Twas a cold spring day two weeks ago when I needed something to have on in the background while I worked on a few emails. Almost everyone I know watches a show called “This Is Us,” so I figured what the hell, I’d give it a shot.
I was reluctant because I don’t watch a lot of primetime TV, I’m more of a Netflix and Amazon girl because I like to binge watch. Also I’ll be honest, the show gave off very cheesy vibes. But like I said, my plan was to watch it as a “background show.”
After episode one I was mildly entertained. I liked the twist at the end and bragged to myself that I picked up on it about 30 seconds before everyone else, having seen some of the cues planted earlier in the episode. Most of all, I assured myself I was correct in thinking it was a very cheesy show.
After the second episode I told myself I was done. The show was just a little much for me. Far too predictable, too cliche, too much of everything I don’t love about primetime tv shows.
Fast forward to me 5 or 6 episodes in crying like a baby at every critical moment.
“Are you okay?” Chris asked when he walked in on me sobbing on the couch. “I thought you said this show is stupid.”
“It is, it’s so dumb,” I said between cry hiccups. “I hate it.” And then I pressed play on the next episode.
I got This Is Us’d and I don’t even know how. I watched almost all of season one on Saturday and finally admitted to my sister that I “enjoy the show.” It’s time to stop pretending. I am embracing the cheesiness of it all and would now like to discuss it with you.
First of all, I love the nostalgia. I’m going to make a bold statement here based on zero facts, but I have to believe that’s a huge part of its appeal. Everyone loves a show about the good ol days. It’s why I lived for the Wonder Years as a child, watch Now and Then at least once a month, and was devastated when Mad Men ended. All of these shows give us a peak back to when life felt more simple; a time I never lived in, yet somehow feels so familiar to me.
I’ll admit I even occasionally fast forward through the present parts, at least I did when I first started watching. All I want to see is Jack and Rebecca as they once were. Because Jack, what a guy! When he did pushups with Randall on his back I lost it. Of course I’m a big fan of Rebecca and think she is an amazing mother, but I’m simply smitten with Jack.
I have only one episode left and I already know that we get to zero resolution as to what happens to Jack. But I’m okay with that, because I don’t want to know. I don’t want Jack to die! Never! I want life to stay exactly as it was when we first brought the triplets home back in 1980 and everything was so unknown and new, but also so perfect!
See what I did there? That’s me getting This Is Us’d. I confuse their reality with my own.
Beyond my crush on Jack, I’m a big fan of Beth, Randall’s wife. When she got her postcard in the mail I broke down; she needed that. We all did.
Basically the entire Memphis episode had me in tears. It could have been the three glasses of wine I had, who knows. I just thought it was beautifully written and directed and the perfect trip I needed for closure with sweet William. When he got the chance to play the piano on stage with his old bandmates I knew right then and there I had made the right decision to go to Memphis. Of course it didn’t fit in well with all the stress I’d been under at the commodity firm, but it was right for my soul.
Oh Randall. What a sensitive human he is. It breaks my heart when he’s a kid, I want to punch Kevin and scream “stop being so mean to your brother!” Good thing he has Kate. I really like her character, but have to say her fiance Toby drives me nuts. He was funny at first, but now I get so annoyed with everything he says and just want to tell him to shut up. Yes, he provides comic relief, but he also provides comic annoyance because it NEVER STOPS.
Also, I know this may not be a popular opinion, but I think he treats Kate like shit. Does anyone else notice this? If she doesn’t fall head over heels for his “grand gestures” he immediately turns it back on him like, “what about me? where’s my grand gesture?” He’s the mean nice guy and I can’t stand him. If you ask me, Kate’s too good for him. There, I said it.
Last thing I’m going to say about Toby (I have a lot of built up aggression toward him I’m realizing) he consistently tries to sabotage Kate’s weight loss journey. He appears supportive, but in my opinion, he is the opposite. When he interrupted her pound/workout class at her weight loss retreat and made a complete mockery of it I. Was. Livid.
And that’s my take. Do you watch the show? What do you think? Who is your favorite?
I don't watch the show but I've thought about it, really tempted. I don't want to be ballin' though!!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
The Memphis episode DESTROYED me. Like, I nearly called into work the next day. I cry about just about everything, but I don't know that I have ever cried the way I did during that episode.
Haha, this is awesome! And I'm pretty much in the same boat. I know the show is just trying to play with my emotions, yet it works every time. I got my trainer (who is a fairly bro-y 30-year-old man) hooked on it, and we spend far too much time dissecting the episode every week. I love Randall, but I have basically opposite feelings about Kate and Toby. I do agree the grand gestures/schtick are getting a little tired, but it annoys me that she isn't willing to open up and be supportive/communicative in return. I get that she's damaged/has baggage, but if you're not willing to open up about that to your partner, how will the relationship ever grow? On that note, I will wrap up this crazy-long comment about fictional characters. 😉
Yessss. I never considered myself the type to be get emotional at TV Shows/ "mushy stuff" but This Is Us provided me wrong. I'm almost embarrassed by how the tears can flow haha. The Memphis episode was by far my favorite, and I can easily see why people were let down by the season finale as it would take A LOT to be able to upstage that episode.
SAME. The only other primetime show I watch right now is grey's, & I wasn't sure about this is us at first. But I kept hearing about it & hearing about it until I finally broke down. & then I broke down during every episode, HA! It does have a cheesy element, but it's also so real & poignant & funny & messy that you don't really care about the cheesiness. I think you're right about the nostalgia.
I LIKED TOBY UNTIL YOU POINTED THAT ELEMENT OF HIM OUT! lol. Beth is amazing, I love everything she says. I also have a soft spot for kevin! (but only grown up kevin, teenage kevin was a doozy)
Toby is THE ACTUAL WORST.
YES.
I love that show, like would stay up late on Tuesday nights to watch it and go to bed with puffy eyes and not care. Those writers are phenomenal and the cast is beyond perfect. The way they portray their relationships constantly pull my heartstrings and I still sob like a baby whenever I talk about the karate scene with Jack and Randall or the Memphis episode. So beautiful!
Yeah I'm not Team Toby. I was a bit against Kevin at the beginning, but when he missed his play to look after Randall, I cried. It was so sweet. And in Memphis when Randall held William's face between his hands, I became a puddle! I just watched the finale and was disappointed like everyone else.
Yes Kevin won me over that episode too.
I can't make it through a show without bawling. The Memphis episode drained me. I had to just go to bed. I couldn't do the things afterward. I need a real life Jack ASAP.
im still recovering.
I LOVE This is Us. It really sucks you in. I am really curious what happens with Jack – every time I think I might have an idea, something happens to make that idea wrong. I actually am a fan of present day Kevin – I feel like you are seeing him kind of 'grow up' which I like, always rooting for him to be better. And yes, the tears just don't stop with this show. They do not stop!
Okay it might be because it's that time of the month, but just reading your post and reliving this show has me on the brink of tears right now. I love shows that have just the right amount of cheesy. Too much and I roll my eyes, none at all and I'm bored, but This Is Us is so powerfully written that I don't know where it has been all my life. Also, yes, I LOVE Beth. She's probably my favorite too, aside from Jack and past Rebecca. And Kate. Oh and William. K I'll stop.
Have seen the adds for the show but never watched it as it is on free to air here and I don't watch a lot of free to air tv also since I am in bed before it starts would have to record it but can't record free to air so don't watch it
I go into every show knowing that tears are inevitable. I love the character development in this show, it makes me wish I was a part of their family or at least had such deep connections with my own.
I was like you…I tried to resist this FOREVER and then I had time to kill over Christmas break and I watched however many episodes were available in 1 day. I still think some of the early writing is extra cheesy (or maybe I am used to it now?) and that there was more than a little bit of overacting too but somehow I stuck with it and have watched the rest of the season. (I also watched all of the extra bonus footage from each week too!) I think I feel a little extra nostalgia b/c I am the same age as the triplets and try to imagine what my parents (like Jack and Rebecca) were going through at the same time. Definitely looking forward to next season (a million years from now)
I was late to the party on this one also. I hate shows/movies that make me cry. I was bored (and tired of listening to my co-workers go on and on about it) so I started watching. Binged the first half season then biged the rest after the last episode. I did not cry at every episode but when Randall held Williams face I ugly cried. My daughter came in making fun of me (because she likes this stuff and I don't). But now I cannot look at Toby the same way. I liked him until I read this. You are right. ugh
The EXACT same thing happened to me. I was resisting this cheesy show, but turned it on one day and got hooked. I agree about Toby, he is super annoying. Kevin only got interesting to me when he started seeing his ex-wife again. I pretty much love everyone else!
I completely binge watched this show.. I was late getting on the bandwagon.. and am now completely hooked… I love Randall and his family! I cry ugly every episode.. and was hoping that Toby had died after his heart attack episode–complete douche. The flash back style of the stories is my favorite! I don't know how I will live now that William has passed— and when the mailman cried… I was a gonner! My husband makes fun of me.. I'm not a cryer.. but just talking about he episodes has me all teary. I don't want Jack to die.
I started off the show the same way you did. I was like, "Nope! Can't handle the cheese!" But then…it just kind of happened.
When Kevin left his play because he realized Randall was having a break down, I just about lost it. That was the first time I felt like I actually liked Kevin. And I ADORE Randall. And Beth. So much.
I hadn't given that much thought to Toby because I like him and he reminds me of a couple of friends I've had. But now that you point out some of these things, I'm like…hmmm…You have some very valid points. Plus, I don't love the idea of Kate marrying apparently the first guy who has ever loved her. I mean, when it's right, it's right. But in this case…is it?
I feel the same way about Toby. I want to like him so bad but I just can't. I kind of hate how they met, since Mike and Molly did the exact same thing like, 5 years ago. I think I have more pent up anger about their relationship than I originally thought also.
I like the flashback scenes but I'm kind of over the Jack and Rebecca only episodes. I loooove Jack, but Rebecca, eh. I'm not Mandy Moore's biggest fan.
I love Randall and his family. His kids are totes adorbs and his wife is so chill. I'm going to miss William. There are always the flashbacks!
I too thought This Is Us was too cheesy and that i'd never watch beyond the first episode. Boy was I wrong. I'm obsessed now. And I hateeeee Toby. Since his first scene i've found him annoying. I agree that I think he's sabotaging Kate's weight loss journey. Let her do her thing. So rude.
Does Toby ever close his mouth?? It's always gaping open even when he isn't speaking. I love this show. Randall is my absolute favorite and I adore Jack!
This Is Us is the first primetime show I've ever seen that depicts adoption so truthfully. I've never felt represented in TV in this way before and Randall brings so much to life.
Hi Everyone,
I'm from United Kingdom London, City(GB). I met this spell caster called Dr IyaryI of [email protected] online and so many other, but i decided to go with this particular spell caster and this is about 2 weeks ago.I needed the spell caster to reunite me and my lover because she started behaving strange and a day came she text me and told me she cannot continue with the relationship anymore, that she just want to be alone.But a close friend of hers shows the guy to me that she was now dating.So i contacted this spell caster because i was totally heart broken and i smoked and get drunk till i could not even notice if am standing or lying.This spell caster told me not to worry, he gave me hope that am to have her again just like old times, and i provided all the requirements, and in just 5 days, my ex lover called me crying over the phone asking for me to forgive her for her stupid act, and she swore with her mother grave to love me and never hurt me again.This was what the spell caster earlier told me and it came after he has done the spell and that same night, my lover came back to the house to me. I have never seen spell as powerful as this but now, am convinced that Dr IyaryI is the best ever, You can contact him through him email address: [email protected] or [email protected] or And also Reach him on WhatsApp Number: +2349057915709 Thanks Dr. IyaryI