Shows and TV

Pretty much any cop shows.

Monk, NCIS, whatever. They've got so many narratives that are basically: it's ok for cops to ignore laws so they can get the bad guy. Somebody else in the thread mentioned Frasier for the misogyny, and that reminded me there's also an episode where the dad talks about being proud of lying on the stand to put someone in jail.

I'm rewatching How I Met Your Mother. One of my favorite rewatch shows, especially when I'm feeling a bit low it's a feel good show.

But man has it not aged well. Spoilers ahead if you care:

Barney is just sexist, flat out. What I (and most Americans) thought was funny 15 years ago is just not anymore, how he thinks women are just dumb items to be used makes my stomach turn just a bit now. They redeem it a bit later with him realizing why he was like that with past trauma, but that doesn't make up for several seasons of that behavior.

Ted was a lovable romantic when I first watched, but now he seems just as bad as Barney, if not a bit worse. At least Barney is obvious about his womanizing, Ted is with dozens of women, and lies just as much as Barney does all while whining about not being able to find true love.

Robin and Marshall are pretty fine on my radar, both have issues, but nothing huge in my book.

Lily is probably the worst character, and just a straight up narcisist. Her problems are always the most important problems no matter what else she goes for. The biggest ones I have seen

• Saying yes to marry Marshall, then not telling him of her worries and just up and leaving
• Coming back to Marshall and being surprised when he doesn't just jump at the opportunity
• Being mad at Ted who put Marshall back together after she left
• Hiding what seems to be tens of thousands of dollars of Credit Card debt from Marshall, even into their marriage
• Pushing Marshal to take jobs he hates to continue hiding her credit card debt
• Puts Ted's career in danger for her own selfish reasons (with his Boss' baseball)
• Continuously breaks up anyone she doesn't personally approve of, this happened multiple times to Ted, she attempts to break up Robin and Barney, and does it a few other times in the show
• When Marshall finally is happy in his corporate job (that again she pushed him into) she has this meltdown realizing he's gone corporate and literally says "I want you to be the person I fell in love with". What?! Who says that about their spouse?
• When Marshall does change his values and decides to leave said corporate job, he is un-employed for a few months. (Few months). Lily has a meltdown in this time and abandons him to go on a solo trip to Spain saying he "Doesn't pay attention to her anymore". So lose-lose for Marshall. Then we're supposed to clap and be happy that she decides not to go after abandoning Ted at the airport.
• My number one hated one, she comes up with the "8 or higher" rule when she does have a child. Nothing her friends say is relevant to her unless she and Marshall deem it an "8 or higher". It doesn't matter if it was a breakup, or someone needed some support, or whatever, unless it was life altering it was not important.

Lily is one of the worst characters on television. She is manipulative, constantly plays the victim card, and is arguably worse than Barney. This didn't start out as a rant against her..but here we are. Now that I've seen it, I can't unsee it.

I don't watch much bad television, but two shows come to mind.

The first is Walker, Texas Ranger. It's basically "Excessive Force: The Show". To be fair I got into the show as a kid in the last 4 seasons so they define the show to me, and I saw the first few episodes of the show with my family earlier this year and they're not as bad as the later episodes. But still, it's just...awful. Running around kicking bad guys without probably cause, beating up people when peaceful means are necessary, and bad guys resorting straight to violence without running away or trying to lie their way out of a situation, it's all very cartoonish. Not to mention replaying every one of Chuck Norris' roundhouse kicks three times.

The second is The Carmichael Show. It's actually excellent, and probably my favorite modern multicam sitcom. On a sidenote, if there's any modern spiritual successor to All in the Family, it's this show. Anyways, it's based on Jerrod Carmichael's life and family (if loosely), and a key catalyst for the start of the show is that Jerrod has a girlfriend who has just moved in with him. It feels a bit off since he's come out as gay.

Anything with a laugh track.

Frasier. So much misogyny.

30 Rock

As the kids say: it just hits different 🤷🏼‍♀️ Maybe I was just too young & naive to understand what it portraying was when it came to racism & sexism.

24

I don't know if it aged horribly but I have no interest in rewatching The Cosby Show.