Critics opinions vs. viewers...do they ever match up?

Richard Dower · 28-10-2010 03:13AM #1

I make this post as i see alot of weird reverse opinions from critics about how good a show is (Lone Star; Friday Night Lights etc.) and how viewers don't agree and they have dreadful ratings.

Then you have critically lambasted shows like Two & a Half Men which gets panned but viewers watch in droves and gets record ratings?, i've seen this repeated many times, one rare occasion where viewers and critics matched up was Glee and Modern Family.

I wonder why this happens?...could it be as simple as reviewers are being paid to give positive reviews?, why don't critics and viewers match up more?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 28-10-2010 03:24AM

most people want bad boys 2, critics want citizen kane.

people generally aren't "into" television, it's just something they do alot of. Veg'ing out with a simple by the numbers show like friends, kind of queens, everybody loves raymond, the big bang theory, how i met your mother, 2.5 men, etc isn't taxing and allows people to just turn their brain off after a hard day at work/school/giving handjobs to retired servicemen as part of their community service. Mindless escapism is what the people are after, my flatmates will sit and watch an episode of my name is earl or whatever sitcom they're watching at 3pm and then if there's nothing on at 4, they'll stick that same episode on again on the +1 channel.

pickarooney · 28-10-2010 08:46AM

I think we're starting to see a trend where viewers start to take more notice of critics (and more and more these critics are fellow amateur viewers) and watching shows which they would never previously have been exposed to or bothered with. Nielsen ratings are essentially meaningless as a barometer of viewing habits, IMO as they make no consideration of repeat viewing, on-demand, sky+, Hulu or of course downloading.

Laois_Man · 28-10-2010 12:19PM

It's the same with reviews of Cinema/DVD releases! I don't take a blind bit of notice of print meida or TV/Radio reviews of movies anymore!

I find movie reviewers generally to be so self-important it's unreal! Plus, since it's their job to review movies, they probably have to sit through a number of movies every week. Some might say, wow, they're so luckly....But I actually think that must be a pretty awul job! I'd find it hard to spot one movie per week that I'd actually like to go and see. The amount of drivel they must have to sit through and possible even rewatch in order to fine-tune their comments must be demoralizing. The moral being, these people are probably just so bored with sitting through drivel that they wouldn't choose to sit through if it weren't their job, they're just bored with it all. And they've seen everything too. All making them much more difficult to impress!

The same applies to TV critics!

Critics opinions vs. viewers...do they ever match up?

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