I only have one criteria. Either I enjoy watching a show, or I don't enjoy it. This thing caused me psychological pain in just the first 10 minutes. I think it was at least half as bad as the worst reviews called it.
I just recently defected from reddit for the umpteenth time and it is so wild to see how normal these comments are compared to the cesspool I've gotten so used to. I was ready to delve into how abhorrently bad the show was via the comments, only to find normal people!
Yeah that's kinda how I feel about The Acolyte. Liked parts of it, but most was just kinda lame but not really a big deal as everyone else making it out to be. Things just suck sometimes.
The main problem is just that a lot of this stuff is being tied to huge, (generally) well-remembered franchises so there is more eyes on it, and its directly comparing itself to better works. For example, The Acolyte might be okay by the standards of being just another sci-fi show, or as a fanfiction where the expectations are lower, but not when it puts itself alongside other main-line entries like the original trilogy, or even something modern like The Mandalorian.
Yeah I think you're right as a fanfic. Coming of the heels of Andor too.... I mean everything is gonna look shit compared to that series haha. But I think it's also our first look at The High Republic and honestly expectations are rightfully high (no pun intended) because this is effectively our first peek at something that has nothing to do with the Skywalker era. And it just didn't meet that bar, which kinda puts a bad taste in future endeavors.
Honestly it's a systematic failure of Executive leadership at Disney more than anything. At countless points this project should've been axed or halted for rewrites. Giving that much latitude to an inexperienced show runner is very dangerous.
Yeah, that was my take too. Interesting, and decent overall with no real high points, but it wasn't some kind of horrible show at all. Just kinda meh, more of a fanfic idea than a real show.
The internet has a difficult time with nuance. Edit: I was wondering why this got so downvoted, but I probably didn't get my point across. I'm not commenting on the quality of the show, I'm commenting on the internet's tendency to jump straight to "this creative work lacks any redeeming qualities and the creators of said work should be punished for their role in it." On reddit in particular, the backlash against this show was suspiciously vitriolic.
To your edit: are you really surprised when the show was geared towards offending the only audience the show would ever have?
The show is hot dogshit, made for an audience that doesn't exist. Of course the response was vitriolic, it is quite literally the only outcome for a show so poorly thought out.