What shows have you grown out of, or has society grown out of? Were they popular in their time? Were they not so much? Why do you feel like they’ve aged? I’ll leave mine below
24
big bang theory probably had the biggest fall off for me. was something that my ex wife and i always had on in the background. law&order on tnt aired less frequently than we watched big bang theory. the ball of anxiety bits appealed to her and sheldon got a lot of lines that made me laugh. our entire social circle was shitty to eachother like the characters, so it seemed normal. post divorce we’ve stayed close friends but both emptied out our social circles and restarted. that show has come up a few times and neither of us can finish a full episode anymore.
sitcoms all feel gross these days though. new girl is really the only one i can still enjoy.
Pretty much any cop shows.
Monk, NCIS, whatever. They’ve got so many narratives that are basically: it’s ok for cops to ignore laws so they can get the bad guy. Somebody else in the thread mentioned Frasier for the misogyny, and that reminded me there’s also an episode where the dad talks about being proud of lying on the stand to put someone in jail.
A typical cop show has this abuse of authority and rights in the service of justice, to serve and protect. There’s usually a clear cut good vs bad, and the “good guy” is ok to act badly because I guess “the ends justifies the means”.
In real life there is rarely a clear cut good vs bad, and we read all too many news articles about abuses of authority and excessive violence that are just not in the service of justice, not to serve and protect, and make us suspect those bad apples of being the real bad guys.
In real life, checks and balances are everything. In real life, the best chance of fairness, of justice, is when everyone follows the rules, everyone is provided due process, no one is above the law
When I was in flight school still living with my parents, they went on this huge crime procedural bend. Chief among them was The Closer, which is pure copaganda.
I wrote an SNL parody episode of it. I’ll post it if three people request it.
I’m not a fan of cops, but I do like the occasional cop show. I think it’s the portrayal of idealized actions. Bad cops get punished, only bad guys get shot, innocent people aren’t held in questioning until they confess just to leave, most don’t show casual use of excessive force, etc.
South Park.
I’m rewatching How I Met Your Mother. One of my favorite rewatch shows, especially when I’m feeling a bit low it’s a feel good show.
But man has it not aged well. Spoilers ahead if you care:
Barney is just sexist, flat out. What I (and most Americans) thought was funny 15 years ago is just not anymore, how he thinks women are just dumb items to be used makes my stomach turn just a bit now. They redeem it a bit later with him realizing why he was like that with past trauma, but that doesn’t make up for several seasons of that behavior.
Ted was a lovable romantic when I first watched, but now he seems just as bad as Barney, if not a bit worse. At least Barney is obvious about his womanizing, Ted is with dozens of women, and lies just as much as Barney does all while whining about not being able to find true love.
Robin and Marshall are pretty fine on my radar, both have issues, but nothing huge in my book.
Lily is probably the worst character, and just a straight up narcisist. Her problems are always the most important problems no matter what else she goes for. The biggest ones I have seen
- Saying yes to marry Marshall, then not telling him of her worries and just up and leaving
- Coming back to Marshall and being surprised when he doesn’t just jump at the opportunity
- Being mad at Ted who put Marshall back together after she left
- Hiding what seems to be tens of thousands of dollars of Credit Card debt from Marshall, even into their marriage
- Pushing Marshal to take jobs he hates to continue hiding her credit card debt
- Puts Ted’s career in danger for her own selfish reasons (with his Boss’ baseball)
- Continuously breaks up anyone she doesn’t personally approve of, this happened multiple times to Ted, she attempts to break up Robin and Barney, and does it a few other times in the show
- When Marshall finally is happy in his corporate job (that again she pushed him into) she has this meltdown realizing he’s gone corporate and literally says “I want you to be the person I fell in love with”. What?! Who says that about their spouse?
- When Marshall does change his values and decides to leave said corporate job, he is un-employed for a few months. (Few months). Lily has a meltdown in this time and abandons him to go on a solo trip to Spain saying he “Doesn’t pay attention to her anymore”. So lose-lose for Marshall. Then we’re supposed to clap and be happy that she decides not to go after abandoning Ted at the airport.
- My number one hated one, she comes up with the “8 or higher” rule when she does have a child. Nothing her friends say is relevant to her unless she and Marshall deem it an “8 or higher”. It doesn’t matter if it was a breakup, or someone needed some support, or whatever, unless it was life altering it was not important.
Lily is one of the worst characters on television. She is manipulative, constantly plays the victim card, and is arguably worse than Barney. This didn’t start out as a rant against her…but here we are. Now that I’ve seen it, I can’t unsee it.
I’ve watched this series several times, and i think a lot of what you are saying is fair, but i think you miss the point a bit on Barney. The entire show is a framed story of Ted retelling things that happened decades earlier. The way the show is written, Ted is making it seem like Barney behaves over the top, either to fit his narrative or simply because that’s how he remembers it.
One of the reasons it’s funny is because a lot of people know “that one guy or girl” who behaves that way, but then when you tell stories about that person you make it even more wild.
Lily does suck though, and I’m surprised she’s still friends with anyone
