LOOKING — Page 45

That's all people know now, PJ. Once you know this week's acronyms, you don't need to know anything else but you can still call present as an expert.

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Hard as this will probably be for you to imagine, you had absolutely nothing to do with my post.

"Let's don't discourage the one who does."

Oh, so you long for fresh audiences for your reminiscences? Is that the natural order of things? Or are you feeling flattered that a people pleaser is pushing all your right buttons?

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"I might have meant archetypes instead of stereotypes, but I'm not 100% sure on the difference between the two of them. And because everyone seems to care so much, I actually liked the way Looking handled characters, but I just thought it was terribly boring. "

Fantod--that kinda goes against what you previously said, though... I kinda hate to pick on you--I was a teen posting on musical groups and I know people can use that as a reason to dismiss one's opinions. (I remember being told when I was a teenager that it was nice that I liked Sondheim's shows--but I simply could not "get" them at my age. It's true that I appreciate many of them in different ways now, but I don't think I failed to understand or connect with them as a teen--why would it be alien for a lonely 13 year old to identify with aspects of Bobby, for example?)

But... It seems like you say one thing, and then either don't seem to know what you said, or else say the opposite. That said, I do feel like you do mean what you write, when you write it... If that makes sense.

Back to LOOKING. My FB has been very sharply divided (no shock,) by others who are sad the show is gone, and those who basically seem happy it's gone. I'm not sure why it makes people *happy* it's gone (I suppose if a show I really felt was worthless like The Khardashians was canceled I would be happy, but it wouldn't warrant me telling anyone that I was,) but what annoys me is the people who have said things like "Thank god! Now we will get a new gay show that hopefully won't suck." Do people really think this is how TV companies work? That now that Looking is gone, they all are madly scrambling to create a new gay show?

Eric, although it wasn't my cup of tea, that's the same reason I hoped that Cucumber/Banana/Aubergine would be successful.

"Cucumber/Banana/Aubergine"

*Must track down gay French series Aubergine RIGHT NOW.

As for "gay shows" Please Like Me--which is pretty brilliant, I think--is back this Summer. of course it's Australian but it is being co-funded by Pivot in the US. And Russell T Davies' 80s series The Boys is set for next Jan in the US (I love Russell T Davies as a storyteller, though I'm not sure how his tone will fit a series set at the height of The Plague, but I am excited to know.) But nothing gay wise (or lesbian wise, for that matter,) has been shopped around this year to US network or cable tv.

Eric, looking back I realize what might be confusing about what I said. My original comment about how no show about gay characters handled characters properly and was good still stands, but I tend to find that shows about gay characters tend to either attempt to handle characters properly (and fail) or attempt to be good (and fail). Looking tried to be respectful of gay characters and the expense of entertainment value, but still failed. Does that make sense? Sorry, sometimes I have to get defensive when everything I ever say is scrutinized.

And about "getting" a show, eric, I think that is kind of ridiculous. Shows shouldn't be written for a fractionalized audience, and the really good ones should require no experience necessary to love it. Most of the people who fell in love with Company during its original production were teenagers. Did they need to "get" the show to like it? Of course not. They liked it because they thought it was an incredible show. I may disagree with them about the quality of the show, but not liking something is not the same as not getting it.

Updated On: 3/27/15 at 12:42 AM

"Namo, but in this instance you're contributing nothing but bile."

Amazing. Thank you. Talking about a show he DOESN'T watch but says asinine, racist, brain dead shows like "2 Broke Girls" are good. Oh, and bullies teenagers for having enlightened, smart opinions. Christ, get a life.

Anyway, I enjoyed this show, but I don't think it was exciting enough for people and I feel like they didn't what to do with the love triangle in the second season. Ritchie was lovely, emotionally available, and would have loved Patrick. Kevin was an asshole from the start. Dom didn't really have many storylines, and the best relationship was between him and Doris.

Before everyone jumps down each other's throats. *I* am the one who flagged Fanty's post, not Namo or PJ. Though I do think the kid - ridiculous as any teen (myself included) can get - gets bashed on here a bit much.

That being said, his post was a bit silly, but I didn't flag it for any of the reasons which have occupied the last couple of pages of the thread. In Fanty's original post, which he has since edited, so I must paraphrase, he said something akin to:

I hope the next LGBT themed show has:
(a). Better writing and acting
(b). Doesn't shove offensive gay stereotypes/archetypes down our throats

Again. Paraphrased, because the OP has been edited. I could give a toss about whether or not everyone else enjoyed the writing/acting/direction on the show as I did. (Though a multi-year pre-occupation with a show that you don't care for does seem odd to me. Ahem.) It was the whole "shoving it down our throats" language that made me do my Liz Lemon eyeroll. It felt rather Anita Bryant'ish. And, yes, Fanty, I know that wasn't your intent.

Oh, also, since when are we using "unoffensive" in place of "inoffensive"? I thought the former was pretty much out of usage in modern English or am I completely wrong? Seen it repeated multiple times in this thread.

Updated On: 3/27/15 at 01:21 AM

We're cool, Fanty, we're cool. And the parenthetical statement was not directed at you.

1. Obviously the problem is mine and mine alone. But it gives me insight into why so many of the posters of my era now basically post on one thread here, if at all.

2. Thank you HT for pointing out that my presence is this latest go-round was in response to your asking if I or PJ had this. This is what happens here (people let others "handle" things) and that's how one person comes to be perceived as the only person having an issue with another poster. It becomes A Thing.

3. I never went back to Looking after the board games, you know classic board games, episode because once again, an attempt to tell a gay story SUCKED SO HARD. It's a drag being a decades-long gay activist interested in good story telling and to see what some people are willing to accept. (I was the resident Will & Grace despiser here, because once again gay "friends" were depicted for years as people who ripped each other to shreds.) Having said that, I laughed my way through every single episode of the now-cancelled "McCarthys" this season and laughed through both episodes of "One Big Happy." I don't know why. I just do. But of course I am going to read and perhaps contribute to The Death of the Gay Blah Hope segment of the thread, because I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting more that this gunk. Many of us here could have come up with a better look at contemporary gay life.

4. The problem is just me, I am the one with the problem.

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Updated On: 3/27/15 at 10:52 AM

I suppose it may seem that way as I am often dragged into petty arguments on this site and I've never be good about ignoring people. I know a decent amount about theatre from the books I've read, I listen primarily to cast albums, and I see as much as I possibly can, so I never really found a problem with myself spreading any information about theatre I may have, but clearly many people take issue with that. You should know that my favorite posts on this site are the ones of people recounting the shows that they got to see a long time ago, because it's the closest I'll ever get to seeing the original productions of my favorite shows. I also am constantly reading play scripts and theatre biographies (right now I'm finishing John Lahr's Tennessee Williams biography) and sometimes I just like to share the knowledge I have.

I will not miss the show- I kept watching hoping that it would pick up, but it just never did. It was a good show to watch while doing homework,because you don't have to pay close attention to follow because nothing interesting ever really happens.

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