoilers.

My Doctor Who opinion is that I can't stand Rory Williams. He's a dull, dreary, drippy killjoy who has no sense of adventure and Amy should have ditched his whiny ass long ago.

I tried to watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and I didn't laugh once. The characters aren't edgy, they're just a$$hole$.

I first read the first book of the Game of Thrones series a few years after it was published (a LONG time ago). I could only keep a few of the characters straight, even though I was a veteran reader of "big" novels with casts of thousands. I was clinically depressed at the time, and I assumed that my inability was due to that, but now I'm not so sure. I liked the book but wasn't motivated to pick up the sequel, and actually forgot that I had read it within a few years. About 5 years later, I was haunted by this dreamlike memory of the sky-cells, but I couldn't be sure what book I'd read it in. Finally figured it out, picked up the book again, reread it, fell in love, rec'd it to husband/mother/aunt, who all read it and loved it. And we were all off to read the whole series. HOWEVER, I still found it difficult to track all the secondary/tertiary characters until my third read-through a year ago. And if I were watching the tv series without having read the series multiple times? I would be struggling for sure in terms of the detail of the exact relationships (much like Band of Brothers, which I found SO GODDAMN FRUSTRATING to watch because I could only keep about 4 characters straight until the series was nearly over.)

To sum up this long post, I am amazed that so many newbies are into GoT, and that it has been such a success. I was hoping for that, but I wouldn't have bet on it.

Snarker wrote:My Doctor Who opinion is that I can't stand Rory Williams. He's a dull, dreary, drippy killjoy who has no sense of adventure and Amy should have ditched his whiny ass long ago.

Holy crap, are you me??? I'm seriously wondering if you and I have some kind of Tyler Durden thing going on because I've written those exact words on several occasions. I'm sad Amy has to leave too just so we're rid of him. I'm really hoping the new companion doesn't have a boyfriend to guilt trip her and harsh her buzz. I just want the Doctor and his BFF running around having awesome adventures, dammit!

Raksha wrote:

Snarker wrote:My Doctor Who opinion is that I can't stand Rory Williams. He's a dull, dreary, drippy killjoy who has no sense of adventure and Amy should have ditched his whiny ass long ago.

Holy crap, are you me??? I'm seriously wondering if you and I have some kind of Tyler Durden thing going on because I've written those exact words on several occasions. I'm sad Amy has to leave too just so we're rid of him. I'm really hoping the new companion doesn't have a boyfriend to guilt trip her and harsh her buzz. I just want the Doctor and his BFF running around having awesome adventures, dammit!

*clutches heart, pearls and nearby bar of chocolate*

GASP!! Such hatred towards poor Rory Williams Pond!! I am aghast!

tothemax put you up to this, didn't he??!! He's not content with hating them himself, he has to drag others into it as well!! I must create a large sparkly banner that proclaims the awesomeness of Rory Pond!!!*

*I'm just joking. I don't make banners.

Raksha wrote:
Holy crap, are you me??? I'm seriously wondering if you and I have some kind of Tyler Durden thing going on because I've written those exact words on several occasions. I'm sad Amy has to leave too just so we're rid of him. I'm really hoping the new companion doesn't have a boyfriend to guilt trip her and harsh her buzz. I just want the Doctor and his BFF running around having awesome adventures, dammit!

I saw Arthur Darville in an adaptation of Little Dorrit and he was good as the mooching, layabout brother - completely different from wimpy buzzkill Rory, so it's not the actor. I just don't see why Amy should settle down so early and with a guy who wants her to be a boring housewife.

Another UO: I loved LOST until the end. So what if they didn't answer the questions, the characters are great.

I also can't stand Rory, with the exception of only one or two moments.

I thought originally about blaming Arthur Darville's lack of chin (I know, I'm shallow, but I really must insist on men having a good chin) but I've seen him in interviews and as himself he's an attractive, likeable man. So it's basically Rory I want to shove down a bottomless pit. I hate that he's so humdrum and so determined Amy should be too.

By the end, there were so many damn questions that I can't even recall which ones I wanted answered anymore. I loved the Lost finale and adored the show from start to finish, Esseilte!