Tom & Greg

November 5, 2021 10:37 AM

The Rom-Com of the Year (if it is to be said)
posted by chavenet (15 comments total)

Truly wonderful television. Congrats to both these fine actors.
posted by No Robots at 10:50 AM on November 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

It's like if you edited a boxing match down so it was just shots of two guys in a ring hugging.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 10:54 AM on November 5, 2021 [4 favorites]

I have not yet clicked. really hoping this is about Succession... (goes to click)
posted by supermedusa at 11:03 AM on November 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

YAY!
posted by supermedusa at 11:06 AM on November 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

I'm slavering, pig man!
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 12:12 PM on November 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

Sen. Eavis: Do you know what is special about the hours between 3 am and 5 am on the night of March 12th?

Tom: Uh, no sir.

Sen. Eavis: That was the only two hour period in which you did not send an e-mail to Mr. Hirsch with the subject "You can't make a Tom-lette without breaking some Gregs." You sent the same e-mail to him 67 times in one evening.
posted by Four String Riot at 12:12 PM on November 5, 2021 [5 favorites]

Am I crazy or did they emphasize the first syllable in the title card at the end.

SUCCESSION
posted by good in a vacuum at 12:17 PM on November 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

Yes.. see it says "suck". Because the joke is the editor made them look like gay men, who suck cock.

I dunno I'm in a grumpy mood today but there always seems to be something a little homophobic in these things. "Look, ha ha, isn't it funny these two guys look gay if we edit them this way?" It's also a little weird to see this edit defuse the actual weird gender / sexuality content. Tom and Greg are both super straight in the show and the way Tom makes sexist insults ("training bra") or homosexualized ironic comments ("yes I am seducing you") is a big part of the writing of those two characters. Seeing that turned into a "maybe they're actually gay!" joke isn't clever, it debases the writing, and all in service for a kind of dumb joke.

But I'm grumpy and am literally overthinking this plate of beans. I can see it's also a funny edit. And lord knows I love reading gay subtext into all sorts of other stuff whether it was originally intended or not. I guess I'd find this funnier if it was more about parodying romcoms and less about parodying the idea of gay men.
posted by Nelson at 12:30 PM on November 5, 2021 [14 favorites]

it is amazing how this would give a non-viewer of the show a wildly distorted view of what the show is about. I mean there is a definitely undercurrents of Dom/sub stuff with Tom & Greg...but for the most part in the show Tom is cruel and beating Greg down because frankly Tom is oppressed by everyone and Greg is the only one he can return the favor in kind.
posted by mmascolino at 12:55 PM on November 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

I find myself reacting mostly the same way, Nelson. Only difference is that for most of it, I pretty much was seeing this video as a solid parody of formulaic rom-com trailers. But then, yeah, they kind of wrecked it (and made it explicitly homophobic) with that dumb "suck" joke.
posted by The Baffled King at 12:55 PM on November 5, 2021 [3 favorites]

Greg is the only dog Tom gets to kick. so of course, our homophobic culture being what it is, in classic bully style, Tom's kicking of Greg must include a homo/dom subtext, that Greg is Tom's bitch or whatever. it's done really well in the show, and I don't think Nelson's assessment of its...mishandling, perhaps? on the spoof, is off base or due only to grumpiness. It does detract from the nuances of the power dynamic that the show portrays. I guess swapping out the high-concept toxic-ness of the show for the more formulaic toxicity of a rom-com?
posted by supermedusa at 1:13 PM on November 5, 2021 [2 favorites]

I just liked the use of Lou Reed's song Street Hassle as the soundtrack in the first bit of the vid. Is that song actually in the show?

I saw the first season of Succession and didn't get into it. I've seen good series with unlikeable characters - the trick seems to be to make them sympathetic. Sadly Succession's characters couldn't cross that bridge for me. Oh well.
posted by storybored at 1:33 PM on November 5, 2021 [1 favorite]

Having never seen the show or read anything about it at all, I wasn't quite sure that this wasn't a trailer for a real show.
posted by vernondalhart at 2:30 AM on November 6, 2021 [2 favorites]

Succession is a perfect royal court politics show. It’s Game of Thrones with zero white knights.
posted by macrael at 9:59 AM on November 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

I've never seen or heard of this show and I didn't read the thread before watching. And I definitely thought this show is about two guys falling in love. For real. But apparently the show is not like that at all?

This is not cute or funny if it's a joke. I was genuinely excited to see this and wanted to watch the show. Now I'm a little disappointed.
posted by aclevername at 1:05 PM on November 6, 2021