E PLURIBUS ANUS posted:Why is it nobody's watchin'? You might be interested in the fact that Last Man Standing has double the viewers on a friday that Parks and Recreation gets on thursday.
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May 13, 2014 19:31
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GaussianCopula posted:You might be interested in the fact that Last Man Standing has double the viewers on a friday that Parks and Recreation gets on thursday. Yeah, I know, but it rhymed, which was more the point
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May 13, 2014 19:37
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GaussianCopula posted:You might be interested in the fact that Last Man Standing has double the viewers on a friday that Parks and Recreation gets on thursday. This terrifies me.
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May 13, 2014 20:08
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To be (more than) fair, there aren't many explicitly right leaning shows on the networks for that audience. Things like Family Guy and Two and a Half Men have the same tired, 'politically incorrect' misogyny and racism for punchlines, but those shows masquerade under liberal banners and occasional jabs at Republicans inbetween rape and illegal immigrant jokes. And if you don't vote for the right people, you're not a real American, no matter how much you hate women.
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May 13, 2014 21:19
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E PLURIBUS ANUS posted:2) I don't think this review was very good, I struggled with something interesting to say and I'd like to get people's reactions on this specific one I haven't watched the episode, or any episode of this show, because gently caress that. So maybe this is all wrong. But you're kind of treating the show like it's a Republican propaganda machine devoted to fleshing out Republican talking points, and I'm not sure it is that. It sounds like it's a show about the world as seen by a conservative Republican. Those can be kind of different things. I think a lot of conservatives probably do think of many Hispanic people as hardworking, conscientious, etc, even at the same time as they endorse policies that are motivated by racism against them. The show isn't screwing up a political manifesto. It's reflecting a confused personal worldview that has a lot of contradictions.
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May 13, 2014 22:26
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Practical Demon posted:To be (more than) fair, there aren't many explicitly right leaning shows on the networks for that audience. While I don't think Tim Allen's character is any more right leaning than Hank Hill (ie not at all), you're right when you say there's very little political diversity on the networks. While a lot of that stems from the silver spoon, upper class writers and producers who make television shows, most of it comes from the apolitical nature of network television in general. Networks don't want to alienate half their viewership by taking a stand, so they choose to say nothing and the result are blank slate characters the viewer can insert his own politics into. Tim Taylor says something I don't like? He's a Republican. Andy from P&R was funny this week? Big time lib. Don tells Peggy to shut her loving mouth? Definitely a conservative. And so on.
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May 13, 2014 22:30
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I'm not talking so much about characters. As these reviews have shown, the political and social beliefs of the creators inevitably insert themselves in the creation and solving of storylines. Last Man Standing isn't too subtle about it, and neither was King of the Hill. But something like Mad Men is making a statement about the misogyny and grossness of its characters by showing these people are ultimately wrong as the world moves on around them. This is hidden under a layer of period piece, but the attitudes their commenting on haven't disappeared in 50 years. Edit: and wait, are you saying Tim Allen's character in this isn't right leaning?
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May 13, 2014 22:37
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I have never seen LMS, but having a sympathetic right-leaning character doesn't necessarily mean the show or Allen has a right-leaning agenda. Practical Demon posted:But something like Mad Men is making a statement about the misogyny and grossness of its characters by showing these people are ultimately wrong as the world moves on around them. This is hidden under a layer of period piece, but the attitudes their commenting on haven't disappeared in 50 years. Yes, and no. If Mad Men was just about women's issues, no one would still be watching it seven years later. Misogyny on Mad Men is a surface detail, like period clothing, music and cultural references. The show is actually a treatise on aging and the difficulty we have dealing with, and adapting to, change. Yeah, Peggy fought the patriarchy, but the biggest battles she fights are against herself. Misogyny didn't stab her boyfriend, she did. In other words, hers is a deeply personal story and attributing political undertones to it is more a reflection of your politics than it is the show's.
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May 13, 2014 23:20
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Practical Demon posted:Edit: and wait, are you saying Tim Allen's character in this isn't right leaning? Irish Joe. Unless he's actually trying to say Mark(?) and Hank Hill are both just really really stupid people indoctrinated to conservatism and simply don't know any better. Occ's impression of the show doesn't support that beyond one or two episodes where Tim Allen is beat over the head with things, and even then it sounds like the majority of the show is a vehicle for lovely racist/misogynist/classist cheap shots.
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May 13, 2014 23:22
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Irish Joe posted:Yes, and no. If Mad Men was just about women's issues, no one would still be watching it seven years later. Misogyny on Mad Men is a surface detail, like period clothing, music and cultural references. The show is actually a treatise on aging and the difficulty we have dealing with, and adapting to, change. Yeah, Peggy fought the patriarchy, but the biggest battles she fights are against herself. Misogyny didn't stab her boyfriend, she did. In other words, hers is a deeply personal story and attributing political undertones to it is more a reflection of your politics than it is the show's. Misogyny is only one aspect, yes. I was using it as an example of the politics in the show. We do filter entertainment through our own biases, but writers and actors inevitably do the same thing. If a man is writing a woman character, something about how he feels about women is going to creep in there. The best writers make fully fleshed out people, though not many of them work for television, but how they view the world is going to color how they write. Nothing is completely apolitical.
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May 13, 2014 23:47
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Irish Joe posted:While I don't think Tim Allen's character is any more right leaning than Hank Hill (ie not at all), you're right when you say there's very little political diversity on the networks. Irish Joe posted:I have never seen LMS, but having a sympathetic right-leaning character doesn't necessarily mean the show or Allen has a right-leaning agenda. Then maybe try to actually watch what you make sweeping statements about? Seems the basis to discuss something, even if it is only a crappy sitcom.
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May 14, 2014 08:04
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Irish Joe posted:I have never seen LMS, but having a sympathetic right-leaning character doesn't necessarily mean the show or Allen has a right-leaning agenda. I don't think the agenda is necessarily blatant Republican propaganda, but I think it's trying to be a combination of Home Improvement and "socially conscious" sitcoms like All in the Family or Roseanne, but it's made by people who are not nearly as liberal as Norman Lear or Early '90s Roseanne Barr (y'know, before she became all about "legalize it" and not a whole lot else).
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May 14, 2014 12:50
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Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up everyone, right-leaning? Political? You must be overreacting. When this crappy ABC sitcom combines "dodgeball in primary schools" with "Chinese take-over of the White House" in order to fuel its main character's laugh-track zingers, I laugh and think nothing.
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May 14, 2014 12:51
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quote:
Nothing here but comedy folks.
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May 14, 2014 17:05
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Tim Allen should just go back to dealing coke.
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May 14, 2014 17:10
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LITERS ARE HARD.haljordan posted:Tim Allen should just go back to dealing coke. What do you mean you want a gram of coke? What the hell is a gram? No sale! hcreight fucked around with this message at 19:48 on May 14, 2014 |
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May 14, 2014 19:44
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hcreight posted:LITERS ARE HARD. I mean really, a liter is basically a quart+. It's not hard.
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May 15, 2014 10:15
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Two things: 1) Why couldn't the producers of Justified do something to keep Kaitlyn Dever off this show. The opening credits of Justified are filled with actors who barely show up (Raylan's two partners at the marshals office), couldn't they have signed her from wasting her talents on this show? 2) I'm honestly surprised Tim Allen's character's surname isn't either "Last", "Man", or "Standing".
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May 15, 2014 18:09
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Last Man Standing "Quarterback Boyfriend" Season 2, Episode 12 This review's gonna be short because, overall, there's not that much to say about this episode. An altogether solid start to finish episode with some laughs and a solid enough- but nowhere near spectacular - no strings plot makes for a dull review, since it essentially boils down to "that was decent enough". It wasn't painful. If I didn't have to review this episode I could conceivably "watch" this by putting in on in the background whilst doing other things- most notably laundry. This, I think, is amongst the highest praise this show can achieve- a painless bit of fluff -since the Christmas episode was such an outlier in all respects. The episode kicks off with the high school star quarterback , Greg Archer, attaining local notoriety as he is in the final decision time to determine which college he will sign with. Mike realizes that this is the perfect opportunity to hire him at the store for "local PR", an overall intelligent move on Mike's part. Greg, of course, turns out to be an entitled womanizing boor, and Mandy turns out to also of course want to date him, and of course the final scene ends with Greg standing her up on their date to bang another chick as instead Mandy realizes what a great guy Kyle is, continuing the will-they-won't-they teasing of earlier episodes. This ain't some world-shaking stuff, here. There are multiple reasons why this episode is decent and I want to note them for future criticisms. First reason: Make the plot focused on an external conflict over an internal division. Most to all of the previous plots of the show have been about Mike in conflict with someone else in the main cast over, usually, an ideological disagreement. Ideological disagreements one, can't really be resolved (because nobody really ever changes their mind over their beliefs and instead at best, just cedes to the other side), and two have no stakes. Mike doesn't loving exist, why do I care who the gently caress he's voting for? There's no character connection there, because it is quite literally meaningless. Finally it usually makes one character the rear end in a top hat an as a result nobody in the main cast is sympathetic because, in order for conflict to occur LMS' writers make one person a complete douchebag. Second reason: Make the plot apolitical. LMS is really bad at expressing politics in general, and the best episodes of the show have been either an attempt at nuance or the exact opposite, which was a complete and utter lack of any sort of political opinion. There's nothing inherently wrong with having politics as a main point of discussion within the show, it's just that the LMS writing staff is really, really bad at it beyond cheap one liners and caricatures. Since the main cast is full of, at the very least, decent comedic actors that can handle a "funny" script- or at least make it not unpleasant to watch. And yes, that includes Tim Allen- he can be a brilliant comedic actor when he's not Archie Bunker played straight. Third reason: Center the plot around a decent character. In this case the plot was mostly a Kyle-centric episode, who is either my favorite or second-favorite character on the show. This episode also has major Mandy screentime, which works due to the triage the show has done to the perception of her character where she's still really dumb, but not bordering on mentally retarded. In contrast, a Ryan, Mike, and to a lesser extent Kristen-centric plot is usually terrible because of how awful the characters are, I simply have no emotional connection to the story and just want everyone onscreen to get hit by a bus. Fourth reason: Focus the episode. This episode, essentially, only has one real plot. This is to the episode's benefit as it doesn't feel like a tonal or narrative mess like the previous episodes have had, or have so many things going on that the climax/denouement/resolution feels completely out of nowhere. By trying to tell a simple story with a simple A-to-B-to-C, it's difficult to almost impossible to screw that up Final reason: Bring the jokes. This is the most important, and something the show has struggled with. I would like and maybe even enjoy he most racist, sexist, soapbox-y episode of LMS if it were funny, but the writing staff has no earthly idea how to write jokes 60+% of the time, and it shows. It also makes the soapboxing and hatred all the more unpalatable because that's all you're getting. Anyways, to sum up: Breezy and inoffensive. Frequently funny, or at least amusing. Grade: B Random Thoughts:
NieR Occomata fucked around with this message at 19:51 on May 16, 2014 |
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May 16, 2014 19:48
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Last Man Standing "What's In a Name?" Season 2, Episode 13 There are two types of bad that every bad episode of Last Man Standing can be: The political claptrap conservative hogwash bad that is common to this godawful excuse of a "sitcom", and the badness of LMS taking an unfunny premise, then completely and utterly running whatever two-second nonjoke, that mental fart, into the ground so thoroughly and completely that, in a way, it ends up kind of impressive how bad it is. This episode has both those things! (Apologies for the delay between this and the last review, I had to go take a long, hard look at my life and how it has come to this after reviewing episode 12. Weird fact: Ever since I started reviewing LMS, I can't feel sadness any more. That's...normal, right?) Mike learns that Boyd has taken Ryan's last name, Vogelson, on school papers. This makes Mike upset because Mike wants Boyd to have the Baxter last name. Somehow this whole thing transforms into Mike and Ryan competing over who Boyd is gonna race Pinewood Derby cars with and whoever wins Boyd goes with to the race? I honestly don't really get how that particular dot really connects, but whatever. Then Mike learns a lesson about Ryan trying to be a good father and ~courageously lets Boyd go with his Dad even though he won~. End credits, everyone feels good, go home. There's so many problems with this episode I don't really know where to start. For context, I'm a bastard born out of wedlock who took his mother's last name, so in this particular case this episode actually hits close to home. The problems with this episode are myriad. For one, Mike doesn't really have a problem with Boyd taking Ryan's last name inasmuch as Boyd not taking Mike's last name. It makes the whole episode feel disingenuous as Mike rails on and on about how Ryan was a deadbeat who wasn't there for the first 2-3 (it's never made exactly clear) years of Boyd's life, so Ryan doesn't "deserve" to force Boyd to have his last name. But that's not the problem Mike has; the problem is clearly that Mike wants the Baxter name to continue on with Boyd even though he's not Boyd's father. It's just disgusting that Mike turns an issue that should be a complicated and empathetic one, what children who are born out of wedlock's last names should be, and makes it into this personal vendetta he has to continue his last name. It's turning Boyd into a political football, which, much like the episode "Circle of Life", is some really gross and offensive poo poo that LMS pulls and almost always leads to a terrible episode. Another problem is is that Mike makes a big, loud deal- including focusing on this issue in one of his godawful vlogs -that Ryan doesn't "deserve" to pass on his last name (due to the aforementioned 'being a deadbeat') and that, to "honor" the mothers'- in this case Kristen's -sacrifices children born out of wedlock should take their mother's last name. The entire argument is twofaced garbage because it is established at the very beginning of the episode that Kristen is fine with Boyd taking the last name of Vogelson. If we're supposed to be honoring Kristen's sacrifices, why is there a problem in the first place? Because it's a loving lie meant to engender sympathy when in reality this entire conflict is engineered around Mike's megalomania. And it's gross. Again, to route this back to my own life experiences, my Mom had me out of wedlock, gave me her last name, then remarried. This means that I'm literally the only person in my family with my last name and, in particular, my family name ends with me. However, if and when I have kids I'm not gonna force them to take my last name if they don't want to, nor will I force any SO I have to take it. The whole point is that I decided, internally, to take my Mom's last name and wasn't influenced by any sort of patri- or matriarchal influences. I did it because, ultimately, it felt right and I don't regret that decision at all. This sexist garbage takes all the sort of agency that Kristen, or indeed, Boyd could have and feeds it into Mike's ego. It's just gross especially to the audience of people like me such an episode is meant to pander to. It doesn't help that the entire argument feels one-sided. At no point is Ryan really unreasonable- he asked Kristen and she consented to Boyd listing his name at school as "Boyd Vogelson". The focus of all the offensive conservative garbage is from Mike. Ryan, unlike in "Circle of Life", is presented as reasonable throughout and mostly just humoring Mike's weirdness. It just makes the conflict all the more contrived and unnecessary. Additionally the focus of all of Mike's arguments revolves around how Ryan was a deadbeat for two or three years. There's multiple problems with this- it's never portrayed onscreen what life was like before Ryan came back into the picture, so all we have is Mike's unreliable word about how much of a piece of poo poo Ryan was. It also seems kind of petty since Boyd is at least 5, so at this point Ryan has been, at least, in Boyd's life almost as long as he hasn't been. Plus, let's be loving honest- Ryan not being around in the first two to three years of Boyd's life probably had little to no negative effects on his development, considering that's the age when kids are learning of the concept of object permanence and walking. But that's not all! Remember when I said this episode was two types of bad? Well, the latter type of badness arrives in spades during the B plot, when Mandy decides to make a viral video a la "Friday" with Kristen and Eve. If your toes curled unnecessarily, and your eyes dilated automatically, when reading that line, oh, let me assure you- it's so much worse than you could imagine. Watching that loving video might be the single most unpleasant experience I have had with LMS and might be one of the worst overall things I have seen this year. It's so bad, Jesus loving Christ. A challenge, readers: pull up Last Man Standing season 2, episode 13, then watch it from 19 minutes in. Try and sit through that. I loving dare you. Grade: F Random Thoughts:
NieR Occomata fucked around with this message at 18:23 on May 20, 2014 |
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May 20, 2014 18:14
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Now that sounds like an incredible episode of terrible TV. A really good take on the last name issue, especially how Mike has no drat say in it yet apparently manages to make it all about him and how he feels about it anyway. By the way you describe it, it even sounds like he's portrayed as "graciously conceding" at the end rather than learning anything about not getting way too involved in his grandson's business. And holy hell, that Obama joke. The best touch isn't even the Dunham bit, it's the Barry bit - people have called Barack Barry for all sorts of reasons, including Barack himself, but the way that line's structured I can just feel how much more comfortable Dolash fucked around with this message at 19:02 on May 20, 2014 |
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May 20, 2014 18:59
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E PLURIBUS ANUS posted:Additionally the focus of all of Mike's arguments revolves around how Ryan was a deadbeat for two or three years. There's multiple problems with this- it's never portrayed onscreen what life was like before Ryan came back into the picture, so all we have is Mike's unreliable word about how much of a piece of poo poo Ryan was. It also seems kind of petty since Boyd is at least 5, so at this point Ryan has been, at least, in Boyd's life almost as long as he hasn't been. Plus, let's be loving honest- Ryan not being around in the first two to three years of Boyd's life probably had little to no negative effects on his development, considering that's the age when kids are learning of the concept of object permanence and walking. Well, it seems you have to watch all of season 1 to get the be able to fairly review the show, as Ryan being a deadbeat is established there (he only shows up once). From Mike's perspective he did most of the father duties for the first 2-4 years of Boyd's life when Ryan was not there to support his son/the mother of his son. During this time Boyd became the son Mike always wanted and never really got (Eve only counts 1/2).
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May 20, 2014 19:28
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E PLURIBUS ANUS posted:Last Man Standing I posted that video on the last page.  That review was glorious.
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May 20, 2014 21:27
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E PLURIBUS ANUS posted:But that's not all! Remember when I said this episode was two types of bad? Well, the latter type of badness arrives in spades during the B plot, when Mandy decides to make a viral video a la "Friday" with Kristen and Eve. If your toes curled unnecessarily, and your eyes dilated automatically, when reading that line, oh, let me assure you- it's so much worse than you could imagine. Watching that loving video might be the single most unpleasant experience I have had with LMS and might be one of the worst overall things I have seen this year. It's so bad, Jesus loving Christ. GET IT YOU GUYS IT'S DICK SHE'S TALKING ABOUT DICK 
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May 20, 2014 21:51
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The 'Ryan was MIA during Boyd's childhood' confusion is because their find and replace was less than diligent. In season 1 Boyd isn't even in preschool, in fact there is an episode that deals with Mike's frustration that Kristen wants to send him to Pre-Preschool, and by season 2 he is in Kindergarten. When Ryan had been gone for two years in the first season he had basically never been there in Boyd's entire life. Then in season 2 they kept saying he had been gone for a couple years even though they should have moved that amount up about as much as Boyd's age had increased. The most confusing part is that at the beginning of season 2, like the first episode, there are some mentions that Ryan has just returned prior to the premiere. It's some bad book keeping. Like on 70s Show where there are three Christmases and two Halloweens between Eric's 17th and 18th birthdays, or King of the Hill where Bill's house is simultaneously across the street in front of the Hill's house as well as the alley behind it. However I don't like this show so I have less reason to ignore it.
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May 20, 2014 22:58
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It really is hosed up how many conservatives view their children and grandchildren as political pawns. This also hit home for me as I also picked my last name because of a complicated family life growing up, so, sympathy
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May 20, 2014 23:03
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IRQ posted:GET IT YOU GUYS IT'S DICK SHE'S TALKING ABOUT DICK I wonder if those actress got the script and saw the costume design and then locked themselves in their trailer with a bottle of vodka and kept reminding themselves "main cast, hit ABC show, main cast, hit ABC show" until rehearsal.
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May 21, 2014 00:38
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Last Man Standing "Buffalo Bill" Season 2, Episode 14 "They're watching Ellen with Trevor's two moms." What do you think when you read that line? If it were spoken aloud? I challenge all of you to speak that line aloud to yourself. What is your first reaction? It's an expository line right? One that merely conveys a factual state? That's all it is, right? Trevor has two moms, and the eponymous 'they' are watching Ellen. What if I were to tell you that line, in this episode of Last Man Standing, is a laugh line? And a significant one, not one in which there's some nervous laughter in response. I'm talking a comedic pause so the audience can yuk it up. I'm not crazy in thinking the only way you'd find this line funny is if you're a giant homophobe right? Like literally there is no other context in which that line is funny. It isn't a callback, nor a reference, and I've provided full context for the line as spoken. As far as I can determine the only possible way you'd find this line funny is if you find the concept of lesbians an inherently laughable one, much less ones that watch Ellen. Because she's like...a lesbian too, so clearly these lesbians are trying to push their lesbianism on their not-lesbian son. I think? In an episode chalk-full of casual racism and some really outright vile treatment of Ryan and parental rights in general, this stood out to me as the most offensive. Merely because it seemed to be inserted for the sole purpose, of an episode not about homosexuality or being gay in any way, shape, or form, to score a mean-spirited and really hacky "joke" at the expense of a whole group of marginalized people. It's just...so bad and dumb. The episode in question isn't much better. We open on Mandy, Eve, and Boyd in a rehearsal for a Buffalo Bill-inspired Wild West show that Outdoor Man is putting on (hence the name of the episode). Apparently it's Buffalo Bill's birthday or something. The show features, of course, a wagon under attack by "Indians", which is saved by the rootin' tootin' gunslinging of Annie Oakley as played by Eve. In the opening scene, as per usual, we get the usual self-aggrandizing complaining from Mike et al about how they have to PC up the Buffalo Bill show, removing mentions of such words as "Injuns" and "wampum", despite how as Ed disingenuously notes "that's what the Buffalo Bill show would describe the [Native Americans]." Enter Ryan stage right. Apparently it is "his" day to see Boyd, and he's offended that one, Mike didn't let him know where Boyd was and took him for the day, and two, that Mike is making him take part in something that glorifies the massacre of innocents. There's a lot of issues with this scene. One, any American who's ever cracked open a history textbook is aware that everything Ryan ascribes to what the Americans did during American Expansionism is accurate, and in some ways is whitewashed. This isn't a debatable issue that LMS likes to trade in- it's a cold hard fact that America killed millions upon millions of innocent, peaceful indigenous peoples during the mid to late 1800s. That happened. Moreover, we, as in America, directly and aggressively subjugated and "ghetto-ized" the Native Americans we didn't kill such that many to most Native Americans are set up to either fail or operate quasi-legal operations such as cigarette/drug shops and/or casinos. It's a disgusting, depressing negative cycle of depression for most to many Native Americans that lasts to this day because most Americans simply do not care, and only care inasmuch as to make Native Americans into "smokum kemosabe" caricatures. So when you get lines like this: Ryan: "All right, then let's teach him the real history. The road west was paved with the blood of the indigenous population." Mike: "But it got paved. And when do we stop paying for stuff that happened hundreds of years ago?" It's not only untrue, and unfunny, but dangerous, malicious misinformation that only seeks to marginalize an already long-suffering people we literally tried, and very nearly succeeded, in wiping from existence. Again, America tried to wipe out an entire race of people, and even unlike the current black problems in America, the Native American struggle gains little to no media coverage and has no significant voice. This episode, which is quite literally a Native American minstrel show (including the fact that everyone refers to them as "Indians"), only seeks to hurt public perception of the Native American plight which gets no coverage or notice as it is. So it's all the more ridiculous we're supposed to be allied against Ryan. By every quantifiable measurement of a character being in the right, he is in the right: It's his day to see Boyd. What Mike and crew are putting on is insulting and belittling to an entire race of people and factually incorrect on every count. But let's continue. After the rehearsal Mandy, who has been up to this point been openly flirting with Kyle, walks with him to her home. They flirt and share an almost-kiss which Kyle, of course, obliviously completely misses the cue on. At the Baxter home, Ryan arrives early to meet Kristen in private. Apparently he has had a lawyer draw up documents so his visitation rights are official and not just a handshake agreement between him and Kristen, so Mike can no longer violate it willy-nilly. As far as we have seen, this is a completely and utterly reasonable request for Ryan to make, so of course Mike flips out and asserts that Ryan has no rights (because as Mike once AGAIN reiterates, Ryan wasn't around for three years). Despite the legal inaccuracies of a claim, let's examine this situation rationally: Ryan has a reasonable request to see his kid. He has a reasonable request for the times and days (I think it's 2 days out of every week and every other weekend?) he wants to see Boyd. His request, which has been agreed to by Kristen, has been violated by Mike. And...somehow, Mike is in the right here? What? Why are we supposed to be taking this rear end in a top hat's side? Why are we supposed to be cheering when Mike snipes about the reason that Ryan left was because Kristen didn't get an abortion? How is any of this an ethical or moral thing for Mike to be doing? Why is it that apparently, we should forget the horrible human atrocities that a country made two hundred years ago, but it's perfectly fine for Mike to not get over the fact that an 18-year-old kid was an rear end in a top hat who ran away from his responsibilities for a couple of years- like, you know, rear end in a top hat 18-year-old kids are wont to loving do? This episode is so weird and bad in Mike's self-righteousness, and at no point does it show Mike as in the wrong or learning why what he says and does is offensive and how treating Boyd like a pawn so he can totally show his daughter's baby daddy up is a really hosed up, sociopathic thing to do. The only saving grace of this episode- because, no, at no point does Mike realize what a loving douche he is or get called out for it -is the scene at the end of the episode between Kristen and Ryan where Ryan asserts that even though Mike is an rear end in a top hat, he is right inasmuch as Ryan was a coward who ran away from his problems, and he promises Kristen to always be there for Boyd. It was a genuinely touching scene that also backdoor gives the show ZERO loving DEFENSE to use "Ryan was a deadbeat dad" as an excuse for Mike to be a dick to him. Ryan's owned his mistakes and is attempting to change for the better, which is literally the best anyone can ever do. From here forward this show is going to be graded much more harshly if they make this a dramatic point since the episode completely resolved the issue. So expect more F's in the future I guess. Grade: D Random Thoughts:
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May 21, 2014 02:52
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You broke the tables too hard to read that E Plurbus Occupanus, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing for my sanity.
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May 21, 2014 02:55
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IRQ posted:You broke the tables too hard to read that E Plurbus Occupanus, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing for my sanity. I fixed it whoops
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May 21, 2014 02:57
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E PLURIBUS ANUS posted:Last Man Standing If this was any other show, a deliberate parallel would be drawn where Mike realizes his "Who cares it was centuries ago" defense for maintaining his cowboys and injuns display can also be applied to Ryan wanting to be a better father than he was two years ago. He'd have an epiphany, some slow licensed music would play in the background and we'd all learn something. Instead we get the opposite because Mike is right about everything.
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May 21, 2014 03:17
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DarklyDreaming posted:If this was any other show, a deliberate parallel would be drawn where Mike realizes his "Who cares it was centuries ago" defense for maintaining his cowboys and injuns display can also be applied to Ryan wanting to be a better father than he was two years ago. He'd have an epiphany, some slow licensed music would play in the background and we'd all learn something. Instead we get the opposite because Mike is right about everything. Ryan literally uses that as a defense and Mike just straight up ignores it
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May 21, 2014 03:56
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E PLURIBUS ANUS posted:Ryan literally uses that as a defense and Mike just straight up ignores it I could have sworn you were going to talk more about how in this episode Mike was the one against the use of 'racist' terminology. ("Injuns") When just a few episodes ago he found nothing wrong with it. I can't help but wonder if there's a version of this show where Ryan was black at one point. CaptainHollywood fucked around with this message at 09:46 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 04:52
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CaptainHollywood posted:I could have sworn you were going to talk more about how in this episode Mike was the one against the use of 'racist' terminology. ("Injuns") No, but there is one where he was Nick Jonas as one point.
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May 21, 2014 06:13
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When you saw the episodes title did you hope it was going to be about a serial killer slowly killing Mike? I guess no one watches network TV anymore because I can't think of any other reason this show is still on the air.
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May 21, 2014 15:10
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It actually gets really great ratings for ABC on Fridays and gives them valuable brand differentiation, considering all of their other programming is for upwardly mobile single women In addition once a show airs its full third season it's all but guaranteed a fourth season renewal no matter how bad the ratings are because that guarantees a decent syndication deal Basically when I wear my ratings analysis hat I insist that LMS gets renewed until, essentially, the end of time because it has to be hella cheap to make and pulls in great ratings to help ABC be the dominant force on Fridays they currently are
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May 21, 2014 15:20
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To put things in perspective, Last Man Standing is more popular than goon favorite comedies Brooklyn 9-9, Community and Parks and Recreation despite airing in the so-called Friday night death slot. It handily doubles each of those shows viewers and, in B99's case, triples them.
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May 21, 2014 15:33
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sbaldrick posted:I guess no one watches network TV anymore because I can't think of any other reason this show is still on the air. Just because the show might not appeal to the average Daily Show viewer it does not mean that it's not popular or liked by a large number of people.
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May 21, 2014 16:32
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Jesus loving christ. How does my mom with a minor in aboriginal studies watch this show after that last episode you described Occupation. How the gently caress.
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May 21, 2014 16:37
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Irish Joe posted:To put things in perspective, Last Man Standing is more popular than goon favorite comedies Brooklyn 9-9, Community and Parks and Recreation despite airing in the so-called Friday night death slot. It handily doubles each of those shows viewers and, in B99's case, triples them. The conservative right maybe tends not to go out on Friday nights. They'll love Black-ish.
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May 21, 2014 17:13
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