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Everyone raves about 'The Office' but I couldn't finish season 2
I kept seeing people call it the greatest show ever so I gave it a real shot last month. I watched 15 episodes from my couch in Phoenix and I just didn't laugh once at Jim's pranks or Michael's awkwardness. The cringe factor was too high for me and it felt more stressful than funny. I finally switched to 'Better Call Saul' instead and that hooked me in 3 episodes flat. Has anyone else felt totally out of step with a show everyone loves?
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graygonzalez1mo ago
I've noticed this pattern a lot actually. It's like there's a whole genre of popular shows that run on secondhand embarrassment, and some people just can't handle that feeling. My own wife loves 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' but I have to leave the room half the time because it makes my skin crawl. There's this weird thing where what's funny to one person feels like pure anxiety to another, and neither side is wrong. It's the same way some folks love spicy food and others can't handle any heat at all. Different wiring, different tastes, no big deal.
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paigep201mo ago
Honestly @graygonzalez I used to roll my eyes at people who couldn't handle cringe comedy but this actually makes SO much sense to me now. The spicy food comparison is perfect, some brains just react differently to that awkward feeling and nobody has to fake liking it.
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thea8571mo ago
Gotta push back on this a little. I think it's LESS about wiring and MORE about just not giving things a fair shot. I used to hate cringe humor too until a friend made me actually sit through a whole season of The Office instead of bailing five minutes in. Now it's one of my favorite shows. If you constantly tap out at the first sign of discomfort, your brain never gets a chance to learn that the awkward feeling actually passes and turns into laughter. It's like quitting a workout two minutes in because your muscles burn a little. Yeah it's uncomfortable but that's kind of the whole point. Sometimes you gotta push through the bad feeling to get to the good stuff.
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