10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU: 1.01 “Pilot”
Out of the ten things I hated about my day Tuesday, this was the one I hated the most.
You all know (based on my previous post), I really didn’t have high hopes for this show. And what’s worse? The show not only reaffirmed what I suspected, but it also was…worse.
Let’s go character by character. I think that’d be easiest. But first, let’s make a couple clarifications. The Stratford sisters’ mother is dead. This surprises me. In the movie, she left them. Wouldn’t you think that would make more sense? I mean, it’s a TV show. They could use that! But not as much when she’s dead–except when they “play the dead mom card,” as their father pointed out.
Oh, and the new students here are the Stratford sisters. Not Cameron. In fact, Cameron has been there since fourth grade, I think it was. So now…
Bianca: Instead of being top dog, Bianca is now the wee penguin. She’s desperate for popularity, and instead of running the school like in the movie–or at least the sophomore class–she’s desperate. I mean, I guess that adds conflict, but it’s just not the same. I loved focusing on how shallow she was in the movie and not her attempts to become popular. All she wanted was to date. Not be the queen of the school. Instead…
Chastity: Chastity is the queen of the school. She now the queen of the school, which bugs me since in the movie, she was confident but still in Bianca’s shadow. They switched them. And now, she’s dating…
Joey: He is not cool. He’s a football player. A second-string football player. There is more adorable sparks between him and Bianca than suave player behavior that just wants to get her in the sack. Plus, this new guy is very nervous, no confidence at all. He’s just…a nothing. And he’s dating Chastity. Uggh.
Kat: Then there’s Kat, who I guess is closer to the original, but her obsession with Patrick Verona seems a little off. In the movie, if someone was in her way, she’d just tell them off and move on. So why would she continue to be irritated with him after she threw him her snide remarks? Plus, showing the softer side to her sister already? We haven’t even seen them hate each other yet. Plus, to be photo editor, just to help? I can’t really see her joining any organization, let alone yearbook. And what about…
Patrick Verona: Ok, so what’s threatening about this guy? All he does is stare and stalk (much like Edward in Twilight–look, four tweens just swooned!), and there’s nothing threatening about him. I mean, he even wears a helmet on his bike! If he’s going to be dangerous, he’d at least do that. He’s not even broody like Angel. I mean, there’s nothing to this guy! And he certainly doesn’t look threatening. So why ask why people are afraid of him? Who is?? And poor…
Cameron: They killed him. They just…killed him. I mean, he was the average guy. Not quite in the league with the popular girl, but still likable, and you could see why someone would date him. But now he’s this giant, nerdy guy. And I mean giant. Did you see how tall he is? He’s pathetic, and while Cameron from the movie might have had his pathetic moments, he was overall a cool guy who just wasn’t popular. Average. The average, honorable guy. They killed him.
And then there’s Mandella and Michael, who aren’t even shells of their former selves. They’re completely lost in a sea of a new series. Poor David Krumholtz and Susan May Pratt. Lost…
They should have just made their own series. Don’t base it off of one of my standout movies–one of those movies I could watch anytime, just in the background no matter how often I’ve seen it. Sigh.
Unsure if I’ll check out next week. I think I probably will, just to see if it gets better. But check out the first way to kill a movie legacy: the ABC Family spinoff.
Raked 