Normal People (Hulu). Apparently based on a best-selling novel, although why people would pay money and spend hours on this story is a mystery to me.
It’s the story of Marianne and Connell, two 30-year-old Irish high school students (problematic casting) who later become college students. They probably love each other. But they’re clinically depressed and don’t like to talk. They have a relationship, but Connell keeps doing stupid shit to sabotage it so they wander into alternative relationships with other people we don’t care about. They have circles of friends with no function or personality. They spend a lot of time studying, drinking, and staring into space silently, but not talking about their feelings. Nobody says anything funny or does anything interesting.
My wife likes it…I think. Maybe she’s just watching because she thinks I like it. Perhaps she and I should talk.
I have better things to do with my time than hate-watch or -listen to things, but the last few episodes of “Manifest” may have qualified. I loved that show when it first came on, and it was a fascinating concept, but it’s totally gone off the rails. I’d be surprised if it’s picked up for a third season.
We used to watch “Call The Midwife”, which I loathed almost from the start. My wife finally burned out on it, thankfully, so we no longer have to slog through the saccharin. We’ve hit the same point with “Grantchester”.
I agree. I still watch it even though I HATE the new vicar. (Sidney really blew it when he dumped Amanda. I can’t forgive him.) I like Robson Green a lot, so I watch it mostly for him. (He was in a series called Wire in the Blood that I still haven’t recovered from.) I like Leonard a lot, too, but the last episode made him into a character in a French farce, and I feel it insulted him. But there’s NOTHING else on Sunday night, so I watch it anyway.
Green is the only actor with any real heart left in that turkey.
We’re watching “Marcella” on Netflix, which is very intense. Season 3 is up now, but it turns out that we couldn’t remember what happened in the first two, so are watching it all from the get-go. The character of “Marcella” is a fairly tired trope of a troubled cop with kids, but she’s a complete disaster. The story lines involve pedophiles and other lovely topics, but it’s pretty riveting.
I’ve seen it go by but haven’t checked it out yet. That’s the problem with long gaps between seasons-- you forget the backstory. I should say “so-called seasons,” since they’re often only 4-6 episodes, if that many. Back in the day, Perry Mason had a hefty 30 episodes per season.
Recently watched all of Defending Jacob. Could have been a lot better, the plot was obvious and weak.
Also watched The Morning Show, when it was good it was good, but much of it was pointless and boring. I read somewhere that they had a lot of different people work on each episode, and it shows a lack of consistency. The photography was often excellent, the closing scene is a work of art.
One I didn’t like at the beginning but got much better as it went on was Dead to Me. A dark comedy that takes a couple of episodes to get up to speed. I recommend this one.
I wouldn’t say I hate any of these shows per se but I do categorize them as the low-hanging fruit of television:
Hawaii 5-0
Blindspot
The Blacklist
The latter two have conspiracy plots that have grown impossibly convoluted over the years. The writers might say they are plotting these shows out in advance but it doesn’t look like it from here.
I hate-watched Marvel’s Inhumans. That show sucked. Worst thing the MCU has put out.
I 'm not sure if I truly hate it, but I always wonder why I’m watching it. It’s an old (97-06) British series about a small town and its families. I watch it when I go to bed - I don’t care if I fall asleep and miss parts. What drives me crazy is, and I know this will sound awful on my part, but most of the actors are very unattractive. Even the little girl is kind of odd looking. I guess it makes it more realistic, having actors that look like regular people. I know it was the 90s, but some of the hairdos are even worse than an average 90s hairdo! The main character is so intrusive. No matter what’s happening, she shows up to try to save the day. It must have been quite a hit in the UK since it was on for 9 years.
My son and I hatewatch The Walking Dead (although it’s becoming a loathewiththeintensityofawhitehotsunwatch) and The Blacklist. It was more fun when he lived here, but we make do with snarky texts and phone calls now.
I hate-watched (great word!) HBO’s corporate-dynasty series Succession for awhile, drawn in by the story and seemingly unable to stop, before it finally clicked for me, and then I really liked it. There is no hero or protagonist, as such. Everyone on the show is a stupid, overprivileged douchebag to one degree or another, and once I finally accepted that, it got better.
In the interest of trying to find something light and mindless to watch, I’ve started watching Psych, which I hadn’t seen before. I’ve managed to make it to Season Two but God almighty, Shawn is deeply irritating, smug, conceited, bullying and grossly sexist. I have literally begun rooting for Lassiter.
On the plus side, it is indeed light and mindless. Very mindless.
USA Network used to have a bunch of shows that were like that; light and sort of mindless but fun (Royal Pains, Burn Notice, White Collar, Monk, etc.). All set in warm weather parts of the country or at least during the summer in the Hamptons for Royal Pains. And then they had a big hit with Mr Robot, and, I read someplace, decided to drop what was called the “blue sky programs” for darker content. I preferred the lighter stuff.
Totally agree. I’d love to send an email to our CEO and ask “When you guys get together in the boardroom and talk business, is there an f-bomb in every single sentence?” I somehow find that difficult to believe.
The last season of House of Cards was definitely an exercise in hate-watching for me. I only watched to see how they were going to deal with Kevin Spacey’s departure. I wish I hadn’t bothered - there was nothing in those episodes that even remotely resembled the rest of the series, apart from the actors. At least it was short.
You’re so right. The point of this series is to hate it. So I do.
I first started watching it because I’m a Matthew MacFadyen fan. I’m delighted with how ridiculous his role has become. Sadly comedic with not a skerrick of self-awareness. He is always marvelous.
As for the rest of the characters, is there a sympathetic one among them?
I find this to be the perfect hate-watch series. If/when there is a Season 3, I’ll probably watch it.
The character of “Marcella” is a fairly tired trope of a troubled cop with kids, but she’s a complete disaster. The story lines involve pedophiles and other lovely topics, but it’s pretty riveting.