For me if I had to pick a good contender it would be the UK version of The Office.

I know many tend to debate how Ricky Gervais really fell off and how he repugnantly acts like a whiny centrist edgelord but me personally IMO I actually don’t think he was ever funny not even a little.

His big break through television was just so painful to sit through it’s so charismatically boring the characters are completely generic at best (notably Tim) or straight up insufferably unlikable at worst (especially the protagonist David FUCKING Brent) and most importantly the humour is just embarrassing.

Always seemed like The Thick Of It but without the nuisance tongue in cheek and charming satire.

  • 58008@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    I agree about Ricky Gervais. I actually liked him in The Office, but in everything else - before and after - he is just fucking awful. Talk shows, stand-up, speeches, podcasting, he is a desperate, strained and insecure performer. When he’s telling a joke, it’s like every word has had to be pressed out of a gland with a clenched fist before the next word can be milked free; it’s clear he’s just saying the words in the correct order, and not performing it. He is never present and ‘in the moment’, and seems to be in a perpetual state of panic about his own inadequacy. If he were actually a decent person instead of whatever the fuck he has become, I wouldn’t be saying this about him. But he’s a cunt, so, yeah. His imposter syndrome (which is entirely deserved in his case) makes the media he’s in unbearable to consume.

    To see just how truly awful the man is, watch that Talking Funny documentary. It’s him, Jerry Seinfeld (the least-funny paedophile in the world), Chris Rock and Louie CK all in a room together talking about comedy. Ricky is obviously feeling the full force of his imposter syndrome throughout. It’s probably the most glaring example of what I’m talking about.

    I simply don’t get his success. Like, I can understand the success of paedophile rings, but I can’t fathom how Ricky has made it so big. One of life’s great mysteries, I guess.

  • Armok_the_bunny@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    Harry Potter, even ignoring how much of a piece of shit the author is the books just aren’t particularly well thought out.

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    7 days ago

    Disturbed’s cover of “Sound of Silence.” I like the original Simon & Garfunkel, or at least the more upbeat version of it. And I like Disturbed (see below). But this cover absolutely blows.

    Yes, I know the lead singer is a grade A shitbag. I liked the band long before I knew anything about any of it and have since stopped listening to them.

  • Lemminary@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    Sports. I have little tolerance for it because every time a big event is on, people get incredibly obnoxious. They think they know better than the professional players, they keep making so much noise, it polarizes people into arbitrary bands and start talking shit like using that as an excuse to be a homophobic POS, sometimes they’ll even riot because their team lost/won (da fuk), and even kill people over their favorite fucking team, and so much more. If the game is on I’d rather steer clear because it really brings out the worst in people.

  • anon_8675309@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    American football. Fox turned it into a video game you can’t play.

    Mens soccer. Stop with the fucking cry baby drama! Women’s soccer is better in this regards.

  • Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works
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    6 days ago

    You’re right and you should say it. Ricky Gervais has always been weird and off-putting and the idea that he was ever good has always baffled me. I never enjoyed The Office. When my dad tried to get me into Extras I just found all of Ricky’s parts annoying. When my sister told me how great Derek was, I just found the whole thing simultaneously tasteless and bland, like it couldn’t commit to being offensive but didn’t put the work into being real. His standup is often clever, but always the kind of clever that is let down by a complete lack of emotional intelligence. The man just does not understand people, but thinks he really does.

    • Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works
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      6 days ago

      The worst part is that if you somehow drag yourself through the first book and rightly declare that it sucks, fans will all say “Oh, yeah, the first book is bad, but it gets sooooo much better after that!”

      This is a fucking lie. The books actually get progressively worse at a genuinely shocking rate.

      Do you like reading a series of Wikipedia articles about all these really cool ideas the author had? Do you like being slapped in the face with moments of truly egregious sexism? Do you like characters with zero defining traits? Do you like entire plotlines built around Death Note style “I know that you know that I know that you know that I know…” style bullshit that falls apart the moment you think about it for five seconds? Do you like like awful solutions to the Fermi Paradox? Oh boy do we have the book series for you!

    • mysticpickle@lemmy.ca
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      5 days ago

      Oh my God, I thought it was just me. I usually consume a lot of sci-fi media in general and was like, “why can’t I like this highly acclaimed work?”

  • maxalmonte14@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    The US version of The Office, LOL.

    Watched 8 episodes and would rather watch paint dry for the rest of my life than watching the rest of the series.

    • hansolo@lemmy.today
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      7 days ago

      100% with you on this.

      I just don’t get the appeal at all. I knew a couple that were all about String Cheese Incident. Finally listened to their stuff…fucking 15 minute long songs of fairly standard 90’s ironic music zapped by bloat ray. Hard pass.

      • agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
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        6 days ago

        I’ve seen String Cheese Incident live a few times at a festival. It was honestly a pretty good show, and I think that’s pretty much the only way jam bands work. When everyone’s a bit high and dancing and the band is playing off the crowd, it’s great.

        I listened to a couple of their tracks at home, and had no interest in listening to any more. Jam bands are only good live.

      • thisbenzingring@lemmy.today
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        7 days ago

        You gotta be taking some psychedelics and want to dance, I’m not into it either. But I have plenty of friends who are and it makes them happy to have a show that lasts for long sets and they can get their freak on

  • GrayBackgroundMusic@lemmy.zip
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    7 days ago

    Kinda surprised I didn’t see breaking bad already listed. I guess I’m one of the few who dislikes it. I don’t like tragedies in general. Life is already a tragedy.

    I’m sure it was extremely well executed and totally worth making, but it’s not my flavor of ice cream.

    • itsjustachairmary@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      It started out a lot funnier and slowly became darker over time. I think I remember Gilligan saying this was a conscious choice, to grow darker in tone over time.

      Anyway, that’s what hooked a lot of people initially, and a lot of them stuck around for the drama that followed

      Genuinely though the Talking Pillow scene is still my favorite. As someone who lost a dad to cancer the conversation was morbidly funny and real to me, with the pillow as a perfect set piece.

  • ikidd@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    6 days ago

    I thought the American version of The Office wasn’t much better. Just constant cringe humor, it’s exhausting.