Oh don't worry I'll be watching that very soon. But that was one FUCK of a cliffhanger. Each scene after the big reveal had me tearing up. Great acting all around. I love the entire cast.
I really need to start watching Castle. You're the fourth or fifth person who has told me how good it is.
You really should. You have 3 whole wonderful seasons to watch, even though season 1 came in mid season to fill in a cancelled show slot and is only 10 episodes, iirc. The characters and actors are all awesome. I've become so emotionally invested with the show. It breaks my heart to see how season 3 ended.
I'm such a fangirl for Castle. I've probably watched the first two seasons at least 3 times each.
Now hold on Jason and Ro. The writer/creator of this show is Elizabeth Meriwether, who wrote episodes of Children's Hospital, which is a show I enjoy a lot. I'm going to give it two episodes to be good. I am giving the other comedy debuting on Fox "I hate my Teenage Daughter" no episodes to be good, because it is already bad. Furthermore, I would like to point out that the following shows would look terrible if you cut it down to a three minute commercial: Community, Parks and Recreation, Twin Peaks, Party Down, Arrested Development, and any other comedy/drama ever made. Remember how we laughed when they released the trailer for The Social Network?
At this point however, I would say laughtrack comedies really need to take the time to re-evaluate themselves. Just because all of Chuck Lorre's shlock is popular, it doesn't mean their's is too. And each comedy I've watched in that style have the exact same two problems. It's dated, and the characters are unlikeable. You can't bring back those old chestnuts in this universe, they don't work anymore. Not to mention, the actors really aren't given their own ability to stretch or improv. Mike & Molly in particular annoys me, because most of that cast I've seen do waaaaaay better acting/comedy and they come off as wasted.
Shows I'm watching that isn't going to end now or next week...
-I just started Treme. Can't go wrong with HBO! -Can't get enough Parks and Recreation. Loving the hell out of Season 3. -South Park
I think there's still room for a good laugh-track comedy. I really enjoy Newsradio and The I.T. Crowd. I can't stand people who bury laugh-track comedies because they are laugh-track comedies. I doubt anybody is going to tell me that Newsradio is worse than Outsourced simply because Newsradio has a laugh-track and Outsourced doesn't. I'm looking forward to that new "Are you there Vodka? It's me Chelsea." Because it's got some actors in it I've enjoyed in other things, particularly an actress who had a small role at the end of the second season and the beginning of the third of Parks and Recreation. Also, it's got Donna from That '70s Show in it. The writing may let me down though. Actually, it definitely will. It'll still be better than The Big Bang Theory!!!
-Can't get enough Parks and Recreation. Loving the hell out of Season 3.
OHMYGOD!!! Someone else on this forum who likes Parks and Rec! I thought they were just a myth!
I thought I did, but thinking back, I only ever watched it idly while doing other things. I watched a couple episodes again recently, and they're unbearable.
The I.T. Crowd
I really don't understand the appeal of that show at all. Every joke is a terribly shallow sitcom style quip that uses nerdy nouns yet doesn't really rely on said nouns for its humor. IT is also nothing like that. It fails on every level, and I don't think I so much as laughed at any juncture. I'd rather watch Biodome than this show, hour for hour.
Re: Newsradio| You probably watched episodes from the first season which I will admit are weak. I think season three is great. Especially the episode "Daydreams." Re: The I.T. Crowd| See, if I was given just that description, I would assume that you are talking about The Big Bang Theory, which is terrible. Maybe it's because you work it IT? Or it could be that you just don't enjoy that style of humor. It's really funny to me. Humor is subjective though. I am the first to admit that I've never liked a single episode of The Office.
It's almost like people have different tastes in comedy and sitcoms. Though I have to say a laugh track can really take you out of a show. There are many comedies that would be better without the laugh track. (Big Bang Theory and IT Crowd are two of those as well as Newsradio)
I would defend The IT Crowd in the sense that the characters are likable. I can't get enough of Richard Ayoade and Chris O'Dowd, they are just such a funny duo and the actors sell those characters. It also isn't afraid to be more silly or insane, like when the Boss (Matt Berry) was having constant sex with the woman who used to be a man and have a pretty big fight within a laboratory. A lot of laughtrack sitcoms? No testicles at all, just dated as fuck jokes, morals, and sensibilities. (Not all of them, of course) And honestly, would The Big Bang Theory get ANY recognition if not for Jim Parsons?
I really don't understand the appeal of that show at all.
It's British.
I really think this is like half the reason that many British show gets any recognition at all. They have funny accents, so it has to be better, right?
The show is really no better than The Big Bang Theory.
I really don't understand the appeal of that show at all.
It's British.
I really think this is like half the reason that many British show gets any recognition at all. They have funny accents, so it has to be better, right?
The show is really no better than The Big Bang Theory.
Oh my god, this. I never understand why people always went to bonkers for the IT Crowd.
Would The Big Bang Theory turn the constant moving of smoking areas into a parody of downtrodden Russian peasant films? No. They'd just make a Star Trek reference and move on. Or would TBBT do this awesome parody of anti-piracy commercials? No. That would alienate their core fan base of mean spirited but easily offended stupid people.
Sure, the British thing does play a factor but to be honest that's part of the reason we love Monty Python. PART OF! PART OF! PART OF!
Edit: Now that I'm re-watching these clips, I feel that the laugh track does take a little out of the scenes that weren't filmed in front of an audience, mostly because the actors aren't playing off the mood of the audience like they are in the multi-cam setup. When used correctly, the studio audience can give the actors a sense of how to time jokes, thus if a joke gets a big laugh, then presumably the home audience would be laughing just as hard. This would allow every joke the writers worked on to connect with the audience for maximum comic effect in a time before you could count on people re-watching the shows. I think it's no great mystery as to why the TV on DVD market and the popularity of the highly re-watchable single cam/no laugh-track sitcom with many smaller jokes and background details grew up together. Nowadays, more often than not, it simply allows writers to write less jokes per episode. There are exceptions, but because every comedy nerd loves Arrested Development and The U.K. Office (and those comedy nerds loved things like The Larry Sanders Show before that), the really talented ones choose to emulate that style of single cam comedy.
Comments
Captain Jean-Luc Picard, of the USS Enterprise.
I'm such a fangirl for Castle. I've probably watched the first two seasons at least 3 times each.
A: Zooey Deschanel and the FRCF
P.S. Linda Holmes is doing this set of write-ups for NPR about all the new tv shows coming out this year. This is her summary of all the new Fox shows, including The New Girl.
Shows I'm watching that isn't going to end now or next week...
-I just started Treme. Can't go wrong with HBO!
-Can't get enough Parks and Recreation. Loving the hell out of Season 3.
-South Park
Re: The I.T. Crowd| See, if I was given just that description, I would assume that you are talking about The Big Bang Theory, which is terrible. Maybe it's because you work it IT? Or it could be that you just don't enjoy that style of humor. It's really funny to me. Humor is subjective though. I am the first to admit that I've never liked a single episode of The Office.
I really think this is like half the reason that many British show gets any recognition at all. They have funny accents, so it has to be better, right?
The show is really no better than The Big Bang Theory.
No. They'd just make a Star Trek reference and move on.
Or would TBBT do this awesome parody of anti-piracy commercials?
No. That would alienate their core fan base of mean spirited but easily offended stupid people.
Sure, the British thing does play a factor but to be honest that's part of the reason we love Monty Python. PART OF! PART OF! PART OF!
Edit: Now that I'm re-watching these clips, I feel that the laugh track does take a little out of the scenes that weren't filmed in front of an audience, mostly because the actors aren't playing off the mood of the audience like they are in the multi-cam setup. When used correctly, the studio audience can give the actors a sense of how to time jokes, thus if a joke gets a big laugh, then presumably the home audience would be laughing just as hard. This would allow every joke the writers worked on to connect with the audience for maximum comic effect in a time before you could count on people re-watching the shows. I think it's no great mystery as to why the TV on DVD market and the popularity of the highly re-watchable single cam/no laugh-track sitcom with many smaller jokes and background details grew up together. Nowadays, more often than not, it simply allows writers to write less jokes per episode. There are exceptions, but because every comedy nerd loves Arrested Development and The U.K. Office (and those comedy nerds loved things like The Larry Sanders Show before that), the really talented ones choose to emulate that style of single cam comedy.