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Santa Clarita Diet (New Netflix sitcom with Drew Barrymore)

Started by Small Man Big Horse, February 03, 2017, 07:19:38 PM

Previous topic - Next topic
Well, fuck.

One of mine and Mrs Tooth's favourite shows, with great performances and frequent laugh out loud moments. In an age where subdued comedy-drama is more in vogue it was refreshing to see something so joyously silly and big and fast-paced.

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

Quote from: Noodle Lizard on April 27, 2019, 12:09:16 PM
I mean, virtually nobody watched it.  Or if they did, they didn't talk about it.

I only saw the first season but I thought it was very, very poor.  Glad Netflix listened to my Yelp reviews.
So it's all your fault. You big git!

I think you're on to something when you say no one was talking about it and, as I said after watching the second series in one sitting, I think the root of the problem is Netflix itself. Binge watching doesn't give telly programs room to breathe and develop a following. There's no time for folk to talk about a show when the next episode begins in twelve seconds and no easy way to keep up to date when everyone is watching at a different rate. Cliffhangers and plot twists lose most of their impact when they can be resolved instantly. I don't know what the ratings for The Good Place are like, but it at least gets people talking.

Brundle-Fly

Quote from: Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth on April 27, 2019, 01:10:17 PM
So it's all your fault. You big git!

I think you're on to something when you say no one was talking about it and, as I said after watching the second series in one sitting, I think the root of the problem is Netflix itself. Binge watching doesn't give telly programs room to breathe and develop a following. There's no time for folk to talk about a show when the next episode begins in twelve seconds and no easy way to keep up to date when everyone is watching at a different rate. Cliffhangers and plot twists lose most of their impact when they can be resolved instantly. I don't know what the ratings for The Good Place are like, but it at least gets people talking.

I know this unfashionable but binge-watching is an awful development in TV viewing habits. TV shows by their nature are not designed to be consumed this way. I might watch two episodes of something back to back, very occasionally three but anymore I start to get over familiar and spot the formula.  It's this greedy sense of entitlement TV viewers have now over series. Quinn Martin would be turning in his grave.

Ant Farm Keyboard

There were some clunky elements in the first season, especially as Timothy Olyphant was basically playing a Jason Bateman character. Then they were able to turn Joel into a more physical character, which suited more Olyphant's strengths, and he was much more comfortable in the other seasons.

Brundle-Fly

They threw away Gary the head a bit this last season. He was my favourite character and I think it was an iffy comedy choice on behalf of the writers to have made him rot away. He looked like something out of The Return Of The Living Dead (1985) and all the scabbing prosthetics, milky contact lenses, gammy mouth was horrible to look at and slightly masked Nathan Fillion's excellent performance.

Dr Sanchez

#35
I watched all this and liked it but hated it at the same time.

There are great lines and some funny characters but it's occasionally very annoying and smug.

I can't stand the daughter character and the whole romance with the guy next door was tiresome. The CGI was also brutally bad in parts.


Ant Farm Keyboard

Quote from: Brundle-Fly on April 27, 2019, 05:44:14 PM
They threw away Gary the head a bit this last season. He was my favourite character and I think it was an iffy comedy choice on behalf of the writers to have made him rot away. He looked like something out of The Return Of The Living Dead (1985) and all the scabbing prosthetics, milky contact lenses, gammy mouth was horrible to look at and slightly masked Nathan Fillion's excellent performance.

It wasn't Nathan Fillion during season 3, maybe due to contractual reasons (he's on a network show now), it was the voice of Alan Tudyk. They casually explained it was due to a larynx problem.

Brundle-Fly

Quote from: Ant Farm Keyboard on April 27, 2019, 06:11:33 PM
It wasn't Nathan Fillion during season 3, maybe due to contractual reasons (he's on a network show now), it was the voice of Alan Tudyk. They casually explained it was due to a larynx problem.

Aah, that explains it. Cheers.

Dr Sanchez

It's just been cancelled. I'd hazard a guess that it's due to poor viewing figures because it was highly rated.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/santa-clarita-diet-canceled-1197201

mothman

I've really struggled with the latest season. It all felt so samey, each new problem they have to resolve just leads on to another one. Not even halfway through watching it yet.

olliebean

I liked it, but it did rely an awful lot on the being-folksy-about-extreme-situations trope.

Sin Agog

It's weird that they've spent so long just gobbling Nazis, but then I liked that joke in the recent series about how easy it is now there are more Nazis than ever.

Dr Sanchez

Quote from: olliebean on April 29, 2019, 08:33:24 AM
I liked it, but it did rely an awful lot on the being-folksy-about-extreme-situations trope.

Yeah, it had become quite one note.

I also can't  help but think that the name of the show did it no favours in terms of gaining popularity. It's just a shit name that doesn't describe the show or roll off the tongue. I remember skipping past it loads of times because I thought it was a show about actual diets.

They should have called it Zombie Mom or something equally as dumb and obvious.

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth


EOLAN

Love the two leads. Olyphant just has a great edginess to him and Drew Barrymore is nothing like I would have expected her to be.

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

Barrymore was exactly as I'd expect, but she worked perfectly in the role. The biggest loss of it being cancelled now is that we don't get to see what zombie Joel was like. I suppose it could have ended up being a bit of a shark jump, since his barely suppressed anxiety, contrasted with Sheila's effervescent confidence, was a big part of what made the show work.

phes

Came back to this after tiring of it a little in S2. What a fun 3rd season! Great, silly chemistry between the central partnership and that's what carries it so far for me. Unlike the similar-ish (central couple, one experiencing a phenomena, the other not) but rubbish Ghosts that collapsed after episode one, with a flat and neglected central couple sidelined by the circus going on around them