Rules of Engagement – Is funny all that counts on a sitcom?

While I know that some may disagree with me, I continue to maintain that Rules of Engagement is unique among sitcoms in its almost complete lack of connection between episodes. And in part I believe that that’s to the show’s detriment.

Last night’s episode was completely random. Particularly following last week, when Jeff and Audrey lost their surrogate, that stuck out. The show’s always going to be funny, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I just think it needs some semblance of a thread holding it together. At the very least a multi-episode plot would do.

Think Friends as a comparison — most weeks, when there wasn’t big picture story movement, at least someone was in the midst of a relationship that lasted for five episodes. There was something concrete that you took with you from one week into the next. Rules of Engagement episodes, on the other hand, generally stand on their own.

Last night Russell was back to the role he played early last season, adding to the laughter using Timmy as a vehicle. Not to give you the impression that I found his highly offensive e-mail to be funny … but his story played out via Timmy.

I did thoroughly enjoy “The Bank,” the list of Audrey’s offenses that Jeff keeps so that he can trade them in when he screws up. It was a little inconsistent for it only to come up now (to continue my Friend’s comparison, we always knew Chandler smoked but only saw it in action here or there; we should have known the list existed on Rules, even if Jeff didn’t pull it out until last night). But aside from that it was really funny, and even funnier when Jeff called one usage “a teachable moment.”

For the first time in a long time I enjoyed Adam, even if he is way dumber now than he was when the show started. But his bungling of Jeff’s idea with Jen fit in perfectly with the extent of stupid we know him to be.

Anyway, Jeff was awesome with “The Bank,” and it’s just a shame that it was over by the credits. It’s always funny when Audrey and Jeff square off (and I loved the hard copy of the list he kept taped under the drawer), but Audrey’s discovery could have played out differently. Alternatively, Jeff could have continued using the system in secret, making it a plot point good for a recall laugh every now and again. There’s no rush to conclude some of these stories.

The initial question that I posed isn’t as simple as it sounds. Like I said, there isn’t much that can detract from the humor of an episode of Rules of Engagement. It’s a really funny show, with a great cast and some great writing. But in general the show’s been scripted as if it were in a sprint, and not a marathon — the latter, of course, being what a television season is.

In addition, Timmy is a great addition, but his addition has adversely altered the way Russell participates. It’s almost as if the writers can only write for five people, and Timmy elbows Russell out. Instead of his addition expanding Russell’s character into work Russell and fun Russell, it’s contracted the role. That’s definitely something that needs looking into.

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Sep 28, 2010 @ 14:00 EST5EDT