The Masked Singer is Black Mirror meets American Idol - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 01-03-2019, 10:19 PM

https://www.theringer.com/tv/2019/1/...remiere-review

Fox's new reality competition is "both extremely self-aware and still not nearly self-aware enough," says Rob Harvilla, adding that it's the perfect singing competition for our dystopian age. "Welcome to Fox’s The Masked Singer, the strangest and most discomfiting reality-TV singing competition ever born," says Harvilla. "It is American Idol via Black Mirror; it is Eurovision via David Cronenberg. It is inspired by the 3-year-old South Korean program King of Mask Singer despite being nowhere near as weird or (presumably) as good. It is somehow both extremely self-aware and still not nearly self-aware enough. It is, impressively, all sorts of f*cked up.“ He adds: "The performances themselves are usually terrible, usually on purpose, with a distinctly Sia-esque vibe given the wacky costumes and general camp flamboyance...The celebrity-judge patter is pleasingly inane, but it’s not immediately clear whether they’re supposed to really try to guess a singer’s identity, or just misdirect and stall until that identity—oh, sh*t!—is revealed."

ALSO:

The Masked Singer is serious about secrecy: Only seven staffers know the true identity of the celebrities -- and their entourage is required to wear masks, too
The Masked Singer feels like a "warped, through-the-looking-glass vision of both what reality shows are and what celebrity is"
It's a guessing game wrapped in horrifying costume
The Masked Singer is far more boring than it has any right to be with too much focus on the enormity of the unmaskings
After a disappointing first reveal, The Masked Singer feels more like Dancing with the Stars with crazier costumes
The Masked Singer is best described as "Donnie Darko + Pan’s Labrynth x Las Vegas"

Edward216 · 01-04-2019, 03:24 AM

I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would. But why they hired Robin Thicke and Jenny McCarthy as judges is beyond me I can't stand either one of them. OK so it's kind of silly and weird and some of the people can't sing that great. But it's somehow entertaining. At least it's not shallow, self-centered celebrities with an inside look at their pathetic lives or some trashy hook up show with a bunch of drunken and loose men and women.

Ed.

01-03-2019, 10:19 PM	#1
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 126,605	The Masked Singer is Black Mirror meets American Idol https://www.theringer.com/tv/2019/1/...remiere-review Fox's new reality competition is "both extremely self-aware and still not nearly self-aware enough," says Rob Harvilla, adding that it's the perfect singing competition for our dystopian age. "Welcome to Fox’s The Masked Singer, the strangest and most discomfiting reality-TV singing competition ever born," says Harvilla. "It is American Idol via Black Mirror; it is Eurovision via David Cronenberg. It is inspired by the 3-year-old South Korean program King of Mask Singer despite being nowhere near as weird or (presumably) as good. It is somehow both extremely self-aware and still not nearly self-aware enough. It is, impressively, all sorts of fcked up.“ He adds: "The performances themselves are usually terrible, usually on purpose, with a distinctly Sia-esque vibe given the wacky costumes and general camp flamboyance...The celebrity-judge patter is pleasingly inane, but it’s not immediately clear whether they’re supposed to really try to guess a singer’s identity, or just misdirect and stall until that identity—oh, sht!—is revealed." ALSO: The Masked Singer is serious about secrecy: Only seven staffers know the true identity of the celebrities -- and their entourage is required to wear masks, too The Masked Singer feels like a "warped, through-the-looking-glass vision of both what reality shows are and what celebrity is" It's a guessing game wrapped in horrifying costume The Masked Singer is far more boring than it has any right to be with too much focus on the enormity of the unmaskings After a disappointing first reveal, The Masked Singer feels more like Dancing with the Stars with crazier costumes The Masked Singer is best described as "Donnie Darko + Pan’s Labrynth x Las Vegas"

01-04-2019, 03:24 AM	#2
Edward216 Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 18, 2014 Location: Central Time Zone Posts: 4,648	I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would. But why they hired Robin Thicke and Jenny McCarthy as judges is beyond me I can't stand either one of them. OK so it's kind of silly and weird and some of the people can't sing that great. But it's somehow entertaining. At least it's not shallow, self-centered celebrities with an inside look at their pathetic lives or some trashy hook up show with a bunch of drunken and loose men and women. Ed.