Can't take TV shows seriously any more because characters are too good-looking!

Eggy Baby!

Not that I'm complaining about cute actresses playing roles, it's just that when every single goddamn character is good-looking or photogenic in TV show it disconnects me from the story and drama. I honestly can't take a script seriously if it's acted out by models.

My sister watches Home and Away and I honestly don't know how she does, because everybody in that soap is like a perfectly groomed model with perfect bodies and perfect teeth and perfect fashion sense. It really is unnerving. It's impossible to take the script seriously (but then again, the script is ****e so whatever).

I mean, are TV execs that short-sighted that they believe that a sexy model chick can pass off as a socially awkward nerd girl (I've seen this a few times in soaps especially)?

Walking Dead is another one. Most of the characters (mainly minor characters) look like male or female models they just recruited. Despite this, Walking Dead did fairly well in my books because it actually made an effort to make the protagonists dirty and ragged, unlike most other stuff, like the Pacific, which is set in a war but everybody has great teeth and bright, alert eyes despite their apparent "sleep deprivation". Falling Skies is another such show. Every man is a hunk and every woman is a ride in post-apocalyptic USA.

I like Game of Thrones so much because a lot of the actors and actresses genuinely look like people plucked off the street. It allows you to concentrate on the drama rather than thinking "did this person get their job because they were photogenic instead of their acting ability?"

But this trend is really beginning to annoy me an keep me detached from TV shows. I'm not saying its a recent trend but most TV shows these days seem to have this problem so I say they should hire more ugly people and I'll be happy!

Anyone else notice this?

Alf. A. Male

On an only tangentially related note, I've always wondered how they cast for obviously unsavoury roles. Do agents ring their clients and say "We have a role for a fatty with a face only a mother could love. I immediately thought of you"? Work is work and all, but that must be awkward.

turnikett1

I agree. One reason why I loved The Wire so much was because there wasn't any "hot" people in it. Just normal guys and gals. Although Rhonda was pretty hot.

pundy

American Horror Story is quite the equal opportunities employer with it's cast i think....

SouthTippBass

We want TV ugly, not ugly ugly!

LizzieJones

I grew up watching a lot of tv in the 70s and what I loved about the shows back then was you had all sorts of different looking people. Now they all look cookie cutter which is probably why I rarely watch tv.

SEPT 23 1989

Hitler would have enjoyed Home and Away

C14N

Yeah I can kind of agree. If you want some ugly looking soap opera stars though just watch some Coronation Street or Fair City. The Walking Dead does make people look a bit dirty but it's usually stylishly so and I remember reading an article by a woman who was distracted by how perfect the women's hair was despite being in a hygiene-free environment for months.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Breaking Bad kind of had this problem a bit too. Somehow meth turned everyone into a hideous Halloween monster except Jessie, who was a handsome chap through all of it.

smoking_kills

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Hitler would have enjoyed Home and Away

Or Brooklyn nein nein

Alf. A. Male

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Hitler would have enjoyed Home and Away

No he wouldn't, he lost badly in France and Russia.

Adamantium

The Wire and BSG were very good in casting people you'd believe would inhabit those roles for real. They felt fully formed from day one.

BSG had two middle aged people as leaders as opposed to two hottest things on the town. They were authorative and experienced
.
Still attractive people though

spoiler photo for BSG

Most characters were average enough looking.

http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr350/lily_winterwood/Icons/becausebillisnt.jpg

Game of Thrones is by far the bravest though, was sort of shocking in how brutal and nihilistic it can be. Like my brother turned to me after a while and said "Makes you glad , we don't live in the dark ages". It's very matter of fact.

Boskowski

I agree. Not watching many of the fringe TV series but every time I zap into something like a hospital or legal or even some crime stuff series they all look perfect.
I'm looking at a stunner max 25 years of age perfectly groomed and styled and she does this hardnosed court room bataillant putting every one in their place with her great wisdom on how to play all sorts of characters and I'm thinking 'how convincing...'
Right off I know this is provably a cr@p program and I'm gone.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Hitler would have enjoyed Home and Away

He was more a neighbours fan. The neighbours being Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland...

Skeleton XIII

An all good looking cast sets off the alarm bells for me. It automatically tells me the show or movie is probably rubbish and needs impossibly good looking actors (and I use the term actors loosely) to make up for the lack of a decent plot.

Properly good looking people who also happen to be intelligent/strong/talented in some way or charismatic do exist, but they are a tiny, tiny minority in real life. This is not reflected in tv/film for the most part.

boogle

Supernatural is guilty of this too. Ridiculously good-looking male leads whose character's lives seemingly consist of long periods where they are driving around America on their asses while eating burgers and drinking beers interspersed with brief intervals of demon ass-kicking.

byronbay2

Alf. A. Male wrote: »

On an only tangentially related note, I've always wondered how they cast for obviously unsavoury roles. Do agents ring their clients and say "We have a role for a fatty with a face only a mother could love. I immediately thought of you"? Work is work and all, but that must be awkward.

Check out Charlize Theron in "Monster" - how on earth did they even think to offer her that role!!

From this:
https://www.google.ie/search?q=charlize+theron&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=Vp5OU-qqHoaS7QbSjIGgDA&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=681

To this:
https://www.google.ie/search?biw=1366&bih=681&tbm=isch&q=charlize+theron+monster&revid=2116251663

Eggy Baby!

boogle wrote: »

Supernatural is guilty of this too. Ridiculously good-looking male leads whose character's lives seemingly consist of long periods where they are driving around America on their asses while eating burgers and drinking beers interspersed with brief intervals of demon ass-kicking.

True Blood is another

GLaDOS

I watched The Book Thief last night. Supposedly malnourished and impoverished lower class folk suffering during the 2nd world war with perfect complexions and flawlessly styled hair.

Coggles

The Vampire Diaries (yes, I know it isn't exactly ground-breaking) is the worst offender for this, definitely. I actually cannot think of one average looking person in the show!

wendell borton

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

He was more a neighbours fan. The neighbours being Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland...

Didn't the Nazis have a premise for show that was similar to baywatch.

The Backwards Man

wendell borton wrote: »

Didn't the Nazis have a premise for show that was similar to baywatch.

Leni Riefenstahl was the Michael Bay of her day alright.

c_man

Housemate watches Revolution. Seems the women in the show's universe stocked up on makeup, beauty products and dentists before the world society collapsed.

orangesoda

If you took the time to actually watch an episode of Home & Away you'll notice characters such as John Palmer, Alf Stewart and Irene Roberts who are not perfectly groomed models, also Sid and Harvey who recently left.

oh god home ad away is the biggest offender i don't watch it but my mother does

everyone on that show from age 17-40 all have six packs & and the women are so skinny always in bikini

that show doesnt have any black characters or gay people

TeddyTedson

Deleted User wrote: »

oh god home ad away is the biggest offender i don't watch it but my mother does

everyone on that show from age 17-40 all have six packs & and the women are so skinny always in bikini

that show doesnt have any black characters or gay people

They need a black gay transgendered paraplegic Jewish kid to join the school.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

[Deleted User] wrote: »

oh god home ad away is the biggest offender i don't watch it but my mother does

Yeah, sure ya dont...

orangesoda

It doesn't have any black people but it does have Aboriginals sometimes, a character in 2007 or so, I would also think Andy Barrett has some Aboriginal blood, also there was an episode years ago when Alf turned into an aboriginal man.

There was a lesbian storyline in 2009 with Charlie Buckton and Joey Collins and Nicole and Freya had a passionate kiss the same year.

Menas

Fair play to Fair city and their lack of fairly good lookin characters.

mike65

American telly is shallow as **** in this regard.

Anyone seen the all new Ironside? Compare and contrast!

http://ethicsalarms.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/ironside-raymond-burr.jpg

http://i1.ytimg.com/sh/qX_AO52Fpk8/showposter.jpg?v=5221454f

bnt

In a drama you want good-looking, certainly - especially if it's a fantasy such as Game of Thrones. (Which I haven't watched yet, since I don't have the required channels and it's of too little interest to download - but I have seen pictures and trailers.) I don't think that's a problem in itself - I don't expect TV to be like real life.

Comedy is a different matter, I think. I just saw an ad spot for The Big Bang Theory, which I enjoy, and the characters have a different kind of beauty. Of the three main female leads, I actually find Penny the least attractive because hers is obviously an artificial beauty. (She's played by Kaley Cuoco, who recently called her boob job the best decision she ever made.) The other two characters (Amy and Bernadette) seem more "alive" to me because of their intelligence. That's good for comedy, which relies on the characters to be quick-witted and funny, not conventionally beautiful (though that doesn't hurt - remember Friends?)

So my problem is similar to the OP's in outline, but different in the details: I can't take comedies seriously, because the characters are far more smart and witty than the people I meet in the real world.

cloud493

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Leni Riefenstahl was the Michael Bay of her day alright.

Riefenstahl had talent.

FurQyou

Alf. A. Male wrote: »

On an only tangentially related note, I've always wondered how they cast for obviously unsavoury roles. Do agents ring their clients and say "We have a role for a fatty with a face only a mother could love. I immediately thought of you"? Work is work and all, but that must be awkward.

Naw they just call Gerard Depardieu.

Wacker The Attacker

Don Drapers wife is the main reason I watch Mad Men.

Total hottie

RainMaker

I thought Deadwood had a pretty realistic looking bunch of characters, I'd agree with Game of Thrones as well.

Way too many shows where guys, no matter what the part look like they should be out on a rugby pitch and girls look like they've just missed out on the cover of Vogue or something.

The film "A Beautiful Mind" was one of the first places I noticed it really - obsessed, schizophrenic maths professor who looked like he spent all his time bench pressing piles of maths books instead of reading them.

https://capescoaching.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/abm.png


It just would have seemed more realistic if he was a bit more scrawny - think some of Christian Bale's characters

Eggy Baby!

A few more offenders:

The new Dallas tv series is DEFINITELY one. How am I supposed to care for all of these ridiculously good looking rich brats and their bull**** concerns?

The original Dallas had some fairly good looking people on it, but they weren't all exactly models.

The Following is another.

riclad

THATS the difference between us tv and uk, tv,
on us tv most of the cast has to be good looking ,
plenty of ordinary, even plain actors on british tv.
I dont think you are allowed to be a under 30 year old character on an australian soap opera unless you are a handsome, or good looking man or woman.

I Think its worse now , with all the us channels,competing for ratings .
in american
soap opera ,s, crime drama,s its looks as if most people in america are models,
ugly people on american tv, are usually crinimals, drug addicts etc
years, ago there was programs like roseanne which had ordinary looking people in the cast.

YEAH the new dallas is a good example,
the cast looks like they picked out 10 people who look sexy.
THE old cast looked like a real american family,
not all super good looking.
Comedys are better as they have more character actors who vary on the scale of attractiveness.

kupus

Boskowski wrote: »

I agree. Not watching many of the fringe TV series but every time I zap into something like a hospital or legal or even some crime stuff series they all look perfect.
I'm looking at a stunner max 25 years of age perfectly groomed and styled and she does this hardnosed court room bataillant putting every one in their place with her great wisdom on how to play all sorts of characters and I'm thinking 'how convincing...'
Right off I know this is provably a cr@p program and I'm gone.

Im trying to watch arrow, but the looks of all the actors are really putting it off for me.
Every one of them looks like kids that have been wrapped up in cotton wool to protect their beautiful features since childbirth.
Its annoying. As i was really looking forward to that show. But the age of the main actors, their looks, their profiles, everything about that show sucks.

But then everything that comes out of the WB/CW channels are kids acting as adults and trying to save the day and looking good while doing it.

batistuta9

Wacker The Attacker wrote: »

Don Drapers wife is the main reason I watch Mad Men.

Total hottie

she's the only reason i watched hot tub time machine again :pac:

ardle1

Ha ha, I have to agree with you, even on the Crime Channel on Sky, they might show this reenactment off some murder or series off murders, all these good-looking victims and criminals.... Am thinking 'awh how could he chop that gorgeous chick up'!:D

Galwayguy35

I'm a fan of Vikings but I think they are guilty of this as well, the women look like they have just come out of the beauty salon instead of living in the 10th century.

Spartacus was the same.

Pat Mustard

Another thing is the teeth.

Look at Nidge from Love/Hate. His teeth are perfect. Did you ever see a scummer in a tracksuit with teeth like that?

I know, poor aul Fran is a different story. :pac:

Steppenwolfe

Why else would anyone watch drivel like home and away? All those 20 something models dressed up in school uniforms. Just switch the sound off and enjoy. :cool:

Sunglasses Ron

turnikett1 wrote: »

I agree. One reason why I loved The Wire so much was because there wasn't any "hot" people in it. Just normal guys and gals. Although Rhonda was pretty hot.

There weren't even more than three female prominent characters in the show to measure off anyway (I don't think you could count Snoop as a female character for a start :pac: )

The stripper who ended up shacking up with the old nerdy model building detective* was pretty hot mind.



*: another reason I have to roll my eyes a bit when people comment on the "realism" of The Wire

mikom

Deleted User wrote: »

oh god home ad away is the biggest offender i don't watch it but my mother does

everyone on that show from age 17-40 all have six packs & and the women are so skinny always in bikini

that show doesnt have any black characters or gay people

orangesoda wrote: »

It doesn't have any black people but it does have Aboriginals sometimes,

How many abordigenals do you see modelling?
.
.
.

calanus

In fairness, the historical fiction shows like Spartacus are more comic book in style. Everyone who dies in the show appears to have 20 liters of blood in them at least.

Ann Landers

Alf. A. Male wrote: »

On an only tangentially related note, I've always wondered how they cast for obviously unsavoury roles.

Me too, me too!

"Hey, so we need an actor with a huge nose. It'll be referenced in the show A LOT. Got any suitable people on your books?"

Ann Landers

byronbay2 wrote: »

Check out Charlize Theron in "Monster" - how on earth did they even think to offer her that role!!

From this:
https://www.google.ie/search?q=charlize+theron&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=Vp5OU-qqHoaS7QbSjIGgDA&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=681

To this:
https://www.google.ie/search?biw=1366&bih=681&tbm=isch&q=charlize+theron+monster&revid=2116251663

Blatant uglifying Oscar bait.

Zebra3

Steppenwolfe wrote: »

Why else would anyone watch drivel like home and away? All those 20 something models dressed up in school uniforms. Just switch the sound off and enjoy. :cool:

Eh, that's watching.....

Kermit.de.frog

The acting in Home and Away is the best you will see on any show.


And their good looking too.


Jealous. You're all jealous.

Teyla Emmagan

I watched a few episodes of this new tweenie thing called 'the 100' last week. It's hysterical. It's about a bunch of hot teenagers returned to an earth filled with radiation. The place is in bits and they're all pouting around looking disco ready. They grew up on gruel in a spaceship and you have never seen a more sun kissed, glossy haired bunch of gym bunnies in your life. Instead of saving humanity they are all flexing their pecs and wearing the faces off each other. There is a girl who lived under the floor for 16 years, she's a favourite. Instead of looking like a feral kid from 'mama' she could be on the cover of Cosmo. It's nearly brilliant it's so ridiculous.

Agent Smith

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

He was more a neighbours fan. The neighbours being Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland...

Thats why good neigbours... become best friends....
*Mean Sax Solo*