Sitcoms

[Avaitor]

To be honest, I think How I Met Your Mother pretty much took the Friends formula and made it work.

You know, I was going to say this but I thought you guys would have been tired of my HIMYM praising so I let it slide.

But really, the one thing that the show succeeds with as opposed to Friends is that from the very beginning, they made it very clear that this show was going to balance comedy, drama and relationships. Friends just tried to combine all of this when it started to run out of ideas and the chemistry between the cast was running thin.

Also, are they still showing MWC on Nick@Nite? Whenever I turn to the block when accidentally going over [as], all I see is Friends and George Lopez

[Spark Of Spirit]

To be honest, I think How I Met Your Mother pretty much took the Friends formula and made it work.

You know, I was going to say this but I thought you guys would have been tired of my HIMYM praising so I let it slide.

But really, the one thing that the show succeeds with as opposed to Friends is that from the very beginning, they made it very clear that this show was going to balance comedy, drama and relationships. Friends just tried to combine all of this when it started to run out of ideas and the chemistry between the cast was running thin.

And even then, despite it's popularity it's not the behemoth Friends was, which should hopefully show that the Friends formula is pretty much stretched as far as it will go. People don't want a formula, they just want good shows.

But the thing that stings the most is the whole "you have to be a megahit in the first few episodes" which rarely every happens. Again, Friends was a fluke. I mean, most every single sitcom that lasted a long time before Friends took between 2 to 4 seasons (even Full House!) before becoming huge. You rarely get to see that happen anymore since they get canceled before the first season is done most of the time, or buried in a death slot.

Also, are they still showing MWC on Nick@Nite? Whenever I turn to the block when accidentally going over [as], all I see is Friends and George Lopez

They took it off. I guess it was a summer only thing last year. :/

George Lopez is still on there despite it having been there for like 5 years now.

[Kiddington]

But the thing that stings the most is the whole "you have to be a megahit in the first few episodes" which rarely every happens. Again, Friends was a fluke. I mean, most every single sitcom that lasted a long time before Friends took between 2 to 4 seasons (even Full House!) before becoming huge. You rarely get to see that happen anymore since they get canceled before the first season is done most of the time, or buried in a death slot.

I know what you're saying, but honestly... I'm having a really hard time thinking of sitcoms that are on TV, right now, that were megahits coming out of the gate (unless my definition of a megahit is too steep).

The closest thing that really comes to mind is Modern Family, which was raking in the awards from Day 1 (not sure how the ratings were back then, though). Everything else, I really don't know. Maybe some of that CBS dreck like BBT and Two and a Half Men fits, but I barely remember people ever talking about BBT back in 2007-2008, when it actually debuted. Hell, even The Office, the closest thing to a megahit NBC has had in roughly 10 years, was only a mid-season replacement, and an entirely forgettable one at the time.

Who knows how they do stuff in the TV industry anymore. I really think the "throw darts at a wall and see what sticks" method is a more appropriate way of describing things than ever.

[Avaitor]

There is Glee, if you count it as a sitcom...

But honestly, from what I recall, Modern Family didn't really get attention until Emmy season came. It was well-reviewed and decently popular but wasn't exactly the smash hit and critical darling it is now. It also premiered at the same time as Glee, which did much better in the ratings, and Community which IIRC did and still does gather more props from critics.

[Kiddington]

There is Glee, if you count it as a sitcom...

Well... ehhhh...

Actually though, wasn't Glee almost cancelled after Season 1, but Fox decided at the last minute to give it another chance (and then it really took off)? I swear I remember reading that somewhere, but maybe I'm mistaken.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Well, I meant multi-camera sitcoms. Single camera sitcoms usually don't have the Friends stink plastered all over them, or are written for the lowest common denominator.

when was the last time you even saw a multi-camera sitcom with genuine effort put into it?

[Avaitor]

You know my answer.

Edit: Besides HIMYM, the last one that really comes to mind is... Raymond? And I'm hit or miss on that already. Fuck, it's been a while.

[Kiddington]

Ah.

when was the last time you even saw a multi-camera sitcom with genuine effort put into it?

I thought this one was pretty decent.

The horrible mismanagement of being on a network totally wrong for the style of show this was, combined with the WGA strike, all but sunk it before it ever got off the ground. Far from the greatest sitcom I've ever seen, but I thought it still had heart. Certainly not as hollow as the crap CBS tries to pander anymore (HIMYM aside).

Kind of a shame, but maybe it was for the best. Ty Burrell moved on to bigger and better things only a year later, as we all know now.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I expect things to pick up for it in a few years, but we need a lot more failures like Whitney to get thrown out before we can finally get back to business again.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Night Court is very, very funny.

Very.

[Avaitor]

Can we just take a moment to appreciate how epic Ed Asner is?

As a voice actor, he's one of the best. Hudson in Gargoyles, Cosgrove in Freakazoid!, Carl in Up, Ed Wuncler Sr. in The Boondocks Jamison in the 90's Spider-Man show and Uncle Ben in SSM. Talk about some incredible highlights, right? He was perfect in all of them too. I was never a fan of SM:TAS' voice acting, but Asner nailed JJJ.

The reason I'm on this thread is for his role as Lou Grant in The Mary Tyler Moore Show. It's hard to be the best at the show, where everyone is gifted, but Asner sure comes close. This episode, for example, is comedic gold, and one of his highlights.

[Avaitor]

So i've been watching some Cheers lately (Frasier too), and I can't believe I just realized this-

Diane is Ted Mosby's Rule 63. Same pretentious nature, same contempt for their uncultured friends, same high maintenance personalities, same refusal to accept their own faults. It's crazy when you think about it.

[Spark Of Spirit]

That episode of Fresh Prince where Will gets sucker-punched by that thug hitting on Lisa really irks me.

First of all, Will was right- he was sucker-punched. He turned around to face the guy and he swung at him. It was a cheap shot. Almost anyone would go down from that.

Second of all, Lisa cheap-shotted that guy in defense of Will to take him down. As far as I'm concerned, that's all there is to the issue.

But no, we have to go through twenty minutes of people calling Will a wuss because "he has his woman fight his battles for him" which makes no sense given the situation. Not only that, but everyone is unbelievably sexist about it, and pointlessly mean to Will on top of it, too. Lisa was right- there is no issue here, but it's everyone else dogging Will about a fight he had no control over that made it into an issue for really dumb reasons.

The whole episode is just so frustrating to watch because everything about it is aggravating.

[Avaitor]

I haven't seen that episode in years, bur yeah, looking back on it, doesn't seem too good.

Happy Days did it a lot better, IMO.

[Spark Of Spirit]

It doesn't bother me in the episodes where Will brings it on himself, but he really doesn't do anything wrong here.

It's sort of like a Mrs. Wakefield-style episode, and I just can't stand those.