I'm going to wax poetic about the awfulness of Roadies for a bit. Feel free to skip even more than you might usually skip my ramblings. The obvious problem was the mere glorification of what is, in actuality, a dull drag of a job. It was so over the top as you knew it was going to be just because it was a Cameron Crowe project and therefore possessed the credulity-fucking, shit-eating-grin he puts on everything ever. But let's get past that obviousness. So many things did not work on this show. #1, the bizarre love life of the main girl. Look, I like Imogen Poots, gorgeous woman. Honestly, only reason I stuck with it to the end. But good lord, none of that made sense. I did not buy for one second the whole will they or won't they between her and Reg. It didn't feel genuine. He appeared to be 20 years older than her. And then they keep dropping that the bass tech likes her too and also Christopher House and none of it went anywhere. It went nowhere. I did not feel like any of these people would actually be attracted to each other in real life. And that was like 40% of the show.
The endless stream of guest stars I guess was the purpose of the show but again, that's ass, my dude. A 24 year old kid who once worked as a grip for Pearl Jam does not get a private audience with John Cougar Mellancamp. It was just all ridiculous. The old guy was stupid. Hated the character. Hated it. Hated that they spent an entire episode with him telling some ridiculous story about Lynard Skynard on a bus. Hated that he died and literally all of rock and roll came out to the funeral of a roadie -- and not even their roadie. Then they mounted him like a stuffed deer and people hugged the body. It was possibly the most insane thing I've ever seen on television.
The rotating string of openers was dumb. Again, the show existed for the purpose of having guest stars but it was ridiculous. That was basically the show: "the structures of a television program about rock music dictates we do _____ despite the fact that _____ never happens in real life." The show was ill conceived.
Honestly -- and this is probably the most Smackie-esque thing I've ever said -- I only stuck with it to the end to see if Imogen Poots would take her top off since it was Showtime. She did not. Instead she told Reg she had never had sex sober which was weird and seemed a little disturbing.
