'Roseanne's' Season 10 premiere episode.

When it comes to sitcoms on television, it's not exactly a secret that there aren't that many quality shows on tv. Most sitcoms on television simply don't have what it takes to keep us entertained and interested in what's going on.

In reality, most television sitcoms don't work because they aren't based on anything meaningful. Most sitcoms on tv aren't based on situations and characters that we could relate to and that we could find worth following.

In that sense, when I heard that a classic show from the 80s and 90s, 'Roseanne', was coming back for an eight episode revival, I was pretty excited. I was excited that we could get a show on tv that was down to earth and based on reality.

After all, 'Roseanne' as a television sitcom was known for being a series that wasn't afraid of tackling social issues that actually mattered. It was a series that was willing to discuss issues that were important and that people would care about.

So having now seen the first episode of the show's revival, it can be said that 'Roseanne's' season premiere wasn't bad at all. The series clearly has a reason to exist in 2018, even though the premiere wasn't 'perfect' per se.

One of the best things about the new show is that it's still about the Conner family. It's about Dan, Roseanne and the rest of their family trying to get through with their everyday lives and trying to make their ends meet.

On the show, even though all the characters are back and have aged 20 years, things haven't really changed that much for them. They're still struggling economically and it's obvious that they haven't managed to become part of the American dream.

Among other things, the show deals with issues like Dan and Roseanne not being able to afford their medication, Darlene moving back home after losing her job and Becky being so broke that she has decided to become a surrogate mother.

Still, the reason that the show works so well is not just because the series handles these issues and themes. Even though it deals with issues that are relevant, that's not the only reason that Roseanne has been so successful over the years.

In reality, the reason that the series has worked so well is because of the chemistry between the cast members. The acting from talented actors like John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf and Sara Gilbert is so good that you can't help but to admire their authenticity.

After all, without their expertise and their ability to create something magical on the show, there's no chance that 'Roseanne' would have worked so well. There's no chance that without their chemistry, the series would have felt so meaningful.

In that sense, when we think about this season premiere and the upcoming season as a whole, we shouldn't be too worried about some of the problems in the first episode. We shouldn't be too worried about those minor flaws in the story too much.

After all, even though there were some things in the first episode (Trump / Hillary politics) that weren't that well thought out, they weren't that bad. These problems with the writing are not going to hurt the show too much in the upcoming episodes.

In the end, the show is still going to work, because even though there were some thematical flaws in the story, the premise and the characters are still relatable. These likable characters are the ones that are going to keep us watching,

In that sense, even though I was perhaps expecting more, I still can't wait to see the rest of the episodes that are going to air. I can't wait to see them, because even though the series isn't perfect, 'Roseanne' is still better than almost anything on tv at the moment.

Review: Pixar's animated film 'Coco'.

A couple of days ago, me and my friend managed to watch Pixar's animated film 'Coco'. We managed to watch this Academy Award winning film after having postponed watching the movie for quite some time.

After all, we decided to see the film because most of the time Pixar has managed to produce films that are well made. In most cases they have managed to deliver movies that put you on a good mood and that manage to keep you entertained.

So now that we've seen this movie about a Mexican kid "in the land of the dead", how good did the movie turn out to be? How good is the film compared to those other solid Pixar films like Toy Story and Finding Nemo? 

The first thing that needs to be said about 'Coco' is that like every film that Pixar has produced, the movie does look good. There's no denying that a huge amount of effort went into making sure that the film would look as good as possible.

By that I mean that all the characters in the movie look and feel super lively. Both the living and the 'dead' characters in the film look so good that you can only be in awe how well the graphics artists were able to create them.

Not only does the film look good, 'Coco' also sounds really good. It's apparent that all the voice actors in the movie do a good job and the film has a really solid soundtrack that you can't help but to enjoy listening.

Still, just because the movie looks and sounds good, that doesn't automatically mean that the movie is going to be great. Just because all those other aspects in the film work, that doesn't mean that the story is going to be awesome too.

Indeed, when it comes to the story, there are certain things in the film that don't work that well. Even though the story in 'Coco' is kinda okay, the script could have been a lot better than what writers were able to come up with.

Very likely the biggest problem with the story is that it drags too much in certain places. There are clearly moments in the film when the story comes to a standstill and the animation doesn't have a purpose or direction.

For example, when our main character is trying to locate his savior in 'the land of the dead', the movie simply lacks stakes. It feels as if our protagonist doesn't have any real obstacles that would make us interested in what's going on.

This lack of urgency for the protagonist - that might have been caused by a weakish inciting incident - feels so severe that I kept nodding off during the film's second act. I simply could not keep my eyes open during some those weak moments in the movie.

The second issue that I have with the story has to do with the characters and the structure not making sense. In certain scenes it's obvious that it was the story structure driving the characters and not the other way around.

For example, throughout the movie, I couldn't help but to think that 'Hector's' behavior was a bit too inconsistent. His character changed based on what was required in the story, regardless of whether it made sense or not.

This was also obvious in the scenes with our protagonist's savior character (great grandfather). In these scenes where the protagonist interacted with the 'supposed' great grandpa, the story made no sense and really felt muddled and convoluted.

After all, when our protagonist's savior turned out to be the villain - five minutes after heroically saving our protagonist from drowning, that was clearly bad storytelling from the writers. These scenes made no sense and were thematically all over the place.

Still, when it all is said and done, even though there were clearly problems with the film's screenplay, that doesn't mean that these flaws ruined the film. I'm not saying that these story problems were so severe that they outweighed the good things about it.

After all, when you evaluate the movie as a whole, I think it's obvious that 'Coco' still has a lot of redeeming qualities in it. These good qualities, like the film's overall positive message and the writers of the movie trying something new counts too.

In the end, even though the screenplay for the film should have been a lot better, the story is still not bad. The basic story in the film is not awful, even though there are certain problems with script and its characters that are fairly apparent.

In that sense, if you're a person that likes watching animations, 'Coco' is likely going to be a film that you'll enjoy watching. You'll likely enjoy watching it, because despite its flaws, the film still manages to entertain and it manages to put you on a good mood.

Taking another look at shows that I didn't enjoy.

When it comes to most television shows, in most cases it's fairly easy to say that the series in question isn't any good. In most cases you can tell almost right away that a show isn't any good and that you shouldn't waste your time watching it.

After all, most shows tend to be so bad that they have no redeeming qualities about them. They are so bad that you have to wonder what the writers and producers were thinking when they decided to come up with them in the first place.

Still, sometimes when you watch these shows, the truth is that you aren't able to 'get' them right away. In some cases - whether we're talking about comedy or drama - it might take a while before you start appreciating them and find them to be well made.

So knowing this, I decided to check back on some of those shows that I either didn't like or didn't find to be entertaining enough. I decided to check whether some of these television shows could actually be worth my time this time.

The first series that I decided to give a second chance is sci-fi series 'Star Trek: Discovery' that airs on CBS All Access. This was the show that I couldn't stomach at all when I watched its first two or three episodes last fall.

The reason that I didn't like the show was that it had nothing to do with the original Star Trek. Unlike the original shows that were about hope, benevolence and humanity, this relaunch was all about confrontation, darkness and bellicosity.

So after I managed to give this show another chance (S1E13), it has to be said that things hadn't really changed for the better. I didn't manage to find a single good thing about this series that would have made me appreciate it this time either.

As sad as it is, none of the characters were relatable or likable in the episode that I watched. Our main character Michael Burnham (a female character) was still a sociopathic warmonger who wasn't able to control her emotions at all.

In that sense, it's safe to say that I can stick to watching 'The Orville' instead and not worry about 'Star Trek: Discovery' possibly getting better. There's no reason for me to start watching a series that is a disappointment in almost every possible way. 

The second television series that I decided to give another look is NBC:s comedy series 'The Good Place'. This is a show that I also found to be extremely lacking when it comes to its premise, characters and overall execution.

After all, when I watched the series the first time, I found it to be almost unbelievably juvenile. It felt as if the show about 'a bad person in heaven' was written by preteens who had no clue about life and had nothing meaningful to say about anything.

So when I gave the show another chance and watched the first episode of the show's second season, things unfortunately hadn't gotten any better. 'The Good Place' was still as dumb, unfunny and pointless as it had been in season one.

As unfortunate as it is, not only was the series still irrelevant and awful, it had even retooled its concept. The producers had decided that unlike in season one, the characters were actually in hell this season, which reeks of desperation.

Overall, even though television critics say that the second season is awesome, in reality the producers of the series have no clue what they're doing. They don't know what they're doing, so there's no reason for me to continue watching this show.

Finally, the third and the last series that I decided to give a second chance is HBO's popular 'Game of Thrones'. This a series that I had trouble watching, because I found it to be too violent and because the narrative in it was too fragmented.

By that I mean that when I first watched it, I thought that there were too many characters and too many storylines on the show. I felt that there wasn't anything going on that would have made me care about what happened to these characters.

Still, once I decided to give the series another chance, it has to be said that I have kinda learned to enjoy 'Game of Thrones'. There are certainly redeeming features in it that have given me a reason to watch it every once in a while.

After all, the series does look good and the production values in it are really high. There's no denying that a lot of actual effort has gone into making sure that the show would look as good and as authentic as possible.

In the end, even though it's probably not as good as some say it is, it's not as bad as I had thought at first. It's certainly better than so many other shows on television that have no potential at all and that are completely awful.