MeadtheMan

Ok, this definitely gives off the vibes of a Christmas B movie... but it must be a parody? I mean, it stars Tina Fey and Steve Carell. Keep going on, ok same vibes. Oh, plot twist. Wait, but it's not really a twist because the turn is so expected. Is this a school project? The characters are just a bunch of stereotypes. Hmmm, maybe they'll show us other sides. Nope, still stereotypical. By the way, why is the Italian guy named Claude (French)? Hold on, it must be me failing to see the genius behind this? Maybe they're trying to shed light on the genius of the most mundane script? Still no growth. Ok, maybe it's a self-parody by comedians who became out-of-touch once they've "made it"? Nope.

THIS IS DEFINITELY A CHRISTMAS B MOVIE. AND IT'S STILL MAY.

I have nothing to add to what people would've experienced already if they saw this series.

I just wish many other series would learn a thing or two from this: 1) Focus on the basics: scripting, casting, acting, cinematography that suits the context, and a vision. Getting these right - no matter how small the production is - is already hard enough, that's why I'm puzzled why many series/films bother themselves with many extra pom-poms that not only add no value to their works, but prove to be distractions. 2) You don't need inane swelling soundtrack to try to add depth to your work. If your work is not stupid, the audience isn't stupid either, so you don't need to "guide" them into how to feel. There's minimal music in this series but it's much more powerful when it's done so thoughtfully. Learn from this, or take a loot at Haneke's, diegetic sounds alone are sufficient. Heck, even silent films, if done right, would be fine! 3) This is for Hollywood: with all the budget that you've got, spend more of it on artistic values, not merely production values. Sure, ultra super mega HD is nice, but if the basics are not solid, it's just an empty shell.

-end-

Oh my goodness, where do I begin.

I'm never into pageantry of any kind, but I understand its appeal to some, and believe that it'll never die, because.. have you seen that 90's prom dress shop in your town? You'd think it'd go out of business tomorrow but it never will, because there'll always be someone who buys it.

The conservative men featured here drive me nuts. The useless son, whose full-time job seems to be just loitering around doing nothing and wasting his family's wealth, has the gall to call his mother - who raised him on top of not giving up on realizing her dream - a failure?? And the ugly leering old-man judges, whose full-time job is making mean comments on women's appearances, are you kidding me? Have they seen how ugly they are? And why do we need so many judges to find "the ideal wife" - what is this, aerospace engineering?

And they want to modernize it by... upholding some outdated social values?