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The Marriage Ref thread of how does Jeff Zucker still have a job?

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So, GAF: My friend's older brother got into the film/TV industry recently, and everyone in my neighborhood is super excited about that. As you may have guessed, he's involved with this show (I'm not sure what he does on the show specifically), and I'm curious to see his work.

How much pain would I be in if I watched it?

(Keep in mind that when I see someone doing something very socially awkward/ stupid, I cringe and scream at the TV "NO NO NO!" over and over again, like whenever Michael Scott is saying/doing something in The Office)
 
Shiggie said:
WTF is wrong with you guys. I actually like this show.
Anywho, Larry David and Ricky Grevais is on next week.
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I'll watch it for those two next week that's it. Not sure if I'll even make it through the episode. I'm hoping Gervais does it completely trashed.
 
Shiggie said:
WTF is wrong with you guys. I actually like this show.
Anywho, Larry David and Ricky Grevais is on next week.
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Thank you!
I watched this last night with the GF and we were rolling. It had some pretty good moments.
 
Oh God, he has the nerve to drag Larry David and Gervais into this mess?

I really wanted to see those two together, but not in this trash. And the more I watch of Curb Your Enthusiasm the more I realize that Seinfeld was ALL Larry David's work.
 
I watched last night, and while there were a couple of laughs (mostly at the married people, like the dude who was massively metro-sexual) I really don't see any value in it. Tina Fey was pretty disappointing -- I feel like she's a funny writer and actor, but not so good while doing improv (which I assume this was -- their responses weren't scripted, were they?). Eva Longoria was annoying at best. I don't even understand how she made it on this show. When has she ever been funny? Seinfeld made a couple of funny jokes, but not enough to save the show. I feel like I could more humorously mock these people than Longoria and Tina Fey were able to. Someone should film me spewing out jokes at stupid middle-aged married couples and put me on TV (not NBC, please).

And while Gervais and Larry David might sound great on paper, the show just isn't interesting enough to make any use of their talent.
 
modernkicks said:
I watched 10 minutes of this and muted the volume and put my headphones back on. Terrible doesn't even begin to describe it. The next time I looked up at my TV I saw Jay Leno and Brett Favre conversing and I threw up in my mouth a little.

Fuckin' NBC.
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So you hated the shows enough to throw up in your mouth, but you still left the tv on long enough to get past the loooong Leno monologues and shit until he gets to Brent? Really? I think those shows are shit too, but here's the difference between you and I--I don't bother watching them in the first place.
 
far, far better idea would have been to get gervais and david to sit around making fun of episode 1 of the marriage ref mst3k style than to waste them on an actual episode of this third-rate dreck
 
The Awkward Wizard said:
So, GAF: My friend's older brother got into the film/TV industry recently, and everyone in my neighborhood is super excited about that. As you may have guessed, he's involved with this show (I'm not sure what he does on the show specifically), and I'm curious to see his work.

How much pain would I be in if I watched it?

(Keep in mind that when I see someone doing something very socially awkward/ stupid, I cringe and scream at the TV "NO NO NO!" over and over again, like whenever Michael Scott is saying/doing something in The Office)
Click to expand...
The first two episodes were pretty awful. The banter of the panelists just isn't funny, and the host's lines and jokes appear to be entirely prescripted with him reading off a TelePrompTer or something. Plus his jokes aren't funny.
 
AstroLad said:
far, far better idea would have been to get gervais and david to sit around making fun of episode 1 of the marriage ref mst3k style than to waste them on an actual episode of this third-rate dreck
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An even better idea would be just to put them on camera and have them talk about anything else not related at all to the Marriage Ref.
 
backflip10019 said:
An even better idea would be just to put them on camera and have them talk about anything else not related at all to the Marriage Ref.
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The Ricky & Larry Hour. Do it NBCHBO!
 
doktorpeace said:
Girl: I'm probably going to go take a shower now, really naked and stuff, and you guys can come watch me if you want.

Sheldon: This sounds great! I can finally use my REMULON 5000 to measure the variable temperatures of hot water against female areola.

Girl: On second thought...
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:lol :lol Spot-on. I've given BBT multiple chances to win me over, and each time I felt like crying and taking a shower immediately afterwards.

One scene in particular, recommended by someone on GAF as one of the funniest moments in TV sitcom history, began something like this:

Nerd 1 to nerd 2 (who is trapped in a children's ball pit for some reason): How did you get in there?

Nerd 2: The lock was a simple tumbler system CPU circuitry stack overflow buffertronic!

Laugh track: LOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLOLLL
 
backflip10019 said:
An even better idea would be just to put them on camera and have them talk about anything else not related at all to the Marriage Ref.
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sounds insane and amazing
 
Dresden said:
So you hated the shows enough to throw up in your mouth, but you still left the tv on long enough to get past the loooong Leno monologues and shit until he gets to Brent? Really? I think those shows are shit too, but here's the difference between you and I--I don't bother watching them in the first place.
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Well, I wasn't paying attention. As I said, I had the TV on, saw 10 minutes of the show, decided it was terrible, left the TV on for whatever reason and put it on mute, put my headphones on, listened to music and diverted my attention to my laptop for a good hour and a half before I glanced up again and saw Leno and Favre talking. After that I turned off the TV and went to bed. The throwing up my mouth was caused at the sight of Leno and Favre sharing the same screen together-- also from what I could tell on mute this moment looked like it was before the intro came on and he did his dumb monologue.
 
Discotheque said:
Oh God, he has the nerve to drag Larry David and Gervais into this mess?

I really wanted to see those two together, but not in this trash. And the more I watch of Curb Your Enthusiasm the more I realize that Seinfeld was ALL Larry David's work.
Click to expand...
Watching extras on the Seinfeld DVD it seems like NBC approached Jerry because he was considered likeable ala Jay Leno. Larry David and Larry Charles seem to be behind much of the craziness. That's why Jerry so often played the "straight" guy to the craziness of George and Kramer, though he started becoming more neurotic and crazy as the seasons went on as well.
 
Ricky Gervais redeemed:

"This is the weirdest show I've ever been on. It's weird enough I'm on here with you two (Madonna, Larry David). I feel like someone put crack in my drink."

- Slightly awkward reaction from host.


THIS IS AWFUL. There has never been anything as bad and LARGE as this failure.
 
Larry David redeemed:

Reacting to Madonna not being funny: "This is the most uncomfortable hour of my entire life."
 
Madonna did not redeem herself. She used the disqualifier "not" as an humorous device. It was met with crickets and strained smiles. She also looked like a slightly inflated Sarah Jessica Parker, which is not a good look. She pretty much established herself as the most odious person on TV. Also, she no longer has an English accent. She's suddenly Texan.

I realize I am the only person watching this, but think of it as a service. I am throwing myself on the grenade.
 
I fell asleep last night (missed all the Thursday night shows). So I take it its not even worth watching for Ricky & Larry?
 
OuterWorldVoice said:
I realize I am the only person watching this, but think of it as a service. I am throwing myself on the grenade.
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a grenade with no one near it
 
levious said:
a grenade with no one near it
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Madonna was on it. It's like a Matryoshka Doll of grenades.

Ceres said:
I fell asleep last night (missed all the Thursday night shows). So I take it its not even worth watching for Ricky & Larry?
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Not exactly, but there's a tipping point where both of them realize they're in the worst bullshit ever and try to crawl out in confused terror.
 
I watched this On Demand last week.

Honestly, the concept isn't entirely horrible or anything. I just don't really like the execution of the forced humor/laughs. I also don't like how it's pretty much automatic that as long as two out of three "guests" make a certain decision, that decision goes through.

There should be four guests instead of three. That way we'd at least see some controversy and the judge wouldn't be able to just go with with the majority answer. As it stands, the judge isn't making "the final call," he's just issuing a verdict based on what the guests say.

This could be interesting television if it was done right, but right now it's just silly. I know the premise isn't too great to begin with, but honestly they could do better than this.

The Marriage Ref proves that not even Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, and Alec Baldwin can save bad television.
 
I watched a bit of this last night only because two of my favorite comedians, Larry David and Ricky Gervais, were on. While those two guys were amusing as usual, the show itself was bottom-of-the-barrel reality fare and third panelist Madonna came off as a judgmental idiot.

Any time Larry didn't like something a woman did, it was because he "hated women". If Ricky opposed frank talk about a couple's sex life, it was because he's "English and repressed". What a moistened bint.
 
This show is so forced ugh, just watched a clip of it today. Why are ricky and larry doing this?? Lol this is so awful.
 
Forceatowulf said:
I came for the Larry David goodness and left satisfied.

He is truly a grumpy bitter old man. And I love him.
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Nah, Larry David was totally in character. I noticed him breaking right before the commercial started a couple of times.

This show is awful though. The only part I liked was when Larry David and Ricky Gervais started openly mocking the show.
 
Tkawsome said:
Nah, Larry David was totally in character. I noticed him breaking right before the commercial started a couple of times.

This show is awful though. The only part I liked was when Larry David and Ricky Gervais started openly mocking the show.
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I know he was playing up his tv persona, but that character is the only Larry David I know. I hope he stays in character for the remainder of his TV career.

Nice old men are boring. Can you imagine if he was pleasant and polite the whole show? ugh
 
What is this show I don't even..

I will never watch it again but dude... anything with Larry David and Ricky Gervais in it is fucking amazing NO MATTER WHAT. NO MATTER WHAT.
 
Okay.. I just watched about 10-15 minutes of this thing.. it's horrendous. Completely horrendous. It's not funny at all. :/

What have the ratings been like?

'I smell a spin-off!' Hyuck!!!! genius!!
 
I watched the episode with Larry David and Ricky Gervais, and I really enjoyed it because of those two. This show itself isn't good.
 
I saw the opening minutes of an episode and couldn't help but notice how it's modeled on the celebrity-driven panel shows of the early days of television. The Marriage Ref is an absolute relic somehow unearthed 50 years too late.
 
quadriplegicjon said:
Okay.. I just watched about 10-15 minutes of this thing.. it's horrendous. Completely horrendous. It's not funny at all. :/

What have the ratings been like?

'I smell a spin-off!' Hyuck!!!! genius!!
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IIRC the ratings have been pretty good. A lot better the Jay Leno show, but that's not saying much.
 
I'm watching this right now for no reason...it's tolerable only because of Alec Baldwin, and seeing how far Seinfeld has fallen. Also because the first wife is a babe.
 
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