Netflix/Hulu/HBOMax/Prime (All Streaming Services) • Page 937

futurama/koth/simpsons/mitm was a godsend back then

 

Just watched the first 3 episodes of Station 11. Really loving it so far

 

In spite of the goofy, heightened comedy, MITM was like one of the great portraits of a struggling middle class family. Really good stuff.

 

I think I’ve said it before but I get so teary eyed thinking about that speech Lois gives Malcolm in the finale

 

HIMYM is definitely really rough and of its time on rewatch. It’s particularly painful when you know now how the whole thing wraps up, causing a lot of story beats to ring a little hollow in retrospect. I will give credit where credit is due in that the show is legitimately full of a lot of emotionally resonant scenes that still work for me…but nowadays they mostly work for me as youtube clips divorced from all the other shit around it. The first Robin Sparkles episode still works because by that time in the second season you know the characters well enough to enjoy the shock on their faces when they discover Robin’s secret and the joy it elicits. That’s when the show is managing to fire on all cylinders. First season is rough for a while until they figure out their groove and the very ending of the season one finale with Bloc Party is great. Season two is much better. Season three is fairly on par with two although because of the writers strike some storylines got cut a little short so there’s a bit of a time jump. Four isn’t bad although you can kind of start to tell it’s beginning to show signs of wear. Finale is really good again though. The Leap felt like one of those life affirming moments that worked so well for it during its run and endeared people to the show. Season five, I would argue, is where the decline begins. It’s not as bad as the seasons that came after it, but it’s the first season where Carter and Bays said in interviews that they decided to purposely move away from all the mystery lore and just attempt to be a “hang out” sitcom and it shows. Its biggest problem is that, compared to the seasons that came before, it just kind of feels aimless. Six is debatable amongst fans/everyone as some people felt it was more of a return to form right off the bat with the wedding day reveal and Barney’s storyline with his dad, but then there’s also Zoey…and a lot of people hated her. Seven through nine? That’s a wash with nine’s season long wedding weekend conceit, followed by the surreptitious undoing of the entire season in the finale, being the worst offender. Just really rough stuff. It’s such a shame overall because, yeah, when HIMYM hit those emotional beats, god you really felt it in a way a lot of other sitcoms at the time completely missed.

 

I watched 3 episodes and don’t know if I can stick it out.

 

Yeah I don’t blame you at all lol. I think it doesn’t really get “better” until like episode 13 or so when the first “possible mother” Victoria shows up.

 

I finished new girl and wanted something similar. Any recommendations?

 

happy endings, assuming you haven't watched that already

 

I’ve watched it like 3 times lol. Still bummed we only got 3 seasons because it really gets good in season 2.

 

Don't Trust The B maybe

 

I think HIMYM was worth seeing through season 7. I remember nothing of 8. 9 was awful.

 

I’ll check it out. I’ll probably end up rewatching Seinfeld for the 80th time.

 

Oh maybe give Superstore a shot if you haven’t seen that yet?

 

I’ve heard good things and started it a year or so ago but hated Lauren Ash’s character so stopped after like 6 episodes. Maybe I’ll give it another go.

 

The only thing I ever remember of 8 is the mother reveal and this scene:

I remember that one often because on the one hand it’s very moving, and on the other it’s sort of emblematic of the show’s problems by the end. I remember being on ap the night this aired and everyone was rightfully complaining that the jokes throughout the episode were falling terribly flat and god what a shell of itself the show had become, and then this scene happened and all the comments turned to a chorus of “fuck” and “well shit.” While I do think it works as a clip I can watch and feel, I have to watch it in that context now while trying my hardest to ignore the series ending.

 

Yep, I can get that. The way her character starts out, particularly with her storyline with Jonah, is pretty problematic. By the end of the first season they completely reverse course on that and head in a new, much better direction with her.

 

Watching Christmas Vacation for the first time and this movie is really dumb

 

I’ll give it another go then because I did like everyone else.

 

I kind of hate that sequence. When you know he is saying all this just to justify going after redacted in the end, this kind of rings hollow.

it’s so good

 

Yep. Exactly.

 

I just rewatched Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story today. Great movies

 

Christmas Vacation is great. I won't hear any slander.

 

That’s crazy about trying to recreate the Fox sundays cuz that was absolutely such a consistent night of television that I completely forgot til now. My Mom and I also used to look forward to NBC thursdays with Friends/Just Shoot Me/Will and Grace/ER. Not sure if that was the order always. Just Shoot Me definitely ended before W&G did.

 

NBC Thursdays were fire