A supposedly great thing that I'll never watch again- Great media that left you cold

[Ryujin]

I think that there are numerous reasons why BBT doesn't work for various people. I mean, it certainly doesn't for me! But I have trouble watching any three-camera, laugh-track sitcom.

That said, one person's immersion is another person's inability to suspend disbelief. The very things that you might like about the show (for example, the references to aspects of nerd culture that you otherwise wouldn't get in a primetime sitcom) might be exactly inline with the things other people dislike about it (that it traffics in that culture, yet gets details wrong or makes fun of aspects of the characters).

It would be like someone in the 90s saying, "How can you not like Friends? That's totally how the post-college, 20-something, restless life was like!" And someone else replying, "Really? People were able to afford massive apartments in Manhattan like that? Tell me more!"

What works for some people (and at some times) doesn't work for other people at other times.

Then there's the whole "having to justify why you do or don't like something", that's pretty toxic in general. I try to stick to saying why I do or don't like something but someone explicitly asked, in this thread, for us to "name a thing about BBT."

 

[Stefano Rinaldelli]

American Gods

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The Expanse/Leviathan Wakes. I tried both the book and the TV series and couldn't get into either. Didn't care about any of the characters.

 

[Stefano Rinaldelli]

Brandon Sanderson books

 

[TheSword]

I think that there are numerous reasons why BBT doesn't work for various people. I mean, it certainly doesn't for me! But I have trouble watching any three-camera, laugh-track sitcom.

That said, one person's immersion is another person's inability to suspend disbelief. The very things that you might like about the show (for example, the references to aspects of nerd culture that you otherwise wouldn't get in a primetime sitcom) might be exactly inline with the things other people dislike about it (that it traffics in that culture, yet gets details wrong or makes fun of aspects of the characters).

It would be like someone in the 90s saying, "How can you not like Friends? That's totally how the post-college, 20-something, restless life was like!" And someone else replying, "Really? People were able to afford massive apartments in Manhattan like that? Tell me more!"

What works for some people (and at some times) doesn't work for other people at other times.

Yeah, but it’s now just turned into a rejection of popular culture. Suggesting that BBT is nerd minstrel show is pretty insulting on so many levels.

Your initial post may have been pure but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

 

[briggart]

I watched the first few episodes of BBT, and didn't really like it. As others have noticed, it felt it was laughing at geeks, rather than with geeks.
Few years later, most of the people I was hanging around with loved it and I started watching it again and I found it better. Not sure if it was because they tuned their sensibilities, or the story was more focused on the relationships leaving less time to the "geeks are weird" stuff, or something else. I enjoyed 3-4 seasons, then I've kind of lost interest into it.

Unrelated, I want to like Tales from the Loop, but I can't. Not sure I understand why, it feels like something I would enjoy, but I just can't sit through more than 10 minutes of it.

 

[payn]

Unrelated, I want to like Tales from the Loop, but I can't. Not sure I understand why, it feels like something I would enjoy, but I just can't sit through more than 10 minutes of it.

There is definitely some conflicting tones going on in Tales from the Loop. There is a sense of wonder that is dulled under the constant loneliness and loss that occurs among the characters. I like it because tis something different and makes me think. Though, I for sure dont trumpet TftL to everyone I know as something they would like.

 

[Ryujin]

Seinfeld: They unironically referred to it as "a show about nothing" and that's exactly what it always felt like to me. Perhaps, to Middle America, those strange sounding Yiddishisms are funny but to me, they were just words I heard from people while growing up in Toronto (which has a rather large Jewish population).

 

[Gammadoodler]

The Expanse/Leviathan Wakes. I tried both the book and the TV series and couldn't get into either. Didn't care about any of the characters.

Definitely understand this. That was a book I really wanted to like that left me just kinda meh.

That said, I think the Expanse does a lot to pick up the characterization the book didn't include while doing a good job of bringing the hard sci-fi aspects to life (one of my favorite little throwaway scenes was a hallway shot where people are walking on both the ceiling and floor because they're all relying on magnetic boots for orientation. Like that's just good worldbuilding). The characters are still pretty thin, but I feel it a lot less.

 

[payn]

Definitely understand this. That was a book I really wanted to like that left me just kinda meh.

That said, I think the Expanse does a lot to pick up the characterization the book didn't include while doing a good job of bringing the hard sci-fi aspects to life (one of my favorite little throwaway scenes was a hallway shot where people are walking on both the ceiling and floor because they're all relying on magnetic boots for orientation. Like that's just good worldbuilding). The characters are still pretty thin, but I feel it a lot less.

The Expanse is one of the few examples the Series is better than the novels. (At least the first 3 seasons). It really helped having the novel writers along for the rid eon the series. It often feels like things they wish they did in the novels they now get to do on the series.