Or, put another way, is there only so much funny out there in TV land that if another success story shows up, or something already on the air gets better, everything else is destined to get worse?
Maybe it’s that as individual viewers we’re only allotted so much laughing in a week. I don’t know which is the case … all I know is that, week in and week out, some of my favorite sitcoms are consistently falling flat.
Let’s look at my network comedy viewings for the week. On Sundays, I tee things off with The Simpsons and Family Guy, but they’re both more shows to watch while doing something else. I’ve been catching The Simpsons for years now, but I think it’s loyalty more than enjoyment that keeps me coming back. Plus it’s not offensive, so nothing’s really pushing me to cancel that season pass (although it was borderline distasteful how bad the movie was). And Family Guy? I like Stewie and the evil monkey.
Mondays we move on to How I Met Your Mother. Now, I’m a believer in Barney and Robin as a couple, but, eerily coincidentally, ever since they got together at the beginning of this season, I’ve barely found anything to laugh at on what was once one of my favorite shows. Maybe it’s the new jiggering of things that was required to have them dating, but episode after episode has just gotten worse for me, culminating in an abomination last week with Barney in a fat suit. Debbie and I are definitely watching different shows.
But jump ahead to Wednesday night. Where did The Middle come from? And Modern Family’s not too bad itself. Strong concepts, talented casts, and writers who know how to craft a joke, or a funny situation. I know that others have found the same to applaud on Cougar Town, but I think I actually liked Hank better (and I definitely preferred Joey), so that should give you a pretty good picture of where that one resides for me.
And then on Thursday, while The Office is struggling for me, 30 Rock is showing some strength, with the right mix of characters balancing out the weaker, now less prevalent ones. Which, to me, is like Thursday went and sat itself down on its head. What planet am I on?
(Oh, and nothing to do with nothing, but I’ve caught a few of this season’s episodes of Parks and Recreation and Community on Hulu, and I’m still waiting for something to make me crack a smile.)
But back to my point — it could also be that the balance isn’t being helped any by the fact that shows like Castle and NCIS, to name but two, are funny as well, thus further diluting the week’s quota of ha ha. Or maybe it’s just some unseen-by-us-viewers seesaw that’s being ridden by the stars of two shows, like Patricia Heaton on one end and Neil Patrick Harris on the other; we don’t know about it, but when Heaton’s the heavy, Harris is flailing in the air (come to think of it, he was mostly MIA during the Everybody Loves Raymond years … something to that theory, maybe?).
Or this could all be due to any number of other factors or theories. The moral of the story, however, is that they all lead back to the same conclusion: I’m just not laughing with my television like I once did. Anybody else out there feeling the same?
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Nov 17, 2009 @ 12:30 EST5EDT
