Ted Sequel Announced, Wahlberg CoHosting 2013 Oscars with Seth Mcfarlane

[jvcarroll]

I think to enjoy Glee you need to like the kind of music that they frequently use :/

Actually, not. They do some interesting things in the arrangements. Last night they turned Baby Got Back into this quirky little ballad-like composition. It's crazy and weird and it's part of why I like the show. That's not the sort of song I'd otherwise listen to. Glee absurdity at its best:

(*apparently they lifted the arrangement from Jonathan Coulton)​

The one thing I find FG suffers from is being too popular for its own good. The show took a real massive change with the demographics going from cartoon loving 20-30 year olds to gamers and teenagers. I actually liked those "This is worse than the time [80's/Muppet/Star Wars reference]" bits, and they're a lot more fun than the pandering comedic sociopath stuff. I really don't like how they made Lois so incredibly nasty. Every so often, they'll hang a lampshadeon it or handwave it or some TV Tropes term, and that'll actually make it funny... but I really think when they decided to escalate the nastiness towards Meg (and making fun of Joe because he's crippled, which kinda kills the character's overcompensating machoness), that's when they were pandering. Thankfully the show is moderating and actually getting good again, focusing on way out plots. I'm a fan of the show, but I really think Seth is in the right to end it.

Reality TV is driving down television and all that what the guy said about Family Guy. It's all trash with no subtlety that people watch ironically or because they're lonely secretaries that actually like Bachelor shows. They're non-union sweatshop programs that cost pennies to produce (until the stars become divas and want more than an actor would) made to be as offensive as possible to get an ironic audience that watches it because they get to look at people they aren't and feel better about how pathetic they really are. Thankfully, most newer reality shows fail on network TV. Cable still keeps churning them out because they're channels no one would watch anyway without their pseudo-outrageous shlock.

As for the rest of TV... well, the thing is time changes. We're looking for a long lost feeling to come through our programming, and condemn it for not being something we really used to love that isn't around anymore. Sure, they haven't made a new F.R.I.E.N.D.S. But if they did, we'd complain about it being a F.R.I.E.N.D.S. ripoff. Not to mention all the F.R.I.E.N.D.S. ripoffs that popped up when F.R.I.E.N.D.S. was on the air. I love nostalgic stuff too, but I'm not one to deny someone else something to be nostalgic for in the future. Sitcoms made broad strokes and turned into high concept mini-movies. That's understandable, since every sitcom premise has been done to death, leading us to make either new stuff that doesn't hold attention or to use an oft used plot and accuse it of being a knockoff and a retread. Things have to move on, because a show that lasts too long gets stale. That's why everyone's favorite shows are short runners. And the ones that aren't, they'll still refuse to watch, like, or acknowledge those later seasons when things got weird.

As for Glee... I don't want to really hate it, I never cared for it... but it really seems that it was too high a concept, and it really only had an impact the first season. Same deal with Desperate Housewives. These shows that start off very strong, but fizzle with each passing season. It still amazes me that TV networks want shows that are popular right off the bat, and then they can them for not being able to keep that strong feeling up.

I really don't watch Family Guy faithfully. I watch a few episodes here and there and will watch a watch a season set of it when working on a project. Incidentally, I don't commonly listen to music while I draw. I stick on a series show instead and that's where Family Guy serves a purpose for me. It's hit or miss. Some seasons more than others. And poor Meg. I do bad for her sometimes. I feel worse for the voice actress that quit such a good gig after the first season or so. Monumentally bad decision!

You're right about these concept shows. Everything needs a gimmick to get through the door, but gimmicks fade. A successful show needs to then transcend that gimmick while not forsaking it. That is an amazing tightrope to walk! I don't expect Glee to make it much longer. I just hope they pull out all the stops before they go.

You're also right about everything being a Friends rip-off. That's true. It set the mold that sitcoms have been trapped in for a long time. Every once in a while an Arrested Development comes along to surprise everybody...then it gets canceled. Ooooh. It's new "season 4" is coming to Netflix soon. Can't wait!

 

[charlietheowl]

If it wasn't for Nostalgia Critic and all those funny internet guys who comment on terrible stuff, we'd forget all those terrible E.T. and Gremlins ripoffs from the 80's. We all love Disney movies from the 90's, but does anyone remember Don Bluth's worst film, Thumbelena? And where are you going to get an extensive list of all the horrible cartoons from the 70's? Not to mention the fact that there's a good half of classic movies and TV that were not respected or even well liked in their time. Wizard of Oz for one. Not to say that really bad stuff doesn't have sincere fans that actually like and feel nostalgic for it, but do we better remember TMNT or Street Sharks?

And there were plenty of awful sitcoms we never heard of. MeTV showed this thing with Kaye Ballad and Harry Mudd from Star Trek that I've never heard of. It was okay. Now, remembering 1960's sitcoms, The In-Laws isn't going to be on anyone's list unless they have a love for obscurity.

Same is true for music and all the people who claim that music is so much better from the sixties and seventies than today. It's easy to think music peaked with Woodstock and 1969 when all you member is Jimi Hendrix and Jefferson Airplane, but then you look and see that The Fifth Dimension was the biggest act of the time sales-wise and Glen Campbell won album of the year. Time distorts memories.

I wish Parks and Rec was more enjoyable to me. Everyone is phenomenally talented on that show. It's not like I haven't given it a chance. I just cringe at that sort of humor. I respect it even though it's not for me.

We can agree to disagree on BBT and Parks. I will say that Jim Parsons does do a very good job as Sheldon and deserves the awards he gets for his performances. As for Parks, it really did drop that embarrassment-style comedy towards the end of the second season. I think that the writers were probably a little too afraid at first to step out of the blueprint set up by The Office, but they really did a good job. The third season is light years beyond the first two in terms of original plots and character development, and the show's been awesome since.

 

[jvcarroll]

Same is true for music and all the people who claim that music is so much better from the sixties and seventies than today. It's easy to think music peaked with Woodstock and 1969 when all you member is Jimi Hendrix and Jefferson Airplane, but then you look and see that The Fifth Dimension was the biggest act of the time sales-wise and Glen Campbell won album of the year. Time distorts memories.



We can agree to disagree on BBT and Parks. I will say that Jim Parsons does do a very good job as Sheldon and deserves the awards he gets for his performances. As for Parks, it really did drop that embarrassment-style comedy towards the end of the second season. I think that the writers were probably a little too afraid at first to step out of the blueprint set up by The Office, but they really did a good job. The third season is light years beyond the first two in terms of original plots and character development, and the show's been awesome since.

I've watched a recent episode of Parks and it still gave me the queasy feeling. It's that sort of single camera humor that works for me in Arrested Development, but not there. And I adore Amy Poehler.

I still don't understand BBT being singled-out for lasciviousness. It's not even close to being the worst offender. It's just one of the few shows that has a faithful following, I guess. How I Met Your Mother is about on par with BBT but it’s receiving no complaints.Two Broke Girls, Happy Endings, Don’t Trust the B in apartment 23, Two & a Half Men and the New Girl are all far, far worse offenders than BBT. Heck, even The Middle has some sexual tension. People often forget how sexually charged Friends was and that was over a decade ago. I still don’t understand the objection to it, but it was definitely there. I agree that Parsons is amazing! I was so glad that he made it into the Muppets. It killed me to keep that secret until my friends saw the movie.

 

[Teheheman]

As far as Television goes, I agree that it's not JUST Family Guy that's killing television. I think it's the reality shows that edit the heck out of these people to make them stupid morons when they're probably smart enough to know better(Either that or they know that's how to market themselves, to make people watch, and make themselves look bad in order to get ratings so they can do other things outside of that so when the show ends, they're still raking in the dough.) The only problem I have with Family Guy is the episodes where they seem preachy for no real reason. I enjoy good episodes of TV where they have a good A-story, and, if they have one or 2 sub-plots, a good B and/or C-story. That's where the show shines.
The only thing about TV, movies, etc. is that when 1 show that's different gets big, ALL the channels and all the people wanna cash in on the popularity. It happened to reality TV, it happened to the single camera, non-laugh track comedy, the only thing I'm surprised it hasn't happened to is prime time animated shows, but I think that FOX has that covered on Sundays.
As for the Cleveland Show, look at how long Futurama and King of the Hill lasted on FOX at 7-8pm. I think at LEAST a good 2ish years. Maybe even 3. Not as long as they should have, but still longer than what I would call a 'death slot'. To ME, 'death slot' is Friday or Saturday nights.
I really haven't watched American Dad recently. It seemed too preachy at the beginning and I never really worried about watching it. Same as Glee. I enjoyed it for a while, but it got too preachy, and, from what I heard, it's REALLY bad at plots and continuity.

Daniel

 

[D'Snowth]

The only thing about TV, movies, etc. is that when 1 show that's different gets big, ALL the channels and all the people wanna cash in on the popularity. It happened to reality TV, it happened to the single camera, non-laugh track comedy, the only thing I'm surprised it hasn't happened to is prime time animated shows

Bob's Burgers?

But yeah, it's even happened to Glee, now "musical comedies" have become a dime a dozen, both on TV and in movies, and that REALLY ticks me off, because I have a musical sitcom in my creative vault, but now, if THAT ever comes to fruition, people are going to take one look, and deduce, "Ah, just another Glee ripoff, only this time, with puppets", even though this concept of mine is NOTHING like Glee (it's soooo much better).

But seriously, what was that movie that just came out last fall? About a group of misfit high schoolers joining some kind of singing program to enter a competition of sorts? The trailers and promos just basically screamed, "Hey! We're just like Glee, only with a different name!" I think even the IMDb message board for the movie summed it up best when one user posted something along the lines of, "The actual working title for this movie was probably, "Take THAT, Glee".

 

[Sgt Floyd]

Oh for the love of...

GLEE IS NOTHING BUT A GLORIFIED HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL!

Yes, the Disney movie that came out way before the show. All these "glee rip-offs" owe their debt to High School Musical.

 

[D'Snowth]

Perhaps, but they were few and far between until Glee came along; once THAT one became successful, THEN, the ripoffs became a dime a dozen.

 

[Teheheman]

Bob's Burgers?

But yeah, it's even happened to Glee, now "musical comedies" have become a dime a dozen, both on TV and in movies, and that REALLY ticks me off, because I have a musical sitcom in my creative vault, but now, if THAT ever comes to fruition, people are going to take one look, and deduce, "Ah, just another Glee ripoff, only this time, with puppets", even though this concept of mine is NOTHING like Glee (it's soooo much better).

But seriously, what was that movie that just came out last fall? About a group of misfit high schoolers joining some kind of singing program to enter a competition of sorts? The trailers and promos just basically screamed, "Hey! We're just like Glee, only with a different name!" I think even the IMDb message board for the movie summed it up best when one user posted something along the lines of, "The actual working title for this movie was probably, "Take THAT, Glee".

Yeah, I said EXCEPT FOR FOX! They have that all sewn up. and yes, I agree. High School Musical was the first to do it(Actually, Fame was the first to do it and that was at LEAST 30 years ago) but Glee was one of the first to actually do it week after week since Fame, as opposed to 3 separate TV movies BUT at LEAST HSM actually sang original material, unlike Glee, who writes plot lines around what songs they can clear.

Daniel

 

[Drtooth]

I really haven't watched American Dad recently. It seemed too preachy at the beginning and I never really worried about watching it. Same as Glee. I enjoyed it for a while, but it got too preachy, and, from what I heard, it's REALLY bad at plots and continuity.

AD stopped being preachy halfway through the second or third season. It's sitcomy, still, but very twisted. Some of the episodes now have Stan being the one coming out right, especially against Roger. But the writing is far superior to Family Guy. The middle child always has to work harder for attention.

GLEE IS NOTHING BUT A GLORIFIED HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL!

Oddly enough, not so. HSM is incredibly saccharine and unrealistic. It's a glorified version of High School period. Glee started out as a more realistic (relatively speaking) assessment of High School, at least in terms of bullying outcasts. In fact, it's original concept was to be much darker and deal with drug use and also just be a movie. Of course the show is hard to take serious when they're talking about a serious issue in their theme show centered around a specific artist. My assessment of the show is, if the plot is good, the music gets in the way, if the music's good, the plot gets in the way.

But the popular show on that really drives me bats? Once Upon a Time. It's very high concept, I'll give it that. But it takes itself too darn serious and uses Disney versions of fairy tale characters, especially if they're completely anachronistic. Peter Pan is a tale that takes place at the end of the 19th century... how the heck does it exist at the same time as Medieval/Renaissance age tales like Snow White? It's essentially a dark version of Shrek to me. Plus I kinda have a bias for Grimm. It's not perfect, but it doesn't take itself seriously. That's another bias. I like Action comedy.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

Oddly enough, not so. HSM is incredibly saccharine and unrealistic. It's a glorified version of High School period. Glee started out as a more realistic (relatively speaking) assessment of High School, at least in terms of bullying outcasts. In fact, it's original concept was to be much darker and deal with drug use and also just be a movie.

The only reason i say that is because it's still roughly the same concept. It's high school, and there's lots of singing. I understand that Glee dives well deeper when it comes to realism. No one in High School randomly breaks out in song like HSM.

But the popular show on that really drives me bats? Once Upon a Time. It's very high concept, I'll give it that. But it takes itself too darn serious and uses Disney versions of fairy tale characters, especially if they're completely anachronistic. Peter Pan is a tale that takes place at the end of the 19th century... how the heck does it exist at the same time as Medieval/Renaissance age tales like Snow White? It's essentially a dark version of Shrek to me. Plus I kinda have a bias for Grimm. It's not perfect, but it doesn't take itself seriously. That's another bias. I like Action comedy.

I've never heard of this Once Upon a Time. I've watched Grimm a few times. Seemed like a show you had to watch from the beginning to understand so I never bothered much with it, but from what I've seen it was decent.