I Think I Have A Problem, Again
Damn television. Now that I am at my parents house again, I find myself watching television on a regular basis once more, and it pains me. There really is nothing on television that's worth even turning it on, and yet I do. TV is a drug. It's much worse than any other drug available: It is easily accessible to everyone, it takes no effort to use, it is always available, and it is unrelentingly captivating. But, like other drugs, it at least gives me something to ponder. Here are my worthless opinions on the following strands of this drug I've been taking lately:
MALCOM IN THE MIDDLE
In a perfect world, Malcom in the Middle would be merely mediocre. The show is moderately funny, with manic performances and writing decent enough to continue watching. But it just doesn't strike me as brilliant or amazing, at least on its own. In comparison to other family sitcoms, however, this is Citizen god damn Kane. Certain elements can be hilarious, and when compared to other shows where I don't laugh once, Malcom in the Middle is automatically a classic. I guess.
FAMILY GUY
Why, Family Guy? Why you gotta? This show is not like other shows that aren't funny. Most bad TV shows are harmless, floating awash in a sea of shit but never actually making any difference here or there. Family Guy, however, has changed the course of television comedy, and a lot of comedy in general, and for the worse. You see Family Guy inspiration in a lot of terrible shows, and the climate of TV comedy is at one of the lowest points its ever been. Watching it hurts. It's not just "Oh, that wasn't really funny", it's "Wow, they took some real time and effort to make that not funny". Family Guy's rampant and near-disease-like use of pop culture references is so grating and lazy, and has inspired filth like "Epic Movie", comedy that thinks a reference in-and-of-itself is funny. So many jokes are not nearly worth their setup: There's a bit where Stewie is the King in Mr. Roger's Neighborhood of Make-Believe, and he makes a crack about how he must be in Mexico because the castle is right next to the trainyard. That's it. That's the joke that they bothered to film, rather than animate, with live-action puppets and scenery. The joke is throwawy at best, but took someone an awful lot of work to pull off just so Seth McFarlene can say that Mexico is poorer than the United States. The show winds up being a string of non-sequiturs, thrown out by Seth as he might at a party, then diligently animated by a team of workers who work a million times harder than the piss-poor writers. The format of using near-constant cutaways and pop culture references (which was directly stolen from The Simpsons, who incorporated these techniques into actual character development and plot lines) completely eliminates any semblance of story or connection to the characters, and the show suffers considerably. It's like watching a series of YouTube videos back to back: Hey! It's the theme song from some old 80's show! Ha ha! Hey, there's a guy getting kicked in the nuts again and again! Ha ha! It's joke after joke, but so many of the jokes take way too long to get across. I know Family Guy relies heavily on the "What The Fuck Factor" (the sole comedic element many of Adult Swim's shows), and often throws you curveballs with random events and overlong songs, but so many of these strike me more as time-wasters than legitimate comedic devices. When Peter clutches his leg and goes "Aaaaah!" for what feels like ten minutes, a show like South Park would have fit in ten or fifteen jokes instead of that single joke, which is only funny in the sense that you're confused as to why it's there. Once you're hit by the WTF Factor more than once, it becomes not so much funny as it is tiring. Also, the show relies very heavily on easy gags, like crazy characters who yell a lot in place of something clever. The writers really seem lazy to me, and often place some wacky character into a situation where better shows would put a legit joke.
Here's the abstract for all those with no attention span: Fuck Family Guy.
THE SIMPSONS
I am a long-time Simpsons fan, and so I shall remain until the day I die. At it's core period (Seasons 2-9, if anyone's counting), this is the most brilliant thing television has ever produced. The Simpsons has influenced so much of comedy and it is consistently hilarious at every viewing. It is the rare show that gets funnier and funnier the more you see it. Of course, after the big change-up of writersaround the 10th season, there became a difference between the Simpsons on TV and the Simpsons I refer to when I say I love the Simpsons. When I say that, I'm basically disregarding anything after the 9th season (with the exception of a few smatterings of quality), and other Simpsons fans recognize what I mean. There seems to be a pretty general consensus on where the run of the never-ending show's good times end.
But! The Simpsons Movie was fantastic. Yes, it was heralded by most of the original writers, but it inspired me to start watching the show again. I have come to a revelation: The Simpsons is good. It seems to me the show is in a third era, no longer in the good nor the post-good, but a an interesting subsequent period that is not as good as it ought to be but not as bad as you think it is. This designation may just be inspired by watching Family Guy in such close conjunction, but The Simpsons as it stands today really is an interesting bit of comedy in the bloated world of bland and craptacular television. It's humor is kind of surreal at times: It can be unorthodox without relying on the WTF factor, and tries decently hard to come up with some clever lines and situations. Cleverness is the key: So many shows can be funny, but what makes a show worth remembering is if its clever. The Simpsons, as it stands now, remains one of the only clever shows on television. It's still pretty hit and miss, but at least it has some hits. There was a time when I had abandoned this show, as many fans have. If you've turned your back on The Simpsons, give it another try. If you're in the right mood and you catch it on the right day, you just might find yourself laughing histarically despite yourself.
EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND
Okay, we all know this show sucks. But here is specifically why it sucks: Every episode of the show is exactly the same. There's some problem, the family finds out about it, they get neurotic and yell a lot. Roll credits. Every episode is a different problem, but it winds up the same exact way every time. The family is nuts and I guess we're supposed to think that's funny. More lazy writing. I'm sure every script is just "[something happens]; Ray's wife finds out; Wife: 'You idiot! You're a terrible husband!'; Ray: 'Well you don't let me have sex with you very much'; Ray's mother: 'I want to be involved!'; Ray's dad: 'Pork!'; Ray's brother: 'Here we go again'; [resolution]" Yes, it was a waste of time to discover why this show is awful, but there it is anyway.
Um, that is all.
MALCOM IN THE MIDDLE
In a perfect world, Malcom in the Middle would be merely mediocre. The show is moderately funny, with manic performances and writing decent enough to continue watching. But it just doesn't strike me as brilliant or amazing, at least on its own. In comparison to other family sitcoms, however, this is Citizen god damn Kane. Certain elements can be hilarious, and when compared to other shows where I don't laugh once, Malcom in the Middle is automatically a classic. I guess.
FAMILY GUY
Why, Family Guy? Why you gotta? This show is not like other shows that aren't funny. Most bad TV shows are harmless, floating awash in a sea of shit but never actually making any difference here or there. Family Guy, however, has changed the course of television comedy, and a lot of comedy in general, and for the worse. You see Family Guy inspiration in a lot of terrible shows, and the climate of TV comedy is at one of the lowest points its ever been. Watching it hurts. It's not just "Oh, that wasn't really funny", it's "Wow, they took some real time and effort to make that not funny". Family Guy's rampant and near-disease-like use of pop culture references is so grating and lazy, and has inspired filth like "Epic Movie", comedy that thinks a reference in-and-of-itself is funny. So many jokes are not nearly worth their setup: There's a bit where Stewie is the King in Mr. Roger's Neighborhood of Make-Believe, and he makes a crack about how he must be in Mexico because the castle is right next to the trainyard. That's it. That's the joke that they bothered to film, rather than animate, with live-action puppets and scenery. The joke is throwawy at best, but took someone an awful lot of work to pull off just so Seth McFarlene can say that Mexico is poorer than the United States. The show winds up being a string of non-sequiturs, thrown out by Seth as he might at a party, then diligently animated by a team of workers who work a million times harder than the piss-poor writers. The format of using near-constant cutaways and pop culture references (which was directly stolen from The Simpsons, who incorporated these techniques into actual character development and plot lines) completely eliminates any semblance of story or connection to the characters, and the show suffers considerably. It's like watching a series of YouTube videos back to back: Hey! It's the theme song from some old 80's show! Ha ha! Hey, there's a guy getting kicked in the nuts again and again! Ha ha! It's joke after joke, but so many of the jokes take way too long to get across. I know Family Guy relies heavily on the "What The Fuck Factor" (the sole comedic element many of Adult Swim's shows), and often throws you curveballs with random events and overlong songs, but so many of these strike me more as time-wasters than legitimate comedic devices. When Peter clutches his leg and goes "Aaaaah!" for what feels like ten minutes, a show like South Park would have fit in ten or fifteen jokes instead of that single joke, which is only funny in the sense that you're confused as to why it's there. Once you're hit by the WTF Factor more than once, it becomes not so much funny as it is tiring. Also, the show relies very heavily on easy gags, like crazy characters who yell a lot in place of something clever. The writers really seem lazy to me, and often place some wacky character into a situation where better shows would put a legit joke.
Here's the abstract for all those with no attention span: Fuck Family Guy.
THE SIMPSONS
I am a long-time Simpsons fan, and so I shall remain until the day I die. At it's core period (Seasons 2-9, if anyone's counting), this is the most brilliant thing television has ever produced. The Simpsons has influenced so much of comedy and it is consistently hilarious at every viewing. It is the rare show that gets funnier and funnier the more you see it. Of course, after the big change-up of writersaround the 10th season, there became a difference between the Simpsons on TV and the Simpsons I refer to when I say I love the Simpsons. When I say that, I'm basically disregarding anything after the 9th season (with the exception of a few smatterings of quality), and other Simpsons fans recognize what I mean. There seems to be a pretty general consensus on where the run of the never-ending show's good times end.
But! The Simpsons Movie was fantastic. Yes, it was heralded by most of the original writers, but it inspired me to start watching the show again. I have come to a revelation: The Simpsons is good. It seems to me the show is in a third era, no longer in the good nor the post-good, but a an interesting subsequent period that is not as good as it ought to be but not as bad as you think it is. This designation may just be inspired by watching Family Guy in such close conjunction, but The Simpsons as it stands today really is an interesting bit of comedy in the bloated world of bland and craptacular television. It's humor is kind of surreal at times: It can be unorthodox without relying on the WTF factor, and tries decently hard to come up with some clever lines and situations. Cleverness is the key: So many shows can be funny, but what makes a show worth remembering is if its clever. The Simpsons, as it stands now, remains one of the only clever shows on television. It's still pretty hit and miss, but at least it has some hits. There was a time when I had abandoned this show, as many fans have. If you've turned your back on The Simpsons, give it another try. If you're in the right mood and you catch it on the right day, you just might find yourself laughing histarically despite yourself.
EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND
Okay, we all know this show sucks. But here is specifically why it sucks: Every episode of the show is exactly the same. There's some problem, the family finds out about it, they get neurotic and yell a lot. Roll credits. Every episode is a different problem, but it winds up the same exact way every time. The family is nuts and I guess we're supposed to think that's funny. More lazy writing. I'm sure every script is just "[something happens]; Ray's wife finds out; Wife: 'You idiot! You're a terrible husband!'; Ray: 'Well you don't let me have sex with you very much'; Ray's mother: 'I want to be involved!'; Ray's dad: 'Pork!'; Ray's brother: 'Here we go again'; [resolution]" Yes, it was a waste of time to discover why this show is awful, but there it is anyway.
Um, that is all.
posted by MC Harv at 3:49 PM
2 Comments:
Maybe it's the choices of shows that is the problem. You could also just not turn it on!
Sigh, I know. The answer really is that simple.
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