Mad Men to Seinfeld TV's most criminally overrated shows - The Guardian
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Rodney McKay
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Totally don't get Battlestar Galactica being on that list.
For one thing I think it's rarely overrated: it's a very high quality Sci-fi show with production values that hold up amazingly well. I think most people thought it went on a little too long and had a few weird/unnecessary storylines here and there, but overall was very good. I don't hear the show talked about much these days so I'm not sure how much it's overrated. I did rewatch it with my girlfriend (her first time) and she really liked it even as someone not really into sci-fi stuff at all.
Their arguments against it are pretty bad and barely explained. I had no problem with the overall acting in BSG outside of a few characters early on (Lee Adama wasn't great at first, but grew into the roll). And the idea that you shouldn't take the show seriously because it's sci-fi and has robots and spaceships is pretty reductive, especially when they end the section talking about how a show with dragons, magic, and ice zombies should be on your shelf instead of BSG (I love Game of Thrones too, but I'd say the two shows are actually pretty close in quality).
For one thing I think it's rarely overrated: it's a very high quality Sci-fi show with production values that hold up amazingly well. I think most people thought it went on a little too long and had a few weird/unnecessary storylines here and there, but overall was very good. I don't hear the show talked about much these days so I'm not sure how much it's overrated. I did rewatch it with my girlfriend (her first time) and she really liked it even as someone not really into sci-fi stuff at all.
Their arguments against it are pretty bad and barely explained. I had no problem with the overall acting in BSG outside of a few characters early on (Lee Adama wasn't great at first, but grew into the roll). And the idea that you shouldn't take the show seriously because it's sci-fi and has robots and spaceships is pretty reductive, especially when they end the section talking about how a show with dragons, magic, and ice zombies should be on your shelf instead of BSG (I love Game of Thrones too, but I'd say the two shows are actually pretty close in quality).
Of course, it's just usually there is a no actual explanation from the person saying it. I'll give this article some credit at least reasons are given. Most of the time most people just say something is 'overrated' and leave it at that.
the wire is so good you can't even hate it ironically.
Permanently A
Junior Member
wanderingprostheyltite
Member
Same, did a binge rewatch of a few seasons on Netflix recently, show holds up so well. That murder mystery radio play episode, so good.
This is England was a standalone movie released in 2006. Directed by Shane Meadows, it's set in a small English town in 1983 and follows a boy around 12 as he gets mixed in with skinheads (both good and bad ones). It's funny, emotional and utterly gripping.
This was followed up by three separate TV miniseries (This is England '86 in 2010, '88 in 2011 and only last year with '90). The movies main themes of racism and xenophobia are switched out for more personal, familial ones, but the TV shows are arguably better than the original film. The cast remains mostly the same, and they're all the best of friends in real life. To acquire the realism seen in the show/film, the director would have one actor, whose character is being ostracised in the story, to actually be ostracised during filming. When it came to shooting the scene, the actor would draw on that real-world feeling of isolation to enhance his performance.
It stars Stephen Graham (Al Capone in Boardwalk Empire) and Jo Gilgun (Rudy in Misfits and he's the crazy demon dude in Preacher (haven't watched that though)).
Fair warning: it's heavy stuff. I can pick several scenes that are among the most distressing things I've seen in fiction.
This was followed up by three separate TV miniseries (This is England '86 in 2010, '88 in 2011 and only last year with '90). The movies main themes of racism and xenophobia are switched out for more personal, familial ones, but the TV shows are arguably better than the original film. The cast remains mostly the same, and they're all the best of friends in real life. To acquire the realism seen in the show/film, the director would have one actor, whose character is being ostracised in the story, to actually be ostracised during filming. When it came to shooting the scene, the actor would draw on that real-world feeling of isolation to enhance his performance.
It stars Stephen Graham (Al Capone in Boardwalk Empire) and Jo Gilgun (Rudy in Misfits and he's the crazy demon dude in Preacher (haven't watched that though)).
Fair warning: it's heavy stuff. I can pick several scenes that are among the most distressing things I've seen in fiction.
Nerdkiller
Membeur
Yes, really. Certain shows can often build up a cult-like audience if they have that special something, to which Arrested Development was one of those shows (see also, Original Star Trek and Firefly), and through word of mouth (or in Star Trek's case, on constant repeat thanks to a steady stream of already available episodes) help build up an audience that go to all the trouble of buying the DVD's or marathon the show on VOD. And just like the similarly cancelled Family Guy, it was brought back though the sheer power of home video sales thanks to an ever rabid audience that helped make it more profitable than it ever was on television. I think in this case it has the right to be called overrated, regardless of cancellation.
I do think AD is somewhat overrated myself (by the time I got to the third series, the show was starting to lose me). I find it funny...but I don't find it particularly endearing on a cultural level, compared to shows like Seinfeld and The Simpsons. It's a fun filled 22 minutes, but that's all I can ever seem to get.
And the guy who mentioned Friends...spot on, lad. A show that tries to lift the basic aesthetics of Seinfeld (the-ahem...friends, the New York setting, the apartment, the watering hole (read, The Monk's Cafe)) and lays it on top of the whole "family as family, work associates as family, friends as family" hugging and learning crap that had forever been a part of US most sitcoms for the past 40 years. It's been done better before, and I cannot believe that it ever got that popular.
Friends and TWD, sure. Those shows didn't deserve their popularity any more after they passed the point where they'd clearly gone on too long.
Lost, though, is not what I would call overrated. Everyone I know thought the show was a joke after season 3, or season 4 at the latest, when the quality fell so dramatically and completely and never recovered.
Lost, though, is not what I would call overrated. Everyone I know thought the show was a joke after season 3, or season 4 at the latest, when the quality fell so dramatically and completely and never recovered.
old manatee
Banned
Some of those shows turned to shit by the end of their run, but they were all important for one reason or another.
I don't know why you would dump all over something like Mad Men in a world where there are game shows where the prize is marriage.
I don't know why you would dump all over something like Mad Men in a world where there are game shows where the prize is marriage.
List should be renamed to "I'm a terrible person with a superiority complex and I don't get why this thing I don't like is popular and liked by others, so I'll just write an awfully edgy paragraph to shit on it because if I can't enjoy it no one else should."
Cipher Peon
Banned
I've watched random episodes of Seinfeld and found each and every one of them woefully unfunny. The pilot of West Wing was also something I greatly disliked.
The Walking Dead, though? LOVE it!
The Walking Dead, though? LOVE it!
nobody rates Heroes.
indigo-cyclops
Member
You have my vote, Sir
And mine
Yes.
That bit about Seinfeld was the most pretentious shit I've read in a while.
Data West really desperate for them clicks.
IISANDERII
Member
Mad Men is downright shit at times. Like when they have paper thin characters so they lean hard into humour. Might not have been so bad if the humour didn't make me wretch.
Elitist1945
Member
LOST overrated? Nuh-uh, son.
Mushroomer25
Member
Where's Firefly?
In all seriousness, calling things 'overrated' is such a pointless arguement. It's an idiotic way of an author just screaming "I DON'T LIKE A THING YOU LIKE".
JoeyJungle
Banned
? They have some of the most complex characters of any show imo.
I think overrated means more like you're tired of hearing it discussed, or that you don't think it deserves the amount of discussion it receives. But that's just, like, my opinion man (to quote an overrated film).
Randomizer
Member
I know right? They could have included Curb Your Enthusiasm too and then they'd have four of best comedy sitcoms undeservedly on the list.
| Praxis |
Banned
I couldn't stand it. The story and characters were shite, so I agree with the writer.
You have my vote, Sir
Only saw it for the first time a year ago and I'll agree.
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
Sounds more like a clickbait article that should have been named: "writing reviews of every fucking episode really kills the fun of watching them".
I can understand you hate your job, particularly when said job is killing your engagement with something you might otherwise like. Video game reviews have that effect too, and I've never understood this 'let's review every episode' trend. I mean, I get that's for the hits you get: "OMG YOUGUYSSEENTHATEPISODEWHERECHARACTERDIED" with the youtube generation, but that's really the bottom of the emotional barrel.
You don't want to live in a world where nobody is capable of caring about anything other than the smallest, slimmest emotions, and other than 'awesome' is weeded out.
Also, Frasier IS the best sitcom. Seinfeld is hit & miss from episode to episode. And when you learn Jerry's shtick he stops being funny completely. George Costanza is why you watch Seinfeld after that.
I can understand you hate your job, particularly when said job is killing your engagement with something you might otherwise like. Video game reviews have that effect too, and I've never understood this 'let's review every episode' trend. I mean, I get that's for the hits you get: "OMG YOUGUYSSEENTHATEPISODEWHERECHARACTERDIED" with the youtube generation, but that's really the bottom of the emotional barrel.
You don't want to live in a world where nobody is capable of caring about anything other than the smallest, slimmest emotions, and other than 'awesome' is weeded out.
Also, Frasier IS the best sitcom. Seinfeld is hit & miss from episode to episode. And when you learn Jerry's shtick he stops being funny completely. George Costanza is why you watch Seinfeld after that.
I don't know about the best but Frasier is damn good. It's so comfortingly cheesy, but then every now and then ya get some feels courtesy of Marty.
There are shows on that list I didn't enjoy but that doesn't make them bad or overrated. It makes them not my taste. The fucking internet has made us so damn sure our personal opinions are somehow the word of god and that because we like or dislike something then IT MUST BE 100% AMAZING/TERRIBLE/UNDERRATED/OVERRATED/BURNTHEONESWHODISAGREE!!!!!!!
Snowman Prophet of Doom
Member
That one dude is absolutely correct that Mad Men is basically a primetime soap.
Edit: Note that I don't mean this in a bad way, because it's an excellent soap.
Edit: Note that I don't mean this in a bad way, because it's an excellent soap.
sammyCYBORG
Member
He is but that just adds to the charm. I love seeing him crack up over the material.
holygeesus
Banned
Yeah what do they know about TV comedy.... ... .?
The absurd thing is that i don't think anyone, including Jerry Seinfeld himself, ever claimed otherwise.
I have yet to see something as consistently funny, and as long as Seinfeld, and i've seen it for the first time a couple of years ago, so it's not nostalgia talking.
It's just pure comedy excellence, save for the infamous final clip show.
Irishonion
Member
Damned opionions of everyone!
Masterspeed
Member
Arrested Development AND Friends? Does this person not like FUN?!
Edit: I'm also British, so that whole "British people don't know comedy" are completely wrong.
Edit: I'm also British, so that whole "British people don't know comedy" are completely wrong.
Lionel Richie
Member
Holy nuts yes right there, my favorite series fucking ever. Had to sit in a bar the other day and listen some friends of mine say The Wire was boring. This in a same world where Seinfeld gets called overrated of all things. Fuck everything.
Resident4t.
Member
Mad Men is underrated.
I've heard people make the Mad Men = soap opera comparison a bunch of times (regardless of whether they like it not, but usually as a dismissal) and I don't really get it. I kinda feel like people just say that because it's centered on relationships and not like, guns and explosions and stuff?
To me, the defining quality of a soap opera is that a lot of outrageous, wacky, but ultimately pointless plotlines occur and then always reset to a status quo so the show can keep running forever. That's not Mad Men at all. There's 92 episodes of the show and I don't think there's a single 1 without some bit of meaningful progress in the narrative.
Rookje
Member
As a super fan of the show, I can agree a teeny, tiny bit about Arrested Development's overratedness. A teeeeeeennnny, tiiiiiinnnny bit. The comedy doesn't knock you over the head, and some people might think certain subtleties translate into something else (can't think of the word I want to use right now).
Friends, no. Maybe people might think it's lame, but I've never seen it described as anything more than just a funny show. It is what it is.
Lost...I guess. The show did a great job being mysterious, but maybe people thought that that didn't translate to being instantly entertaining and "must see." I hated the show originally but then slowly became a fan.
That's all I've seen on the list. I saw about 20 minutes of "The Walking Dead" and never got interested.
Friends, no. Maybe people might think it's lame, but I've never seen it described as anything more than just a funny show. It is what it is.
Lost...I guess. The show did a great job being mysterious, but maybe people thought that that didn't translate to being instantly entertaining and "must see." I hated the show originally but then slowly became a fan.
That's all I've seen on the list. I saw about 20 minutes of "The Walking Dead" and never got interested.
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