What TV SHOWS are you watching?

Gary Sax wrote: . . . but man is Chevy Chase's character not funny to me.

That's been true since 1975.

Been watching Community around the edges and I really do not like it at all. I hate almost all the characters, like an always sunny in philadelphia premise, but it's also trying to get me to like the characters and talk about sappy sitcom we're a family stuff. I get the experimental nature of this mix but it's not generating any of the cruel comedy of always sunny since it's trying to do silly morality shit like a regular sitcom. I think I see the comedy juxtaposition it's going for but I hate the characters too much.

Modern Warfare is generally considered the watershed in Community. If you have a sense for the characters, you can safely skip to it (though I like Basic Geneaology and Beginner Pottery a lot, too). There are still more sit-com standard episodes, but this begins the shift to more high-concept, hyper pop literate stuff that made Community so special to its admittedly small but passionate fanbase.

(Not that it matters if you actively hate the characters (but even Troy and Abed?).)

Right, save Troy and Abed.

I think we're near the end of season 2. I probably watch about 1/4 of the episodes.

Modern Warfare is late in season one, so if you haven’t seen it, you soon will.

I know this goes without saying, but just tap out if you don’t like it. There’s too much other stuff out there to waste your time on something you don’t like. I personally love it as a show and appreciate seeing Donald Glover, Alison Brie, Jim Rash and John Oliver (and Danny Pudi if there’s any justice in this world) before they broke out, but it is a specific taste.

Modern Warfare is s1e23, and is definitely one of the high points of the series, but the s2 followup "For a Few Paintballs More"(23+24) might be even better.

But s2e14 "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" is possibly the best. The middle of season 2 really is the apex to me. My wife and older son have been rewatching this (she and I watched most of it when it was new), and it's still a good comedy.

We're in the doldrums of Season 4 right now (when Dan Harmon had been fired as showrunner), and the will to continue is fading a bit.

I definitely get that most of the characters aren't likable, but they're not really supposed to be, especially Chevy Chase. What's appropriately meta about the show is that Chevy Chase is best in the episodes where he's being a dick to the rest of the group, because Pierce lashes out when he's being ignored. On the other hand, when he's included in the plot and phoning it he's pretty boring.

There's some additional irony in that he was written out mid-season because he was basically a bit too much Pierce.

Having seen Community makes watching "A Futile and Stupid Gesture" (the Doug Kenney of National Lampoon/Animal House/Caddyshack story) extra weird. Joel McHale plays a 1970s Chevy Chase.

Oh, the other one I'd specifically recommend is s3e14 "Pillows and Blankets", which is the Ken Burns "The Civil War" spoof. That one's pretty good just as a standalone.

I definitely see the meta commentary in the episodes about sitcoms and the form---Winger is a great example. He's supposed to be the charming white dude everyone likes but he isn't really played very charming at all nor is he that handsome or anything. But he's the handsome sitcom character so he is made so by the plot. That kind of stuff makes intellectual sense to me but maybe I'm just not that big a sitcom guy so it doesn't resonate.

No disrespect to everyone who loves the show, I can see its qualities intellectually, I'm definitely the odd man out in my friend group on it too which is nbd.

I suggested watching Community to my partner but she kyboshed it. Said it looked like another one of those 30 Rock shows. Which, she's right... right? I dont' mind them, but it seems like there are PLENTY. Parks and Rec (I think?)... Brooklyn 99 (No laugh track, sitcom sensibility but a bit post modern/a bit meta, caricature, lots of jump cuts.... it's a genre, right? Does it have a name? )

(I have only watched a few Brooklyn 999s, a fair bit of 30 Rock when it was on).

More unfounded postulating from a position of no knowledge: Does this kind of thing have its genesis in the Simpsons? Was the first stab at it (live action sitcom as described), uh, Malcolm in the MIddle? Where did these things come from? Spaced was a bit different but also another earlier kind of example in a few ways. Is Arrested Development a kind of link in the chain there somewhere? Am I just talking out of my arse?

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We started watching Sabrina season 3 instead. I wasn't keen on it, I think I may have even read here it wasn't so great, and I wasn't hugely enthused by the first two seasons, but, I've probably found it more enjoyable actually. Aside from the teenagers - which, they are SUPPOSED to annoy the fuck out of you... right?. But I like the overall concept of this one more - both being the Queen of Hell and also the old pagan gods coming back - and it just seems to have found the right balance for me humour wise especially with those ironic throwaway lines (particularly from Aunt Z).

mc wrote: I suggested watching Community to my partner but she kyboshed it. Said it looked like another one of those 30 Rock shows. Which, she's right... right? I dont' mind them, but it seems like there are PLENTY. Parks and Rec (I think?)... Brooklyn 99 (No laugh track, sitcom sensibility but a bit post modern/a bit meta, caricature, lots of jump cuts.... it's a genre, right? Does it have a name? )

(I have only watched a few Brooklyn 999s, a fair bit of 30 Rock when it was on).

More unfounded postulating from a position of no knowledge: Does this kind of thing have its genesis in the Simpsons?

I think The Simpsons as the ancestor of these shows, with The Office being a more immediate influence, is a pretty fair observation. They all have this heightened sense of reality that well exceeds your typical Seinfeld or Friends and an enormous and deep supporting cast. They definitely share an ensemble comedic sensibility and pure joke density.

There are other connecting threads as well. Michael Schur created, produced or wrote for Parks and Rec and Brooklyn 99 (and The Office and The Good Place). All aired on NBC Thursday at the same time. Donald Glover moved from the 30 Rock writing room to Community cast.

They do have their own niches (Community in high-concept episodes, Parks and Rec in its optimism in government and bureaucracy, 30 Rock in pure cartoonish-ness), but they’re probably more similar than different.

mc wrote: Was the first stab at it (live action sitcom as described), uh, Malcolm in the MIddle? Where did these things come from? Spaced was a bit different but also another earlier kind of example in a few ways. Is Arrested Development a kind of link in the chain there somewhere? Am I just talking out of my arse?

It may not have been the first, but Malcolm in the Middle was hugely influential with its single camera and lack of laugh track. I think people who haven't seen it in a while, if ever, see it as a goofy, cartoonish family sitcom (it was often that), but it was also smart, cynical, subversive and stylish.

Arrested Development is also a good call to account for the faux documentary approach, but it's probably overshadowed by The Office.

I've been watching the second season of Castlevania, and I'm halfway through and still waiting for something to happen. I'm sticking with it to the bitter end but at this point I can't bring myself to watch more than one episode in a sitting.

SebastianBludd wrote: I've been watching the second season of Castlevania, and I'm halfway through and still waiting for something to happen. I'm sticking with it to the bitter end but at this point I can't bring myself to watch more than one episode in a sitting.

It gets better.

Yeah, I almost mentioned the Office, but I've not seen much of the American one, only the original. The American one is closer in tone, from what I've seen, and is probably pretty important in the development of that style. The british one was a lot more depressing though haha, David Brent, my god. I think that's why I didn't put it in, in my mind, it's tragedy not comedy haha. it also didn't have that zany jump cut thing.

I started listening to a podcast all about The Wire, called Way Down in the Hole. The podcast is fine, but mostly ... it's just making me want to rewatch The Wire. I had to bite my tongue at work yesterday to keep myself from dropping this Weebey quote during a meeting:

Co-worker: "But I thought --"
Me: "No! Thinkin' is what you WASN'T doing, and now we look like bitches!"

Season 4 of The Last Kingdom FINALLY landed on Netflix. Feels like it's been years since season 3. I've now read enough of the books to be past where the show is at, so it's interesting to see how they adapt the material. The book's strict first-person POV makes for a great read, but probably not a great TV show, and so the screenwriters have wisely stretched beyond that. You get to witness lots of events that happen "off-screen" in the book, which is cool, and also helps flesh out some of the other characters and their relationship. I do miss Alfred though. The actor was great, and he was such a good character (while being an asshole most of the time).

Watched episode three of Tokyo Vampire Hotel, and it was disappointing. Wardrobe is still the stylish highlight of this show. Otherwise, the story has gaping plot holes and some of the effects look cheap, like Power Rangers tv show cheap. Buckets of fake blood are expended and nothing feels very consequential. However, there was an astounding speech near the end that was worth the novelty value of bizarre terminology like fucksters, and there was a genuinely surprising plot twist that was unfortunately delivered at ponderous speed. I am beginning to suspect that this show is aimed at dim-witted teenagers, despite the parental guidance warnings. I will give episode four a try, but if I don't see any improvement, I'm out.

Joebot wrote: I started listening to a podcast all about The Wire, called Way Down in the Hole. The podcast is fine, but mostly ... it's just making me want to rewatch The Wire. I had to bite my tongue at work yesterday to keep myself from dropping this Weebey quote during a meeting:

Co-worker: "But I thought --"
Me: "No! Thinkin' is what you WASN'T doing, and now we look like bitches!"

Season 4 of The Last Kingdom FINALLY landed on Netflix. Feels like it's been years since season 3. I've now read enough of the books to be past where the show is at, so it's interesting to see how they adapt the material. The book's strict first-person POV makes for a great read, but probably not a great TV show, and so the screenwriters have wisely stretched beyond that. You get to witness lots of events that happen "off-screen" in the book, which is cool, and also helps flesh out some of the other characters and their relationship. I do miss Alfred though. The actor was great, and he was such a good character (while being an asshole most of the time).

For awhile I worked with some WIRE fans . How many times we'd blurt out "Does the chair know we're gonna look like punk ass bitches" or after a mediocre sales week we'd exclaim " You all are giving me way to many fucking 40 degree days ! "