11/1/17

I'm a middle aged suburban mom who hates "This is Us"




By all accounts, the Bloody Mary should be one of my favorite cocktails. I love vodka. I enjoy several forms of the tomato including marina sauce and salsa. I love olives/pickles/celery. I should love Bloody Marys.

I can't stand them.

Oh, I've tried. Over and over again. People have sworn I just haven't tried the right one, and that when I do, I will be converted and my remaining days will be spent sucking down the spicy confections. Sometimes, when I'm out with my best friend and she orders one, I'll think about asking for a sip. Just to see if I've outgrown my distaste for them. And then she gives me her olives because she hates those and you can see why we're such good friends.

The same goes for the highly lauded show "This is Us". I should be all over that show. I love crying. I love drama! I love schmaltz. I love Milo Ventimiglia. I should love that show.

I can't stand it.

Like the Bloody Mary, I have tried really hard to like "This is Us." I sat through 6 or 7 episodes of the first season and waited patiently for the love to arrive. It never did. Instead, I found myself disliking it more with each episode. My eyes rolled, my attention waned and before I knew it, I was hate-watching. There is way too much television out there to be wasting time hate-watching, so I peaced out and gave up.

Apparently I am in the minority because it seems as if every other woman in my demographic has fallen head over heels in love with this show. People talk about it with exuberance and reverence and deference. When I admit that it's not my cup of tea, I'm regarded with narrowed eyes and suspicion. Like I just said I eat puppies. In this group I'm in on the facebook, a group for parents of college kids, I was straight up mocked for not liking it. WOMEN LOVE THIS SHOW YOU GUYS.

My reasons for not liking it are pretty simple. It doesn't move me. Okay, the very first episode, with the guy from that old show Simon & Simon as the gruff-but-loving doctor and the little abandoned baby...I may have shed a tear or two. But that was it. I find the writing to be hackneyed and predictable. After the first couple of episodes it was like catching onto the beat of a song. Banter, pause, laugh/kiss/hug, pause, long emotionally charged monologue with serious face, cut. Rinse and repeat.

The acting (aside from *maybe* the dude who plays Randall) is not great. Kevin? He makes me think of Joey Tribbiani as Dr. Drake Ramoray. Mandy Moore is just so MUCH all the TIME. And Toby? Don't get me started. My creep-detectors went haywire when he was onscreen. I don't know if it's the actor or the way the character is written, but he is gross and if Kate was my homegirl I'd be telling her to run, fast.

And Kate. Ahh. One of the novel points of this show was how they were going to feature a fat woman as like, a real person. With feelings and stuff. As someone whom society considers fat, I think I'm supposed to be Team Kate. We should grateful to have a representative on a super popular show, ya know. I suppose it is good and progressive to have a less-than perfect size zero woman on television being shown as just an everyday gal and not the funny sidekick or the eccentric cat lady. In that respect, yay! What I couldn't get past was the acting by the woman who plays Kate. She seemed, to me, to be practically expressionless most of the time, aside from when she was reciting yet another of her verge-of-crying speeches. I could never really tell if Kate was pissed off, sad or happy.

Listen, I'm not disparaging those of you who love this show. If anything, I envy you.

There's nothing like getting swept up in the embrace of an hour-long distraction from the rat race. And lest you think I consider myself Roger Ebert or anything, please know that I have watched every episode of Sex and the City at least ten times. I'm not special nor am I particularly qualified to critique a television show. And I did only watch six episodes...for all I know if I'd stuck it out I'd be the one joking about "getting my Kleenex ready" every Tuesday night.

Maybe it has to be like all the other shows I've fallen in love with- it needs to marinate for a while. I've been late to the party with so many others: The Wire, Breaking Bad, The Office...perhaps This is Us, like revenge, is a dish best served cold.

*I've decided to challenge myself and do the NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month, and write a blog post every single day of November. I figure it's the kick in the ass I need to get writing again. I've made this one with about 3 minutes left of November 1st, so you can see how well it's going so far. 

Stay tuned. And thank you for being here.




34 comments:

  1. I’m also a middle-aged mom of a certain weight, and i’ve never seen an episode of This Is Us. I’m just not interested.

    Really looking forward to your November challenge! ��

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    1. Bless you 😂. And thank you for being here. Let’s see if this sticks.

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  2. Oh Hon - I usually agree with you on EVERYTHING. But not this. THIS is MY SHOW!!! But I love you anyway :)

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    1. I AM BROKEN, SUSAN! Ha!! Thank you for being here and for still loving me. Right back at ya.

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  3. I don't get it either. It feels overdone, turned to loud, burnt. I don't connect with it and I've never shed a tear.

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  4. What Susan said. But I still love you too. ;)

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  5. Middle-aged mom of 4 teens here. I TOTALLY agree. What the bejeezus is all the fuss about? It's a perfectly nice little show but it has ZERO wow factor. It's actually leaning very much to the side of being trite, in my opinion.

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  6. I tried to get into this show, too - I really did. I made it about as far as you did, then just lost interest. I enjoy seeing Milo every chance I get, but there wasn't (for me) enough THERE there to sit through the rest of it just for that. It seemed transparently manipulative to me.

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  7. Every day you write the book!

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  8. Yes! I tried-it just never touched me. There were so many aspects that should resonate with my life, but not happening.

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  9. Yes-thought I was possibly the only person on the planet who felt this way. I tried but for me there is no connection.

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  10. I am glad you wrote this. Here are the two things I find particularly annoying about the show: Jack is unbelievably perfect. Even when he had a drinking problem he of course successfully hid it and remained an ideal dad. It’s over the top. (Sidenote- this does not impact my love for Milo.)
    I was also excited about the idea of Kate’s character but to me she is as bland as white bread. Toby and another dude compete for her affection and I think “what for?!?” She’s not been shown to be kind or funny or smart or anything other than a good singer and Steelers fan. It is great to see plus size women represented but was it asking too much to also give her a personality? Give her some depth other than “chick struggling with weight.” Does anyone else agree with me on that because I’ve seen many complaints about the show but none about the boringness of Kate?

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    1. I agree wholeheartedly. It’s like the writers don’t know what to do with a big chick. “Isn’t it enough that we have her as a main character??” seems to be the train of thought there.

      I wonder if it’s the material provided, or the acting chops of Chrissy (?? Not sure if that’s the actress’s name). I can’t imagine the dearth of plus size actors and actresses out there who are dying for a good role. I sometimes think they just plucked her out of a stack of fat actress resumes...”this one will do”.

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  11. I've never watched this show. I can't sit still for an hour of much of anything. My ADHD and/or anxiety kicks in and I'm back up and at some task. I see you are getting about as much sleep as I am 5-6 hours a night? Good times...in bed at 11:30, up at 5:15ish.

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    1. Yes the sleep thing is a slippery fish. This time of year I get into the awful habit of falling asleep super early and then waking up all refreshed at about 9 pm. Trips to the gym at night seem to help!

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  12. I was enjoying it during the first season but last night I was considering giving up. The emotional manipulation and the way they've dragged Jack's death out over two seasons is feeling like a bit much. But who am I kidding, I'm sure I'll keep watching because I kind of want to find out what happened.

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  13. I also tried and got about as far as you did with this show. Honestly, I was irritated by Kate - the character as well as the actress. Would it have been too much to just have her be a “normal” character w/o focusing on her weight? I was reminded of Fat Monica on Friends, which always made me irrationally angry. I tapped out.

    As for the writing - I’ve missed yours! I’m trying to find my writing mojo again; I seem to have lost it after the election last year!

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  14. Oh, my goodness. I don't know if I can be your fan anymore, if you don't like "This is us"! Just joking. There is no discussing taste. We will have to just agree to disagree. If I could make a suggestion for a blog post: What about explaining why you picked Dorothy Parker's quote "What fresh hell is this?" and why that key visual? Maybe what it means to you now, so many years after the fresh hell of being left by your husband?

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  15. You are not alone! I watched the first 20 minutes or so and just felt ewwww. And I LOVED Milo on "Gilmore Girls," sigh. But that "Gilmore Girls" seasons thing. I watched them all and saw it in quite a different light--a bunch of fast-talking, privileged, narcissistic whiners. Rory was the worst! I have watched every episode of "Sex and thr City," though. Are you also not into "Game of Thrones" but thought you would be? Or "The Walking Dead"? Both of those in my opinion had no likable characters. If you want a fun family show to watch, check out "Fresh of the Boat." I'd much rather laugh than cry at this point. And if you want sci fi ish adventure, "The Gifted" seems good so far. Life is too short to watch bad tv. ; )

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  16. You are not alone! I watched the first 20 minutes or so and just felt ewwww. And I LOVED Milo on "Gilmore Girls," sigh. But that "Gilmore Girls" seasons thing. I watched them all and saw it in quite a different light--a bunch of fast-talking, privileged, narcissistic whiners. Rory was the worst! I have watched every episode of "Sex and thr City," though. Are you also not into "Game of Thrones" but thought you would be? Or "The Walking Dead"? Both of those in my opinion had no likable characters. If you want a fun family show to watch, check out "Fresh off the Boat." I'd much rather laugh than cry at this point. And if you want sci fi ish adventure, "The Gifted" seems good so far. Life is too short to watch bad tv. ; )

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  17. I tried one episode and I was done. I'm with you and I'm of a certain age and definitely not what anyone would define as "thin". Just didn't like the acting or the storyline so I peaced out, too.

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  18. I can't stand it either!! Totally agree with every word you wrote .

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  19. I’ve never even heard of it.

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  20. I've never watched it. I can't stand Mandy Moore. Looking forward to your daily posts.

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    1. MM is the pits. Every dramatic scene is like every scene she's ever had in every show/movie she's ever been in. Jut the chin out a bit, hold intense eye contact, look stubborn and strong. I can't enjoy her at all...

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  21. I even gave This is Us a whole season and I just can't...you are not alone! p.s. I agree with everything your wrote on why you don't like it. Snoooze...

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  22. Don't feel too bad.. I don't even know what show your talking about.. never heard of it..is it on before or after the walking dead?!

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  23. This is the way I felt about Parenthood. And I love Lauren Graham. I like This Is Us, kinda, sorta, maybe? I find my attention waning this season for much of the same reasons you outline above. I think I'm sticking around for Sterling K Brown (Randall), although the "find the bio dad just as he is literally dying from cancer" storyline was a bit manipulative. (I stuck with Army Wives for far longer than I should have because of Sterling.) So yeah. You are not alone. For me, another issue is the number of people and the storylines in the different time periods. That is a lot to shuffle around/get to each hour. And sometimes it just feels like they wrap things up too easily/nicely just to move on to the next thing.

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  24. OMG LOL - as someone who loves the show (all the way from Australia) I can still actually agree with everything you say! I am pathetically uncriticial with TV - either I like something or I don't, but it's not always about the quality of the acting or characters. I couldn't even tell you what I like about it or many other shows I watch, other than that something keeps me going back to say how something goes.
    I do admire your courage though, in coming out as a This Is Us hater LOL

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  25. I think I love This Is Us for all the reasons that you hate it! My husband hates fish. Hates it. Any and all fish. But everyone is constantly insisting that he would like it if he had a certain type prepared in a certain way. And then because they can't wrap their minds around someone not liking any type of fish they wrongly conclude that "it must be a texture issue". This drives my husband insane! Sometimes people just don't like things.

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  26. I like it but don't love it. I do, however, LOVE that you're back here!

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  27. TV in general doesn't do much more for me. Your writing, on the other hand, keeps me coming back for more. I'll happily be visiting often during November whenever I get the chance.

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  28. I totally agree, glad to see I'm not alone! It just didn't touch me. People would post "OMG I cried my eyes out" and I'd be thinking, really? Why? The stories didn't engage me, the people don't seem to like each other and the flipping back and forth through time makes my head hurt.

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  29. Preaching to the choir, sister. I do like a good Bloody Mary, though.

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