Pop Style Opinionfest: Anti-Backlash Backlash!

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BACKLASH, kittens!

It’s a dirty word and it’s infected the culture. There’s an ongoing kerfuffle regarding some folks having critical things to say about Ted Lasso (and a slightly less recent kerfuffle regarding the flaws and faults of White Lotus and who gets to make note of them) and we unpack EVERY SINGLE BIT OF IT. Not the Ted Lasso (or White Lotus) parts so much as why shows like these get elevated to untouchable levels by the critical community and why said community has become very bad at reacting when their sacred cows come in for a little cow-poking. We think we may risk getting unfriended by a few folks over this one, but the intersection between fan culture and critical culture is a trend we’ve been talking about for some time and this one just set off a bunch of alarms for us.

You can start by reading Daily Show writer Daniel Radosh’s critique of Ted Lasso on Twitter this weekend because it’s become like the Ground Zero of the whole conversation about backlashes. But like we said, we promise this episode isn’t really about Ted Lasso. We’ve talked that one out and frankly, so has everyone else.

After that, we have a few things to say about Nine Perfect Strangers, currently in release on Hulu.

But truly, only a few things. This one left us less than effusive.

So yes, okay. It’s sort of another all-TV episode of the PSO except we try to take a broader look at virality, fan culture, the flaws of the critical community, why certain shows reach untouchable status and why no critic should ever find themselves using the word “backlash” in anything but an ironic way. Lots to unpack, darlings! Thank you for listening!

[Photo Credit: HBO, Aplle TV+, Hulu]

• Apple TV+
• HBO
• Hulu
• Nine Perfect Strangers
• Pop Style Opinionfest
• Ted Lasso
• The White Lotus