Re: UnREAL

by **singlyme** Tue Aug 04, 2015 1:08 pm

rkc: The question is whether Quinn will come to her rescue because she cares about her - or because she needs her for the show? I don't think we'll ever know the underlying motivations of these people.

by singinintherain Tue Aug 04, 2015 2:37 pm

The cast;..... especially Quinn, Rachel, and Adam, seem to dictate/produce each other just about as much as they do the Contestants. Next Season we will hopefully see characters such as Chet, Jeremy, Madison and some of the others becoming a lot more visible. (The writers of UnREAL have certainly done a great job with the story lines thus far!! )

I think CH may be more 'concerned' Biting nails

about the popularity of "UnREAL" than might either Fleiss or Mills. Wouldn't be surprised if they're actually enjoying the Show!! Popcorn

It's that good ~

by **rkc1960** Tue Aug 04, 2015 3:13 pm

singlyme wrote:rkc: The question is whether Quinn will come to her rescue because she cares about her - or because she needs her for the show? I don't think we'll ever know the underlying motivations of these people.

That's a very good question, Singly. When Rachel told Quinn she loved her Quinn looked stunned and wasn't sure how to respond. She looked very uncomfortable when she did respond to her, almost like she knew it required a response but wasn't sure what to say. I just don't think Quinn knows much about love or hasn't ever really experienced it. I think she thinks she loves Chet or the closest thing she's ever had to it, but since apparently she was in the same shoes that the young intern was in maybe she is realizing that it was never love that Chet felt for her. Now she has switched positions into the 'wifey' role like she said to him and now he'll continue to cheat with whatever jumps in front of his face to replace the role she used to play. I also think she is very jaded from being the executive producer of Everlasting for so long and love is just not real with anything she sees. I would like to think that her relationship with Rachel is some form of love that maybe she doesn't know how to define it. I'm hoping she helps Rachel next season due to those feelings even though she may not want Rachel to know that.

by Grammarianna Tue Aug 04, 2015 8:06 pm

Excerpts from an article out today in Vox Culture:

"Even in a time when basic cable packages come with hundreds of options, there are few more consistent channels than Lifetime. It has always gone after its target (female) demographic with a stacked schedule of romantic comedies, sitcom and soap reruns, and original movies that have spawned their own cults of worship, both ironic and deeply sincere.

Whether or not Lifetime actually knows women is up for debate. Its aforementioned slate of cheesy rom-coms and stereotypically catty women characters betrays a pretty retro vision of what women might like, after all. But the network's brand remains undeniably strong.

That reputation made UnReal's quality and ambition a real surprise. On the one hand, the show is a funhouse mirror–skewed look at ABC’s Bachelor franchise, which targets a similar demographic as Lifetime does. In the Venn diagram between ABC and Lifetime, "selling women cookie-cutter romantic fallacies" is the obvious overlap.

But UnReal’s portrayal of the fictional reality dating show Everlasting doesn’t shy away from exposing the ugly tactics that make fairy tales sparkle on screen. In fact, UnReal embraces the chaos with open arms. It takes pleasure in revealing just how cutthroat reality television can be in pursuit of a juicier story.

It helps that Sarah Gertrude Shapiro (who co-created the show with Marti Noxon, of Glee and Buffy fame) has firsthand experience. Shapiro was trapped on The Bachelor for years due to a fine-print contractual bind, and as she produced the show's calculated romances, she found herself stuck between her self-professed feminist ideals and a job that very much cut against them.

Speaking to the New York Times, Shapiro referred to her experience producing segments with contestants as "tortur[ing] another woman." She said she was close to suicidal by the time she escaped The Bachelor's clutches: "I wanted to burn my whole life down."

So it's not exactly surprising that Shapiro and Noxon are gleefully burning any bridges they might have had in reality television with UnReal, which closed out its strong first season Monday, August 3 (the show has already been renewed).

They have insisted that specific events on the show are fictional, but when Bachelor host Chris Harrison told Variety that UnReal is "really terrible," Noxon shot back in no uncertain terms. "Reality television deserved this treatment," she said, "and it’s long overdue."

by Grammarianna Tue Aug 04, 2015 8:13 pm

Another good article on UnREAL in Variety magazine. I'm thrilled at all the exposure this show is getting.

"Deliciously good for most of its run, Lifetime’s “UnReal” couldn’t quite maintain those qualities all the way through to the finish. Searing and pointed in its critique of the manipulation that goes into reality TV in general – and producing a “The Bachelor”-like series in particular – the series nearly began choking on its own ruthlessness in the final couple of episodes, with one vindictive exchange after another. Nevertheless, the show was clearly the real deal, creatively speaking, which makes its renewal welcome, even if the ratings didn’t exactly come up roses.

Indeed, most of the misgivings expressed here at the outset proved to be true – namely, that a series spoofing reality shows would probably have scant appeal with both those who do and don’t watch them. Those issues were perhaps exacerbated by airing on a channel like Lifetime, which doesn’t aim this high with much of its programming.

Still, the series – developed by Marti Noxon, from a short by former “Bachelor” producer Sarah Gertrude Shapiro, whose knowledge regarding the tricks of the trade showed – felt enormously gutsy, including the death of a contestant earlier in the season. If you want to learn how to get away with murder in television, the lesson seemed to go, just keep your ratings up.

“UnReal” also drew condemnation from, of all people, “The Bachelor” host Chris Harrison, presumably because the ersatz version of him on the show within the show (titled “Everlasting”) had so much more charisma. Then again, Harrison is hardly the only person who should have been squirming given the real-world parallels, which perhaps explains why he would draw some comfort from pointing out how ratings-challenged “UnReal” has been.

The finale (and SPOILER ALERT if you haven’t watched) certainly had its moments, including the priceless shot of Adam (Freddie Stroma), the show’s dashing bachelor, being filmed riding on a wooden horse, with stunt doubles actually racing across the countryside. There was also some customarily tart dialogue, such as Adam’s crusty British grandmother telling him, “We don’t marry brown people. We just don’t.”

Ultimately, though, “UnReal” did its two most interesting characters, the conflicted producer Rachel (Shiri Appleby) and her ruthless boss Quinn (Constance Zimmer), no favors by having them both essentially turn loopy, then vengeful, over being jilted by men. When Quinn chided Rachel – who had been ready, unconvincingly, to run off with Adam – for “wasting your victory laps crying about boys,” the truth is both of them had exhibited those tendencies, with Quinn just being a little better schooled in the art of “Don’t get mad, get even.”

Indeed, those soapy aspects of “UnReal’s” backstage drama alternately added to its satire of the genre and distracted from it. And while the show’s core ultimately boiled down to a struggle for Rachel’s soul – just how far would she go, and how much collateral damage would she inflict, to succeed in Hollywood? – that was plenty interesting without taking her relationship with Adam beyond flirtation, and even as a one-night stand, it’s hard to buy her falling for him.

A lot of this, admittedly, is quibbling, and the good clearly outweighed the negatives. Lifetime’s renewal likely stemmed in part from the positive press the show generated, but it’s unlikely that will keep the series afloat for long without ratings to back it up. Still, the storytelling was so sharp through much of the season seeing what Noxon and company can do for an encore will certainly be interesting to watch.

With all the crazy stuff that went down in season one, the biggest mistake “UnReal” could make would be to consciously try to top itself, as opposed to just organically continuing its arc.

If that isn’t enough to sustain the network’s passion – or create a love connection with more viewers – that might be more of a conceptual hurdle than a creative one. Because frankly, the public has seemingly lost interest in peeling back the curtain on the well-documented staging and excesses of reality TV, and most media outlets only care about the fact these shows boost Web traffic, becoming the life’s blood of US Weekly and its ilk.

Besides, despite that fairy-tale title of the show within the show, “Everlasting,” nothing on TV – and often, alas, especially nothing that’s really good – lasts forever.

by **singlyme** Wed Aug 05, 2015 6:16 am

Thanks for the articles, marianna. I'll admit the evil was a little heavy-handed, especially the last couple of episodes. But I love this show!

by **Starz** Wed Aug 05, 2015 9:05 am

Grammarianna wrote:Excerpts from an article out today in Vox Culture:

It helps that Sarah Gertrude Shapiro (who co-created the show with Marti Noxon, of Glee and Buffy fame) has firsthand experience. Shapiro was trapped on The Bachelor for years due to a fine-print contractual bind, and as she produced the show's calculated romances, she found herself stuck between her self-professed feminist ideals and a job that very much cut against them.

Speaking to the New York Times, Shapiro referred to her experience producing segments with contestants as "tortur[ing] another woman." She said she was close to suicidal by the time she escaped The Bachelor's clutches: "I wanted to burn my whole life down."

And there is RACHEL! She is Shapiro.

by **rkc1960** Wed Aug 05, 2015 9:42 am

Thanks for posting those articles, Marianna.

Some other interesting points other than what Starz already brought up were:

But UnReal’s portrayal of the fictional reality dating show Everlasting doesn’t shy away from exposing the ugly tactics that make fairy tales sparkle on screen. In fact, UnReal embraces the chaos with open arms. It takes pleasure in revealing just how cutthroat reality television can be in pursuit of a juicier story.

They have insisted that specific events on the show are fictional, but when Bachelor host Chris Harrison told Variety that UnReal is "really terrible," Noxon shot back in no uncertain terms. "Reality television deserved this treatment," she said, "and it’s long overdue."

“UnReal” also drew condemnation from, of all people, “The Bachelor” host Chris Harrison, presumably because the ersatz version of him on the show within the show (titled “Everlasting”) had so much more charisma. Then again, Harrison is hardly the only person who should have been squirming given the real-world parallels, which perhaps explains why he would draw some comfort from pointing out how ratings-challenged “UnReal” has been.

If that isn’t enough to sustain the network’s passion – or create a love connection with more viewers – that might be more of a conceptual hurdle than a creative one. Because frankly, the public has seemingly lost interest in peeling back the curtain on the well-documented staging and excesses of reality TV, and most media outlets only care about the fact these shows boost Web traffic, becoming the life’s blood of US Weekly and its ilk.

Wow. These articles stuck the knife in and twisted them! Awesome. LOL...I bet CH and company are crapping in their drawers after reading these tidbits and rightfully so!

by Grammarianna Wed Aug 05, 2015 12:41 pm

Apart from enjoying the excellent writing and acting on UnREAL, I'm also finding it intriguing to try to figure out which events are directly based on what really happened on the set of The Bachelor.

by **singlyme** Wed Aug 05, 2015 5:27 pm

First, Juan Pablo. now, UnREAL. Before you know it, CH will be the master of vendetta.

by Grammarianna Wed Aug 05, 2015 9:02 pm

Wonder where one can buy this T-shirt?

https://instagram.com/p/6A0c9ZhBzz/?taken-by=thejohannabraddy

by BHGma Wed Aug 05, 2015 9:08 pm

Grammarianna wrote:Wonder where one can buy this T-shirt?

https://instagram.com/p/6A0c9ZhBzz/?taken-by=thejohannabraddy

To hell with buying the shirt, I want to know where I can buy the perfect man.

by Grammarianna Wed Aug 05, 2015 10:42 pm

BHGma wrote:
Grammarianna wrote:Wonder where one can buy this T-shirt?

https://instagram.com/p/6A0c9ZhBzz/?taken-by=thejohannabraddy

To hell with buying the shirt, I want to know where I can buy the perfect man.

by Guest Mon Aug 10, 2015 7:48 pm

Bummed I didn't find this page until after the season finale hairpull

by **Starz** Mon Aug 10, 2015 8:05 pm

We'll be here for next season, too.

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