An interesting show for a few reasons. For one, it’s got Debra Winger and Sam Elliott in leading roles. It’s also something of a re-imagining of That 70s Show, and some of the group chemistry from T70S has survived. And, of course, it’s likely Danny Masterson’s last major role–he is one of the two main characters, and he was recently fired for allegations of sexual assault.
I didn’t think I would like it, but I do. I’m not just wild about it–I leave it on while I’m folding laundry or checking Facebook–but it’s okay. It has good character interactions, and there are plenty of characters that I can care about. And yeah, I’ve laughed out loud a few times while watching. I also enjoyed the cameos by other T70S cast–Fez, Red, and Kitty that I’ve noticed so far.
It’s not all good, though. Their main comedic formula isn’t hard to figure out. Statement, joke about the statement, joke about the joke, callback to an earlier joke. It gets dull, even annoying, at times. The two main characters, Colt (Kutcher) and Rooster (Masterson), are playing essentially the same characters they played in That 70s Show, only in a modern day rural setting. Their humor hasn’t changed much.
What Season 3 (scheduled to air this year) will be like, I have no idea.
I like the show. I’m impressed with how well they captured the essence of small town farming communities. Somebody on that show did their homework.
That said, no way this show survives without Masterson.
I liked the show enough to watch all the episodes, but it was one of those “might fall asleep, might not” shows I put on late in the evening. The one thing that irked me was how they so often the F bombs are randomly inserted and just sound so wrong coming from them. It’s like they were trying too hard to be edgy. I have no problem with cursing, it just sounds wrong especially coming from Winger.
Unless they come up with some really good replacement new character this show is dead. I wonder who else they could bring in from That 70s Show to make that magic happen.
They should bring in Byron Cherry and Christopher Mayer (Coy and Vance Duke, who replaced Bo and Luke in Season 5 of The Dukes of Hazzard). That’d be meta enough to be funny for a few episodes.
The theme song is also interesting. It’s a cover of Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys by Shooter Jennings and Lukas Nelson, sons of Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, who recorded the song’s most popular version in the 70s.
I like the vocals. I like the music. I do not like how the vocals and the music sound together.
I don’t need the stupid laugh track telling me when to laugh, it’s distracting, but I like the show well enough. I LOVE Debra Winger. It will be interesting to see how they explain away the whole Bennett Brothers Ranch part. While Kutcher and Masterson have great chemistry and that relationship was central to the show, with clever enough writing, they can enhance the relationships they have and hopefully find some new ones. It doesn’t sound like there will be much room for Megyn Price, though, whom I also like.
Although I never saw That 70s Show I’m a big Sam Elliot so I came into this with high hopes, only to be disappointed. Like the OP says, Statement, joke, comment, callback gets pretty tiresome after a while.
I didn’t love the first half of Season 3. The jokes weren’t funny, the drama fell flat, and the chemistry wasn’t there.
Maybe Masterson’s imminent departure broke whatever fragile thread held the show together, but I am sure that this season will be the end. Unless they can pull off a miracle-in-10-episodes, there’s not much reason (other than the aforementioned Elliot and Winger) to keep watching.
I’ve watched the whole thing, but the laugh track really annoyed me at the beginning. Also, I find Debra Winger to be bad in this. If I didn’t know her from her '80s heyday and the whole mystique around her being such a supposedly great actress and then disappearing for awhile, I would think she is a terrible actress. I think that is the impression of a lot of younger people.
Double ditto. I can’t understand the decision to use the antediluvian laff track gambit, especially for a non-network show. I barely got through one episode and noped the show.
Double ditto. I can’t understand the decision to use the antediluvian laff track gambit, especially for a non-network show. I barely got through one episode and noped the show.
For those watching Part 6 (the second half of Season 3), you could skip the first three episodes and not miss out on an hour and a half of your life. (Though there is one great scene with Beau at the end of episode 2.) Just start with episode 4.
The Ranch is not primarily a drama, nor is it a whodunnit. The attempt to make it either of those things, let alone both, was not only a failure, but a boring, it just keeps going and going, my god will this ever end? failure. We know that Rooster’s gone. Just let him be gone.
We’re currently halfway through episode 5. I’m almost ready to dump it.
This show has gotten plain WEIRD in how terribly bad it is. The acting by every person on the show is painful to watch. What gets me is these weird pauses after every line, as if there’s supposed to be a laugh track inserted but they never got around to adding in the laughs.
And still with the fuckity fuck fuck fuck it all fuckery. Every other line. I cuss like a sailor in real life but nothing like this. It sounds so fake. And what’s up with all the jokes about drinking and driving? That is not at all funny. I am at episode six for this season, and really only stuck around to see how they’d send off Rooster. And even that was badly done.
I could certainly have done without the first two episodes, but I do like the addition of Luke. I also like Colt and Abby as new parents. Yes, it has some rough, cringe-worthy spots, and that inane laugh track is so annoying, but I’m almost finished with episode eight and plan to finish all of them.
