THE New Normal- Page 12

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 9:04pm

I agree. But the show didn't silently agree that Phil had made a wise comment.

I think that's the difference.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 9:05pm

I don't remember there being any sort of followup to that comment. But I could be wrong.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 9:06pm

Also, Phil's line was actually funny. Another difference (IMO, of course).

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 9:07pm

Well yes, there's that as well. LOL

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 9:08pm

No, you're right. I don't mean actual follow up. I mean the context the shows--any shows--provide for what their characters say and do. We generally get the creator's view as well as the surrounding characters'.

That's what I personally don't get from "The New Normal." The stereotypes and racist jokes are just sort of dumped out there for me to sort out and respond to. And I guess I don't respond with laughter.

But again, that's just my opinion. Humor (not to mention offensiveness) is very subjective.





Updated On: 10/2/12 at 09:08 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 9:13pm

I read your initial followup to my post wrong. You're absolutely right in what you said. MODERN FAMILY's tone is so so completely different from NEW NORMAL so that Phil can say something like that and it can be absolutely hilarious and not offensive because we understand him as this truly good guy who just says these strange things most of the time. Whereas in any Ryan Murphy show, you only have caricature people who make it impossible to truly side with them.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 9:16pm

Yes, that's my point exactly. You said it better than I did.

And again, I don't think anyone's wrong if they do find it funny. I just don't. But I keep checking in on the show, just to see if it's changed my mind (or if I have).

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 9:53pm

Phyllis
I am not defending this as a great show, it's not, it's pretty funny and makes me laugh at times but in comparison to other shows mentioned in this thread (Modern Family, Roseanne) it does not come close, my only problem is that i just don't get why people are up in arms about it, but everyone of course is entitled to their opinion. If the show is not making you laugh because you don't like the writing or characters then it's failed to engage you, that is not what i'm talking about.

Also you totally missed my point about the 'only voting for the President because he's black line'. All i meant was the right wing jumped all over that saying the same thing she did once he won because the publicity on the build up to the election focused a lot on the fact it would be the first black president. It just made sense to me when she said it in the show because some of the far right had been saying it since he was voted in, that's all.

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 9:56pm

Once again, the writing was pretty bad tonight. It was great seeing Jackie Hoffman, but I wish she had better material.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 10:25pm

Tonight's episode was the best and worst. I thought it was especially unfunny, but it also grounded the characters more and made them all seem less like caricatures. Rannells had his sweetest moment yet at the end when he called his mother.

I can't say I like the show yet, but it's a quick 17 minutes of my time, and there must be something that keeps me coming back each week.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 11:15pm

I don't even understand what you're defending anymore, songanddanceman, Jesus Christ. The thing that's so infuriating is you don't seem to either. The issue people had was that what she said about Obama was left unchallenged, not that she said it, not that anybody did or didn't think it was groundbreaking. But really, a show called The New Normal shouldn't have a character who is inexpicably from another decade to whom every single character gives deference.

However, I feel that tonight's episode (#5 already?) showed the key to a satisfying future for The New Normal: Phase out Ellen Barkin, phase in Jackie Hoffman, and bring in somebody great as Andrew's mom. They've written themselves into a corner with the Barkin character, and though it's not like she hasn't gotten herself out of terrible writers' corners before, (cf The Normal Heart), it's just that there's nowhere for her to go. So let's give Ellen the Joe Girard Award for 2012, thank her for her hard work, and send her back to Ohio with Reese's husband. Now that she's discovered younger meat and realizes she doesn't have to satisfy herself with what she thinks are disgusting fat men, it would make perfect sense as an exit for those two characters.

I thought Jackie was great, I liked the nuance of her scenes. Often i find her way over the top onscreen, but I thought she was perfection in this. Let Little Edie convert to Judaism in a three-episode arc in which she does a Charlotte impression. It would be soooooo much better.

Updated On: 10/2/12 at 11:15 PM

[Wynbish]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 11:22pm

NBC has picked it up for a full season.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 11:23pm

Ellen out. Jackie in.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 11:25pm

I agree with virtually everything Whizzer wrote, except I know why I come back - because I have thing for hate-watching things and this is pretty much the only show I'm hate-watching, which is really good for me. And "especially unfunny" is kind of apt. I thought the episode was pleasant enough until, well, I'll get to that in a second.

I liked Bryan's picnic outfit a lot. I actually thought the episode was fine until there was the back to back punch of that awful scene between Jackie Hoffman and Andrew Rannells and the one with Ellen Barkin and the dude who helped her get her groove back. There was just such ... ugliness? nastiness? in both of those scenes that I was really unsure WHO I was supposed to sympathize with. The tone of this is show is so inconsistent I feel like at times I might as well be watching a cartoon.

I will say one thing about this show, things fly by at a clip, don't they? Bryan's got a troubled relationship with mom and then boom he called mom. Jackiemom and Ryan don't get along and now Jackiemom calls him son.



Updated On: 10/3/12 at 11:25 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 11:38pm

"The tone of this is show is so inconsistent I feel like at times I might as well be watching a cartoon."

Yeah, that's what in the "industry", they call a Ryan Murphy show.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 10/3/12 at 12:14am

Also

THIS

But really, a show called The New Normal shouldn't have a character who is inexplicably from another decade to whom every single character gives deference.

and

Now that she's discovered younger meat and realizes she doesn't have to satisfy herself with what she thinks are disgusting fat men, it would make perfect sense as an exit for those two characters.

This! Maybe the fact she's fifty two and never had an orgasm is why she's so uptight and awful. I'd really hate that this show literally acted out the trope of having the bitch f*cked out of her, but if we got to keep Ellen Barkin and lose all the casual racism I think it would be a win-win.

Again, I didn't know who I was supposed to feel for when she came storming in and made it about the world does awful things to her. I wanted someone to say, "Lady, have you met yourself?"

[Jungle Red]

Posted: 10/3/12 at 1:31am

JMG posted this from One Million Moms.

"The show was a platform for the liberal agenda. The program was also extremely racist and made anyone who has traditional values appear to be racist. This is a false representation. The twist at the end was when an African-American man revealed he was a Republican. The show is demeaning to conservatives and degrading to the black community."

I haven't watched the show, but I thought I'd share.
JOE

[canmark]

Posted: 10/3/12 at 6:43am

For a show that everybody seems to hate (OK, not everybody), this thread has got 291 replies. Meanwhile, Partners, which everybody claims to love (OK, not everybody) has only 39 replies. Just sayin'.

If you don't like it, why not ignore it? (Or do you secretly like it, and just don't want to admit it? ie. Smash)

[canmark]

Posted: 10/3/12 at 6:44am

double post

Updated On: 10/3/12 at 06:44 AM

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/3/12 at 8:18am

Canmark, there are a lot of comments throughout the thread about why people keep giving it a try.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 10/3/12 at 9:00am

canmark-

Smash was different because although it was fun to pick apart why the show wasn't true to the Broadway experience, the characters were (fairly) easy to root for and they certainly weren't hateful. I wanted to know what would happen to Huston, Messing, Ivy Lynn and hell, even Iowa wasn't THAT annoying. I can't wait until the return of Smash, faults and all.

I will keep watching The New Normal, but I can't say I eagerly anticipate the next episode. I don't even care if Rannells and Bartha get their kid, and I think that may be the biggest issue with the show thus far.

Posted: 10/3/12 at 10:43am

I watched it on Comcast this morning to give it another try. It was good to see that this show hates fat people, old ladies, momma's boys and pretty much everyone as much as it self-hates the gays.

I was thinking "It's like this show is set on another planet and the aliens are trying to pass as humans" but Phyllis' description of it as a cartoon is even more accurate.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 10/3/12 at 10:47am

EW: 'New Normal': Why we should all worship Andrew Rannells

Posted: 10/3/12 at 10:52am

And is it officially a Ryan Murphy thing that a loving gay couple never exhibits any affection at all? That kiss on the forehead from one partner to the other was even more awkward than the we-go-to-bed-fully-dressed charade every week.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/3/12 at 10:57am

Whizzer - I find Ivy Lynn to be 100x more despicable than anyone on NEW NORMAL. I'm still hoping she gets "Smash"ed by a bus this season.

And Joe, in a show written by someone who hates himself and being gay as much as Ryan Murphy does, you'll never see real affection between two men.