Watched a little bit of this show for this first time in like 20 years. Crazy that I used to love this show - but at least I have an excuse, I was like 14 at the time.

It's tough to even finish one episode, it's just so, so bad. Painfully unfunny. Of course there's just a ton of underlying sexism and focus on gender roles. But it's really just death by a thousand unfunny cuts.

And this was one of the most popular shows in the 90s, and arguably THE most popular among what are now boomers (I'd say Seinfeld, Friends, and ER were mostly watched by Gen-Xers)! But I think I'm starting to understand the brain rot of boomers a little better. Of course Tim Allen turned out to be a massive chud. Boomers think this is the way the world should be. Men should be "men" i.e. an insane stereotype of masculinity not as lived by real people, but as portrayed by actors for entertainment. And the boomers don't get why we don't want to go along with it and anything they don't understand that makes them angry leads to tantrums.

Seriously, maybe I'll make Chapo Chat challenge coins for anyone who can sit through like 3 episodes in a row...

  • Dirt_Owl [comrade/them, they/them]
    ·
    4 years ago

    Home Improvement is peak boomer. Al is the only likeable character on that show and Tim treats him like shit.

    Most 90's sitcoms were pretty terrible. They were all unfunny carbon copies of each other but are also a pretty interesting look into the boomer mindset. Everybody Loves Raymond has to be the worst.

    They're all from the point of view of the father character, who is always a "super relatable and well meaning" manchild that is super patronising and sarcastic but is somehow supposed to be likable. He always has a "hot" housewife that is portrayed as nagging and bitchy, a son that looks up to dad and a teenage daughter that portrayed as a spoiled brat. I cannot stress how much these guys must hate their daughters, holy shit.

    They're a glimpse into the ideal world as seen through the eyes of a rich boomer where he is the centre of attention and the voice of reason, and what a depressing world it is.

    • star_wraith [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      They’re a glimpse into the ideal world as seen through the eyes of a rich boomer where he is the centre of attention and the voice of reason, and what a depressing world it is.

      I think this totally hits the nail on the head. It's fascinating to me how daughters are treated on these shows. They're all just boy-crazy brats who will try and sleep around if dad doesn't have a watchful eye on them. Tim Allen's character doesn't even have daughters! Shows how much he valued women (and I get in his new show he has daughters, but whatever that's probably just because he thinks that kind of reversal is "funny"; and like you said it's all about the boomer dad being the lone voice of reason amongst the crazy).