TVgasm Investigates: NeNe Leaks Can Act?

Watercooler

By WaffleBoy | Monday, September 17, 2012 | 12:00 pm | 6 Comments
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Posted in: TVgasm Investigates, Watercooler

So seeing as I’m not going to watch this show unless I end up in the road cast of A Clockwork Orange, how will we decide if  NeNe is any good? Why by using the internet and the hard work of professional TV critics, of course. It turns out there is an army, okay, like 30 people, who due to not signing up for truck drivers school when they had the chance are now big time TV critics and have to watch TV shows like this one whether they want to or not.

So what did the critics have to say about Mis NeNe? Well I went to MetaCritic.com, and after looking through a whole mess of television reviews I found out a lot of critics didn’t care about NeNe one way or the other.It turns out NeNe doesn’t have a very big part, and what with so many shows coming out right now, the bulk of critics just didn’t write about her performance.

The good news is that there was still a good number of critics who wrote about NeNe, and for the most part, they were split down the middle  as to whether she was fierce, or, not, not good. I culled out about 8 reviews. Three good to surprisingly good reviews, 4 not so good, to just not good reviews, and one from The New York Post I am saving for the end, because it kind of manages to be both at the same time

Here are the quotes about NeNe starting with the good, and ending with the strange

   

(attention “Real Housewives” fans: NeNe Leakes is surprisingly good as a supporting character) – Maureen Ryan, The Huffington Post  

Well, that’s a good review, although surprisingly isn’t the world’s greatest adverb to compliment people with. For example, let’s look at this sentence. “Despite being one of the biggest mass murderers in human history, Hitler was surprisingly caring towards animals.” Still, a compliment is a compliment, so yay NeNe!

The Full Review at The Huffington Post

 

 ”while reality-TV vet Leakes proves a finely aggressive comic actress as David’s office assistant” – Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly.com 

  Now this is a good review. See how better they are when you lose the word surprisingly?

The Full Review at EntertainmentWeekly.com

 

 ”The show’s most original character, Bryan’s imposing African-American assistant Rocky (Ne Ne Leakes of Glee and Real Housewives of Atlanta), huffs and puffs appealingly, but is mainly there to support Bryan and David.” – Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture.com

Okay, now this is another good review, and might be the best one out of the bunch. However, the huffs and puffs part makes it sound like NeNe is The Little Engine Who Could, and you never want to see a big boned character actress compared to a locomotive, so once again, this isn’t quite as nice as it could be.

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About

Waffle's family would like to go on record and say he was raised by raccoons. You eat out of the garbage one time, and everyone suddenly gets judgmental. He's just going to point out, for the last time, with God as his witness, there was ice cream in that carton. However, the fact of the matter is he was born and has lived about 90% of my life in the Bay Area in Northern California. He's a long time cube monkey (office worker), who spends too much time trying to maximize the money he spends on his cable bill, and has a not so healthy love of all things that are dumb and fun, translation: needless explosions, cable neeckedness, and any time Steven Segal attempts to express human emotion only by squinting.

6 Comments

  1. 1
    NameOfState
    Posted September 17, 2012 at 12:37 pm

    I missed the first few minutes, but unless NeNe had an opening monologue, I don’t think she was used much.

    Ellen Barkin’s character is basically, “I hate gays and wish all black people were slaves.” I mean, “Are you supposed to be using this bathroom?” when she opens the door on NeNe and “In my day, we read about Presidents who owned people like him” about Obama? It’s almost like he’s making a statement about Republicans, but it’s so subtle. What could he mean?

    The gay couple has a nice kitchen and I love that the daughter was imitating Little Edie from Grey Gardens.

    Only saw the Glee episode with Carol Burnett, and I did like American Horror Story, but from what I’ve read about his reactions to musicians who turned down offers to have their songs featured, he seems to be an angry man with an agenda. I don’t see myself watching it every week.

    I really do like that kitchen though!

  2. 2
    kloewent
    Posted September 17, 2012 at 12:52 pm

    well I watched it. The show was ok, I like the concept, makes gay families seem completely Normal! NeNe was ok, she just played her caricature of a sassy black woman who is going to beat you if you ask her to do anything for you. She wasn’t memorable, but she didn’t stand out as horrific either. Plus, she does look like a drag queen!!! I don’t know why if the mother was so appalled she didn’t just give her daughter the $35k. Is that the going rate, cause it doesn’t seem like enough to me. For the 10 months (I am including the month after because you are usually pretty messed up and perhaps have stitches!) That is less than a thousand a week!!

  3. 3
    cherrylipgloss
    Posted September 17, 2012 at 2:22 pm

    ellen barkin was my celeb girl crush after the big easy and she still looks amazing….but why does she have an old lady voice?? what the heck happened….? I still have the same voice I’ve always have and I haven’t aged as well physically as Ellen, but she sounds 90+ years old now….

  4. 4
    NotWithoutMyTV NotwithoutmyTV
    Posted September 17, 2012 at 5:32 pm

    Is asking NeNe Leaks to play the big, sassy black friend “acting”?

    Now, if she act the role of someone who WASN’T obnoxious, then give that bitch an Oscar. Snatch it right out of Helen Mirren’s hands and hand it to over to The Mouth of the South.

    And I’m right there with you, Nads. Ryan Murphy could use a nice, severe, daily beating. Sorkin, too. (Although I saw Sorkin on 30 Rock a while ago, and he was spoofing himself, so I have to respect that. Some.)

  5. 5
    See-Jay
    Posted September 17, 2012 at 11:10 pm

    There is nothing lovable about Ellen Barkin’s character. She’s simply written as an over-the-top bigot with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. The poor man’s Lucille Bluth.

  6. 6
    vallegirl vallegirl
    Posted September 17, 2012 at 11:27 pm

    FYI – if you repeat the words “NeNe Leakes” enough times then throw in “drag queen” your targeted ad will be for Astroglide.

    The more you know.

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