About this blog:
I blog on random Pop Culture subjects. I also post Top 13 Lists. I could do a cliched Top 10 like everyone else, but then I'd be just like everyone else.


Friday, April 11, 2014

No Hope For Television

FOX dropped the ball again. “Raising Hope” was the best comedy on TV, and the most quirky fun I've had in a long time.

Burt and Virginia Chance (Garret Dillahunt and Martha Plimpton) were TV's best couple, and the show had the best supporting cast on TV: Gregg Binkley as Barney, Todd Giebenhain as Frank, Kate Micucci as Shelley, and of course Cloris Leachman's brilliant performance as Maw Maw.

Sure, Lucas Neff and Shannon Woodward were average at best as Jimmy and Sabrina, but the rest of the cast more than made up for it, and Burt and Virginia were the main focus of the show anyway, and rightfully so. Sure, they got away from the premise of Hope's upbringing, in favor of more quirky adventures, but that's what made the show so great. 

The show still had a lot left in the tank. It hadn't gotten stale at all. There was a lot more they could have done yet.

Once again, FOX had a great show, and once again, they failed to promote it, moved its time slot too many times, and gave up on it way too soon.

Poor Jeffrey Tambor (Virginia's father, Arnold) was on the wrong end of FOX's ineptness again (Arrested Development). Series Creator Greg Garcia once again had a quirky comedy with a loyal cult following canceled after 4 seasons (My Name Is Earl). His other current show, The Millers, just doesn't have the quirky feel of “Raising Hope” and “My Name Is Earl”. It comes off as normal TV fare, despite starring the brilliant Will Arnett.

I will miss tuning in to one of the few shows worth watching in these sad days for television. Pat yourselves on the back, America, as you corrode your brain with the mindless drivel, rehashed content, and staged reality shows which you have demanded the television landscape be littered with.


©2014 Denim McDemus

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

How I Met Your Mother Finale Failure

THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS:

So... I watched the HowIMetYourMother 2 part finale, and I kind of wish I hadn't. The episodes weren't funny, but also weren't nostalgic. They certainly weren't legend...wait for it...dary. They were even depressing and infuriating at times. Sure, life has sad moments. People grow apart. But this is fiction, television, entertainment, an escape, a comedy.
This should have been the episode that lasts in our memory of all that was great about the show. I was looking forward to the finale, but I was very disappointed in it. This show went out with a dud rather than a bang. (no Barney pun intended)

All along, I've been making more appropriate mock titles for the show, so here are some based on the finale (spoilers):

"How I Wasted 9 Years Searching For A Temporary Solution"
"How I Met Your Mother, But Still Ended Up With Robin"
"How I Ruined A Great Show In 2 Episodes"
"How To Build Up To A Brief Footnote In Ted's Life"
"How To Spend Your Life Searching For Miss Right, and Still End Up With Miss Wrong"
"How To Abandon The Show's Premise After 9 Seasons"
"How To Untie Loose Ends"
"How To Punish Barney For Finally Settling Down"
"How To Alienate Your Fan Base"
"How To Make Your Kids Uncomfortable For 9 Years"
"How To Disrespect Your Late Wife's Memory"
"How I Never Loved Your Mother"
"How Your Mother Wasn't Robin"
"How I Gave Robin Yet Another Chance To Use Me"
"How Bad Was That Finale"

Maybe you liked it? Maybe you're glad Barney and Robin got divorced? Maybe you're glad Ted and Robin MAY HAVE gotten back together? Maybe you're ok with the show spending 9 seasons leading up to Ted meeting "The Mother", and then have her killed off a few minutes later (in real time, not the in show timeline)? Maybe you're ok with Ted finally finding and marrying the perfect woman for him, but ending up with someone who has been proven to be wrong for time many times? Maybe you're ok with Barney losing the only woman he ever truly loved, and that incident pulling the gang apart? Maybe you enjoyed the "How I Met Your Mother" finale, but I did not.


©2014 Denim McDemus