I've been watching
The Guild, after having been nudged about it a few times from several directions. Joss Whedon cited it as a significant inspiration for
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and there are some clear similarities. Each segment starts with the main character doing an entry in a video blog before shifting to a more normal story depiction, for example. And of course
The Guild is written by and stars Felicia Day, who played Penny in
Dr. Horrible.
Another similarity is a lack of genuinely likeable characters. Codex, Day's character, means well but is hapless, unemployed (and not seeking work), and addicted to the game. Her fellow "guild" members are even more socially deficient. I know that the show is intended to be humorous, but a lot of the humour is just about the awkward interactions of these poorly-socialized people. To me, much of it is simply painful.
I'd probably appreciate the show somewhat more if I had any experience with their kind of game, a multi-player on-line thing which I gather is supposed to be similar to
World of Warcraft. I'm looking at it more from the point of view of someone who got together with friends for a weekly D&D session for a number of years — sure, some of us lacked some social skills, but we did much better than the people in the Guild. Those folks would be impossible to hang around with.
I'm curious about the story, so I probably will keep watching the episodes. I may take a break for a little while; the awkwardness may not be so strong if I'm not watching many episodes together. And Wil Wheaton has been brought in to the current series as an antagonist — apparently working hard to blow away whatever nice-guy reputation may be lingering from his Star Trek years.
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