Two thoughts by Jon and Kevin pretty much formed my overall impression of the show: squeezing ten pounds of story into a five-pound bag, and, perhaps because of that, way too many sappy made-for-TV moments.
I think if they allow some time to space out the characters, there'll be fewer sap moments that'll end up with greater effect. On Mar 4, 11:40 am, "Kevin M." <drunkbastar...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Thu, Mar 4, 2010 at 5:43 AM, Jon Delfin <jondel...@gmail.com> wrote: > > On Wed, Mar 3, 2010 at 11:14 PM, Kevin M. <drunkbastar...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> OK. I watched "Parenthood." Not a bad pilot, but not in any way > >> related to the movie, which makes me ask again why they felt the need > >> to pay royalties for the use of a title and some character names. > > > I'd suggest "branding," but how many people in the most desirable demo > > remember the movie? > > A fair point. But how many of those who remember the movie will > remember it as better (or at the very least different) than the remake > and discount it based on their inability to capture lightning in a > bottle a second time? > > > Not sure if I agree with "watered down," but we shall see. Mostly, I > > felt like they squeezed ten pounds of story into a five-pound bag, and > > even though I mostly liked it, I was exhausted by the end. > > Again, to the extent that I can set aside my own personal experience > with my family, as a teacher who has observed multiple families over > the last five years, dysfunction isn't an intermittent condition. The > pilot featured Craig Nelson's character being an insensitive hard-ass > -- until the end of the episode when he was able to turn it of like a > light switch and comfort his son. The former Gilmore Girl played a > flighty mom who didn't quite understand her own children -- until the > end of the episode when her son really needed her to be something > else. I see these sorts of character reversals as cheats. > Perfect/heroic characters can be respected and envied. Flawed > characters can be related to. Characters that flip-flop based on what > the scene calls for don't work for me (particularly when the flip-flop > results in one of those sappy made-for-TV moments). > > I don't want it to seem like I dislike the show, but I'd like to see > more character stability in future episodes. Or at least a more > gradual transformation of a given character. > -- > Kevin M. (RPCV) -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to tvornottv@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to tvornottv-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
