Mid-Century Modern - now streaming on Hulu- Page 2

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/31/25 at 1:52pm

The Golden Girls comparisons are valid and won't go away as long as the show seems to be deliberately aping the earlier show.

- The pilot where the owner of the house jumps into a fast relationship (one week for Blanche, one night for Bunny) that threatens the ability of the others to live there, ending with the "you're my family" group scene.

- Although ultimately aired much later in the first season, TGG's original second episode featured one of the characters desperately in need of work and job hunting, just like the second episode here.

- The owner of the house has a sister s/he doesn't get along with who comes for a visit while going through tough times (episode 3 here; episode 4 there), which leads to reconciliation.

- The episode where the housemates hire a housekeeper who doesn't do any work but who they're reluctant to fire, so the mother has to confront the housekeeper for them.

- The episode where they all get sick at the same time.

- The episode where the mother reunites with the husband of a recently deceased friend and they end up in bed together.

If they didn't want the comparisons, they wouldn't be so deliberately echoing source material they're very aware of (and have acknowledged).

Updated On: 3/31/25 at 01:52 PM

[DaveyG]

Posted: 3/31/25 at 1:58pm

So disappointed in this show and I'm so sad because I was really looking forward to it. How it has such a high Rotten Tomatoes score is beyond me. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/31/25 at 2:16pm

Yeah, I also have to say this is being a tough watch AND I attended a taping/filming. 

Just finished watching the episode I attended - Episode 5, which featured Richard Kind, and I feel this episode showed promise of what could have been, thanks to the fantastic work between Nathan Lane and Richard Kind. Even Matt Bomer’s horribly written character is written and played at Bomer’s strength and balance on this particular episode. Since this was the episode I witnessed I assumed the series would be at this level as well so I was enormously disappointed watching the first 4 episodes and seeing how horrible the writing and story lines were. This was not my experience. I’m hoping the following 5 episodes stay in this rhythm but not expecting much at this point. Episode 5 looks to have been the rare egg in the bunch. 

[Tsao5]

Posted: 3/31/25 at 3:19pm

Not good. The show should have had just Nathan Lane and Linda Lavin living together in Palm Springs. Then, have a revolving door of guest stars who play neighbors. The person who presses the ridiculous LAUGH TRACK button must work on commission or something because he is pressing that button like he has not paid his bills in months. It is SUCH a distraction that almost every "joke" is given the same LAUGH TRACK weight. I've watched the first 3 episodes and am surprised that with this team it is so........unfunny and forced with some truly crappy acting and writing from usually reliable folks. Poor Mr. Bomer. Talk about a fish outta water. Every line that is a setup for a crappy joke is delivered with the same vocal inflection and expression. The only thing to like, as always, is the wonderful Nathan Lane. The master of zippy line deliveries and nuances that elevate what is really such a swing and a miss show.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Posted: 3/31/25 at 3:32pm

MemorableUserName said: "The Golden Girls comparisons are valid and won't go away as long as the show seems to be deliberately aping the earlier show."

The crazy thing about all the deliberate aping is Disney owns both Hulu and The Golden Girls. They could have made this show a literal remake. The Golden Girls is a much better name for a sitcom about three older gay roommates than the generic Mid-Century Modern.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 3/31/25 at 4:58pm

They'd still have to pay Susan Harris royalties in that case, which they likely want to avoid. I'm a bit surprised they still don't, but the shows are probably just different enough to get away with it, or the fact that they are owned by the same corporate parent makes it easier to get away with it. I remember a decade ago when they launched that Telenovela sitcom starring Eva Longoria. It was originally announced as its own thing with two creators based on an idea by Longoria. When it officially made it on the air, it was suddenly credited to those writers and Robert Harling, who wrote the movie "Soapdish" which had a verrry similar premise. In that case, they couldn't get away with the similarities, even though a lot was different as well.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/31/25 at 5:08pm

Jonathan Cohen said: "
Lavin did great work on the show but I actually thought the last episode, which heavily featured Pamela Adlon and Richard Kind, was by far the best of the series.Adlon, who will replace Lavin if the show gets picked up for a second season, can more organically be woven into plots with the other three roommates. During the first 8 episodes, it was sometimes a struggle finding reasons for Lavin to hang out with her son's friends, which is less of an issue with a sister figure than a mom figure.

Meanwhile Kind, who is never playing anything other than Richard Kind, is a great comedic foil for Nathan Lane. He probably wouldn't be brought back as a series regular,but the shlubby Jewish guy with no personal boundaries and a one sided infatuation with Lane, I thought was a slightly funnier angle for driving Lane nuts, than yet another overbearing, Jewish mother (not that Lavin's character was a one dimensionalstereotype, her befriending a phone scammer was a great subversion).

Matt Bomer was the weakest link on the show for me, at least as written.Rose from Golden Girls is very clearly what they're going with his role, but while Rose was ditsy, she was also the most emotionally intelligent character on Golden Girls. Bomer's character is just stupid, and inconsistently so. He's also not as good of an actor as Betty White, though that's probably a ridiculously high bar."

It's true that you could see Lavin's character already being "islanded" out into her own B stories with zero connection to the others (like the Judd Hirsch storyline--also speaking of age, I can't believe he's 90.  I mean he doesn't look young, but wow.) 

I have liked Bomer a lot, ever since his soap work, but I think, as others have said, comedy, especially broad comedy, is a hard fit for him.  You can see him making all these decisions on how to play the role and deliver the lines but I'm not sure they were good decisions (but it bothered me less as the show went on.)  Still, a role like that is hard when you still want this ditzy character to have scenes like the one with Zane Phillips' character on Fire Island (and though I did like the final episode and it made sense for Kind to show up, I have no idea why Phillips' character did or if they even tried to explain how he found where he lived.  Not that things like that matter on a silly sitcom too much but...)

It's funny seeing some people though confused by Matt Bomer being younger than the others--as I thought they explained this pretty clearly in the early episodes (that said it's a bit concerning to me to realize Matt is only two years older than I am.  Oy!)  I think a lot of these criticisms are fair enough but I guess for me it just comes with the territory--this was always sold (I thought) as a somewhat creaky throwback to at least its writing team's early Will and Grace days 25 years back (before they left the show due to that endless lawsuit only to come back for the lame finale and reboot seasons) and, mostly due to the cast, I think it works in that comfort TV sitcom way.  Certainly better than the couple of 3 camera sitcoms I've seen attempted elsewhere on streaming services.  Especially early on there are some... weird "maybe they should have cut that" things (like the whole Bunny kinda almost pimps out his friend and no one really cares?)

(But I am also wondering if people just have forgotten how obnoxious laugh tracks are?  This doesn't seem actively worse than most I know--the UK can be especially bad with this, I was just recently rewatching some Miranda episodes with a friend, and dear God.)

Updated On: 3/31/25 at 05:08 PM

[BentleyB]

Posted: 3/31/25 at 7:35pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "Yeah, I also have to say this is being a tough watch AND I attended a taping/filming.

Just finished watching the episode I attended - Episode 5, which featured Richard Kind, and I feel this episode showed promise of what could have been, thanks to the fantastic work between Nathan Lane and Richard Kind. Even Matt Bomer’s horribly written character is written and played at Bomer’s strength and balance on this particular episode. Since this was the episode I witnessed I assumed the series would be at this level as well so I was enormously disappointed watching the first 4 episodes and seeing how horrible the writing and story lines were. This was not my experience. I’m hoping the following 5 episodes stay in this rhythm but not expecting much at this point. Episode 5 looks to have been the rare egg in the bunch."

So after watching the episode that you saw live, can you explain to me how there is no laugh track added to this as you so denied earlier?   

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/31/25 at 7:36pm

(But I am also wondering if people just have forgotten how obnoxious laugh tracks are?  This doesn't seem actively worse than most I know--the UK can be especially bad with this, I was just recently rewatching some Miranda episodes with a friend, and dear God.)

As someone who is a guest on countless tapings/filmings of multi-cam sitcoms, I can fully confirm the “laughs” you hear on TV are definitely sweetened and also added in spots where no laugh existed during the filming. These sitcoms are performed in sections and in full takes so it feels like watching a play and the studio audience’s laughs come organically and not after every single joke. I noticed early on that laughs were added in later in post-production in areas where there were no laughs from the audience during the filming. 

Also, there are now 4 cameras filming simultaneously so the 3-camera set-up is now a 4-camera set-up. 

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/1/25 at 7:55am

Jonathan Cohen said: "The crazy thing about all the deliberate aping is Disney owns both Hulu and The Golden Girls. They could have made this show a literal remake. The Golden Girls is a much better name for a sitcom about three older gay roommates than the generic Mid-Century Modern."

I haven't had a chance to watch the show yet (it's on my list), but it saddens me that, if it proves to be a flop, there will inevitably be claims that Disney canceled it as capitulation to Trump's "anti-woke" machine.

[The Other One]

Posted: 4/1/25 at 9:28am

Lot666 said: "I haven't had a chance to watch the show yet (it's on my list), but it saddens me that, if it proves to be a flop, there will inevitably be claims that Disney canceled it as capitulation to Trump's "anti-woke" machine."

Highly unlikely.  Apparently it's Hulu's number one show.  

 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/1/25 at 12:50pm

Well, the show DID seem to hit its stride on episode 5 and found its groove as the remaining 5 episodes were enormously better that the first 4, which were painful. I enjoyed the last 5 episodes and love where it was going and hope it returns. Lavin was also glorious post episode 5 and loved how they handled her departure. I also love that Bunny describing her death is exactly how Lavin’s husband described Lavin’s passing - as he was driving her to the hospital, etc. I feel that during the short break after Lavin’s passing and having to rewrite the remaining episodes they took a look at what they had filmed already and addressed the obvious as there is definitely a noticeable change in Bomer’s performance and what he is given to play as well as the tone. Heck, even the “laughs” have been controlled. 

[Dolly80]

Posted: 4/1/25 at 2:40pm

 I don’t know how anyone can find this funny. It’s so incredibly rubbish.

[Luscious]

Posted: 4/2/25 at 12:45am

Despite the naysayers, Bomer will win an Emmy for this. Just watch. And of course it’ll be renewed for a second season. It’s a hit for Hulu. Practically everyone I know is currently watching or has binged it. And it will only get better over time. I’d give the first season a solid B+.

Updated On: 4/2/25 at 12:45 AM

[Mskuphantm]

Posted: 4/2/25 at 12:51am

For me it took a few episodes to get into, it felt like it was trying VERY hard to be a reboot of golden girls and even the creators have made that comparison when Linda Lavin passing they said it was the same as if Estelle Getty passed.   However it does get better, and truly to see Linda Lavin in this so much, and for her final episode and farewell episode(which again the creators spoke that she told them whatever she is going thru in her last days to use in their writing and they respected that)  Now that it has found its footing, I have no doubt the 2nd season will be stronger.  Continue with the show, Linda Lavin is worth it. 

[Owen22]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 10:04am

This is corn-cringe all the way except maybe Lavin.  And Nathan gives it his all. But to no effect.  All the good will Bomer built up for me in Fellow Travelers (I liked him a lot, not the series) is gone.  And Graham hamily telegraphs every punch line.

Yet I will continue to watch every single episode as I did with Smash and the American Queer Is Folk.  What is wrong with me?

[jlindsey865]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 1:27pm

Luscious said: "Despite the naysayers, Bomerwill win an Emmy for this. Just watch. And of course it’ll be renewed for a second season. It’s a hit for Hulu. Practically everyone I know is currently watching or has binged it. And it will only get better over time. I’d give the first season a solid B+."

There is a 0% chance Bomer will win an Emmy for this.

[Luscious]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 1:36pm

jlindsey865 said: "Luscious said: "Despite the naysayers, Bomerwill win an Emmy for this. Just watch. And of course it’ll be renewed for a second season. It’s a hit for Hulu. Practically everyone I know is currently watching or has binged it. And it will only get better over time. I’d give the first season a solid B+."

There is a 0% chance Bomer will win an Emmy for this."

Wanna bet?

[jlindsey865]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 2:43pm

Luscious said: "jlindsey865 said: "Luscious said: "Despite the naysayers, Bomerwill win an Emmy for this. Just watch. And of course it’ll be renewed for a second season. It’s a hit for Hulu. Practically everyone I know is currently watching or has binged it. And it will only get better over time. I’d give the first season a solid B+."

There is a 0% chance Bomer will win an Emmy for this."

Wanna bet?"

Yes, please.

 

[jpbran]

Posted: 4/3/25 at 3:05pm

Emmy? Agree 1000% the chances are nil… I like him overall usually, but this performance is the cringiest thing I’ve seen/heard in a while.