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Reviews
I tourta tis mamas (2020)
An almost unwatchable show
First of all, I would like to mention that I am fine with people liking this show, I just personally didnt and in fact, I found it to be the least enjoyable greek show I've ever watched. I could barely get past the first episode (which is rare for me because I am usually able to watch at least 3 episodes before quitting a show) and the only reason I watched the second is because I wanted to see if it would improve but it didnt. So, to be clear, the things I am going to critisise the show for, are based only on these first 2 episodes (because they didnt motivate me to continue), though I doubt it got any better, based on small scenes I caught on tv while zapping channels.
The writing is very weak. Most of the conflicts (when they actually exist, which isnt often) are very shallow and the stories are bland. Not a single character is written well enough to be interesting, or even all that likable to me. They are just bland archetypes done way better by other shows. It also doesnt help that there are too many of them, which makes the cast feel bloated.
The dialogue is really incompetent. The script genuinly feels like it was written by a 10 year old who spends way to much time on social media. I get that some lines are there to appeal to a younger demograghic but I just find it funny that dialogue this laughable was written by actual proffesionals.
The comedy is also really bad. I know some people are of the opinion that comedy is subjective, because different people find different jokes funny and while I do agree that a person's enjoyment of a joke is completely subjective, I would like to argue that the actual quality of a joke's structure can be analized, to better see what works and what doesnt. On that note, the jokes on this show really dont work. Most of them are like "referencing a famous person= comedy", or "being over the top= hilarious", or they are just being repetitive. I think the writters understand the concept of a running joke, just not when to stop, in order for it to be funny. For example, the "oh I dont like to spend money" joke can work well enough if a character says it only 2 or 3 times in an episode along with other jokes, but if you just keep repeating it over and over with no sense of progression, then its just tedious. That's exactly what happens here.
If these were all the problems the series had, then it would be your normal 3-4/10 bad comedy. The reason that I would consider the show actually unwatchable though, is the terrible editing and cinematography.
This series visually looks like a reality show. The lighting is really flat (which makes the sets look totally fake), the colors are too saturated (with a few overexposed shots) and the composition has very little thought put into it. Some shots are really wide (with medioums and close ups being rare), even though it serves no purpose in these scenes and takes away any attachment to the characters. Also some scenes have characters being obscured by objects (not to convey meaning like in "Ta kalytera mas Xronia" but in a way that feels like an actual mistake). The only kind of interesting "artistic" choise are scenes that are filmed on a camcorder by the characters, which isnt greatly executed but hey, its something.
The editing is probably the worst I've seen out of any proffesionally made piece of media. The episodes are filled with many cuts every few seconds. A shot cannot just hold for longer than 2 seconds before cutting to another angle. The 180° degree rule is broken many times and it's frustrating. There are noticable jumpcuts in the audio of dialogue scenes, which only exists to remove all the breathing space from the show. The only moment in episode 2 where the audience was allowed to relax from all the talking was a 4 second establishing shot. Sometimes they transition scenes by having the camera pan to another shot but it's edited so poorly. A simple dialogue scene between 2 characters would often for no reason cut to a third person who isnt even part of the conversation, just to disorient the viewer. Jokes that could work are ruined because they leave no breathing space for proper timing (fast joke delivery can work, just look at the Lego Movie, but here the jokes they are trying to do require proper build up and pay off). I really dont know how a show can be overwhelmingly fast and unbearably slow to sit through at the same time. It's trully baffling to me how something this amateur was deemed good enough to air on an actual tv channel.
I should probably mention some "nice" things to justify giving the show a 2 instead of a 1. The acting is okay I guess. Even with some annoying moments (probably because of the direction), its clear that there is a certain level of passion from the actors' part. Maybe with better direction they could have been really good. Also, 1 out of 15 jokes is kind of funny (though that's not saying much considering the 50 minute runtime). I chuckled 1 time in episode 1 and maybe 3 in the second.
In summary, I really didnt like this show and I found it to be almost unwatchable.
If you want to watch the concept of "weird families facing misadventures and having dinner at the end" done better, just watch "To Soi Sou". It has its fair share of problems and season 1 especially has its rough spots but it's way funnier than this.
Haireta mou ton platano (2020)
A terrible show with (some) decent ideas
"Hereta Mou Ton Platano" is a Greek soap opera where 3 people visit their grandparent's village "Platanos" which causes a lot of misadventures to ensue. This series follows the trend of these daily shows having really bad writing. The stories are filled with so many contrivances and moments that could have easily been avoided if the characters were actually smart, to the point where a large percentage of episodes shouldnt have happened if the writing was at the very least competent.
The characters range from badly written, to annoying, to downright insufferable (like Kaliopi for example who is given increased screentime in season 2). The first episode can serve as an example of "how not introduce your characters" because when I first watched it, I found all the main characters unlikable in a bad way.
The dialogue is mostly bad or laughable, with the pinnacle being the line "illegal smugling" (which is hilarious because it implies that legal smugling exists). Also the series is filled with soap opera cliches like the "will they, wont they", the "character gets amnesia", the "liar revealed", the "misunderstanding" and many others and is so tedious. Another problem is filler which probably is 90% of the show's identity, because the episodes have to get to the 40 minute mark every day.
The script in general feels like a first draft and I am pretty sure it is. This show aired 5 days a week for 3 years and I understand that managing to write 170 episodes a year is tough on its own, let alone double checking what you wrote. That's probably the origin behind some of the most outlandish storylines. I have some sort of respect for the crearors for even finishing so many episodes. However that doesnt mean the series is good and it just shows the problem with this outdated style of making series.
From a technical perspective, while the cinematography is bland, with shots being mostly flatly lit and sometimes overexposed, it still looks better than some shows shot on soundstages and thats because of newer equipment. There is however a lack of quality control in the visuals, and audio, the funniest being an attempt at a car chase, which switches from tv cameras to pixelated drone shots for 3 minutes straight.
As for the "good" stuff, some of the actors surprisingly carry this show with their chemistry, the actors for Georgie and Theodore have good comedic timing and work well as a duo (I am pretty sure that half of their lines are partially improvised) and overall the humor is probably the most consistently decent thing about the show. There are 2 episodes that didnt annoy me as much as the others, one of which contains the grandfather's death which is the most substantive scene in the entire show (I kind of like it). Also Ilias is the best character of the series, the actor delivers a good performance and the storyline were he thinks he is about to die and tries to be a better person, despite how ridiculously contrived and stupid it is sometimes, its actually one of the better ones from the show.
In summary, "Hereta Mou Ton Platano" is a terrible series with bad writing that has some okay moments. The only reason I rated it a 3/10 instead of a 2 or 1 is because of the humor and some ironic "so bad it's good" enjoyment that comes from how stupid the stories are.
If you actually want to watch a good show from the same network I would recommend "Ta Kalytera Mas Xronia". It's way better written, shot and edited and while I have my problems with seasons 2 and 3, even their worst elements are better than this series.