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What constitutes a good and bad review for you?

posted 9 years ago by HilaryElizabeth9
42 replies | jump to latest

So, I'm gonna complain a small bit. I love writing reviews for H2H episodes and have done something like 70 of them. Admittedly some aren't as good as others in quality of the review, I drone on in some of them, and I probably give away too many spoilers, though for a 30yo show (as opposed to, say, The Walking Dead), not sure anyone cares. I don't mind when someone votes that my review was not useful, to each his own, and I like seeing how they're being received. I know they're not getting huge activity, I mean, c'mon, it's a pretty narrow audience who post on this board and who read the reviews per ep, so I appreciate any attn! But my review for "The Harts Strike out" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0597288/reviews-1 got a "no" vote, and on that one I was shocked. Was it cuz they disagreed with my comments or didn't like the episode? I'm just kind of flummoxed over that one, because I thought it was one of my more thoughtful reviews. I'm not digging for compliments or looking for validation, here, it just made me think --> What are people expecting in a review? I try to be very civil on the Internet, and I try for my reviews to be meaningful and not just me running on at the mouth. So, I'd be interested for folks who read this board and read reviews in general on IMDB to tell me, what do you look for in a review? When you vote yes or no on usefulness, what are you actually voting on in your head? You're supposed to be voting on whether the review was useful for you. But in reality, what are you saying when you vote yes or no?

* The review was truly or truly not useful
* I did or did not like the quality of the review
* I did or did not like the statements in the review
* I did or did not agree with the review
* Whether or not I liked the episode

I'm just curious, because though I've taken a bit of a breather, I spend alot of time on these, and it's mainly cuz I enjoy it. I don't expect alot of (or any) readers, honestly I don't! It's unrealistic, if i wanted readers I'd write a blog. I think it's more than I just really enjoy doing them. But I'm really curious now, what makes you upvote or downvote the reviews you read here?

[–] babsfan8816 9 years ago

I'm not sure I'm the one to answer this question. I just have always wanted to tell you that I LOVE your reviews. I just started re-watching H2H on hallmark and every episode I come immediately here to see what you've said. I get very disappointed when there is no review for one reason or another. I figured the reviews were old so you'd never get to hear my appreciation. Whether we agree or not makes no matter to me. I still love reading them. Please don't stop.

[–] babsfan8816 9 years ago

One review stands out to me and that was the one directed by Stuart Margolin. Horrible, horrible direction. I laughed because I agreed with everything you said. I feel we'd be friends in another life!!! Lol

[–] HilaryElizabeth9 9 years ago

Babsfan, thank you so much! That is so nice of you to say. I really appreciate these kind words, and to know you're looking at my reviews as you watch eps is like ... gah! Wow. Thank you.

My local station was playing these eps daily for a long time, and I started reviewing them in the middle of the second or third season. I've since gotten Seasons 1 and 2 on DVD but just never seem to find the time to put them into the player and reveiw them. I should! They pulled them from my local station, and so I took a big break. But now i found them on Hallmark (had no idea, oops!) and will start back up again! We're at Slam Dunk now, which means we're in Season 5. Awful stuff, mostly. But tomorrow is Larsen, and that one features a real fight between J&J, and I recall it being so good. So, I'll e watching. In the meantime, these should turn over back to s1 soon, I hope? So, I'll take up the reviews again and try to fill them all out to completion! I miss it!

[–] babsfan8816 9 years ago

The thing that bothers me about hallmark is they cut a lot out of the scenes. I got the first season but now I will get seasons 2-3. Watching slam-dunk as I write this. I'm such a fan-girl of J&J so I hate missing any kind of stuff that's cut out.
The one thing that really makes me laugh is they can't even bother to get stunt Jennifer's hair color the same. Cracks me up!

[–] babsfan8816 9 years ago

That's supposed to be "fan girl of J&J" damn autocorrect !

[–] HilaryElizabeth9 9 years ago

Heh. It's the ampersand, I think. This character -->

&

Does not always play nice from various devices. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't, not sure why.

I thought Slam Dunk was just weird! But not terrible. That grass-mowing scene sticks out for me so much that it's one of those scenes that I just carry with me, it was so wack!

I, too, am a huge J&J fan. I just love them, I feel like they're the original supercouple. They way they were written romantically in 1979, when the series first began was so different than in 1984 when it was all over. Censors loosened up what could and couldn't be said and referenced. But even when they had to be tricky in the writing, you always knew what they were thinking. The episodes that really tested their relationship are some of the strongest, IMO. That's why I'm looking forward to Larsen's Last Jump, cuz they have a real fight, and that's a dynamic that you just seriously don't see!

The first season starts over again on Thursday, I believe, and I already did "Hit Jennifer Hart." Now THAT'S a review that I, myself, consider not so great. i went on and on and did not do a spectacular job of summarizing, so I'd understand bad marks on that one! But there are a bunch coming up this week and over the next two that I've never reviewed, so I'm going to take my lunches as I work from home to do those! Oooh, I'm so excited to get back into it! Even if you're the only one reading them! :-)

(seriously, you made my day)

[–] AudreyZimmerman 9 years ago

Everything babs said! I've been DVR ing these and watching in semi order and in mini marathon -- 2-3 episodes at night and then all day Sat or Sun. I don't think I've seen H2H since the original run. I'm surprised how many scenes stick out to me. Especially Night Horror from season one. I had forgotten and then I was like "oh yeah the guys head on the plate and them turning around with the teeth.. I remember!!"
I always check out the eps as I am watching and I too am disappointed when there isn't a review!!
And yay that you're still around and will write more reviews.

[–] Edermike 9 years ago

I too enjoy your reviews a lot. I only wish you would use the DVD if you have it for the reviews. Hallmark cuts a bunch of stuff out. I know a major plot point about how Max helped Jonathan get started was snipped from an early episode.

[–] babsfan8816 9 years ago

One of my favorite eps is actually Hit Jennifer Hart. I love the scene in the beginning where Jonathan works on the docks to show he's a man of the people even though he's rich and then I love the nice little bedroom scene right after. Robert and Stefanie had chemistry from day 1. You can have your 50 shades of grey. I'll take a sexy scene between them anytime.

[–] HilaryElizabeth9 9 years ago

Very good feedback on the DVDs vs. reruns. Hmm ... That's a teeeeeeeerrible place to cut. Important piece of Hart backstory they're throwing away, it's what makes them so human. Ugh. Bad bad bad. I only have s1 and s2 on DVD, and I think I reviewed most of the rest, so what I think I'll do is watch today's on both and see the differences. Then I might go ahead and review from the DVDs, instead, thanks for saying something. Didn't realize how much was snipped out.

Thank you for all that read the reviews! I don't know what it is about this series that has me so invested. I have other shows that are beloved to me that I don't review (All the Star Treks, All in the Family, MASH, Buffy), but this one I just feel compelled to do. I dunno! So, thank you!

[–] Edermike 9 years ago

It is a terrible thing to cut. What often happens is the deep character stuff gets chopped and that's the kind of thing I like to know best when I watch an entire series. Thanks for reading my thoughts on it.

[–] HilaryElizabeth9 9 years ago

Added:

Passport to Murder
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0597274/reviews-1

Jonathan Hart, Jr.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0597250/reviews-2

Death in the Slow Lane
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0597217/reviews-2

And you guys are seriously right, the little moments that are cut out of the original run are awful to miss! I gotta do the rest of these off the DVD.

[–] serialtvjunkie 8 years ago

^^ And you guys are seriously right, the little moments that are cut out of the original run are awful to miss! I gotta do the rest of these off the DVD.

I've been wanting to ask you whether or not you did your review of "To Coin A Hart" from a DVD or syndication viewing. The reason I ask is because you seemed to feel it was a rather slow and blah episode. While I certainly don't think it ranks among the best, It happens to have a great scene between J&J where hey are discussing the 5 senses and Jonathan begins to share how he enjoys "commemorating" senses with Jennifer "in the flesh" daily - certainly ranked among some of my more favorite scenes. Wondering if that scene may be omitted in syndication. I also thought that Stephanie and Lionel were the heavy weights of the episode. Steph showed her comedy props when she was nonchalantly dropping papers all over the sidewalk (tee hee).

There are so many great little scenes that are cut in syndication it makes me cringe! I didn't realize how many until I got the DVDs.

[–] HilaryElizabeth9 8 years ago

Are you the one out of two people who gave me the no vote? Hahaha! It's ok, this was a crappy review. Here it is for anyone who wants to see it --> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0597295/reviews-1

In the very brief review, I do say that I watched this on my local station, so no, not the DVDs. I do now have all the DVDs, and I do all the reviews based on those now. But at the time I did the first 70 or so reviews, I was doing the from the reruns on MeTV in Chicago. I really don't remember that scene at all, but that's not surprising, I don't commit all of these to memory to remember the romantic scenes. I know alot of people who love J&J do this, I can do this, myself, with other characters on shows I love. So, I totally get that! I don't remember all of J&J, tho. So, not sure if that scene was cut or not. I do think the review is sound, but it's one of my least favorites that I've done. It doesn't tell you much. I would have titled it differently, though the whole Passover thing was really coincidental and amused me. When I first started doing reviews, I was very worried about spoilers and making sure I don't improperly review them, so that lent themselves to brevity that is unheard of for me now. I'm much more confident and lax in the spoiler concern. I mean, it's H2H, no one reading this forum is gonna be surprised by whatever they're seeing, the show is 37 years old. So, I said, what the heck am I worried about? And then I started using much more depth and writing with more detail. I'm more analytical now.

So, not sure I really answered your question or not, but hopefully that gives you some perspective. What I can't stand is people who rate my reviews with a no vote cuz they disagree with constructive criticism. How dare I invoke a single negative word or constructive criticism of the vaunted RJ and Stefanie?! Ugh, they're actors, they're fallible, doesn't mean I don't love the show. I also don't get it when the no vote is derived from someone who just disagreed with me. Did I give a cogent review? Is it thoughtful? That's the question. This one deserved a no vote, it sucked. But others are just sour grapes that someone's calling out the bullsh*t that may exist. Ok, rant over on that.

Thank you for reading my reviews :-).

[–] albert_m2 8 years ago

I just wanted to chime in - I never even thought to look up reviews on specific episodes until today. I've seen every episode and own the DVDs... though some episodes I have not seen in some time, but I love the show. That said, some stories were really weak and of course many really great, or at least fun and interesting episodes.

I'm going to start reading more reviews on here to see opinions and thoughts of specific episodes - I will say that I saw your review of "Larsen's Last Jump" and thought it interesting that your focused on the fight. I rewatched that episode recently and to me, it's a stand out from the last season. I really thought it was an interesting story and season 5 overall was the weakest.

On that note, have you done any rankings of favorites by season or overall?

[–] HilaryElizabeth9 8 years ago

The reason I focus more on the fight is because that's a dynamic we don't get to see too much, and it makes them very, very interesting. Fake fights, staged stuff, that's common for them. This is real emotion Stef and RJ are playing. This is genuine annoyance with each other, and it's an element that a) they don't get to exhibit as actors as their legacy characters 99 times out of 100; b) we don't get to witness as part of their relationship. I consider them the original supercouple. These love relationships are not realistic without the full spectrum of emotions. If you're watching H2H for simply the stories, then you likely don't care. But if you fall in love with these characters as a coup-le, you start watching the show in a character-driven way and not so much a plot-driven one. The plots become slightly secondary to the characters. My first love is this couple, and when I get to see them display a range of emotions beyond the formula, I find it completely compelling. It's by far the most interesting thing about this episode. That and Ray Wise's awesome acting. Good story, too. One of the very best in s5, which was a serious stinker.

[–] albert_m2 8 years ago

I'll keep that in mind next time I watch it.

So have you ranked favorites? I would be curious to see other fans' lists.

[–] HilaryElizabeth9 8 years ago

I have not done any ranking yet. Gosh, I don't know where I'd even begin, gah! I guess I'd have to sort by rating, and then figure it out. I might have to do a whole rewatch, and I'm just trying to finish up in the first place. Ugh. I do know a few that I've loved more than others. Maybe I'll start a thread on that. The one where he's lost his memory is brilliant. I remember loving Harts under Glass, but it may not stand up, I have to rewatch it. Gonna have to have a think on this.

[–] deasterlin 9 years ago

I have never "voted" on a review, but I do enjoy reading your reviews. Agree or not, it is always interesting to read another's opinion. :)

[–] HilaryElizabeth9 9 years ago

Thank you!

[–] babsfan8816 9 years ago

I had read your review on The Harts Strikeout about the touching scene between RJ and the boy and I couldn't figure out what you were talking about. Do you believe that whole scene was totally cut from Hallmark or whoever? I've said before that I had to get the dvd's because of that reason. That was probably the most touching scene and so very well done and so important! I totally don't understand how they decide what gets cut. Absolutely ridiculous. Hands down one of the best scenes in the whole series especially because of RJ and Stef's circumstances.

[–] AudreyZimmerman 9 years ago

I've been finding that a lot. A review will mention a specific watch-for-it scene, but hallmark cuts it!
I don't get it. These were originally hour long shows, cut for commercials. Why can't they just use the original commercial breaks, instead of cutting even more!
I have never bought a series on DVD, probably wouldnt watch it if I had it. I wish these were available uncut streaming somewhere.

[–] HilaryElizabeth9 9 years ago

This.Is.So.Freaking.Disappointing. I didn't realize that they'd cut so much from them. This totally makes so much sense now. Alot of ding ding ding for me on this whole concept. I'm reviewing from the DVDs going forward, but I'm so disappointed that there are scenes that people won't be seeing if they don't have them. And why should they have to buy them?! I get that there ight have to be a little more cut out cuz there are more commercials now than there were, but the amount cut is unreal. The difference in the old car episode, Death in the Slow Lane, was enormous. The stuff they cut was insane. Important stuff! Scenes with J&J relating to each other. There was cute stuff with the ice cream that was gone. Ugh. Thanks for this insight about the kitchen episode. Gah.

[–] babsfan8816 9 years ago

That scene was everything you said it was. It was one of the few times I actually cried during the show. I'm usually grinning from all the inuendo by J & J or laughing at Max and Freeway. But now I'm looking at it this way-I get to see new scenes I've never seen.
Just curious-HilaryElizabeth, will you continue your reviews?? I really enjoy them. I've tried to answer after the review but couldn't figure out how. That's how I discovered this board!

[–] HilaryElizabeth9 9 years ago

Oh, thank you! Yes, I"m going to finish all the episodes and review them all. I have to squeeze them in between the other stuff I do (don't we all?!), but yes, definitely. I have Seasons 1 and 2, and I believe I got all of 3, 4, and 5 done, but I'll double check. Those I"ll have to catch on reruns, though it seems s3 is now out on DVD legitimately (not a bootleg), and if so I'll buy those for sure. But yes, I will absolutely be doing them. I've got three more up already, "A Passing Chance," "Jonathan Hart, Jr.," and "Death in the Slow Lane." I'm doing "You Made Me Kill You" and the next one after that right now, I'll hopefully post them today or possibly tomorrow. I'm just tickled people read these!

And that scene with Rossie as the boy (don't ask me why I remember names like this) just tugged at me. It really did. There are a few H2H eps that are really just off the grid of what H2H usually is. That was one of them. I am not one of those people who believe RJ and Stefanie were in a relationship, they were not. But I do some acting, and I can tell you that long-term scene partners often have very different relationships with each other than non-acting friends do. They're closer, they have interpersonal connections that are deeper or just plain on a different plane. They have to, they're kissing each other, in close personal space with them, climbing on top of them, touching body parts. You can separate yourself and act, that's what they do. But there IS a connection for those that actually are friends and care about each other IRL. The ones who hate each other, that's not there. But the ones who don't and have these long term shows and are clearly friends, you can see it on the screen. And sometimes, the real person comes through, especially if you have to tap into your personal reservoir of emotions to emote as the character. And in that scene, I felt RJ feel his own sadness, and I felt Stefanie feel loving sympathy for RJ.

[–] babsfan8816 9 years ago

Very well said. I like your insight on acting partners, etc. I also agree that they never had a personal "relationship".
I went back and read your reviews on the latest episodes you watched. It's funny because I loved Jonathan Hart Jr. It did have holes but most episodes do. And we do have to remember it was 1979 and things were different then. I loved it if only for Jennifer's line "I know you. You would never leave a woman with a child".
I loved seeing Stanley but disappointed in the continuity aspect. Jonathan recites who he is and says he's married with 2 children. I think in the rest of the series they had him as a single man. I must admit I do fast forward through a lot of the "bad guy" scenes. Just give me more Harts!

[–] HilaryElizabeth9 9 years ago

I love that you liked the episode, cuz it gives me a different perspective that I also appreciate!

[–] HilaryElizabeth9 9 years ago

Two more added:

You Made Me Kill You
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0597308/reviews-2

Murder between Friends
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0597258/reviews-2

[–] jragland-49660 9 years ago

I love your reviews and always read them when watching an episode. Very informative.

[–] babsfan8816 9 years ago

I, too, loved Deanne and Stanley and wished they were in the episodes more often. They had one featuring Stanley and it's a shame they never did with Deanne. I always wondered what happened to her and wished they would have addressed it even as a throwaway line "ever since Deanne was promoted" or something like that.
I'm just about to start season 4 on the DVD's but I do occasionally go back and watch an older episode that I know I loved.
AND WHY CAN'T the ampersand (&)ever work for me???? Lol