Did anyone else see these two new Fox shows?
I did not care for Call Me Kat. It was hideously formulaic with ghastly acting. Plus, she’s supposed to be running a cat cafe, and the cat hardly makes an appearance. Perhaps they were worried that Firecracker would outshine everyone else.
The Great North was okay. I might give it a watch or two, but the characters seem pretty interchangeable so far. Nothing really stood out to me.
Other opinions?
I saw Call Me Kat, and was underwhelmed. Not at all funny, although perhaps as the show gets going, it will improve? BTW, it’s a remake of a well-regarded UK series starring Miranda Hart.
I also watched Call Me Kat, and was likewise not too impressed. Pretty much every beat was utterly predictable. The conceit of Kat talking to the audience is a little different, but in the first episode it didn’t really add anything all that clever. When your new sitcom starts with two spit-takes in a row, that’s not a good sign. I mostly watched it because I’ve enjoyed Mayim Bialik in previous stuff, but my good will toward her is not going to be enough if the writing doesn’t improve.
I did not see, and don’t think I’ve even heard of, The Great North.
I had only heard of the existence of The Great North because I was reading the Wikipedia page for Aparna Nancherla a few weeks ago. She’s awesome and hilarious. (I haven’t watched either show, however.)
I enjoyed Miranda a lot. Call me Kat was hard to watch.
I try not to judge pilot episodes too harshly because they’re too busy introducing characters and setting up the storyline. Having said that, I found Call Me Kat to be weak even by my lower standards.
Yea the 2 spit-takes in a row immediately made me dislike it along with the laugh-track, but I hung in. There were a few somewhat funny lines/scenes. I’ll give it a couple more episodes before I hang it up - sometimes it takes a while for a show to get in a groove.
When I heard that Call Me Kat was going to be set in my hometown, I cringed a little bit. Kentucky, in general, does not receive the most flattering depictions in fiction, so I was concerned that the show (which I probably wasn’t going to watch even if it was decent) was going to see how many unflattering stereotypes it could pack into 30 minutes each week. As far as I can tell, it’s such a crappy show that it won’t really get a chance to do much damage even if it wanted to.
I finally saw The Great North the other day. It’s OK, but it’s the same animation style as Bob’s Burgers, which I don’t like for some reason. I liked Nick Offerman as the lead character, though.
The Great North (and Central Park) are too much like Bob’s Burgers in pretty much every way. They are like generic competitive clones. In TGN you even get a youngest child perpetually wearing animal headwear. I did like the sexi moose, though.
In addition to Bob’s Burgers, I never warmed to the Seth McFarlane animated shows on Fox. But I still like The Simpsons and Futurama. I wonder why Fox hasn’t had any other Matt Groening shows. (Although perhaps he’s rich enough that he doesn’t bother creating any new stuff.)
I think I liked it more than the average episode of Bob’s Burgers (which I often find more silly than funny). But there was definitely a family resemblance.
Echoing what others have said, I was hoping Call Me Kat would be better just because I like Mayim Bialik, but I did not care for it. That said, I thought the general premise sort of reminded me of Ellen (A show I did enjoy in the 1990s). Both center on an upbeat but somewhat socially awkward 30-something single woman who runs a small business with her quirky coworkers, and has to deal with parents pestering her about how she’s still single.
I thought The Great North was fine. I’d watch it again if it was on the same night as something else I already watch on Fox (ie. Bob’s Burgers), but I’m not sure I’d specifically tune in just to watch it. Given the similarity, I was actually half expecting it to be a spinoff of Bob’s Burgers, perhaps with the pilot character Will Forte voiced in a few episodes moving to Alaska to become a bush pilot or something.
Call Me Kat was the worst show I have seen in decades. It was like watching a high school play on understudy night. Presumably these are good actors but holy shit the directing (Alan Smithee, perhaps?) and/or writing are incredibly rotten. Character says scripted laugh line… canned laughter… another character says scripted laugh line… canned laughter. No pausing in the dialogue, just a string of one liners. No facial expressions. I like Mayim, but they can’t cancel this shitshow fast enough.
Mayim Bialik recorded a YouTube video “addressing” some of the critics of the show. Meh. Jackie Gleason did it better by just admitting You’re in the Picture sucked.
I watched the first and part of the second episode of Miranda the other day on Hulu and was surprised that many of the elements that make Call Me Kat so off-putting were right there in the original. Like breaking the fourth wall or the cast waving at the camera at the end.
For me, the breaking of the fourth wall was not the problem, but the giggling and winking was annoying. Green Acres broke the fourth wall all the time. But Green Acres was clever and funny. That’s the difference.
I tried Call me Kat- too much Kat, not enuf Cats.
Really formulaic overdone plot.
This:
I like her too. I missed the first episode and DVR-ed the second and third. Got in about 2 or so minutes ( Kat, old southern guy and sassy barmaid at the bar ) and couldn’t take it any more: revolting schlock.
I erased the 3rd ( unwatched ) episode with disgust.
I tried both of these shows recently. I couldn’t get through more than about 10 minutes of Call Me Kat … it was so embarrassingly lame, and the laugh track made me homicidal.Unless I hear from several reputable sources that it actually turns out to be a decent show, I’ll never go back.
I made it through the pilot of the Great North, mostly because I love Neil Offerman and found the set-up mildly interesting even though none of the actual dialog seemed especially clever. Overall, I was not impressed. I might give it 2-3 episodes more to find its footing, but it will have to get much more original and droll to keep me coming back.