I recently re-watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I used to love the show as a kid. Looking at it now, I'm horrified at the Buffy/Angel romance plot, in which a 200-year-old vampire seduces a 16-year-old girl. Everyone around them seems totally cool with it. Buffy's other relationships have a similar age gap. The best they can do is give her a grad student boyfriend while she's a freshman in college. Together with the stories that have now come out about Joss Whedon, it's kind of ruined the show for me. I think the public accepted these portrayals because the male leads were attractive actors. If you replaced them with paunchy, balding guys, it immediately becomes super creepy, even in the late 90's.
What in the actual fuck. I'm glad I stuck with Malcolm and family. It seems like the only thing missing is a scene with Seth gazing wistfully at McKenna, as she splashes around at a carwash fundraiser with her friends. The soulful crooning of Neil Diamond playing through the scene...."Girl, (dum, dum, dum) you'll be a woman soon".
It’s impossible to explain to younger millennials how normalized this was pre-metoo. My hs gym teacher (40ish) left his wife for a student he was sleeping with since she was 16 when she turned 18. The scandal wasn’t the age, it was the infidelity. All was made well by their marriage. He kept his job and faced no consequences.
Roseanne, notwithstanding her subsequent foray into political advocacy, was the 1st show I saw where 2 working American parents who had difficulty supporting a family.
At the time it highlighted the unreality of shows running in the 90's but premised on '50's economics.
Tucker must have been one of those 1-season unbelievably bizarre tv shows that somehow got green-lit as a mid-season replacement. But even given that possible scenario, what the fuck was this show. I’m wondering if Tucker began as a satirical concept then had a bunch of studio meddling (ie if the pedophile is too creepy, potential audiences will think the show is too depressing. So they cast Seth Green.) *shrugs shoulders.*
This reminds me of the scene in Transformers 4 ("Age of Extinction") which has a scene in which the three main human characters have a highly specific conversation about how to legally date an underage girl.
I've never heard of this show before, and I'm especially creeped out by it because I was the same age as the girl was at the time, and the thought of being in that kind of relationship with one of the 20-something friends of my older brother back then is holy shit levels of ew nope. I'm officially disturbed, thanks for that.
I feel like this may have been a decision from the network to not stray into "dangerous waters". It seems to me you could pivot from that first scene into an actual real plot line that discusses how fucking creepy that is. Instead, I'm betting the network people saw it and said, "No, we can't have Seth be the weirdo, he's our star power. Besides, what's wrong with dating a 14 year old?" (because they're creepy Hollywood dudes themselves, if I didn't make that clear)
Just idle speculation, but it wouldn't be the first time network executives have put their hands to making things emphatically worse.
I think assuming they ever intended that character to be creepy is giving them waaaay too much credit. You have to understand how normalised this shit was in 2000. to them it was "how can we come up with a love rival who seems impossible for the main character to ever compete with? Oh we'll just have the love interest dating Seth Green, playing himself like he's the nicest guy ever"
The creepiness was never part of the point. It's just a very misjudged decision that speaks to the moral vacuity and obliviousness of the era in general and the shows creators
I LOVED this show as a kid. Was marketed and fairly popular here in Ireland interesting early 2000s
Feels like it was written for 14 year olds by 14 year old, as if they wanted Tucker to have a love interest with an impossible obstacle. I remember thinking at the time, "man, how is Tucker supposed to compete with Seth Green!"
What I'm hoping happens is when Tucker turns 24, he realises how incredibly inappropriate it would be for him to hang out with a 14 year old, and gets the closure of that guy he used to be jealous of was actually a predatory creep.
(Saying this as someone who was in Tucker's very same situation as a teenager, and had that very same realisation in my mid 20s, lmao)
Here in Brazil FOX aired both shows. When Tucker premiered it aired right after Malcolm and it was SO WEIRD. Not only for the McKenna/Green age difference in fiction, but the clear age difference between the actress and the 14 year old star lusting after her. No part wanted to see her kiss that kid. (Also trying to search that show can lead you to running into Chris Tucker related stuff and that guy was friends with Michael Jackson, Kevin Spacey and flew on the Lolita Express).
I recently re-watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I used to love the show as a kid. Looking at it now, I'm horrified at the Buffy/Angel romance plot, in which a 200-year-old vampire seduces a 16-year-old girl. Everyone around them seems totally cool with it. Buffy's other relationships have a similar age gap. The best they can do is give her a grad student boyfriend while she's a freshman in college. Together with the stories that have now come out about Joss Whedon, it's kind of ruined the show for me. I think the public accepted these portrayals because the male leads were attractive actors. If you replaced them with paunchy, balding guys, it immediately becomes super creepy, even in the late 90's.
Oh my God yes- I'm rewatching it with my 13 year old daughter and holy hell!
He must have had a great time hanging out with Joss Whedon back in the day......
What in the actual fuck. I'm glad I stuck with Malcolm and family. It seems like the only thing missing is a scene with Seth gazing wistfully at McKenna, as she splashes around at a carwash fundraiser with her friends. The soulful crooning of Neil Diamond playing through the scene...."Girl, (dum, dum, dum) you'll be a woman soon".
It’s impossible to explain to younger millennials how normalized this was pre-metoo. My hs gym teacher (40ish) left his wife for a student he was sleeping with since she was 16 when she turned 18. The scandal wasn’t the age, it was the infidelity. All was made well by their marriage. He kept his job and faced no consequences.
Seth's justification for the romance in the show sounds like a talking point for some of the Christofascists in After the Revolution.
Roseanne, notwithstanding her subsequent foray into political advocacy, was the 1st show I saw where 2 working American parents who had difficulty supporting a family.
At the time it highlighted the unreality of shows running in the 90's but premised on '50's economics.
Tucker must have been one of those 1-season unbelievably bizarre tv shows that somehow got green-lit as a mid-season replacement. But even given that possible scenario, what the fuck was this show. I’m wondering if Tucker began as a satirical concept then had a bunch of studio meddling (ie if the pedophile is too creepy, potential audiences will think the show is too depressing. So they cast Seth Green.) *shrugs shoulders.*
This reminds me of the scene in Transformers 4 ("Age of Extinction") which has a scene in which the three main human characters have a highly specific conversation about how to legally date an underage girl.
Married... w/ Children walked so The Simpsons could run
Holy shit! How have I never even heard of this insanity? Yikes.
I've never heard of this show before, and I'm especially creeped out by it because I was the same age as the girl was at the time, and the thought of being in that kind of relationship with one of the 20-something friends of my older brother back then is holy shit levels of ew nope. I'm officially disturbed, thanks for that.
This is as tremendously interesting as it is profoundly disconcerting...
I feel like this may have been a decision from the network to not stray into "dangerous waters". It seems to me you could pivot from that first scene into an actual real plot line that discusses how fucking creepy that is. Instead, I'm betting the network people saw it and said, "No, we can't have Seth be the weirdo, he's our star power. Besides, what's wrong with dating a 14 year old?" (because they're creepy Hollywood dudes themselves, if I didn't make that clear)
Just idle speculation, but it wouldn't be the first time network executives have put their hands to making things emphatically worse.
I think assuming they ever intended that character to be creepy is giving them waaaay too much credit. You have to understand how normalised this shit was in 2000. to them it was "how can we come up with a love rival who seems impossible for the main character to ever compete with? Oh we'll just have the love interest dating Seth Green, playing himself like he's the nicest guy ever"
The creepiness was never part of the point. It's just a very misjudged decision that speaks to the moral vacuity and obliviousness of the era in general and the shows creators
Gross and weird. Malcom in the Middle has held up pretty well, except for all the ableism.
I LOVED this show as a kid. Was marketed and fairly popular here in Ireland interesting early 2000s
Feels like it was written for 14 year olds by 14 year old, as if they wanted Tucker to have a love interest with an impossible obstacle. I remember thinking at the time, "man, how is Tucker supposed to compete with Seth Green!"
What I'm hoping happens is when Tucker turns 24, he realises how incredibly inappropriate it would be for him to hang out with a 14 year old, and gets the closure of that guy he used to be jealous of was actually a predatory creep.
(Saying this as someone who was in Tucker's very same situation as a teenager, and had that very same realisation in my mid 20s, lmao)
Here in Brazil FOX aired both shows. When Tucker premiered it aired right after Malcolm and it was SO WEIRD. Not only for the McKenna/Green age difference in fiction, but the clear age difference between the actress and the 14 year old star lusting after her. No part wanted to see her kiss that kid. (Also trying to search that show can lead you to running into Chris Tucker related stuff and that guy was friends with Michael Jackson, Kevin Spacey and flew on the Lolita Express).