Curmudgeon's Corner: So, what's the deal with Critical Role?

[Celebrim]

..everybody is friends and lovely and wonderful except for Paul Hollywood who we all enjoy hating together, as a community.

I don't hate Paul Hollywood. He's just an exacting master of his craft.

I do have a hard time forgiving him for his comments in the 'American Pie' episode, or for his disdain for peanut butter as a flavor, but I just put that down to his limited and somewhat deprived background.

 

[Umbran]

So, I put the question of Critical Role to my de-facto god-daughter. She's in school at the moment, but her dad (who plays in my regular table) gave his $0.02 from watching a bit of the show, and his daughter...

1) "Matt Mercer is a genius". He knows his game, does great world-building, sets scenes and tones better than pretty much anyone out there. That really can draw someone in.

2) The players are all professional actors. They depict characters better than pretty much anyone out there.
2a) Stunt casting - the show is made in LA, so they get interesting guests on occasion.
2b) Serialized fiction - ever been a fan of any TV drama? Same deal. This replaces normal television stories for many viewers. They become fans of this instead of becoming fans of Star Trek.

3) Fan community - the fan community that has grown around the show are supporting, sharing, and like to engage with each other. They generate cosplay, and how-to videos, have active, engagine, and creative social media circles, do real-world meetups, charity events, and so on. We, here on EN World, get to gether to... argue, mostly. They get together to do stuff.

 

[Parmandur]

2b) Serialized fiction - ever been a fan of any TV drama? Same deal. This replaces normal television stories for many viewers. They become fans of this instead of becoming fans of Star Trek.

Honestly, serialized scripted shows are hard to watch after the energy of Critical Role.

 

[Umbran]

I don't hate Paul Hollywood. He's just an exacting master of his craft.

I think there's some sort of interesting comparison to be made between Paul Hollywood and Gordon Ramsay.

Hollywood strikes me as the kind of guy who is exacting master of his craft, and willing to be honest with you, but in another situation, would be happy to teach you what you just did wrong, and be very good at the teaching.

Meanwhile, Ramsay... seems like the kind of guy you don't even want to sit down to have a cup of tea and a chat with, 'cause he's just a jerk.

I do have a hard time forgiving him for his comments in the 'American Pie' episode, or for his disdain for peanut butter as a flavor, but I just put that down to his limited and somewhat deprived background.

I have always half wondered if, with the peanut butter thing, he was making a joke with the most dry British delivery ever achieved, such that we didn't realize he was trying to be funny. I do note that he liked the peanut butter and jelly combination... so he's not like an alien being or something

 

[Morrus]

I have always half wondered if, with the peanut butter thing, he was making a joke with the most dry British delivery ever achieved, such that we didn't realize he was trying to be funny.

What did he do/say?

(I dislike peanut butter too).

I've never seen one of his cooking shows (and I doubt I ever will) but on the occasion he appears on some other shows he seems fine.

 

[Celebrim]

What did he do/say?

Well, to begin with, this was the episode where I discovered that 'American Pie' was a style of desert and that it had very little relationship to the sort of pie actually eaten in America. Watching people make and eat 'American Pies' that were really just a sort of European tart vaguely inspired by American cooking, gave me some sympathy for the old world Italians who look at Italian-American cooking with dismay and bewilderment.

In that context, he said that he'd never eaten a good American pie and that he thought it required a British cook to make a good one. If I wasn't annoyed I would have guffawed.

 

[Morrus]

Well, to begin with, this was the episode where I discovered that 'American Pie' was a style of desert and that it had very little relationship to the sort of pie actually eaten in America. Watching people make and eat 'American Pies' that were really just a sort of European tart vaguely inspired by American cooking, gave me some sympathy for the old world Italians who look at Italian-American cooking with dismay and bewilderment.

I've never heard of it. It's not a 'thing', as far as I know.

But then, that's also a universal thing. You have "English Muffins" and "Canadian Bacon" and some weird version of fish and chips etc. It's just how it works. It's hardly something to get upset about.

In that context, he said that he'd never eaten a good American pie and that he thought it required a British cook to make a good one. If I wasn't annoyed I would have guffawed.

Why were you annoyed?

And what was the peanut butter thing?

 

[Celebrim]

Meanwhile, Ramsay... seems like the kind of guy you don't even want to sit down to have a cup of tea and a chat with, 'cause he's just a jerk.

My dad is an architectural engineer who volunteered his time to work on a number of the 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' shows. As such, he worked with the actors that worked on the show, and got to understand what was actually going on with the shows. And pretty much everything you'd see in the show was fake. The actors had basically no role in the design or construction of the buildings that were being constructed. ABC was donating basically nothing for the construction of the buildings, and to a large extent the constraints ABC put on the filming of the shows ensured the homes that were built would be subpar creations. In some cases, they were a curse on the people that they were supposedly helping.

One thing that he called out as fake was the drama that writers would put into every show. They'd write scripts that called for the actors to act like jerks and get into trouble and act insensitive and self-absorbed because the writers felt that would make for better shows.

I've often wondered with Ramsay whether he's just one of those actors playing a role that doesn't realize how destructive even pretending to act like that really is.

 

[Umbran]

What did he do/say?

(I dislike peanut butter too).

It was an "alternative ingredient" week. They were challenged to make a dessert using dairy-free ice cream. One of the contestants decided to use the flavors of peanut butter and (grape) jelly. To which Paul's reaction is basically... "Peanut butter and jelly? Is that a flavor combination that's going to go well together?"

To be clear to Brits - Peanut butter and jelly is a staple kid's lunch, and can gnerally be considered a "comfort food" for many Americans.

 

[Charlaquin]

Gordon definitely plays up the jerk persona for the camera. Especially for American TV, in which he swears far more.