Snowflake Challenge 9: Promote a Canon (Public Post)

[author_by_night]

In your own space, promote at least one canon that you adore (old, new, forever fandom). Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Well, I definitely feel that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend tends to be overlooked - and that there's actually a lot of text to be explored even within the fan community, which has a lot of interesting discourse but can also focus more on the cast (I love Rachel Bloom, but I don't want to wear her skin as a dress, you know?) or on... things I feel are interesting to talk about, but also feel there are deeper themes. But I also think people would love the show if they looked past the title. It covers feminism, mental illness, tanks the Betty and Veronica trope (thank God), friends as family... and it's a musical. Although that's probably a dealbreaker for a lot of people.

(I will note that since it does talk about mental illness very frankly, there are some triggery spots. Especially in early season three.)
 

The Good Place is a show I feel more people should definitely be watching, even if I'm not thrilled with the most recent episode. (More about that later, maybe once I've rewatched the episode.) While it's initially a very silly comedy, it does slowly incorporate a lot of themes about human nature and what it means to be a better person, and soon becomes more of a dark comedy. But not a "dark comedy" that's actually a drama with a few funny moments, a comedy with darker elements. (Actually, I contend that if TGP weren't a comedy, it would be an incredibly dark show. Same with Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, actually.)

Speaking of dark comedies, One Day at a Time is another show I think tends to be overlooked a bit. It's an adaptation of the 70's-80's show, with a Cuban-American family. It's incredibly progressive, including one of the very few non-binary characters on television.  It can get a little Very Special Episodey, although I think by the third season they do a good job of keeping their messages as part of the overall arc, rather than having An Episode About A Topic. And even as annoying as the VSE can get, it does mean we see a lot of important stuff, so I'll take the slight preachyness. (So we're clear, I 1000% approve of the messages, I just feel certain episodes handle it in a VSE way, rather than in a way that comes across naturally. Does that make sense? 

I realize this wasn't exactly a straight answer, but those are mine, so there you have it. If you've seen these shows, let me know what you think below! If you're doing the challenge, I look forward to seeing what you came up with. Presumably a shorter list than me, I'm so Chidi - no straight one answer here. :)

Comments

[james]

This is a great list!

[pauraque]

Okay, I will admit I missed the fact that there was a reboot of One Day at a Time. I'd seen a couple of people mention the show recently, but I must not have been reading carefully because I just vaguely thought "Huh, I guess people are on the 70s nostalgia train right now."

But even worse is that the SAME THING happened when they made the Teen Wolf series! It took a ridiculously long time for my brain to click into gear and realize how unlikely it was that all these people were suddenly super into that old Michael J. Fox movie.

[author_by_night]

Yeah, that's how it was for me.

I've never actually seen Teen Wolf!

[lightofdaye]

The Good Place is so good. The second series especially was very bingable. I'm just waiting for all of S4 to hit Netflix UK before watching it.

[adriennefae]

I love Crazy Ex-Girlfriend! I get why some people might not like that it's a musical, but if anything that's a bonus for me XD The Good Place is really good too. Both of them are funny but still deal with some very meaningful stuff.

[author_by_night]

The funny thing is that I didn't even realize it was a musical. So Rebecca starts singing "West Covina" and I'm like "... oh. It's that kind of show. Cool!" But I like that you don't really have to be a fan of musicals to enjoy it, although it's definitely a plus. Especially as most of the songs are homages to non-musical works anyway.

[rhoda_rants]

Since I so thoroughly enjoyed both Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and The Good Place, I'm gonna have to add One Day At a Time to my list!

I was a little skeptical about the musical aspect of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend at first, and I didn't love *all* the musical numbers, but it was really well structured. It *flows* like a musical and a sit-com at the same time, which I didn't know was possible.

[author_by_night]

I didn't love all of the numbers either. Even some of the popular ones are a bit "meh" for me, and that's with me generally liking musicals.

Although one thing that confused me was the debate over whether or not the singing was real, because I'd always sort of assumed musicals were meant to be symbolic of a character's thoughts and feelings? So less like the characters of RENT (for instance) are living in a musical AU, and more that the music of RENT reflects what the characters are thinking and feeling, though I can see some of the numbers being done in-universe. That's how I feel about most musicals, and that's how I felt about CXG. But then, while I like musicals well enough, I'm not a huge theater buff or anything.

[tsuki_no_bara]

i love the good place! i've tried (so far unsuccessfully) to get my parents to watch it, because i think they'd like the funny stuff and the philosophical stuff and i know my dad would enjoy all the food puns. :D it can absolutely be a dark show, but it's ultimately about people learning to be good humans in general and good to each other in specific - it's about the fact that you CAN learn to be a good person, sometimes despite yourself - which i think is pretty positive. also, you know, there are some fun restaurant puns.

[author_by_night]

it's about the fact that you CAN learn to be a good person, sometimes despite yourself - which i think is pretty positive.

Oh, absolutely!

also, you know, there are some fun restaurant puns.

And they're so right about frozen yogurt. ;)

[lunabee34]

I am putting these on my list!

[used_songs]

I watched the first season of The Good Place but lost interest; maybe I should pick it back up. One Day at a Time is AWESOME - I'm even on board with the preachiness because of the times we live in. Desperate times call for sometimes raining the message down on top of the audience's heads.

[author_by_night]

I can see why you'd lose interest, but trust me, there's a lot more good stuff that comes. :)

. One Day at a Time is AWESOME - I'm even on board with the preachiness because of the times we live in. Desperate times call for sometimes raining the message down on top of the audience's heads.

Yeah, that's a very good point. TV Tropes would probably call it Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped. I just prefer it when it comes a bit more organically.

For instance, one of my favorite episodes is the S1 episodes where we find out Carmen's parents were deported. I realized on rewatching that the whole B Plot is Carmen sneaking into the house for seemingly no reason, with Penelope saying "no, she has to go back home (where she comes from)" without even considering that clearly Carmen wasn't sneaking in for shits and giggles. So she's at the dinner table defending undocumented immigrants while herself being unwelcoming towards someone whose situation she knows nothing about. That sort of thing is huge! I prefer those episodes, where you're really forced to examine things, and where the theme is tied together (after having been established over the course of a few episodes - because Carmen had suddenly just been there All The Time). Does that make sense? But on the other hand, I think we do live in times where we also need the "look, this is a thing that is happening" episodes.

[dragonyphoenix]

Wow, these all sound interesting although I've only seen one. I'd stared to watch Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - and I agree it's fantastic - but my crazy ex-roommate got wiggy about my using her tv.

[lyr]

I have very little patience with musicals in general, but I do love Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. That's probably because while I associate musicals with saccharine, surface-level goofiness, that's not at all what CE-G is. I like that it always went deeper than I expected, even to uncomfortable and awkward places that other shows would not.

As for The Good Place, I never expected a dramedy show about moral philosophy, and I will never stop being thrilled that it exists.

[author_by_night]

As for The Good Place, I never expected a dramedy show about moral philosophy, and I will never stop being thrilled that it exists.

Very much this!

I like that it always went deeper than I expected, even to uncomfortable and awkward places that other shows would not.

Absolutely.