The original post: /r/television by /u/mucinexmonster on 2024-08-24 19:24:29.
Now, I think the name of the show might not be the best. And I do think the name of a show can make or break its success. And I think with Covid and then the writer’s strike, United States of Al was probably never going to stay on the air. But I just don’t understand the critical reaction to this show. It seems the height of the criticism was to casting a trusted sitcom performer in the main role, which is absolutely stupid. Do you know what I would do for a sitcom starring anyone representing my ethnicity? It also seems most of the criticism is aimed at the pilot. This is a show that had multiple episodes focusing on the US Withdraw from Afghanistan. They are powerful, complicated, ripple-effect episodes. And no one cared! This show carried with it all the character complexity that you expected from Mom (a show I also think did not need to go off the air, but ultimately would have with the string of television-wiping events). But like you so often see in modern television analysis, instead of letting a show grow and develop, it gets ripped apart critically when it takes its first step into the shallow end and then is ignored.
I really enjoyed United States of Al. Even with two seasons, you can see the promise, the growth of the characters, and the way it deftly incorporated real life events into the show. And for all the talk about it lacking Afghani representation - where’s that Afghani representation now? The constant cutting off of noses to spite faces disgusts me. This is a show that should have been embraced and championed, and instead it got stomped on for daring to be different. The cast and crew deserved better from the television press. If you want to point a finger at what’s really killing television right now, a large share of the blame has to go at the covering journalists.