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Post by Jeremy on Jan 30, 2018 9:41:30 GMT -8
So, I watched The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel recently, and it reminded me of how much I enjoy Amy Sherman-Palladino's work. That in turn got me thinking about Bunheads, the post-Gilmore Girls show that she created which I never got around to watching. And that in turn got me thinking about how Quiara always teases me about not watching Bunheads, which is among our forum's more engaging running gags.
Anyway, I got to talking with her, and we decided that it was time for the two of us to finally watch Bunheads. And to chronicle our episode-to-episode thoughts, we're also making a thread to discuss the show. The plan is to watch one episode a week, and share our thoughts every Monday. (The series has 18 episodes total, so the project should take about four months.)
It should be an interesting experiment, due to our differing perspectives - I've seen all of Gilmore Girls, while she's seen none of it. (In this way, I guess I'm Kevin and she's Demi. Give yourself five CT points if you get that reference.)
If anyone else wants to watch along with us, all episodes of Bunheads are available on Hulu, and can be watched for free on the official Freeform website.
Here's hoping the show brings us all the joy it promises to. We'll post our thoughts on the pilot next week.
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Jan 31, 2018 20:20:40 GMT -8
Oh yes. Expect some grade-A wit from yours truly. Sample pith:
Bunheads? More like... Buttheads!
(Seriously, though, I expect to enjoy this show.)
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Post by Jeremy on Feb 1, 2018 10:28:20 GMT -8
Just so long as we don't butt heads while discussing it!
(This thread is already off to a fine start, as you can see.)
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Feb 3, 2018 14:20:55 GMT -8
Good news-- I enjoyed the pilot far more than I expected to.
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Post by Jeremy on Feb 3, 2018 18:19:31 GMT -8
Yeah, I liked it a lot, too. More detailed thoughts in a couple of days.
(Or if you want, you can start us off whenever.)
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Post by Jeremy on Feb 5, 2018 10:44:10 GMT -8
Okay, I'll start with a few basics:
This is a fun pilot, with all the charm and quippiness I expect from an Amy Sherman-Palladino show. (I will henceforth be referring to her solely as "Amy," as fans are wont to do.) That level of familiarity made for plenty of enjoyable moments, but the built-in deja vu kept it from achieving true greatness.
Let's be clear - the Gilmore Girls comparisons are impossible to ignore in this show. The premise just flips the key Gilmore premise on its head - Michelle Flowers is an upscale young woman trying to adjust to the genial, picturesque world of smalltown suburbia. She's also disarmingly similar to Lorelai Gilmore in personality (even clashing numerous times in the episode with Kelly Bishop, playing in-law instead of mother).
That familiarity makes the show easily accessible, but keeps it from getting too surprising. Even the fateful shock at the pilot's end doesn't feel that shocking, precisely because it fits the pattern of Amy's shows - young women, liberated from the man in her life, now trying to start her life anew.
But while Bunheads has obvious Lorelai and Emily figures, it lacks a clear Rory. Instead, we get the ballerinas, who are afforded the same quippy banter as Foster and Bishop, but without the same level of personality.
Still, I expect the ancillary characters to develop in future episodes. Just as I'm expecting Bunheads, now that it's gotten its premise pilot out of the way, to start exploring more uncharted waters.
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Feb 5, 2018 16:34:58 GMT -8
Funny you say that this is so derivative of Gilmore Girls, Jer-- I didn't think that at all. Of course, I've never seen Gilmore Girls and know nothing about Amy Sherman-Palladino. (I will henceforth be referring to her as ASP, because it enables the cool mental image of a giant snake hissing out rapid-fire dialogue.) I'll tell you what I have figured out about ASP, though-- all of her characters sound completely identical.
This is hardly a bad thing, though-- it's pretty normal for characters to sound identical when written by Witty Writers Who Write Witty Dialogue. There's not a world of difference between Bunheads and The West Wing, for instance. (Although, I suppose Aaron Sorkin is less of an ASP and more of an ASS.) You've got the same rapid-fire dialogue, the same tracking shots of characters having rapid-fire conversation... hell, they both even namedrop Muammar Qaddafi in their pilots. This makes sense in D.C., the fast-talk capital of America. This makes less sense in Las Vegas, the glitz capital of America; it makes zero sense in a sleepy cinemaplex-less hamlet like Paradise. (Kinda on the nose there, ASP, don'tcha think?)
Of course, the real way these writers differentiate their characters is via motivation, not dialogue. In this regard, Bunheads falls a little short: I have only the vaguest idea what these characters want right now beyond the obvious character archetypes. Sutton Foster wants an out from her dead-end life, but is worried that she may have traded one dead-end for a less glamorous dead-end in a drunken haze. Her mother-in-law is, um, domineering? I do not have a grasp on her. And there are four ballerinas who receive equal focus despite being equally uninteresting-- at least, right now they are. One of them is good at dancing but doesn't want to dance because her father is a closeted homosexual (?), one of them is good at dancing but has self-esteem issues because she has a realistic level of body fat, and there are two other kids who have displayed no discernible character traits beyond precocious.
Do I sound mean? I'm trying not to be-- I loved this show when it was on. But only 24 hours later I found myself struggling to remember what I had watched. It was fun, though-- and I could see it getting better.
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Post by Jeremy on Feb 5, 2018 17:29:35 GMT -8
No, I don't think you sound mean. As I've learned over they years, comments in Internet are snarkier than they appear.
You're certainly not the first person to draw comparisons between Sorkin and Amy (although come to think of it, ASP is also pretty good shorthand). Both of them love rapid-fire dialogue, perhaps more than any other two TV writers of the modern era. (The most famous Gilmore Girls quote ever is probably "Life's short, talk fast." Although "Oy with the poodles already" is a close second.) Both of them enjoy sprinkling obscure pop-culture references throughout their work (though ASP's references tend to be more current). And both have an annoying habit of quitting their own shows and leaving the poor showrunner who succeeds them with an impossible-to-resolve season-ending cliffhanger.
I imagine it may take a little while to adjust to Bunheads' very non-White House setting, since the similarities between the two writers pretty much end there. Sorkin likes his shows big and self-important, while ASP likes them small and leisurely. (She also, as it should quickly become obvious, does a better job of writing women.) It took me a little time to get into the cadences and rhythms of her characters' speech patterns on GG, but once I began to attune myself to the characters, it became a lot easier to engage with their conversations.
Regarding the ballerinas, I don't quite know what to make of them just yet. The pilot only gives one of them any sort of personality, and it's in regards to her weight. (True to the TV form, she's worried about being career-crushingly overweight, even if she looks fine by non-Hollywood standards.) It's probable that at least one of the ballerinas will be relegated to the position of quirky comic relief throughout the series, but hopefully they'll show signs of depth in later episodes.
(Also, Sorkin's middle name is Benjamin, which would make him ABS. Although I take it you have no plans of calling him ABS.)
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