Puntabulous

Pop Culture Pet Peeves

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I don’t know if you can tell from reading my blog, but I like watching television and movies. A lot. I know, shocking. Pick your chin up off the floor. But there are things that I see a lot of in my viewing experience that thoroughly bug the heck out of me.

1. When people dressed up as creatures wear gloves that make their fingers longer than they really are. They always make the fingers longer, but there’s no way to change the way in which they bend so the first two knuckles are the same, and then the tip is twice as long as it should be. The creatures will undoubtedly wriggle their fingers menacingly (as if wriggling fingers is all that menacing to begin with) and it just looks ridiculous because the knuckle length proportions are totally out of whack. And don’t even get me started if they need to grab or hold onto something. Just plain ridiculous.

2. Empty to-go coffee cups. You’re not fooling anyone! We can tell they’re empty! These people are practically juggling three cups without any threat of scalding and yet I can hardly hold onto one for longer than 10 seconds at a time.

3. Where have New Years Eve television episodes gone? And no, the lame three holidays in one episode of Grey’s Anatomy doesn’t count. Since TV execs feel the need to take a winter break and we no longer get very many new episodes of our favorite shows in December and January, the New Years Eve episode has gone extinct. The holiday used to lend itself to such interesting drama (resolutions! who to kiss!) but I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen one since Monica and Chandler had to figure out a way to kiss so no one would know they were dating. Could you even imagine the awesomeness of a Gossip Girl New Year’s Eve episode? I want New Years Eve episodes back!

4. When people get hung up on with their cell phones and there’s a dial tone. Cell phones don’t have dial tones jackass! And while we’re talking about cell phones, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a text message on a television show that has looked remotely close to text messages I’ve seen in real life.

5. Previews on my DVDs. I can understand previews on rentals, and maybe even the cheaper single disc editions of movies, but if I’m dropping money on the super duper two disc deluxe special edition or a season of television, there better not be a damn preview or even worse an anti-piracy advertisement on there! Hello! I bought the DVD! I’m not a pirate.

6. And this one comes courtesy of Mom. She says it drives her nuts when people on television and movies get parking spots right in front of the buildings they need to get into. I haven’t really noticed it before, but now I’m sure it’ll drive me crazy now.

What are some of your pet peeves in television and movies?

PEEVES | Craig | December 2, 2009 9:24 am

85 Comments

By bjk, December 2, 2009 @ 9:32 am

i hate when people make plans on the phone (like a date, for instance) but NEVER clarify when or where. as soon as they get a ‘yes’ from the person, they just hang up the phone as if they magically know the rest of the details.
By josh, December 2, 2009 @ 9:35 am

i hate when you’re in the car wiff da characterz and you can clearly tell they are not driving. At least make it look believable! What makez it worse is when they have a green screen showing from outside the window some sort of video reel of moving highway. Fake City!

I also hate little children on tv shows. You can always tell that they were JUST directed what to say right befo the camera got switched on. Fuckin’ amateurs.

Lastly, i hate laugh trax. STOP TELLING ME WHAT I SHOULD THINK IS FUNNERZ!!!
By Mel, December 2, 2009 @ 9:46 am

1. Think of them as being like hoochies with really long fingernails. You know the ones I’m talkin’ about. Of course, maybe then they should be wearing more bling and have bigger hair.

2. – 4. These are pretty much outside the realm of my experience. Apparently I only watch movies where characters spill the coffee and have plausible cell phone hang-ups.

5. David likes the previews, though we both find it annoying to be forced to watch them before we can get to the menu. And are you sure you’re not a pirate?

6. Friends of mine always called that Doris Day parking. Bitch could always find an open spot right in front of the building, even in downtown L.A.
By The Ryan with the Cupcake, December 2, 2009 @ 10:18 am

#4 reminds me of Jay Brannan’s cover of Ani DiFranco’s Both Hands (having just listened to the original for the first time – the cover is unbelievably better). It took me a while to wonder how a cell phone could have a dial tone. Now that I learned that the song was written in 1992, I am even more confused.

Speaking of Gossip Girl, after watching this week’s episode, I couldn’t help but notice that both Dan and Nate are alone and heartbroken. They are now comforting each other in my mind.

Finally, to skip right to the middle school level we always seem to devolve to, do a lot of ones come courtesy of your mom?
By Paul, December 2, 2009 @ 10:23 am

Since I watch a lot of science channel stuff I hate when one of those shows does the science of a show or movie, like Star Wars, and they get the whole premise of the show wrong. Last night I was watching one and they kept using Stargate as an example of Parallel Universes………..WRONG!!!!!!!

I also never got the “fat guy with a lousy job and the hot wife” combo. The Honeymooners was 50 years ago! They should have stopped with The Flintstones. How about the “fat guy with tons of money and the hot wife” combo, seems more believable.
By Paul, December 2, 2009 @ 10:23 am

Since I watch a lot of science channel stuff I hate when one of those shows does the science of a show or movie, like Star Wars, and they get the whole premise of the show wrong. Last night I was watching one and they kept using Stargate as an example of Parallel Universes………..WRONG!!!!!!!

I also never got the “fat guy with a lousy job and the hot wife” combo. The Honeymooners was 50 years ago! They should have stopped with The Flintstones. How about the “fat guy with tons of money and the hot wife” combo, seems more believable.
By The Ryan with the Cupcake, December 2, 2009 @ 10:37 am

I don’t mind previews as long as they are skippable. Since I don’t watch much live TV anymore, I usually miss most movie ad campaigns. I like being able to see what I might have missed.

I hate the piracy warnings because they aren’t skippable. I hate that DVD manufacturers caved in to whoever decided that unskippable was a feature.

josh: I hate children’s TV shows where the actors ham everything up. Laugh tracks are also annoying me lately. I had gotten to the point where I hadn’t noticed them anymore, but then a friend pointed them out, and they now stand out again.
By Denise, December 2, 2009 @ 11:00 am

When the characters repeatedly use one another’s first names while talking directly to one another. Who does that?! No one.
By jere, December 2, 2009 @ 11:21 am

Over the weekend I watched a lot of Lifetime holiday movies as background noise to my studying. After the 4th “Christmas is magic” story, I got really annoyed at the number of high-powered New York business executives who schedule, no DEMAND, that huge projects or meetings or crucial client contacts take place on Christmas Eve/Christmas/Boxing Day. Is that even remotely realistic? “Hi, I’m Bob and I represent a multi-million dollar potential client and I want to ruin your holiday and mine by scheduling a pitch meeting for Christmas Day. But if you go home to your rustic hometown and invite me out there and melt my heart with family values, I might be persuaded anyway.”
By Polt, December 2, 2009 @ 11:55 am

I HATE it when there’s a countdown, a bomb going off, a rocket taking off, something like that. And they start with like 28 seconds. I start counting with them. Them two or three characters speak, with pauses inbetween. They switch back to the clock. I’m at like 6 seconds, but the clock is at like 21. Puh-LEASE! Why keep showing the damn thing if you’re not gonna allow it to countdown acurately???

And I’m with Sassy josh and Cupcake over the laugh track. If you’ve gotta add canned laughter to it, it probably isn’t funny in the first place.

HUGS…
By Mark, December 2, 2009 @ 11:56 am

I hate when a scene is supposed to take place in an East Coast location and it was obviously shot on th West Coast. Like beach scenes…How many beaches are there on the East Coast with cliffs and palm trees???
By john, December 2, 2009 @ 12:08 pm

I don’t have much to add as I don’t watch that much tv, but I will say of course you aren’t a pirate. You’re a ninja.
By Polt, December 2, 2009 @ 12:35 pm

john: Ninja Assassin…is that movie out yet? Fit shirtless Asian twinkies with hairthings…what more could I want in a film?

HUGS…
By The Ryan with the Cupcake, December 2, 2009 @ 12:38 pm

Mark: I get annoyed by how disproportionately many shows and movies happen in New York and Los Angeles.
By Mel, December 2, 2009 @ 1:02 pm

Mark: They can be quite fun – like all those times Wonder Woman had to fight the bad guys in the mountainous scrub deserts of Maryland and Virginia.
By Justin, December 2, 2009 @ 1:30 pm

I hate movies that think we’re so stupid they have to spell out how we’re supposed to feel at each moment.

I hate slow-motion characters moving towards you with an expanding fireball behind them (thank goodness that trope is not as common as it was)

I hate the trendy over-use of “first-person” shaky-queasy cam. Yes, we get it. You know how to forget everything you were ever taught about how to pan or zoom. We get that you think it’s cool and makes it look more “real” and “in your face”. Now stop making me throw up and use real camera work. It’s nice! Like scripts! And characters!
By Michelle, December 2, 2009 @ 1:32 pm

Those are so funny – especially the one about the fingers! So true!
I hate when people are driving on tv or in the movies and the driver keeps looking at the passenger while he/she is talking instead of keeping their eyes on the road. While some people really do drive that way, it still makes me crazy. Watch where you are going!

I also hate when you are trying to figure out who is playing a certain role and they squish the end credits of the show into a tiny box so you can’t read them.
By Justin, December 2, 2009 @ 2:05 pm

Michelle — good one about the driving; I hate that too.

(I also hate when people order something at a restaurant/bar and leave without eating/drinking any of it.)

But as for squished credits, four letters for ya: I M D B.
By josh, December 2, 2009 @ 2:09 pm

Justin: But I like Cloverfield/Blair Witch/Paranormal Activity!!!
By The Ryan with the Cupcake, December 2, 2009 @ 2:11 pm

Bombarding Craig with positive thoughts. I hope he isn’t blinded by the rainbows.
By Justin, December 2, 2009 @ 2:22 pm

Josh — I’m not saying you can NEVER use it. It can be very effective (even if some people literally can’t watch it due to motion sickness issues, for realz).

I’m just saying it’s getting ridiculously overused. BSG, Stargate Universe, everybody thinks they have to use it now and not only is it irritating cuz it’s a fad but it’s also Style over Substance a lot of the time.
By The Ryan with the Cupcake, December 2, 2009 @ 2:28 pm

Justin: Has SGU gotten better? I stopped watching after an episode of conflict between Earth and the spaceship over unclear substance and Senator’s daughter whining about her romantic life or something.
By Justin, December 2, 2009 @ 2:35 pm

Ryan – lol it’s still slow-going I’m still giving it a chance though. The guy who plays the … sort of second-in-command young officer is awwwwwwfully cute. Hell, I’m so hard up even the guy who plays the dorky pudgy nerd is kind of cute
By Brian, December 2, 2009 @ 2:52 pm

@Mel I call that Doris Day parking too!
By Tam, December 2, 2009 @ 2:56 pm

Umm. All of the above. Josh’s point about the fake moving background in a car makes me nuts. Sooo not real.

With babies, really young ones you can see them looking off to the side where their parent/handler is trying to keep them from crying or doing something stupid. Just skip the kid. I did watch a Criminal Minds though when he went into a house with a screaming kid and haveing had one, that kid was freaked out and scared. It was totally real but I felt bad for the kid, forced to cry like that to add realism.

I also put two of those little coffee cup protector thingies on because it’s still too damn hot to hold with one.
By Justin, December 2, 2009 @ 2:57 pm

The term “Doris Day Parking” is (as I am too old to say) “full of win”
By The Ryan with the Cupcake, December 2, 2009 @ 3:39 pm

Do we know when we will find out whether happy thoughts worked?
By Justin, December 2, 2009 @ 3:40 pm

I wouldn’t hold my breath. It’s not like we ever get to hear how the decongestion went either …
By David, December 2, 2009 @ 3:55 pm

I can honestly say I never noticed the issues of your peeves 1-4.

As regards #5 I assume you are joking about the piracy warning. Of course you are the target of the message. Who else are they going to ask not to copy the DVD 15 times and give it to their friends?

6. Yeah, your mom is right on the money.
By TwoPi, December 2, 2009 @ 4:04 pm

What Polt said at 11:55.

Also, I hate knowing that a show is only going to deal with one issue, and knowing how long the episode is. So for example on House, you’ve got a patient, they have an illness, and the team comes up with a diagnosis and treatment. But NO WAY will it work, ’cause we’re only 12 minutes into our hour of teevee. If I was that bad a doctor (to need 7 guesses to get it right, every friggin’ week), I’d turn in my license.
By The Ryan with the Cupcake, December 2, 2009 @ 4:09 pm

David: I think the piracy warning is an archaic remnant of the days of VCR. All you need to copy a cassette is two player/recorders. Copying a DVD takes a little more effort. I suspect the vast majority of DVD copyright infringement has an expert doing the initial copying.
By The Ryan with the Cupcake, December 2, 2009 @ 4:11 pm

TwoPi: I hate that two. One thing I like about HBO/Showtime shows is that they are longer that network shows. They disrupt my ability to judge how much of the show is left, making things less predictable.
By Justin, December 2, 2009 @ 4:17 pm

David & Ryan — the piracy commercials usually look like they’re aimed at people who are DOWNLOADING movies. I have literally never seen a commercial that says “don’t make a copy of this DVD”. Plus, the law is still very vague as to whether there even EXISTS a fair use right or back up right anymore (both of which were mandated by congress at one point) since the DMCA was passed, and has not been litigated to any conclusion as of yet, so we don’t know whether the DMCA effectively “repealed” those earlier rights.

I don’t agree that the warnings are a remnant of the days of the VCR: *precisely* the opposite. In the days of the VCR, copies were very very poor, and the industry wasn’t that worried about them. In the days of digital media, copies are perfect and bit-torrent and other sharing mechanisms drive the instrustry mad. I do agree, however, that the target audience isn’t really the person owning a retail DVD: most movies get uploaded and shared LONG before the DVD even hits the shelves.
By The Ryan with the Cupcake, December 2, 2009 @ 4:20 pm

The warnings feel like a waiter giving a lecture about not dine-and-dashing after you have finished paying.
By Will, December 2, 2009 @ 4:42 pm

When a character is talking to another on the phone, and the call is abruptly ended, leaving one of the characters with a dial tone. Then, the character goes, “Hello?! HELLO?!” to a dial tone.

Just who in the hell do they think is hearing that?
By Justin, December 2, 2009 @ 5:16 pm

One last thing about anti-piracy warnings. They should, of course, all be replaced by this spoof ad from The IT Crowd:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkObnAlG124

(without the laugh-track, tho)
By Will, December 2, 2009 @ 5:17 pm

When beautiful actors and actresses play “ugly” and/or “unpopular” characters. That’s just crazymaking.
By Paul, December 2, 2009 @ 5:21 pm

How about balding men playing a teenager, maybe I should have tried out for Glee!!!!!
By john, December 2, 2009 @ 5:22 pm

Will: I’m not sure if this fits into that definition, but I liked when Kristen Bell played Sarah Marshall. She is attractive, but the character wasn’t at all. I thought that was a good choice for her.
By MattV, December 2, 2009 @ 5:37 pm

I always find it a little jarring that characters talking on the phone never seem to say goodbye, they just hang up. I understand that it saves time and doesn’t interrupt the narrative, but it’s so unrealistic the way they just immediately hang up after hearing what they need to.
By MattV, December 2, 2009 @ 5:41 pm

Also, just once on tv I’d like to see a Christmas present wrapped the way people actually do (imperfect corners, visible tape, cheap-ass drugstore bow) and opened by tearing through the paper, not by lifting the separately wrapped lid off of the box.
By Michelle M., December 2, 2009 @ 5:41 pm

Mel – Doris Day parking! Now in my vocabulary.

josh – I liked those movies, too. But shaky cam makes me queasy. It was way too shaky in Paranormal Activity. Unless Micah had palsy it was overdone.

I hate all the “adorable” tripping/clumsiness in Romantic Comedies. Ugh.
By Mel, December 2, 2009 @ 6:13 pm

Forget shaky-cam. What about gratuitous and pointless use of Matrix-like slo-mo? It’s crazy-making!
By The Ryan with the Cupcake, December 2, 2009 @ 6:15 pm

I forgot about one of my biggest pet peeves: Gratuitous romantic interests.
By Tam, December 2, 2009 @ 7:00 pm

I agree Ryan. Sometimes a story is great without a love story subcontext. Just let the man blow up the damn building and shoot some baddies without having to rescue some TSTL chick in a ripped dress.

I’m with Matt on the present thing too. NO one wraps the box lid separately, ever.
By Justin, December 2, 2009 @ 7:17 pm

We are rapidly approaching a recapitulation of the content of http://tvtropes.org
By The Ryan with the Cupcake, December 2, 2009 @ 7:27 pm

Justin: I was just there after googling the lyrics to The Doom Song.
By Justin, December 2, 2009 @ 7:31 pm

It’s a good place to be I can spend all day there (I first found it by googling “explosive decompression”)
By The Ryan with the Cupcake, December 2, 2009 @ 7:32 pm

All men use decongestant aids.
By Michelle M., December 2, 2009 @ 7:35 pm

Cheap jump scares in horror movies.
By Justin, December 2, 2009 @ 7:37 pm

LOL. Of course all the study finds is that all men HAVE LOOKED AT porn at some point. It doesn’t show that all men WATCH porn. We’ll just have to ask Josherz whether the study’s findings are accurate
By Justin, December 2, 2009 @ 7:41 pm

Oh Michelle — I LOVE cheap jump scares in horror movies! That’s what it’s all about
By Michelle M., December 2, 2009 @ 7:54 pm

Justin…noooooooooooo… I want a bona fide scare – twin girls, spinning heads, chest bursters… not a kitten knocking over a lamp. The ice maker in When a Stranger Calls (the original) was good, though.

And I thought the hokey pokey was what it’s all about.
By Justin, December 2, 2009 @ 8:00 pm

But Michelle you can have both! The original Alien had both chest-bursters AND kittens. The kitten scare was as integral a part of the full experience as anything else.

Now I’m trying to remember what cartoon it was that DID have the sepulchral joke “What if the hokey pokey IS what it’s all about?” …. hmmmph
By Chris D., December 2, 2009 @ 8:39 pm

I am impressed at how observant you are. I think I have been conditioned to ignore many of the minor implausibilities in TV and movies because there are so many.

What grates on me is when BASIC technology is misrepresented in really stupid ways. I have seen screen shots of computer programs that have unnecessarily elaborate colorful and artsy animated user interfaces rather than a normal Windows, Mac, or Linux GUI. Please! Almost every TV viewer under the age of 75 knows what a computer UI looks like. It isn’t that hard to get right.

Another annoyance of mine is silly infinite image zooming. Digital images have a finite resolution. Yes, you can interpolate and sharpen them, but there are limits to what algorithmic enhancement can do. Don’t show me patently fake digital image manipulation and expect me not to cringe!

I am also annoyed when writers pull plot twists out of their ass, especially when they could have easily setup for those twists! I don’t mind plot depth, or creativity, but you can’t just ignore setups and make things happen to advance the plot in implausible ways!

Wow… I did not know how angry I was at the entertainment industry. Thanks for giving me an opportunity to vent.
By Justin, December 2, 2009 @ 8:46 pm

If you’re going to complain about zooming (which I highly approve of), don’t forget the trope that everybody in movie and tv land has zoom-lenses built into their eyes. Highly useful!
By Oz, December 2, 2009 @ 8:48 pm

There’s no dial tone when someone hangs up on you on a landline either. It’s a click, silence for a while, and then the “off the hook” sound.

I hate that 99% of the time when people are on the phone in TV/movies they don’t say “goodbye” or “talk to you later” or give any indication that the conversation is over, they just hang up. That’s just rude.

I’m with Polt on the countdowns. It drives me crazy when it takes 20 real-world minutes for 2 movie minutes to pass.

Also, Chuck Bass’s squinting. And the fact that Dan for some reason forgot that Chuck tried to rape his sister in the first episode.
By Sven, December 2, 2009 @ 9:27 pm

The way that England, or indeed anywhere more than 12 miles off the cost of America is depicted in tv shows. And the awful accents you insist we have. Not everyone is posh (yes, I know I am, but I’m special like that).

Also, the way people can fly around the world in impossible times and no one seems to get jetlag. If I did LA to Hong Kong in 14 hours I’d probably touch down in the middle of the night looking like shit after my nerves were shot to hell on the white-knuckle ride of a super-supersonic flight. I wouldn’t just get off the plane at 8am on a Monday morning ready for a full day’s work. And I certainly wouldn’t be flying with my gun. Yeah, I’m looking at you, FlashForward.

One final thing: soft focus. Softening the edges of your cast will not soften the edges of your dreadful, dreadful script. Write better, you mook.
By Craig, December 2, 2009 @ 9:31 pm

Fear not my wonderful dancing monkeys! I’ve been enjoying your comments all day. Sorry I haven’t been able to comment till now, but I love all the ones you’ve listed. Hate squished credits, crazy shaky cameras, magical date arrangements, and abrupt goodbyes on the phone.
By Justin, December 2, 2009 @ 9:43 pm

Oh, Sven, how spoiled you are if you think TODAY’s depiction of British accents is bad. Did you never see Mary Poppins while growing up? Dick Van Dyke’s “cockney” accent is designed to make any Englishman’s ears bleed.

Boy are you right about the jet-lag though. Ugh.

And thank YOU, Craig for providing us dancing monkeys with such a great topic. Boy, we all do hate entertainment!!
By Craig, December 2, 2009 @ 10:22 pm

Oh, and decongestion time is the best time.
By Tam, December 2, 2009 @ 10:38 pm

Ryan: For the “decongestant” study, it should be noted that the study took place in Montreal, porn capital of Canada. I’m sure they’d be hard pressed to find 20 guys who haven’t been in on-line porn or at least watched it being produced let alone just looked at it.
By Enrico, December 3, 2009 @ 12:38 am

I hate when shows feature too many deaths (devaluing life is not cool) and when they have prominent product placement (often phones). Ugh.
And I hate when movies are not Precious.
By josh, December 3, 2009 @ 9:58 am

…or “Drag Me To Hell” or “Dreamgirls.”
By josh, December 3, 2009 @ 11:00 am

Justin: Porn? I don’t even know what a p33n lookz like. I’m virginal and innocent.
By The Ryan with the Cupcake, December 3, 2009 @ 11:16 am

Enrico: I hate it when they introduce a character in an episode only to kill him or her off to add a sense of danger. Unless they do a really, really good job at developing the character, I won’t care, and the scene will feel cheap.

I think Battlestar Galactica did a good job at avoiding this. They killed a lot of minor characters over the years, but the characters usually were present or took part in many scenes over the course of the seasons by the time they died. Each character who died was an actual loss for the show.
By Justin, December 3, 2009 @ 11:20 am

Ryan — I totally agree. (Even though I ended up going from being a BSG fanatic to being totally pissed as fuck at them by the end of the series. The original miniseries still stands for me as the finest scifi ever done, excluding the 1950s The Day the Earth Stood Still, though.)

Josh — I suppose it was too much to hope that you would actually answer the question seriously, but your p33n-free persona is still adorable.
By The Ryan with the Cupcake, December 3, 2009 @ 12:33 pm

Justin: The ending did majorly suck.

My roommate recently started watching my copies of BSG and was very disappointed to learn that I only had the first two seasons. He even joined Netflix in order to watch the remaining seasons.
By Craig, December 3, 2009 @ 12:34 pm

What is with the BSG finale hate? I liked it!
By Craig, December 3, 2009 @ 12:35 pm

“I don’t even know what a p33n lookz like”

Look down, Josh.
By josh, December 3, 2009 @ 12:40 pm

Craiggerz: Sorry…I only look up towards mah (lite)bright future!! So, don’t you bring me down today!
By Mark, December 3, 2009 @ 12:47 pm

Josh: P33n?? They’re called “thingiez” and they are beautiful!!!!

Dammit, now he has me doing it!
By Mel, December 3, 2009 @ 2:00 pm

Thingiez? Mine’s called Mr. Happy.
By Joey, December 3, 2009 @ 5:53 pm

The plot that scores of sitcoms have used over the years: Someone wants to sell the family house and when prospective buyers come over and talk about how they are going to re-construct the inside, the members of the family selling suddenly reminisce about what the house means and then decide not to sell.

My aunt designed & landscaped her house for over 30 years and she told me she didn’t care what the new owners would do, it wouldnt alter her memories and they have a right to do what they want with it once they own it.
By goblinbox, December 3, 2009 @ 6:55 pm

#4 bugs me too, but after pondering it a bit I think there’s a reason for it: if they just make up some stupid little graphic, the story advances and everyone’s happy. But if they use an actual phone, then they’re advertising for the phone manufacturer and/or carrier. Ya think? Or no?
By Justin, December 3, 2009 @ 11:50 pm

So actually about BSG it wasn’t JUST the finale — though that pissed me off (yeah, I *really* believe 30-odd-thousand people will all just meekly agree to give up technology) — but most of the 3rd and 4th seasons. It just became increasingly clear that they DIDN’T have this all planned out, that they WERE just making it up as they went along, and what’s worse, that they had very little respect for their characters or their integrity or consistency and could just make them do anything without regard to what actually made sense based on their previous history. It seemed arrogant to me.

There were still sublime moments in the last 2 seasons. Really impressive acting. There were even some phenomenal moments in the finale (basically *everything* involving Laura Roslin was always phenomenal). The “revelation” episode with Ellen Tigh and the Brother Cavill conversation where everything was revealed was an episode I really enjoyed, though then I felt they ruined it by wasting another episode on Ellen and Saul and #6 having their hissy fit, as if Ellen would still be the same person after regaining all her memories from “Earth”. So, all in all, a very mixed bag.

I’m still going to watch Caprica though. And The Plan.
By Suburban Kamikaze, December 4, 2009 @ 11:55 am

Don’t hate me, but I always get that parking spot. I can’t explain it really. There I am, whipping through the parking lot, my cinnamon dolce latte secure in the extra long fingers of my perfectly manicured right hand, and voila! there it is.

Oh well. Que sera, sera, right?
SK
By The Ryan with the Cupcake, December 4, 2009 @ 12:26 pm

Justin: There is a reason I only own the first two seasons. I pretty much agree with your assessment. I still enjoyed the show, but it just wasn’t as good.
By Justin, December 4, 2009 @ 12:35 pm

Thanks Exactly. I would probably even watch the show again on DVD despite my misgivings.

BTW: Does Ryan only have cupcake or does Ryan also have twitter feed?
By Craig, December 4, 2009 @ 12:40 pm

But season three is worth it for the New Caprica episodes alone!
By Justin, December 4, 2009 @ 12:46 pm

Oh, and SK? I’m not sure I can promise to do as you ask

(j/k)
By Justin, December 4, 2009 @ 12:55 pm

& Craig I’m sorry to disagree but *I* thought that whole storyline was just a cheap, shallow, facile “oo aren’t we deep” faux-analogue of suicide bombers in occupied Iraq (Simpsons did it better in one of their Treehouse of Horror episodes) without actually taking ANY STAND — in their usual chickenshit way, like they didn’t take a stand on rape, murdering civilians who don’t agree to be impressed into the army, or faking an election. And don’t get me started on the totally-out-of-character Anders moment “You know what you have to do [i.e. cold-bloodedly murder your own wife]“. Bah! I say. Just … BAH!
By The Ryan with the Cupcake, December 4, 2009 @ 2:44 pm

Justin: I do have a Twitter feed.

I protected my Twitter feed when I realized that Google had it near the top of the results when people searched for my name. I wanted to be able to talk about Puntabulous decongesting without worrying about professional type people reading it.
By Kimi, December 4, 2009 @ 3:03 pm

I am late getting here, and read through all the comments first thinking someone would surely mention my biggest TV pet peeve EVER, but nobody did! I HATE when someone knocks on a front door then they only give the person inside like 2 or 3 seconds to get to the door. If they don’t come, they say “Well, he must not be home” or “let’s go around back”. Hello????? Maybe they weren’t standing in the front hall just waiting for someone to knock on the door. Maybe they’re in the den reading. Maybe they’re on the toilet. Maybe they’re having some “alone time”. Give it a minute!
By Amie, December 6, 2009 @ 9:45 am

I know I am late writing this but this is the first time that I ever checked out your blog. I know there are laws about this but I think it is crazy when they show a newborn and it is very clearly a 5 month old baby. Newborns are so small that it is ridiculous to believe a baby that big is a new born.