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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

TV Comedies: Where I Get My Chuckles!

I've already written a whole article about the show Community. One of the many TV comedies that make my sides split from an uproar of laughter. I'm guilty of watching a lot of Television, having around 25 shows that I watch in a week with at least 15 of them being comedies. What can I say, I like to laugh. Who doesn't?? So here are some of the silly little chuckle inducers that I watch in a given week.

SUNDAY NIGHTS
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FAMILY GUY, AMERICAN DAD, and THE CLEVELAND SHOW.

The Seth McFarlane evening! He has three animated shows on Sunday's: The Cleveland Show, Family Guy and American Dad. The juggernaut of that particular block of shows is of course Family Guy which has been around since 1999...off and on. The two are still fairly "new". Not everyone gets McFarlanes harsh sense of humor. He doesn't pull out any stops with this style of writing. He will go after everyone and every group of people you can think of. It's the most fair and civil thing to do. So not everyone gets it or appreciates it. Some people find him to be just an "awful" person who's "unfunny". We all have differences of opinions, so they are entitled to those thoughts. I love his crazy comedic abilities. Peter Griffin is a classic television character and how can you not just love the cute and cuddly Stewie? McFarlane has crafted a sea of very memorable characters that have audiences laughing every week! Family Guy is still his best show, but American Dad is a very close second. The Cleveland Show is getting better, but it started off a bit rocky. It's still the newbie though, so it's taking time to grow some legs.


LIFE'S TOO SHORT

This is a brand spanking new show on HBO. It's only been on for two weeks as of this article. It's a documentary style show from the fabulous and brilliant (yes, I don't care if I use that word, so suck it!) Ricky Gervais and Steven Merchant. They write, produce and direct the show. It's follows real life little person actor Warrick Davis (Willow, Harry Potter films) in his daily life and his delusions of being one of the most famous actors in the world. He runs a talent agency for fellow little people and has a secretary that is a dimwit, but is funny as heck! He visits the offices of Ricky Gervais and Steven Merchant each episode (and they act as it they dislike little Warrick) in each episode with some hilarious results. Gervais is such a good comedic actor, one of the funniest people in the world! The first episode they had Liam Neeson (The Grey, Schindlers List) trying to get a comedic gig and he attempted to be funny (he's not known for his sense of humor). The scene was gut bustingly hilarious! But nothing will top last weeks classic Johnny Depp guest appearance. He was a good sport, because he got to get back at Gervais for the Golden Globe comments a few years back. This is a wonderful little show. If you have HBO, you should check it out.

TUESDAY NIGHTS:




NEW GIRL


This is the freshman show on Fox. It only started this past September on Fox but has been a huge hit! It stars the quirky but ever so adorable and charming Zooey Deschanel (500 Days of Summer). She plays Jess, the single female roommate who lives with three guys who just met. Three very odd guys who also find her to be odd. New Girl doesn't break any new ground in comedic storytelling, but the writing is still very fresh and witty. The real appeal to this show though is the actors. This has such a charismatic cast led by Deschanel. I think we all knew how good she could be though. To me, the breakout star of New Girl is Max Greenfield who plays Schmidt. That guy is so off the wall weird and he plays him perfectly! He sometimes has me cracking up more than Deschanel does. The cast works really well together and they make for some pretty funny antics on the show. If you aren't watching it now, you should check it out! 


COUGAR TOWN

I know what some of you must think: "Mike, you really watch the show Cougar Town?!". Well yes, I do. Fact it, it's one the funniest shows on TV. Not THE best, but one of them. You might have heard that this show played on the whole cougar thing (older woman chasing younger men) and that might have turned you off from it. To be honest, that was the premise of Cougar Town for maybe the first half of season one. Then it slowly realized it was a show much better than that and completely changed format. It became a show about a group of friends/neighbors who share weekly antics. It's now an ensemble comedy and the cougar thing is a very distant memory. They even want to change the title of the show, but ABC isn't doing to allow it. Each week when the title comes out, they make little jokes about it saying how badly they want to alter the title. Courtney Cox is very good as the lead character, but this show relies heavily on the supporting cast and every one of them is awesome! Christa Miller (Scrubs, Drew Carrey Show) and Busy Phillips (ER) are probably the best characters on the show. One is a total bitch and the other is a total moron and they love hate each other and fight for the title of best friend to Jules (Cox). Cougar Town is the little show that could. It's in the same boat as Community. Both are hilarious shows that no one watches. Both got their episodes pushed back this year and both are on the cusp of cancellation. Try it out...at least once.

WEDNESDAY NIGHTS:

THE MIDDLE
The Middle is probably the least funny show I currently watch, but I still enjoy watching it, it's weird. I don't find myself laughing often, but I kind of like watching this dysfunctional family week in and week out. The Middle won't win any Emmy nominations, but it somehow manages to be a charming little tv show to watch. Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond) plays another over bearing, crazy wife/mom to a family who just doesn't seem to care. Her three children should have their heads checked. The youngest, Brick, only cares about reading books and occasionally will hang his head and whisper the last word he said. Sue, the middle child....well she's just insane. Finally there is Axel, the oldest. He's kind of your typical teenage boy. Always rebelling, always screaming at his family, and not very bright. The husband, Mike is the push over dad. Nothing about the Middle is original. All the characters come straight out of comedy characters 101. But I don't know what it is..I just really like watching it. I do laugh from time to time.


MODERN FAMILY
Modern Family is the current champ of TV comedies. It has won the Emmy for best comedy 2 years in a row. It has won three of their cast members acting Emmy's (Eric Stonestreet, Ty Burrell, and Julie Bowen). Overall in two years, it has won 11 Emmy's out of 31 nominations. There is something very special about Modern Family. In terms of the level of funny....no other show comes close to this one. Other shows probably have better writing (Community for example) but this just has all the right pieces in all the right places. It has THE best cast on comedic television: Ed O'Neil, Sophia Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Eric Stonestreet, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and those amazing kids Rico Rodriguez, Nolan Gould, Sara Hyland, and Ariel Winter. The show is done documentary style and follows three factions of one big family. These people are the dysfunctional rich family that is almost never see on TV. It's always the lower class or white trash families. Modern Family is a show that will have you crying from laughter every week. There is never a dull moment. It's a nice blend of goofy, slapstick humor and smart comedy. So many good jokes on this show that you can repeat over and over and still find hilarious. And they have Fizbo....can't beat that.

THURSDAY NIGHTS
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COMMUNITY

I've already wrote a blog about Community. Check it out by clicking here. It's real must see TV.


PARKS & RECREATION
Parks & Rec has developed into a wonderfully charming and funny as hell show. The first season was only 6 episodes and honestly, was just "OK". The second season improved but it wasn't until the end of season 2 and season 3 where the show finally found it's place in TV Comedy land. Amy Poehler plays Leslie Knope, the deputy director of the Pawnee, IN Parks & Recreation Department. She leads a lovable group of misfits as they fight to build new parks and keep their other parks clean. Leslie is essentially the female version of Michael Scott (From The Office) and damn if you can't help but love that woman for all her craziness. Parks has a fantastic supporting cast and they are all so damn weird. The biggest stand out is Ron Swanson played by Nick Offerman. This guy has been robbed of a few Emmy nominations now and I can't see why. In terms of supporting comedic actors on TV...he is probably the funniest. He plays the director of the department but hates working and loves meat. He hires the laziest receptionists on purpose so they won't transfer calls to him. He's amazing! It also stars Aziz Ansari, Rashida Jones, Retta, Aubrey Plazza, Chris Pratt, Jim O'Heir, Adam Scott and the perfectly cast Rob Lowe. It's just recently starting to get recognized for being one of the best comedies on TV. So if you aren't watching it, you're crazy! You will love Parks & Rec!

SHOWS ON THE DOWFALL BUT I STILL WATCH


THE OFFICE

The show stopped being really funny around season 4. It's been on a very steady decline since then. Then when Steve Carrell left...it was all over. Even the usually awesome James Spader could not help The Office. I think it's time to say goodbye to the crew at Dunder Mifflin.


30 ROCK

Used to be the funniest, smartest show on TV. But something unexplainable has happened in the past 2 or 3 seasons. It just stopped being funny. I honestly can't pinpoint the time or reason. The writers have stayed the same, the cast is the same...so I don't get it.


GLEE

I never considered Glee to be that funny of a show. But it definitely used to be more humorous than it is now. The first season was a remarkable season of television. But since then it has fallen off the face of the Earth in terms of being good. It's become a radio station now. Just singing what's cool on the radio today and they attempt to relate those songs to their story. When they sang in season one, it had true meaning. Also, Sue Sylvester played by Jane Lynch used to be a prominent part of the show and she was mean and god damn hilarious! Now she seems non-existent and when she is around...all her jokes seem forced and not always funny. Glee has catapulted to near failure.

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