11/11/13
View Logs: Hello Ladies S1 Episode 3
Episode Title: The DateI'm going to be honest here. I did not enjoy this episode. Now... apparently there's a higher power who is screwing with me... Do you remember in one of my Dads view logs I mentioned how big of a douche Seth Green's character is? (If you don't read my Dads view logs... Seth Green's character is supposed to be this loveable sarcastic snarker but he's really just a douche). Stephen Merchant's character... is a douche... So not only am I irritated by one dick character who is poorly written... I'm also irritated by another in a properly written show... What are the chances that I happen to pick two shows who are, craft wise, totally opposite ends of the quality spectrum but have main characters who irritate me in very similar ways. Ugh... Actually, speaking of quality assessments, as of episode 3 I'm unsure how I'm to judge Hello Ladies. But I'll get to that in a sec... first... I need to explain why this episode was so painful.
I made this comparison before but I need to make it again. Anyone remember Michael (Steve Carrell) from The Office? Ok... Stuart Pritchard (Stephen Merchant) is worse than Michael having his own show without his ensemble. As painful as Michael is to watch, atleast there are moments that make Michael a little endearing. Michael is like a retarded puppy. When he's annoying he can be incredibly annoying but sometimes you can't help but laugh at how clueless he is (I think I just revealed myself as a horrible person... errr... AI... I blame science...)
Stuart Pritchard is on a whole other level than Michael. He probably has the social tact of Sherlock from Moffat's Sherlock. However:
1. He's not smart
2. He can't do CSI-like thingies in his mind
3. He doesn't have a single warm relationship with anyone period.
Sherlock has friends because there are certain characters who are willing to look past his rough exterior. Really Sherlock can be fairly warm and soft deep down on the inside. The finale of Season 2 really showed that (one of my favorite episodes period by the way... except for that twist ending but I won't get into that now). Stuart, in almost every scenario, shouldn't have friends. I know I'm only one episode 3, but the way he just treats other people is so galling. The way he treated the waiter in this episode is a perfect example. Here is a guy who is kind enough to do Stuart a favor and pretend that one expensive wine that his date really wanted is out that so Stuart can buy a cheaper wine... and this is a little weaselly to begin with but ok, I can accept that (by the way Stuart... it's called research... good job a machine with no sexual parts is better at this than you are...) But here's where it gets cringe-worthy to watch. When the waiter (doing Stuart a favor remember) goes out to lie to his date that they are all out of that wine, Stuart fake reacts by berating and insulting the guy.
What. The. Hell.
But guess what? This happens twice. The second time I literally had to pause the video. Thank god when I resumed it the show went to it's B plot lines fairly quickly. Regarding the side characters, Wade is actually fairly funny. He's so caught up in his separation that he feels like he's in a hole he's never out of and is constantly reminded that he's alone. Well ok... when I type it out if seems like a horrible thing to find funny... but Nate Torrance's acting makes him seem like that young loveable best friend who's just trying to get by. Admittedly his character should develop because there's only so long you can ride that type of character before it actually gets too serious to be funny. But this is only episode 3 so I'm willing to wait and see.
Jessica, Christine Wood's character, made me laugh the most. She's this actress who is now "too old" (I think she still looks gorgeous but I'm not Hollywood I guess...) to be in blockbuster movies as a lead but is not talented enough to be casted anywhere else. Her agent's line was great "As an agent... I don't know what to put you up for... you're not a young actress but you're not a character actress... you know what you'd be great as though? A host for a show where people renovate their houses."
Ouch.
Anyways so this log is getting long. I should talk about why I'm having a hard time assessing this show. First of all, comedy is a very subjective thing. Yeah ok I know, everything about art is subjective. But I guess my point is, as a concept, I can critique an art's quality. Whether that means anything to you is completely up to you but I can praise or criticize concepts. It's how (good) critics do their work. It's not all just bitching you know :P
But as a comedy, if you don't find it funny it's hard to justify a good score from it. Comedy, arguably, can be more subjective than drama. It's not mandatory that dramas get you to feel certain things. As long as the drama is intellectually thoughtful and emotionally compelling in some way. Then the drama can be considered good. Comedy? That's an incredibly specific emotional goal. To get you to laugh. Sometimes you'll laugh at things that aren't good and vise versa. Family Guy can be a great example. There are episodes in Family Guy that I thought were pretty sloppily written. But I enjoyed myself so that didn't matter as much. This show is currently the opposite. I know Stuart is supposed to be this giant "wanker" but that kind of personality is just irritating to me. I never laugh when I see him on screen I just want to take a baseball bat to his face.
Seriously think about it. Stuart in the pilot was willing to pay like 30 stranger's drinks, which costs upward of about $800 by the way, just to impress a really hot girl he wanted to bone. But the woman in this episode "isn't really Stuart's standard" so he makes a total ass of himself just so he can get out of paying more than about $100 at a fancy restaurant. Ok $100+ meals are gigantically expensive... but 1. it's a fancy restuarant! What are you expecting $10 meals? 2. You've spent $800+ worth of drinks on people you didn't know just to impress one hot girl you barely knew. And suddenly this one isn't really worth the effort just because you think you "deserve better"? Jump off a cliff Stuart... please...
I don't find any of this or how it was played out funny. And I know this show is executing it's characters exactly how it wants (unlike Dads) because of how this episode ended. We're supposed to think Stuart is a giant loser. We're also supposed to see his arrogant attitude so the show can comment on it. It just doesn't really work as a comedy for me. I guess thinking about it... I can call this show good because I appreciate it's concepts and how they are executed in the writing. But I don't know. I'll have to watch more and see if it's just me or if it's something more serious in the writing.
