Colleen Ballinger created a unique YouTube persona with legs in Miranda Sings. She's also a likable personality (sincerity works in the favor of most YouTubers as they create vlogs and tweet to authentically connect with fans) and talented singer.
Still, this only buys a small amount of of goodwill when you have to transfer an unlikeable character into a narrative format. In this version, Miranda Sings, a horrible singer whose flirtations with YouTube gives her delusions of grandeur, tries to achieve fame with her deluded uncle (Steve Little).
Part of the origin of Colleen Ballinger's idea was her perception as a classically-trained musician that YouTube was giving rise to a coddled generation of singers who thought they were stars simply because they are getting internet views. That commentary is definitely apparent here: Miranda Sings is bratty to sociopath levels here, but she has a mother who's afraid to say no to her, a intellectually challenged uncle who fosters the worst parts of her self-esteem, a boy next door with an inexplicable crush on her, and a lack of a father figure.
The net effect of all these characters' combined idiocy is that you have to suspend your disbelief quite a bit. When you realize how terrible of a person Miranda Sings is, there's no reason to really want to try either. While many worthwhile TV shows have featured irredeemable characters, it's generally a tricky line to pull off.
It generally helps if there's an awareness in the TV show's universe that the person is, in fact, terrible (off the top of my head Legit, The League, It's Always Sunny, and Curb Your Enthusiasm) and the show has the level-headed sister Emily but it's hard to explain away all the other people in Miranda's immediate sphere (the pastor who wants to date Miranda's mom) who can't seem to stop enabling her whether directly or indirectly. And realistically, shouldn't they be yelling for poor Emily to be transferred to child protective services ASAP.
The show has its only hints of warmness when Emily seems to connect with Miranda but those are few and far between.
The show's inherent weirdness also has a whiff of Tim Burtonesque suburbia (the kind seen in "Edward Scissorhands") and the uncle's circuitously empty get-rich schemes recall Mike Judge. In other words, there's traces of good stuff here but it needs a little tweaking to stand out more.
NOTE: This review is through the first four episodes.
Still, this only buys a small amount of of goodwill when you have to transfer an unlikeable character into a narrative format. In this version, Miranda Sings, a horrible singer whose flirtations with YouTube gives her delusions of grandeur, tries to achieve fame with her deluded uncle (Steve Little).
Part of the origin of Colleen Ballinger's idea was her perception as a classically-trained musician that YouTube was giving rise to a coddled generation of singers who thought they were stars simply because they are getting internet views. That commentary is definitely apparent here: Miranda Sings is bratty to sociopath levels here, but she has a mother who's afraid to say no to her, a intellectually challenged uncle who fosters the worst parts of her self-esteem, a boy next door with an inexplicable crush on her, and a lack of a father figure.
The net effect of all these characters' combined idiocy is that you have to suspend your disbelief quite a bit. When you realize how terrible of a person Miranda Sings is, there's no reason to really want to try either. While many worthwhile TV shows have featured irredeemable characters, it's generally a tricky line to pull off.
It generally helps if there's an awareness in the TV show's universe that the person is, in fact, terrible (off the top of my head Legit, The League, It's Always Sunny, and Curb Your Enthusiasm) and the show has the level-headed sister Emily but it's hard to explain away all the other people in Miranda's immediate sphere (the pastor who wants to date Miranda's mom) who can't seem to stop enabling her whether directly or indirectly. And realistically, shouldn't they be yelling for poor Emily to be transferred to child protective services ASAP.
The show has its only hints of warmness when Emily seems to connect with Miranda but those are few and far between.
The show's inherent weirdness also has a whiff of Tim Burtonesque suburbia (the kind seen in "Edward Scissorhands") and the uncle's circuitously empty get-rich schemes recall Mike Judge. In other words, there's traces of good stuff here but it needs a little tweaking to stand out more.
NOTE: This review is through the first four episodes.