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    Space MadnessGabby Noone
    3/14/15 2:31pm

    It's a shame the show is so insanely racist we couldn't finish it. Some outlets have picked up on this, while others have chosen to strangely ignore it. We've got two hispanic women in the show and they're both maids. There's no joke. No commentary. They're just maids. You've got an Asian guy named "Dong" with broken english. Yeah, he's he BF and cute, but he could have been that and not a bad stereotype. You've got this silly Native American nonsense. You've got a rich white brat beating a black man with a club. Yeah, that's satire too, I guess. But all together it gives me that Dave Chappelle "how exactly are they laughing" feeling. The wife and I kept watching it and grinning and bearing the things that silently made us uncomfortable until we finally erupted in unison. 30 Rock was never like this. I don't know what Tina Fey is thinking.

    Because this is on Netflix we're just going to stop watching. If it was network TV we might keep with it because who would know, but Neflix is collecting direct data on who's sticking with it to the end and we want them to know when we split.

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      ambitiousSpace Madness
      3/14/15 2:35pm

      I contend that 30 Rock was quite often like "this" as well.

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      LosFelizGuySpace Madness
      3/14/15 2:48pm

      I guess you can read racism into anything. But you do realize that besides Kimmy, the only "positive" characters are non-white? Do you think Dong—who is an immigrant—shouldn't have broken english? Should Tittus be a boring accountant instead of a fun gay? The maid in the bunker cares so little about white people that she has no interest in learning english. The Native American aspect is great because it shows the disappointment of parents "losing" their daughter to a vapid white culture.

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    Charlotte29 aka Rob KGabby Noone
    3/14/15 1:49pm

    I have been enjoying this show so much.

    Despite it's goofiness and technicolor brightness, I can't help but feel this slightly darker streak to it that speaks a bit, in its own absurd way, to the trauma so many women experience and then have to work through. Again, even though the circumstances of her kidnapping are ridiculous and funny, there are very real moments in some of the flashbacks where you see how truly mean and manipulative the reverend was, not to mention how Kimmie absolutely has symptoms of PTSD. Those moments might be funny, but at the same time, they're not trivialized. IDK if I'm expressing all of this the way I really want to, but I guess I just really appreciate the show's brilliant ability to both be funny but also say something real about a culture that doesn't protect women, and how it falls to victims to put the pieces of their lives back together.

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      tiwwswypaokCharlotte29 aka Rob K
      3/14/15 2:05pm

      I agree with you completely, and it's why I'm sort of offended that this show has been reduced to its marginal similarities with Disney kiddie crap.* This analysis belongs on Buzzfeed.

      *excepting That's So Raven, Raven Symoné is a comedy genius

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      standpoor178Charlotte29 aka Rob K
      3/14/15 2:12pm

      Yeah, there is actually something very real (albeit cartoonish) about the way it handles trauma. Sure, some people become dark, substance-abusing messes after surviving trauma, but some don't. A lot of people with sunny dispositions continue to have those sunny dispositions, while simultaneously suffering from at least some symptoms of PTSD. It's also a kind of strength that isn't portrayed nearly enough — a woman being strong not because she can handle a weapon or do a lot of shots or whatever, but because she can continue to be generous and kind while battling enormous demons.

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    Kris-the-Needlessly-DefiantGabby Noone
    3/14/15 1:45pm

    I watched a few episodes of the show last night. Did anyone else love the Titus character? I could happily watch just him and Carol Kane.

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      SammieKris-the-Needlessly-Defiant
      3/14/15 1:53pm

      I LOVE her hair in this. Much better than when she was an Addams :p

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      MissDesiluKris-the-Needlessly-Defiant
      3/14/15 2:08pm

      Carol Kane and her antics are why I kept tuning in.

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    LetsFoldScarvesGabby Noone
    3/14/15 1:53pm

    I seem to be the only person I know that thought this show was horrendous. I had to turn it off halfway through the first episode because it was just too eager, too twee, and too corny. Every character was a caricature of a real person. So hard to watch.

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      lunchcomaLetsFoldScarves
      3/14/15 2:04pm

      I didn't make it very far, either. I can see other people liking it, but it's just not something that's ever going to work for me for the reasons you listed.

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      Omar Bradley LittleLetsFoldScarves
      3/14/15 2:24pm

      "Person goes to New York to discover themselves" is the second most insufferable TV trope out there, besides the "genius (cop, doctor, garbage man) who is also a total asshole."

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    TwiterTwoubleGabby Noone
    3/14/15 2:16pm

    A very good friend of mine grew up in a cult, her father was the leader. She had it rough to say the least

    She LOVES this show because for the first time in her life she is now laughing at her childhood. She relates to it, and what therapy hasn't been able to do for her, the show has in one week.

    It's been a fascinating transition this week for sure.

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      BoomChakraLokaTwiterTwouble
      3/14/15 3:24pm

      This is me all day long. I posted a few minutes ago. This show is therapy for me as well as I was in a cult a few years ago.

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      discopilotTwiterTwouble
      3/14/15 3:30pm

      I love hearing that. I used to work with people who has been severely traumatized by ongoing severe abuse (often with confinement and religious undertones/overtones as a part of it) and I was so happy to see a show depict how resilient people who have been through hell really can be. The people I worked with, and people like your friend, amaze me and I kept thinking as I watched this show how I hope some of my clients see it because of the way it treats trauma as one part of someone's life but not the defining factor. It reads as such a unique, empowering depiction to me.

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    manybellsdownsipsPiglioGriglioGabby Noone
    3/14/15 2:12pm

    GOD DAMN IT my husband has been watching this and the minute I saw this article the F$%^ING THEME SONG STARTED PLAYING IN MY HEAD AGAIN

    brb drinking the pain away

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      Research RantsmanybellsdownsipsPiglioGriglio
      3/14/15 2:54pm

      #TheyAliveDamnIt

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      McPoopinPantsmanybellsdownsipsPiglioGriglio
      3/14/15 3:03pm

      I feel your pain dude. that "They alive, Damnit" was stuck in my head when I woke up the other day. So naturally I thought, "I'll just listen to it all the way through to get it out of my head. That was Tuesday and still can't shake it. ITS A MIRACLE!

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    lisaroweGabby Noone
    3/14/15 1:45pm

    i don't really like dong. i noticed that there isn't a straight person in the show. i think the closest is maybe xan but everyone is a gigantic colorful character. there are no smart characters either. everyone in the show's universe is a dummy, but thinking about 30 rock, that show didn't really have any straight characters either. maybe liz, jack, and pete.

    i like UKS though! i'm hoping next season will be much better and i want to hear some swearing. it's on netflix, baby! although, swearing doesn't really fit in the world.

    NO wait. donna maria is the straight person. hahaha

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      adultosaur married anna on the astral planelisarowe
      3/14/15 1:48pm

      i think it's going to start grounding itself. a lot of shows that become hits have a rough first season. s1 of parks and rec left a lot to be desired.

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      Zeetaladultosaur married anna on the astral plane
      3/14/15 1:52pm

      I find that most shows find their legs in season 2, so I call season 1 a "colt" season. Things are a bit awkward. The show is certain it's a pony, but is not quite sure what a pony is yet .. . and why are my legs so long anyway? Still, I can sort of stand up and trot around.

      I enjoyed the first season, and I look forward to a second — hoping that it gets funding.

      I'm still working my way through 30 Rock (again). It's fun to binge watch. :D

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    adultosaur married anna on the astral planeGabby Noone
    3/14/15 1:32pm

    i think this show is really going to settle into something very good. it's got rough patches but everyone is so charming.

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      jonbenet ramsay snow eaten by tobesthewonderdogadultosaur married anna on the astral plane
      3/14/15 5:03pm

      Ellie Kemper plays it with perfect balance. My friend mentioned he thought Zooey Deschanel would have been good as Kimmy and I almost vomited.

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      adultosaur married anna on the astral planejonbenet ramsay snow eaten by tobesthewonderdog
      3/14/15 6:23pm

      absolutely not. i don't BELIEVE zooey, you know? i BELIEVE ellie kemper.

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    Aiwaz418Gabby Noone
    3/14/15 3:13pm

    Well, as a fifty year old person, I'm unfamiliar with the Disney tween sitcoms of the 90s, so I can't say such comparisons occurred to me.

    I do, however, love what I've seen of the show so far. Fey and Carlock have particular sensibilities that appeal to me, and the cast is overall great, with Kemper obviously shining over the whole thing.

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      ShelwoodAiwaz418
      3/14/15 5:14pm

      Ditto. But I also know that writers of a certain age compare everything to the stuff of their youth. I find it hard to believe that Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, both of whom are too old to have watched Nick and Disney 90s shows, were inspired by that. It's more 30 Rock/P&R.

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      C.A. PinkhamAiwaz418
      3/14/15 5:23pm

      I've adored Kemper since she was popping up in Derrick Comedy bits, so it's incredibly gratifying to see her have a hit like this.

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    SammieGabby Noone
    3/14/15 1:43pm

    I don't necessarily see the need to make a Disney connection. idk

    I felt like the surrealist humor was similar to aspects of the Mindy Project. It's probably also borrowing from UK comedy, which generally has a much more surrealist bent than US comedy.

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      catfaceSammie
      3/14/15 2:05pm

      Yeah there are articles all over the internet attempting to make a connection that isn't really there. There was a Slate or Vox article about how it's the new Bewitched.

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      theghostofnightcheesepastSammie
      3/14/15 2:18pm

      I definitely see how her wardrobe is straight Disney show. I mean it's the first thing I thought of when I saw her. But yeah, otherwise.

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