[retsibsi]

Yeah, but I disagree with you a bit. If it were less heavily scripted, it may or may not be going well, but it would feel very different from this and would not be copping the same criticisms. Or if they unashamedly leant into the scriptedness and didn't try to simulate normal human interaction, they would be criticised for being "wooden" or whatever, but it wouldn't have this slightly creepy vibe.

[motoxpro]

I get you.

I think for me, just knowing what is probably on the teleprompter, and what is not, I am willing to bet a lot of the "wooden" vibe you are getting is actually NOT scripted.

There is no way for people to remember that 20 minutes of dialog, so when they are not looking at the camera, that is unscripted, and viceversa.

[replwoacause]

I agree with your take, makes a lot of sense. I think most of the criticism I see directed at the presenters seems unfair. I guess some people expect them to be both genius engineers and expert on-screen personalities. They may feel a little stiff or scripted at times, but as an engineer myself I know I’d do a hell of a lot worse under these circumstances. Your view seems like a reasonable one to me.