TV and Movies

[chiclet]

I have watched it twice and I like it. It is upbeat and funny.

[Shawnie]

I did like it more last night. She and the guy who wants to marry her need to relax. Their acting seems very forced. I don't think it will last long enough for it to get good.. I only had it on cause I was waiting for Shark Tank! Love the Sharks!

[qvcaddition]

She seems like a nice person, but all the humor forced and corny. Love LAST MAN STANDING. Tim Allen and Nancy Travis and one of the daughters relaxed and funny. Love his political comments when, throwned in.

[keri]

I endured the premiere of Cristela last Friday night. That's thirty precious minutes of my life that I'll never recover.

Cristela was astoundingly unfunny and embarrassingly stereotypical.

It almost sounds as if a laugh track has been added; perhaps the only way to get even so much as a chuckle from this muy grande lio caliente (very big hot mess). Perhaps the show is filmed before a studio audience. If so, then the reaction has been electronically enhanced, "sweetened" beyond belief.

What makes so many standup comics (e.g. - Roseanne Barr, Brett Butler, Jerry Seinfeld, Tim Allen, Drew Carey, etc.) believe they're actors? Cristela Alonzo is barely the former and not at all the latter. She's unbearably loud and OTT.

Worst offender: Alberto (Gabriel Iglesias) who considered himself a suave, irresistible, ladies man, but actually was an overweight, obnoxious, Hawaiian-shirted leech.

What did they do to the usually handsome Carlos Ponce to make him so unrecognizably grisly? Compare his IMDb headshot to the way he looks in Cristela and you'd think he'd been the victim of some cruel joke or tragic accident.

I suppose there's an audience for this show. Obviously I'm not part of it.

Along with Bad Judge and Black-ish, this was one of the worst shows I've had the misfortune to see of this new 2014-'15 season. One and done for all of them.

[qvcaddition]

I think they are trying to represent all ethnic groups, but there will never be another Crosby, I still watch the reruns, funnier and more educational than any sitcom today. Blackish is an insult to the intelligence of the black community IMO. Crosby made it funny, intelligence and educational in a funny way.

I don't know if there are any Hispanic sitcoms that are funny. I use to like the George Lopez show, it was funny, and the characters believable, no one really put down. When he was over with and all he does is throw the Hispanic poor me in your face all the time, I don't like watching him anymore. His show was funny though, when he left all the BS out of it. We are not the majority anymore, OK, but quit complaining.

These shows are grasping at straws or the writers are too young and don't know comedy.

[Jordan2]

I missed the first episode and watched last night. I didn't think much of it and won't watch again. The promo compares her to a "younger Roseanne", but Roseanne was much better in my opinion.

[Annabellethecat66]

I like George Lopez show too. Comedy should cross over all genders and nationalities.

We should all be able to laugh at ourselves. If it's funny, then it doesn't matter who says it. If it's not funny then it's just not funny, no matter who tries to make it funny.

Didn't see this show, so don't know. I don't have time to watch my favorite shows. Unfortunately, this limits my introduction to new shows.

Dealing with some health issues. My stamina is not as good as it used to be. Was a time I would stay up until way, way late in the night watching my TV shows.

Now I have to pick and choose. Also working on 50th High School Reunion. Skipped a year of high school so will have another one in the year 2016!

[keri]

Wouldn't it be great to find out who thought these ethnic sitcoms (Black-ish; Cristela were a good idea? Unfortunately, we haven't seen the last of them.

Without pre-judging, next up is Fresh Off The Boat, that IMDb describes as "A Taiwanese family makes their way in America during the 1990s." It stars Forrest Wheeler, Ian Chen, and Kimberly Crandall.

I've seen the stereotype-stuffed, cliché-ridden promos, replete with jokes about academic superiority, bad driving and already I know that this is another show that isn't for me.

I learned from childhood that there are certain derogatory terms and racial slurs that simply are never to be used under any circumstances whatsoever. The title, Fresh Off The Boat (a.k.a. - FOB), was akin to using the "N"-word. Today we hear the "N"-word on the streets, on TV, in music, in films, in comedy clubs - virtually everywhere. It's indicative of a lack of respect and a total lack of understanding regarding its historical context and how that epithet was used to belittle and dehumanize an entire race.

This isn't intended to be a sociological dissertation, but don't we risk desensitizing today's youth and stigmatizing entire populations with the thoughtless, arbitrary and indiscriminate use of these emotionally charged words, terms and outlandish caricatures that were so derogatory and blatantly hurtful only a couple of generations ago?

It's incumbent upon industry professionals - from the writers, producers and actors to the network executives who green-light these projects and schedule these shows - to remember how many hours people spend watching TV and the degree to which it informs, shapes and impacts their ideas and perceptions of other individuals and entire populations (based on ethnicity, religion, gender preference, gender identity, etc.). There are ways to demonstrate diversity and inclusiveness by presenting positive role models in media that serve to educate, enlighten and uplift.

I thought as a society, that we were long past the days of the 1950s sitcom stereotypes such as Amos 'n' Andy and Beulah. It's important to know that these shows existed, but is it necessary to replicate them in 2014?

[chickenbutt]

I agree that it seems like she's trying too hard.

I also watch Last Man Standing and have enjoyed it since it began. Mike cracks me up with his ridiculous political notions - reminds me of Stan Smith (American Dad) - so silly that it's hilarious.