THE New Normal- Page 4
THE New Normal
Joined: 12/31/69
#75THE New Normal
Posted: 9/13/12 at 11:41am
This was re-run last night so I caught a few minutes of it AGAIN as I waited for the 10 O'Clock news. The conversation where the two gads (gay dads) blithely decided that the slightly less hideous looking one would provide the sperm was a new low for scripted television. I was ranting aloud at it's stupidity the first time I saw it and missed the REALLY odd looking one extort Mac & Cheese and smoothie out of his partner in exchange for his child's paternity.
Ryan is truly an awful writer and worse human being.
#76THE New Normal
Posted: 9/13/12 at 11:56am
I caught up with the first two episodes last night. Put me down for:
1. I found Rannells repellent, in almost exactly the same way I found Zachary Quinto repellent.
2. I like Nana just because Barkin is so bad-ass she makes it work. I felt as though she's just awful and angry in general, not that she was particularly invested in hate toward any particular groups, which is what made it funny.
3. I have no emotional investment in these guys having a child. In fact, if I was unfortunate enough to be friends with them, I would spend every waking moment trying to talk them out of it. Or at least talking them into adopting, so that they might actually do a small bit of good in the world.
4. I like the mom just fine and really loved the daughter. My enjoyment of her Little Edie was actually greater than my enjoyment of any iteration of "Grey Gardens."
Wynbish
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/27/12
#77THE New Normal
Posted: 9/13/12 at 12:59pmLove that little girl! Apparently, according to Andrew, the show wrote in the Little Edie impression that she could already do. She also helps Georgia (Goldie) with her American accent.
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#78THE New Normal
Posted: 9/13/12 at 1:54pmShe should work more with Gerogia Goldie, then, because I could tell she wasn't American even before I knew that she wasn't American.
#79THE New Normal
Posted: 9/13/12 at 2:01pm
I found Rannells repellent, in almost exactly the same way I found Zachary Quinto repellent.
100% agreed. He's unsympathetic, which negates the plot. I don't even want this character to have a child, so what's the point of the show?
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#80THE New Normal
Posted: 9/13/12 at 2:02pmThe point is that all gays are bitchy miserable queens like Ryan Murphy and deserve equal rights.
#81THE New Normal
Posted: 9/13/12 at 2:05pmBut honestly, I find Rannells character 10x more likable than I ever found that disgusting caricature, Jack McFarland.
#82THE New Normal
Posted: 9/13/12 at 2:25pm^ Yeah...I'm confused by the repellent comments. I guess I'm just not seeing what others are seeing. He comes off as c*nty...which is how a lot of the people in my life come off. Over it...bitchy...sardonic...but not-so-deep down, you know they're caring people.
#83THE New Normal
Posted: 9/13/12 at 2:41pm
Maybe "repellent" was a little harsh.
I think over the years I've gotten tired of having to look past the c*nt to find the caring--in real life and on television. I just find people like that off-putting, not "fierce and fabulous," or whatever.
But I'll still check out another episode or two.
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#84THE New Normal
Posted: 9/13/12 at 2:45pm
Kinda what Reg said. Even in his "warm" moments, I found him off-putting.
But clearly this show - like many - lets different people get or not get different things out of it. I can think of lot of people that get confused when someone says a character on Will and Grace was repellent, too.
Updated On: 9/13/12 at 02:45 PM
#85THE New Normal
Posted: 9/13/12 at 2:51pm
I really only objected to Jack or Karen when I was being asked to view them as vulnerable human beings.
Maybe this would work better for me if the couple were actually awful--a gay Patsy and Edina contemplating raising a child. But this show seems to want to have it both ways: "We're vacuous stereotypes, but wouldn't it be lovely if we brought a child into the world?" And I found myself mostly shrugging.
Maybe I just mean I found everyone other than the main couple more interesting and appealing.
But as I said, there was enough to keep my interest for two back-to-back episodes. I'll definitely be curious to see where it goes.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#86THE New Normal
Posted: 9/13/12 at 2:56pm
Exactly Reg--It's as if we're supposed to accept them as horrible because they are the gays. OF COURSE gay people want to have kids so they can dress them up like little dolls.
Updated On: 9/13/12 at 02:56 PM
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#88THE New Normal
Posted: 9/13/12 at 3:01pm
Hate it. Hate everything about it. From the ersatz self congratulatory tone to the offensive cliches. From the lazy one liners delivered by braying characters to the manipulative and unbelievable "emotion".
It's unoriginal and emotionally vacant.
I actually felt bad for having seen it.
And I hate it most of all for wasting talent like Barkin and Bartha.
Just YUCK.
....but the world goes 'round
#89THE New Normal
Posted: 9/13/12 at 5:03pm
Jack and Karen only got to me in the later years when the original writers left--they became over the top caricatures (yes, even more than originally) who seemed like they were on a different show--joking about people having STDs, etc.
But W&G was still a traditional sitcom, this show wants to be something more IMHO.
My problem with the character of Bryan is nearly everything we see about him is SOOO superficial and cliche and borderline mean. And then Ryan throws in ONE random scene per episode it seems (this week was his random talk about how much he actually does like SHania and sees her as special), and thinks that that random 2 min scene will show us the heart behind the character. For me, it's not enough. I mean we've been told that the reason he's with his partner is because he was stood up at the bar one night and then finally saw that he had nice eyes, and because he's rich and makes mac and cheese for him (in other words it seems like maybe he realizes nobody else could stand living with him all day long).
"Maybe this would work better for me if the couple were actually awful--a gay Patsy and Edina contemplating raising a child. But this show seems to want to have it both ways: "We're vacuous stereotypes, but wouldn't it be lovely if we brought a child into the world?" And I found myself mostly shrugging. "
Exactly, and to different degrees, this is exactly the problem with all of Ryan Murphy's shows. He thinks he can have it both ways--like, as mentioned how on an episode of Glee about tolerance he'll spend half the episodes mocking every Jewish and fat stereotype there is, only to have one final scene telling us why that's wrong.
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#90THE New Normal
Posted: 9/13/12 at 7:06pm
I thought these jokes were kind of squicky, too. And I'm tired of gay men, fictional and otherwise, getting all bent out of shape over vaginas. If you can put your tongue up another man's asshole you can see a frigging vagina without screeching.
Ryan Murphy Just Can't Stop Making Lame Lesbian Jokes in The New Normal
Updated On: 9/13/12 at 07:06 PM
#91THE New Normal
Posted: 9/13/12 at 8:00pm
"We're at an interesting point in the portrayal of gay people in pop culture. We're not close to a point where the full spectrum of LGBT life is represented on television, but white gay men are closer than anyone else in the bunch. From gay teen couple Kurt and Blaine on Glee, to Revenge's soulful tech genius Nolan, to parents Mitch and Cam on Modern Family, to Ian Gallagher on Shameless, white gay men have their stories told across the class spectrum, across career ambitions, and across life stages. It would be awfully nice if truly powerful creators like Murphy, with a level of clout that would have been unimaginable a generation ago, could remember what it felt like when there were fewer gay men on television, and fewer kinds of stories about gay men available. If Murphy wants to be considered a real hero for gay representation in media, he might consider using his success to open more doors, particularly in a show that's supposed to be about presenting a new and more tolerant vision of the family to America."
To quote my learned colleague from 'Follies':^^^All of this^^^
You think, what do you want?
You think, make a decision...
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#92THE New Normal
Posted: 9/13/12 at 8:23pm
I'm a little pissed right now to see that my DVR didn't record the second episode!
I really wanted to see the Little Edie bit!
"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>>
“I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>>
-whatever2
#93THE New Normal
Posted: 9/13/12 at 8:23pmThat post is brilliant, thank you for posting it. I am sure that Murphy would reply that he has Santana and Britney as a "healthy" lesbian couple, but her point stands. My only disagreement is I don't really see all that much diversity in the way Murphy shows gay men (or, frankly, how they're shown on TV, especially network tv), anyway, but...
Wynbish
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/27/12
Wynbish
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/27/12
