SEX AND THE CITY
I really liked this show in its heyday. It seemed like the first show that took single women seriously. That allowed for them to have sexual desire, to be ambitious, to have community, but still yearn for an eventual husband and family.
Now when I watch it, I just see superficial women who only care about fashion and cute, rich boyfriends. Yes, they share a camaraderie but it's based on discussions of trivial things. When did they ever discuss a book, politics, their families. The show takes place over the year of 2001 and yet it gets very little attention. Very disappointing. Perhaps it was the movie that put it into perspective. Spending two hours with these women was too much.
What show did you watch later and no longer like?
19 comments:
Any of the 1980s shows I watched as a teen. The A-Team, Knight Rider, etc.
Hmm....I have to say I don't watch that much TV. So it's hard to say. I do know that some series didn't keep their 'edge' as they went on (at least not for me). I know, not the answer to your question...
I'm afraid I always felt that way about Sex and the City, but then I guess I regarded it as a "chick show" that wasn't aimed at me.
I don't generally rewatch older shows other than certain ones I know I will like but some definitely do not hold up. Will try and think of some we've seen recently.
Jeff M.
For me Frazier gets better and better while Cheers seems more and more tedious and repititive.
I completely agree with that, Ed. I am amazed at how well Frasier holds up. CHEERS, for me, had too many weak characters. I didn't really care about story lines for Norm, Cliff and Carla and there were a lot.
I loved THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. when I was a kid. But watching those episodes now is painful.
Shows I watched as a kid, like Gilligan's Island and Gomer Pyle
I was watching the original, Limey version of COUPLING last night. When I caught the show several years ago it was uproariously funny. Now it feels a bit dated.
To-be-fair, I am distracted by the out of fashion hair and clothes. I also may have gotten old enough that the humor does not click with me.
I should re-watch RED DWARF and see how that has aged.
Jackie has two that she liked then but found painful on rewatching:
The Dick Van Dyke Show
Marcus Welby, M.D.
Jeff M.
JUST SHOOT ME, FULL HOUSE, WILL & GRACE, and CAROLINE AND THE CITY.
Those that still hold up after ten years include BECKER, FRIENDS, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND and, as Mr. Gorman says, FRASIER, as well as a few British sitcoms like TO THE MANOR BORN and FAWLTY TOWERS, and YES MINISTER and YES, PRIME MINISTER.
THE YOUNG ONES and ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS.
One that really holds up is BLACKADDER.
Note that there are quite a few actors that appear in all three series.
Looks like my second comment didn't get past the moderator, or is it that Blogger still hates me?
Jeff M.
I was disappointed when I found an early episode of Barney Miller. The comedy much broader than I remembered.
Sorry, Jeff. It's hard moderating comments!
Jeff added MARCUS WELBY, MD and THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW (Jackie's choices).
I agree with your take completely, Patti. Though I never watched the show the first time around.
But I think that SEX AND THE CITY was meant to be a show about nothing. So in that case, it succeeds.
For when we're in a vacuous mood. I love the clothes. And that Smith fella'. :)
FRASIER sometimes worked a bit too hard, but, as I've noted before, it was about how intellectuals, no matter how pompous, enjoy being intellectuals. While CHEERS was all about how everyone wants to be stupid, including those hypocritical intellectuals (perhaps particularly them) (and the most ill-equipped mentally See The Greatest Truths). Well, I have a rude phrase for that.
The series that was so much worse than I remembered from childhood would have to be LAND OF THE LOST. I didn't ever find it wonderful, but goodness. WACKY RACERS, too. Hard to imagine I ever tolerated these even as time-wasters.
When I was a child, I watched Star Trek (the original series) for the action and adventure. When I was a teenager, I watched it in reruns and appreciated the character interplay and social commentary that had gone over my head the first time around. Then, watching reruns as an adult, I found it preachy and pretentious (and the same goes for the spin-offs, like Next Generation and Deep Space Nine).
Some cartoons, including Wacky Races and Mighty Heroes, seemed boring and formulaic even when I was a child. Others, like Looney Tunes and Rocky & Bullwinkle, just seemed better than ever.
Irwin Allen's sci-fi shows (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, Time Tunnel, and Land of the Giants) seemed cool when I was 7-10 years old. They seem silly now, but can still be fun, in a campy kind of way.
Speaking of camp, a lot of 1960's action-adventure shows (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, Man from U.N.C.L.E., Wild Wild West, and The [British] Avengers) started off being played straight, then became increasingly silly and juvenile in the 1966-67 season, when the Batman/camp comedy fad was a big influence. When the fad passed, most of those shows tried to rein it in and tone things down, but by then, it was too late. And U.N.C.L.E. seemed to over-compensate; the last season did not even have the subtle comedy relief that is usually part of spy-fi adventure.
Most dramas and sitcoms from the 1980's and later seem (IMHO) to take themselves too seriously. I quit watching The Big Bang Theory when it turned into a remake of Friends, and I quit watching Friends, Mad About You, Drew Carey, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Xena Warrior Princess when they became self-indulgent, pretentious (and, with Buffy and Xena, downright depressing) soap operas.
I somehow managed to stick with Daria until it ended. That series actually ended the way I wanted, but I'm not sure if it was worth suffering through the last two seasons to get there.
Post a Comment