NYTimes.com: “Doesn’t this guy read the papers?” you’re thinking. “Doesn’t he know that everyone is calling this a comeback season for the sitcom and that Ms. Deschanel’s show is one of the most popular around? Dude’s not right in the head.”
I thought so too, for a while. But I came to realize that I’m not the problem. The problem is that we’ve reached the End of Comedy.
5 comments:
Well, as startling as it was to read this blog, there were some points that the author made that I simply can't let go of. Jokes are being reused and not in a clever or innovative way, in a half hearted chuckle sort of manner. I also know exactly what he is talking about when he examines the specifics of some of these shows. For one, The New Girl is downright boring and I can see where they wanted the audience to laugh but it's just not happening. I almost think it is worse that way because the intention was there, therefore when the reaction doesn't come, it is even more distracting.
The blog in general was a little bit of a downer. There are some funny new shows, "Modern Family" is one of them, at the same time, there are plenty of new shows that start out on a strong note and falter as the new seasons start coming. I don't really want comedy to end, no one really does. It keeps us on our toes and it is something used to relieve us of drama. Something we can relax to, something that eases the tension. I guess for the time being, I'll be thankful that there are re-runs of "I Love Lucy", "Leave it to Beaver", "Friends", etc... Still wishing for a new comedy to follow though!
I personally consider myself a comedy snob, so I have a lot to say about this article. I don't agree that all sitcoms are boring these days, but that might be because I haven't been watching TV long enough for everything to exhaust itself.
I totally agree that the genitalia jokes aren't cutting it anymore. People seem to think that just mentioning genitals or sex is intant humour. I also see this a lot in stand up comedy, especially from female comedians (because its still taboo for women to talk openly about those things). Truth is , overly-sexual humor is the easy way out. Shocking me into laughter with a detailed depiction a sexual escapade (a la the last fifteen minutes of Dane Cook's Vicious Circle) isn't smart and its getting boring.
I haven't seen a lot of jokes falling into the technology category, but I do tire of the familial war jokes. I do like shows that make fun of family dynamics, but moody 13 year olds bore me. In regards to baby's, I think Raising Hope is the best show to come on TV for several years. Then again, it's a bit more developed than the scenario depicted here. Rather than just making fun of babies pooping and spitting and peeing and ridding themselves of other bodily fluids, they focus more on a full cast of hilarious, crazy, over the top characters that also completely remind you of your own grandmother, mom, dad, etc.
In conclusion, think that some televisions humour is extremely intelligent and hilarious, but its harder to find. Right now, I'd say the smartest shows on TV, and the ones I consider worth watching (excluding everything but sitcoms) would be Raising Hope, Family Guy, Archer, and Glee.
I have to admit I hadn't really thought much about this because I really don't have time to watch tv. Now that I am thinking about it, I found it a little depressing thinking that comedy is possibly dead. I love comedy. I love to laugh. I don't want comedy to die. I can find humor in most things so I think I will just continue doing so. Maybe the new shows are just newer versions of the old stuff, but I liked it then and I like it now. If it entertains me, I'm happy. Besides, some of it isn't old to me. I will just think of the new shows as updated versions of the classics! Long live comedy!
I can see where this article is coming from. I agree that the shows I watch I think are funny but only because they remind me of the original joke that was much funnier. Home Improvement was great comedy, so when I watch Tim Allen I think he's funny, but only because I WANT him to be funny from when i genuinely laughed at his performance before. I watched the first 5 or 6 episodes of Whitney. I watched it because I enjoy Whitney Cummings as a stand up comedian. The thing about this show is that if you cut out all the funny parts and string them together… its exactly the material from her routine "Money Shot". They took these punchlines and wrote them into 30 minute shows. So maybe its not the comedy but the structure of the "sitcom".
Well, sure, if you're only going to look at bad television as examples then of course you're going to conclude that comedy has stopped evolving. Newer shows such as 30 Rock and Modern Family are incredibly smart and consistently funny. This issue is more that there is SO MUCH television that it's easy to pull a large sample of purely bad television, but people are also still making good and funny TV.
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