Galavant "Thoughts"

[Drtooth]

Selfie looks like it would have been a movie, a small February release Teen focus movie at that. I don't see this premise being stretched out a season alone. Thing could be solved in 90 minutes. Seems that sitcoms have to be either about families or relationships, and anything else is considered alienating. Then we get the whole "there's nothing original on television" complaint.

Experimental sitcoms just don't have a place anymore. Seems that was a 60's thing. A show like Get Smart, for all the spy related media coming out, wouldn't make it past 3 episodes today. In a wave, I'd say the 60's were experimental, the 70's was about social issues, the 80's was mostly family, 90's was single guys and relationships, 00 was a dire time where they tried to bring back the family sitcom and failed at it, then we got The Office and it changed the face of sitcoms... now it seems they're reeling that in. Other than Big Bang and Modern Family, nothing really seems to last, and that's going to scare off an audience savvy enough to not get attached to anything for fear it won't stick around long. Just like genre shows.

 

[mr3urious]

Black-ish does sound like a promising sitcom, as I enjoyed Bernie Mac's show from years back. Heck, its creator is even one of the showrunners.

 

[Oscarfan]

I think kind of the problem of sitcoms today is they have the character's initial drive be some goal. Gallavant's clearly is to get revenge on the king. Are they gonna drag it out if it gets another season? If it does, what does he do if he gets the king at the end of season 1?

In Selfie, the character changes positively. Then what? The concepts are too limited to allow for long-running-ness. The Middle's been going on for a number of years (with surprising good ratings; I had no idea) and it's just a family and their day-to-day problems.

 

[mr3urious]

In Selfie, the character changes positively. Then what? The concepts are too limited to allow for long-running-ness. The Middle's been going on for a number of years (with surprising good ratings; I had no idea) and it's just a family and their day-to-day problems.

That's the same reason why Back in the Game failed. Having the loser team constantly lose is tiring, but if they win too soon, then what's the point?

 

[Drtooth]

I think kind of the problem of sitcoms today is they have the character's initial drive be some goal. Gallavant's clearly is to get revenge on the king. Are they gonna drag it out if it gets another season? If it does, what does he do if he gets the king at the end of season 1?

In Selfie, the character changes positively. Then what? The concepts are too limited to allow for long-running-ness.

Exactly. These are concepts that work better as movies than as TV shows. Sure, you can have story arcs that can last up to a season. Day to day, episodic type sitcoms work much better in the long run. But if the show is about a specific continuous plotline, you're going to run into some problems. Either something's going to be stretched out (repetitive), or they're going to have to completely retool the series second season.

Like that lame baseball show I was complaining about. Quality aside, how much longevity does a show about a losing baseball team have? Either you have endless episodes where they keep losing and it becomes extremely stale or they start winning early on, thus taking away any tension and any reason to root for the underdogs. If it was what it should have been, a Romantic Comedy film that at best would be a knockoff of Bad News Bears, there's no problems there.

 

[Muppet Master]

The Middle's been going on for a number of years (with surprising good ratings; I had no idea) and it's just a family and their day-to-day problems.

What is wrong with that? It is the only sitcom that is not all about sex that is not made in the 60's, and it is hilarious, though I think it deserves a larger fanbase.

 

[Drtooth]

I honestly don't mind if a show features sex or not. All I care about is, if it does, the writings at least good. Crime shows are getting R rated violent lately, and you rarely hear complaints about that. Criminal Minds devolved into Gorn territory. Part of the reason Patankin left. I'd rather they reel that in a little than the sex.

Anyway, The Middle is a quality show, if a little formulaic. It does tend to become a sadist show, and it's getting so there's less and less sympathy for the mother. It started out as a mother who tried her best and couldn't keep up due to the demands of her family and work. Now it just seems she actually is a negligent parent who's self indulgent activities and perpetual wrongness are the reason her kids keep getting into trouble. Like every disaster the family has to face is because she didn't mail something because she was lazy or something. Yet, I do like the fact that Sue actually snaps every so often. It was starting to get desperate and pathetic to have her as the perpetual optimist. NO ONE can be that optimistic under those conditions.

ABC was the perpetrator of the family sitcom since the 80's. And they've had mixed success at every turn. As I'm always complaining about, the Hope and Faith, My Wife and Kids, According to Jim line up was full of garbage. Their worst batch ever. The George Lopez Show was a breath of fresh air, and even then they had to shove in anvilicious social issues. But at least the bits with George and his mother were funny (at least compared to all the other familycoms they had at that period). I actually scoffed at their (at the time) new family line up of The Middle and Modern Family. Especially since they haven't had a sitcom hit in ages and that was the slot Pushing Daisies got booted from. But they've been solid and enjoyable ever since. And why? They flipped the script! They didn't make the same wannabe 1980's Family Sitcom Full House knockoff.

 

[mr3urious]

Black-ish was a pretty good show so far. I like how the main character grew up in the hood and pulled himself up by the bootstraps to become a big success, yet still worried about being seen as an "Oreo" (black outside, white inside), which I'm sure a lot of other African-Americans who are trying to move out of that ghetto mentality can relate to. I especially like Laurence Fishburne as the wisecracking grandfather.

Anyway, The Middle is a quality show, if a little formulaic. It does tend to become a sadist show, and it's getting so there's less and less sympathy for the mother. It started out as a mother who tried her best and couldn't keep up due to the demands of her family and work. Now it just seems she actually is a negligent parent who's self indulgent activities and perpetual wrongness are the reason her kids keep getting into trouble. Like every disaster the family has to face is because she didn't mail something because she was lazy or something. Yet, I do like the fact that Sue actually snaps every so often. It was starting to get desperate and pathetic to have her as the perpetual optimist. NO ONE can be that optimistic under those conditions.

In the season premiere, Frankie did have good intentions for wanting to have Sue's braces removed (she's had them on for over 8 years), so I don't think that felt sadistic there.

I actually scoffed at their (at the time) new family line up of The Middle and Modern Family. Especially since they haven't had a sitcom hit in ages and that was the slot Pushing Daisies got booted from. But they've been solid and enjoyable ever since. And why? They flipped the script! They didn't make the same wannabe 1980's Family Sitcom Full House knockoff.

And although The Goldbergs may be set in the '80s, it certainly isn't your typical '80s sitcom. And unlike a certain other sitcom set in that time period, it didn't distract from poor writing and characters with a bombardment of '80s references.

 

[Drtooth]

Blackish was a brave show. It didn't wuss about around racial issues. And that's what bugs me, the Minority Show Ghetto. Racial issues tend to turn Caucasian viewers off (because we absolutely must pander to them), and if they're completely removed from the situation, you essentially have the whole show equivalent of a Token character. It's frustrating that shows have to eschew actual cultural problems yet we have to hear the first world problems of a bunch of well to do white guys gettin' some. Because that's the thing that's considered relatable.

In the season premiere, Frankie did have good intentions for wanting to have Sue's braces removed (she's had them on for over 8 years), so I don't think that felt sadistic there.

And I found that refreshing. Then it got back into Kafka comedy the second her teeth started screwing up, but then it worked itself out. So they kept it optimistic, and realistic optimism at that. Sue was dangerously going down Eek the Cat levels. They managed to dig out of a weird hole they had the past couple seasons where they went for being dumped on to Frankie turns into Daffy Duck as a mother. That's Flanderization for you. It defeated the purpose of the show when she went from struggling, well meaning mother to lazy, always wrong parent. Hopefully, this new episode means they turned that corner.

And although The Goldbergs may be set in the '80s, it certainly isn't your typical '80s sitcom. And unlike a certain other sitcom set in that time period, it didn't distract from poor writing and characters with a bombardment of '80s references.

The Goldbergs, among other things, works for being a memoir show. It may not be accurate, but the show being told as a story gives it an edge. I'll admit the 80's references are a bit inconsistent. But the 80's stuff is setting and no more. The show could be the same at any other modern time period. I know what show you're referring to. Pop culture references should never be first in the making of a TV show, unless it's some sort of sketch comedy. Plus, the whole ensemble just works beautifully.

I'll admit, though... I watched so much Clarence, I can't not hear Jeff when Adam talks. Watched a rerun where he was yelling at his mother, and expected Sumo to say something.

 

[mr3urious]

Blackish was a brave show. It didn't wuss about around racial issues. And that's what bugs me, the Minority Show Ghetto. Racial issues tend to turn Caucasian viewers off (because we absolutely must pander to them), and if they're completely removed from the situation, you essentially have the whole show equivalent of a Token character. It's frustrating that shows have to eschew actual cultural problems yet we have to hear the first world problems of a bunch of well to do white guys gettin' some. Because that's the thing that's considered relatable.

The Cosby Show was a different case. Just like Coz's style of comedy, it focused on social issues that even white people can relate to while not absolutely pandering to them, though it did go into racial stuff on occasion. It's spinoff, A Different World, was more about the racial issues, though.

The Goldbergs, among other things, works for being a memoir show. It may not be accurate, but the show being told as a story gives it an edge. I'll admit the 80's references are a bit inconsistent. But the 80's stuff is setting and no more. The show could be the same at any other modern time period. I know what show you're referring to. Pop culture references should never be first in the making of a TV show, unless it's some sort of sketch comedy. Plus, the whole ensemble just works beautifully.

I sometimes forget that The Goldbergs is set in the '80s, which is a good thing. That '80s Show, on the other hand, constantly reminded me and waved it in my face that it was set in the '80s.

I'll admit, though... I watched so much Clarence, I can't not hear Jeff when Adam talks. Watched a rerun where he was yelling at his mother, and expected Sumo to say something.

Didn't even know Sean Giambrone did both! Thanks for that little bit of trivia!