There are characters on every show that seem to wax and wane over time. I am also thinking of the actor who plays Joel on PARENTHOOD. Suddenly he became a jerk this year. Sorry, but people don't change like this. And now they may have to write him off the show to settle this issue. Can we ever forgive him for letting his newly adopted son down? Does anyone walk away from their family this easily?
What other actors bear the brunt of bad decisions on the part of writers?
13 comments:
Every character in UNDER THE DOME.
I bailed on that one the first week. It just had the air of failure about it. Same with the Kevin Bacon one and so many others.
I don't agree with the premise that the Kalinda character is foundering--she's seemed pretty consistently distant (even on those occasions where she might not want to be), manipulative and with a qualified air of always being ready to Do What It Takes to Survive. She's always been a user of people, though not always to their detriment. And everyone has at least someone who has their number. Now, in a world where people actually seemed to prefer the characters on, say, M*A*S*H when they became blandly "lovable" and none of them at all spiky or difficult in any way, I can see how she might less popular, but I don't think they've hampered her. Making the daughter suddenly plot-conveniently stupid, however, wasn't the best move, particularly when they paired that with her religious conversion.
And PARENTHOOD's general air of artifice (and not the good kind, which is more like art) is why I don't watch it, despite generally liking the cast and the subject matter.
Between them, UNDER THE DOME and THE FOLLOWING delivered (as far as I can tell) exactly what I expected of a Stephen King adaptation and a Kevin Williamson project, and I've not given either much of my time...perhaps unfairly, not even a whole episode of DOME.
Haven't watched any of them, so don't know, but wonder if audiences want consistency or surprise shifts of character.
That may be true, RIck.
I would love to watch one show about a family and that's why I stick with Parenthood despite being more often than not disappointed. They have far too many good actors that get lousy plotlines. Actually SHAMELESS is much better although I have only seen three episodes of it.
Kalinda is there mostly for her bi-sexuality and to run errands as far as I can see. Too bad.
Well, Kalinda also characterizes the lack of comity in the business world, where characters expect loyalty but don't demonstrate it, whenever it suits them not to. To this extent, she's the least compromised character on the show, because she never pretends that she won't let practicality rule supreme in her business dealings.
Yes, SHAMELESS, while not flawless, is a much better series than PARENTHOOD, and I suspect you can borrow discs at this point. It's perhaps telling and perhaps not that CBS and its Showtime subsidiary schedule THE GOOD WIFE and SHAMELESS against each other on Sunday nights in their first runs.
Also amusing that they are both about "broken" but passionate and "maintaining" families in Chicago.
Good points, Todd. But I still wish they would give her something commiserate with her intelligence to do.
I suspect you might've liked last night's episode a little better than some of late.
I was just going to say exactly the same thing about last night's GOOD WIFE episode. Kalinda is beginning to see the consequences of her manipulation even though she intends to bring about good through all those she continues to exploit.
The PARENTHOOD storyline with Joel is a lot worse than Kalinda who has, after all, always been a character impossible to get a real reading on. After all do we ever really know what sh is thinking?
Changing Joel was just an artificial plot device - OK, now it's time for Joel and Julia to have problems - that was never convincing for a minute. The only question was how ling would it last before the writers got over it and moved on.
And if Julia just went back to work it never would have happened.
I'm more insulted they expect anyone to care in the slightest about Drew's love life. If not for the DVR I think even Jackie would have quit watching long ago. If it was up to me alone I would never turn it on.
Jeff M.
And speaking of coincidences and PARENTHOOD...we just met Craig T. Nelson in the hotel elevator here in New Orleans. Jackie asked him if the show was going to be renewed and he said. "Who knows? It's the worst network in the world."
Jeff M.
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