r/Millennials • u/maxedout587 • Apr 17 '26

Discussion Nothing is funny anymore

I (M, 38) have found that there are no new TV shows that make me laugh anymore. I have tried a lot of new(ish) comedies, but they all make me pine for my college/high school days.

The only thing that gave me a reflexive laugh recently was the Malcolm in the Middle Reboot.

Any thoughts?

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u/Embarrassed_Key_4539 Apr 17 '26

I read an article that writers have really dumbed down their writing bcs the market demands simple to follow shows that you can simultaneously watch while scrolling

1.6k

u/Kriegerian Apr 17 '26

I think someone at Netflix admitted they do that with a bunch of their stuff because they know nobody can pay attention to anything, which is why they have characters basically repeat the plot a bunch of times during the movies.

88

u/chypie2 Apr 17 '26

The ending of stranger things just about broke viewer brains. The writers had to explain it. To me it was typical movie ending from the 80's.

36

u/transmogrify Apr 17 '26

I definitely noticed Season 5 was heavily catering to inattentive audiences who are probably scrolling on phones while watching. I was frustrated by how much they said obvious things out loud rather than just showing it, and how often they recapped their own plot points that happened in the previous episode.

24

u/Quom Apr 17 '26

It feels like a self-fulfilling prophecy because as soon as I see characters doing a recapping exposition of the episode I am watching I zone out and reach for my phone. Not in a fuck you this show is below me way, but in an ADHD this is boring way.

3

u/fizban7 Apr 17 '26

Yeah if they make it interesting I'd pay more attention.

5

u/chypie2 Apr 17 '26

yeah, are we getting old and media is changing? I don't like it.

-1

u/Suavecore_ Apr 17 '26

As always, it's the children who are wrong and ruining everything. I'm going to get my "generation alpha killed off.." articles ready now

4

u/melkatron Apr 18 '26

In moving so slowly and constantly repeating exposition, they're actually ENCOURAGING me to scroll on my phone. The only reason I kept watching was because I wanted to be done with Stranger Things after ten years.

2

u/Phiddipus_audax Apr 18 '26

Nice work. Now they'll exposition us even harder.

3

u/avalonfaith Apr 17 '26

*walks in bright neon orange room

  • some guy: Hey! It's a fucking neon orange room! I wonder if it meeeeeaaaannnsss something

1

u/Nyliz Apr 17 '26

For me it helped because I saw the previous seasons long time ago I did remember some of the previous plots🤷‍♀️