For years now, I've been bored senseless by the morality plays that comprise most sit-coms… certainly those that fall in the "family/relationship" mold. Doofus but lovable dad/male relationship figure, who's not-so-secretly hiding a heart of gold and endearing love for his wife/family/girlfriend. He usually suffers from some "debilitating failure" in the looks department (overweight, unusually tall, simply funny looking, etc.). He's joined by a (generally) hot wife who is absurdly tolerant, wiser, by far, than her schlub of a husband, and the glue that holds everything together. Children come in mixed assortments, but almost always wiser/smarter than their parents, yet always loving and reaffirming by show's end. Each episode begins with some character flaw being revealed, 17 minutes of 3-beat jokes ensue as everyone exposes the foibles of said flaw, then the resolution swoops in and everyone learns a valuable lesson about love, family, relationships, etc. It's the same formula that's been around since at least I Love Lucy, so what's not to love. (As an aside, gender roles were reversed at that time, with Lucy the lovable ditz and Desi the eternally patient anchor for the relationship. But then, that was the 50's. We've grown so much since then.)
But even when they manage to avoid parts of this formula, I still can't seem to dredge up much interest. The Office—I've never been much for the humor of embarrassment, so I get twitchy after a while. And the faux-documentary camera work doesn't help that twitchy. Scrubs—Try as I might, I just can't get into it. How I Met Your Mother—don't even get me started. All the rave reviews on earth can't keep me watching this thing through a full episode (and yes, I know it definitely falls into the relationship category I mentioned above). Arrested Development—I actually liked this one. But I could never develop a strong habit for watching it. Plus, it got bounced around so much I never knew when I was going to find it.
This year, it's all been about 30 Rock. Countless rave reviews, "best of the new season" and general hype, and my reaction was a determined "you've gotta be kidding". Yes, I recognize that Alec Baldwin is very funny, and I've even heard that the show's gotten much better since it's first few weeks. Don't care, I'm not going back. I've already sacrificed an hour of my life I'll never get back to the first two episodes, I'm not risking any more time on this one.
Then there's the mid-season replacement Rules of Engagement. Looked like it could be funny from the ads leading up to it's premiere. And it's got some fun people in the cast. And yet… Wow, could I not dislike a show more. I'm pretty sure I'd take 30 Rock over this thing. Unfunny, with bad timing and the most annoying relationships I've seen on TV in a long time. Is this really how most of the couples in this country relate? Constant bickering and one-upsmanship battles, leading to eventual compromise and reconciliation? (Something tells me this is more "it's worked for Ray and Belushi and all those other guys, so why reinvent the wheel", but I'm amazingly tired of the whole thing.) So I'm rejecting this one as well.
But I did actually find one sit-com this year that I like. The Class. Yes, the sit-com that won the People's Choice award for Favorite New Sit-Com is my favorite new sit-com of the year. And, knowing my deep abiding love and respect for the People's Choice Awards, you can guess my reaction to that coincidence. My only consolation is that they seemed to get closer to the mark with their TV choices than they did with their movie choices. Apparently, the People don't get out to the movies much, but they do watch a lot of TV.
The most interesting thing about The Class for me is that it's really more of a sit-soap (situation soap opera, of course) than a sit-com. There are no morals to the story at the end of each half-hour. Everyone's looking for love and finding it in the wrong place first, only to have the right choice inevitably complicated. I found the characters amusing and the actors playing them very funny and appealing.
So it's no surprise to me to read, in last week's Entertainment Weekly, that it's "on the bubble", replaced by the one-two punch of The New Adventures Of Old Christine (quite possibly the worst title ever) and my new favorite show, Rules of Engagement. It's almost too bad 30 Rock's on a different station. They could put the three of them together on one night and I could ignore them all at once.
Ah well, there's always next season. More time for me for reading and writing and other much more productive activities.
But even when they manage to avoid parts of this formula, I still can't seem to dredge up much interest. The Office—I've never been much for the humor of embarrassment, so I get twitchy after a while. And the faux-documentary camera work doesn't help that twitchy. Scrubs—Try as I might, I just can't get into it. How I Met Your Mother—don't even get me started. All the rave reviews on earth can't keep me watching this thing through a full episode (and yes, I know it definitely falls into the relationship category I mentioned above). Arrested Development—I actually liked this one. But I could never develop a strong habit for watching it. Plus, it got bounced around so much I never knew when I was going to find it.
This year, it's all been about 30 Rock. Countless rave reviews, "best of the new season" and general hype, and my reaction was a determined "you've gotta be kidding". Yes, I recognize that Alec Baldwin is very funny, and I've even heard that the show's gotten much better since it's first few weeks. Don't care, I'm not going back. I've already sacrificed an hour of my life I'll never get back to the first two episodes, I'm not risking any more time on this one.
Then there's the mid-season replacement Rules of Engagement. Looked like it could be funny from the ads leading up to it's premiere. And it's got some fun people in the cast. And yet… Wow, could I not dislike a show more. I'm pretty sure I'd take 30 Rock over this thing. Unfunny, with bad timing and the most annoying relationships I've seen on TV in a long time. Is this really how most of the couples in this country relate? Constant bickering and one-upsmanship battles, leading to eventual compromise and reconciliation? (Something tells me this is more "it's worked for Ray and Belushi and all those other guys, so why reinvent the wheel", but I'm amazingly tired of the whole thing.) So I'm rejecting this one as well.
But I did actually find one sit-com this year that I like. The Class. Yes, the sit-com that won the People's Choice award for Favorite New Sit-Com is my favorite new sit-com of the year. And, knowing my deep abiding love and respect for the People's Choice Awards, you can guess my reaction to that coincidence. My only consolation is that they seemed to get closer to the mark with their TV choices than they did with their movie choices. Apparently, the People don't get out to the movies much, but they do watch a lot of TV.
The most interesting thing about The Class for me is that it's really more of a sit-soap (situation soap opera, of course) than a sit-com. There are no morals to the story at the end of each half-hour. Everyone's looking for love and finding it in the wrong place first, only to have the right choice inevitably complicated. I found the characters amusing and the actors playing them very funny and appealing.
So it's no surprise to me to read, in last week's Entertainment Weekly, that it's "on the bubble", replaced by the one-two punch of The New Adventures Of Old Christine (quite possibly the worst title ever) and my new favorite show, Rules of Engagement. It's almost too bad 30 Rock's on a different station. They could put the three of them together on one night and I could ignore them all at once.
Ah well, there's always next season. More time for me for reading and writing and other much more productive activities.
Comments
Lol...I have an affinity for 30 Rock on Tivo. I FF to Alec Baldwin and laugh my ass off. Tracy Morgan is funny sometimes too. The rest of the show? Meh.
I also like the Office. But, like you, I get uncomfortable. Again, HAIL Tivo! I just FF to the next segment.
The thing I've done with sitcoms is that I now treat them like stand up comedy on tape. I'll watch a little, and if I don't laugh, I FF until I get a laugh. I'm not interested in the stories or the characters at all.
I leave character development to the 1 hours like Battlestar Galactica.
Q