Shows you end up watching in spite of yourself

[katiuska]

This is a bit different from this (http://www.nuklearforums.com/showthread.php?t=39048) thread, in that these aren't shows you necessarily ever wanted to like.

So, I have a problem where I'm totally unable to ignore the TV when anyone else has it on. The issue becomes doubly bad whenever I'm at my parents' because my mom's TV viewing is like 80% procedurals, so then there's a mystery and I have to know the answer, no matter how stupid the show is.

I think the thing that gets me the most is that we largely haven't moved beyond the Perry Mason moment where, once they've identified the culprit and the motive, they confront said culprit and get immediate exposition, usually by tripping the right trigger/articulating what went on inside the person's head. Cold Case has done this in pretty much every episode I can remember. I'm noticing this also comes up a lot in Bones, which disappoints me because people I kind of want to respect like this show. The main thing I enjoy is occasionally getting to watch Sweets play people against each other and generally stir the pot; I might go back and watch some of the earlier episodes, but I'm not sure a Sweets-less Bones is something I can care about.

[Archbio]

I've watched the equivalent of at least a full season of Desperate Housewives as a captive audience at a (bad) friend's place.

My eyes will never be clean again.

This is a show that'll create awful plot contrivances to get conflict out of their characters, often making them extremely antipathic in the process, and will solve the plots in consecutive episodes by forgetting basic facts of the very premise. An example, with no spoiler tag because spoiling this is a public service:

1. Son wants a car purchased with his inheritance money from his dead father.
2. Mom refuses and expresses intention to withold all of the moneys (all of them) until Son is 18 or something.
3. Son wants his money now and schemes to force Mom to comply. Huge asshole there.
4. Mom resists.
5. Son schemes to make Mom looks like a huge(r) asshole to get emancipation.
6. Mom "finally has had enough" and has a self-righteous moment/speech (a common dynamic on the show,) drives Son out in the middle of nowhere and dumps him there, therefore abandonning him.
7. Son becomes a homeless prostitute. He doesn't claim the money that should now be his through his successful plan. In fact, the money just ceases to exist, presumably through the power of the self-righteous moment which alters the premise of the plotline.

[Viridis]

I can't stand Bones simply because of the lead's dialog. No one talks like that, you robot alien lady.

[Fifthfiend]

Actually basically all of them.

TV IS BAD FOR YOU

[Professor Smarmiarty]

I only watch regularly two shows on tv- one of them is good (QI) one of them is awful (Survivor). The latter I obsessively watch too, we analyse editing and story arcs to predict winners- Iused to be part of spoiling community that gets links inside the production camp to get winners andeverything.
I know it's a terrible show with shocking standards (and the fanbase is awful) but I'm so addicted for reasons I know not.

[BitVyper]

I can't stand Bones simply because of the lead's dialog. No one talks like that, you robot alien lady.

Bones never got out of pilot-episode-mode. Every character pretty much walks onto the screen in any given episode and goes "THIS IS MY PERSONALITY QUIRK AND THIS IS THE ROLE I PLAY IN THE CAST!"

The only tolerable one is Boreanaz' character, and that's just because I keep pretending he's actually Angelus and secretly torturing the rest of the cast by night.

[katiuska]

I can't stand Bones simply because of the lead's dialog. No one talks like that, you robot alien lady.

ARGH.

Brennan: Particles from the cut grass are causing his mast cells to release inflammatory mediators.
Booth: It's just allergies, Bones.
Brennan: Yeah, that's what I said.

Yes, it's nice that you've also taken that biology class. Nobody talks like that. It pushed the line of credibility on TNG, and at least Data had the excuse of actually being a robot.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

The thing about Brennan's way of talking is she is wrong like half the time but nobody calls her on itan d she talks like a clod.
Reminds me of Lisa "Latin is the language of Plutarch" Simpson.

[Archbio]

I'm not sure if it's possible to study any kind of anthropology and still not know "what is this human thing you call love?"

[Marc v4.0]

I seriously know people who talk like that, but only a few of them venture out of their basements and get meaningful jobs or interact with the rest of the world. It isn't so much a case of no one is like that as it is you never see the people who act like that because -they act like that-

edit: Actually, a lot of people wear their personality quirks on their sleeves at all times. Think about how many people you encounter in any reasonable period of time that are pretty much "I am ___ and up in your face deal with it". Maybe that's just my experience.

Anyway, intellectual science people who work with molds, spores, dead bodies, theoretical physics and societal studies are almost always strange aliens to begin with.

[katiuska]

I'm not sure if it's possible to study any kind of anthropology and still not know "what is this human thing you call love?"

Oh man, don't even get me started on that. I mean, it's one thing if you're Dr. House and you willfully choose to ignore social mores because frankly, fuck other people; it's another to claim total ignorance... while also being an anthropologist. So okay, she specializes in physical evidence, but she loves to go on about culture! and anyway, you don't study anthropology without getting a heavy background in society and culture. Even if she isn't interested in anthropological phenomena within her own life, she routinely fails to recognize that it exists.

[Magus]

Isn't Bones racist now? She keeps saying "guido" hither and yon. It's not quite "wop" but still.

Yeah, yeah, I know, those stupid fucks on Jersey Shore call themselves guidos, is this really something that has to be made into a long-running joke, an anthropologist studying a shallow cultural trend which has only been around since the '80s if that? I mean, you can argue the stereotypical mafia punk of the movies was based on some real life goombahs but they didn't actually exist, just because a bunch of dumbass teenagers, forming an incredibly small subset of people, think such flamboyant knuckle-dragging obnoxisousness was for real, instead of a bunch of fairly smart criminals in some nice-ass suits, and adopt it as their calling card doesn't mean it is a "culture" that an anthropologist would study.

[BitVyper]

I'm not sure if it's possible to study any kind of anthropology and still not know "what is this human thing you call love?"

THIS TOO! I cannot believe this woman has taken the same classes I took; I mean like, she has ZERO respect for any other way of life. I get that she's a forensic anthropologist, and not really on the cultural side of things, but still man, come on. We're supposed to believe she's all worldly from travelling and shit, but she's the most closed minded member of the cast by far.

Edit: Ninja'd by Kat by like, several hours.

[Magus]

I like how you guys don't know that the series finale is going to be Bones revealing herself as an extraterrestrial who came here to learn about emotions so she could teach the rest of her species about this thing the humans call "love". The final episode is her partner trying to get her back to her spaceship before she is captured by g-men.

[The Sevenshot Kid]

Cold Case always gets me. I care nothing for the plots and the lighting is miserable, but I love their gimmick with showing the suspects and victims as they were right alongside who they became.

[Kim]

THIS TOO! I cannot believe this woman has taken the same classes I took; I mean like, she has ZERO respect for any other way of life. I get that she's a forensic anthropologist, and not really on the cultural side of things, but still man, come on. We're supposed to believe she's all worldly from travelling and shit, but she's the most closed minded member of the cast by far.

Well, it's a Fox show. I'm pretty sure the character is by religious people who only have a vague understanding of what an atheist/scientist/whateverist is, let alone how they act or think.

[BitVyper]

Well, it's a Fox show. I'm pretty sure the character is by religious people who only have a vague understanding of what an atheist/scientist/whateverist is, let alone how they act or think.

That doesn't make it less dumb. Also being religious doesn't make you a poor writer.

She's actually based on a real forensic anthropologist. They go on about researching this woman on the commentaries.

[Archbio]

She's actually based on a real forensic anthropologist. They go on about researching this woman on the commentaries.

I think that by saying that, and by giving her the name of a different if similar fictional character written by this real forensic anthropologist, they've obfuscated their "based on a true story" claim pretty good.

[BitVyper]

well, said fictional character is pretty much taken from the life of the anthropologist who wrote about her. She's more or less an author insert.

Kinda the same way the main character from Heart of Darkness is essentially Joseph Conrad with slight differences in his story.

[Archbio]

well, said fictional character is pretty much taken from the life of the anthropologist who wrote about her. She's more or less an author insert.

Yes, but this fictional character, who is an author insert, is (it seems) very different in the particulars from the fictional character, with the same name, on the show.

[walkertexasdruid]

A horrible show that I watch anyway? Oh, yeah there is WWE Monday Night Raw and Friday Night Smackdown. The wrestling is not real, the results are preplanned, and the acting is awful. Yet I still watch. What is wrong with me? I think it goes back to me loving MST3K, you know, watching something that is awful just to laugh it. Yeah, thats the ticket, right guys? Guys.....

[Magus]

Well, it's a Fox show. I'm pretty sure the character is by religious people who only have a vague understanding of what an atheist/scientist/whateverist is, let alone how they act or think.

FOX's primetime shows have nothing to do with the moralizing of FOX News, dude. This is the network that gave us Married...With Children, Jerry Springer, Family Guy, House, etc...

It is just a dumb gimmick. I have a hard time believing the real life example was anywhere near as out of touch with basic human emotions, at least to the extent that regardless of maybe not actually having the feelings, one would still understand them in other people and why they make them act the way they do. Bones claims to not understand the impulses at all, actually acting suprised at people's reactions, which makes no sense. You may think people are stupid for following their impulses but no one would actually be surprised by the fact that they do, like Bones is. She is genuinely surprised when people do things based on their emotions, despite having ample time to observe that people do things based on their emotions.

[walkertexasdruid]

I have not watched Bones that much, but for some reason my sister and her husband like to watch it.

[Ryanderman]

FOX's primetime shows have nothing to do with the moralizing of FOX News, dude. This is the network that gave us Married...With Children, Jerry Springer, Family Guy, House, etc...

Beyond that, with the way the television production works, it's probably made by an entirely seperate company, while being owned by yet another company, and Fox just licenses the rights to broadcast it in the US.

[Viridis]

TVTropes says Word of God says Bones is autistic (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AmbiguouslyAutistic). I don't think saying that helps matters. At all, really.

[Magus]

So it's just a case of the writers having no idea what people who have autism are actually like, then? I know at least two people who are autistic, the one is pretty severely autistic and is actually more emotional than the average person, and the other is kind of removed from "normal" human emotions in that they are slightly stand-offish but not to the extent they don't have any and don't recognize other people's and are all around mostly "normal" (to the extent that there is a "normal" to be part of, since there isn't really...), I'd say they probably just feel awkward around people.

So unless Bones has a special "robot autism"...

I mean in general it seems like people who are autistic/Aspergers might express themselves differently (sometimes) but they definitely have emotions and can recognize that others have them too.

[phil_]

What is wrong with me? I think it goes back to me loving MST3K, you know, watching something that is awful just to laugh it. Yeah, thats the ticket, right guys? Guys.....I'd say that many works that I genuinely enjoy, I enjoy because I can make fun of their plots and dialogue. Fist of the North Star, Sin and Punishment, and Sacred Blacksmith come to mind.

But I have nothing else to add to the thread, except maybe hating on the Buffalo Bills. I know nothing about American Football, but a co-worker loves the Bills, and apparently they're not a great team, so I like joining in the hating of my other co-workers. I think this might make me a worse person than one who watches Desperate Housewives or Survivor.

[walkertexasdruid]

I kind of feel sorry for the Buffalo Bills, I mean they are in almost every game but they always lose by about three points, making them the only winless team in the NFL.

Another confession of mine is that I watch a couple of daytime dramas every day, The Young and the Restless, and The Bold and the Beautiful. I know that these shows are not meant for my demographic, but it all goes back to when my grandmother was living with us (may she rest in peace). She would watch them every day and, during the summer, when I had nothing else to do, I would watch them with her. I kind of got hooked after awhile, and now I DVR them and watch after I get home from work. Y&R has had some really interesting stories in the past couple of years, while B&B has had some good and some stupid things happen. I still find it hard to believe that B&B has won two consecutive Emmys for best dramatic series. I also used to watch All My Children with my step-mother, but that show has gone downhill. They need to bring back Janet from another planet.

I really have some problems.

[Ryanderman]

I kind of feel sorry for the Buffalo Bills, I mean they are in almost every game but they always lose by about three points, making them the only winless team in the NFL.

The Bills have just enough talent to make their utter failure entirely heartbreaking.

The fact that they have some of the most loyal fans in the NFL, and are likely going to get sold and move to another city in the next few years once Ralph Wilson dies, makes it all the more depressing.