You can’t keep Daddy Arnold down. Despite pretty atrocious reviews and a slightly better audience score, FUBAR, the Arnold Schwarzenegger spy show, reached number 1 on Netflix’s global charts. Not too shabby for a show with a 49 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Netflix released its viewing numbers for the week of May 22 through May 28, and FUBAR topped the list with 88,940,000 hours viewed. It seems that we might have a little bit of a The Super Mario Bros. Movie situation on our hands, with critics lambasting the show and the audience not listening. For context, It has a pretty good audience score of 70 percent, as of writing.
For the uninitiated, FUBAR is an action show starring Schwarzenegger as Luke Brunner and Monica Barbaro as his daughter Emma Brunner. The plot involves father/daughter duo both discovering that the other is a CIA agent, and then being forced to team up as partners.
Camilla Long from the Sunday Times said the show is “glossy” but ultimately “meaningless.” Clint Worthington from Consequence said the show lasts “eight punishing hours” and has “lukewarm melodrama and tepid, repetitive jokes.” Woof. Fortunately, not even critics can mess with Daddy Arnold.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Schwarzenegger said he only agreed to do the show if it was something that would use “all my aspects and talents.” He continued; “It has to be fun. It has to be action-packed. It has to be sweet. And we shouldn’t try to get around my age — let’s play my age.” As for his costar, Schwarzenegger called her an “unbelievable actress.”
“There were days that were miserable — freezing cold and we’re working at night and she had to have this flimsy outfit on, but she never complained. She’s a serious player who is going to go all the way in her career because she’s willing to work hard and believes in herself and has this great energy that makes you come to life — because acting is not a one-way street. You need a partner who is really punching back.”
Another aspect of the show is how Schwarzenegger’s character grapples with infidelity in the line of his duties as a CIA agent, a storyline that somewhat mirrors his real life. The actor famously had a secret child with his maid, and he got divorced over it. The difference is, he said, that he doesn’t consider what he does as a CIA agent cheating because it was part of his job, and his wife moved on because he was never home.
“But in [my real-life marriage to Shriver], it was my f***up. It was my failure. Also, in the show, he’s deep down still in love with his wife.”
FUBAR is currently streaming on Netflix.
