Book Review- Sitcom and Top Five Sitcoms

To me, good sitcoms have tended to be few and far between. For every good one, you might get five shows like According To Jim or Two And A Half Men, shows that I wouldn't watch unless forced, shows where the laugh track goes every five seconds as if on a timer, even if nothing remotely funny has been uttered, as labored and long as this sentence.

I'm sure Saul Austerlitz has sat through many of those same shows, along with the 24 he profiles in his book Sitcom. The book is set up into 24 chronological "episodes", ranging from I Love Lucy to Community.  Austerlitz details in each episode how the show came to be, what made it great, what influences it would have (or, in the later chapters, the show's influence).  

Sitcom was an incredibly fast read for me, and an informative one at that.  Not having seen many episodes of I Love Lucy or The Honeymooners, it was nonetheless interesting to read about how they changed the landscape of early TV by not being the same episode over and over when that was the expectation back then.  Similarly, I hadn't considered how difficult it might be to develop a truly original sitcom today, as the last chapters detail how 30 Rock and Community really don't even try to be anything original and are hyper-aware of every sitcom cliche.

My Favorite Sitcoms

1.  Frasier

I loved Frasier from the first episode, and the first few episodes were not always funny, as Frasier got established in Seattle after moving from Boston.  No, what I loved in the first season was the tension between Frasier and his father Martin, a former police officer who was shot in the hip and couldn't live alone.  They're on each other's nerves and at each other's throats, which doesn't sound all that pleasant, but it felt almost like theater, funny and intense.

The show didn't keep up that level of intensity, but the characters and the relationships between the characters made it a great show.  Frasier and Martin eventually work things out (although there's always some tension between the two), Niles lusts after Daphne, and Frasier and Niles spend a lot of time throwing dinner parties and running themselves ragged competing with each other.   

Sitcom mentions how many early sitcoms would make sure to resolve all issues and changes before the end of the episode, and Frasier's way of doing that was to make sure Frasier was still single at the end of most episodes. There are so many instances of either Frasier or his family fouling things up and ultimately ruining his chances.  In a way, it's the opposite of Seinfeld.  Jerry and company find so many ways to end relationships by finding flaws, but Frasier's too busy ruining his chances by showing his.


2.  Seinfeld

I think Seinfeld's probably the most talked about show of all time, so I'll keep this short.  Like Frasier, I've seen every episode enough to almost know them by heart.  I think what I enjoyed most was Seinfeld's twists.  I just saw the episode where Jerry's mechanic (Brad Garrett) absconds with his car because he doesn't feel Jerry's taking sufficient care of it, which sets off an entirely new chain of events.  Elaine's invested in the situation because she's got a set of her bosses' coveted golf clubs (allegedly used by JFK) in Jerry's car, and Newman and Kramer (speaking of zany) interrupt a road trip in a mail truck to chase down the stolen car, which appears in front of them.  Kramer feels like they're not moving fast enough, so he pushes Newman out of the truck.

The zaniness extends to characters outside the group.  A mechanic steals a car because of its owners' negligence.  A fellow comedian sells Jerry a suit, and his only demand is that Jerry take him out to dinner, but what constitutes dinner?  Evidently, a cup of soup does not.  Speaking of soup, does making unbelievable soup mean that a proprietor can mistreat his customers?  It does, provided that said proprietor doesn't tick off the wrong customer.  





3.  The Office

Jim and Pam.  For a while, it was all about Jim and Pam, and if we didn't have them, The Office might not have been as enjoyable a watch.  For a few seasons, it was all about Jim's longing for Pam, and Pam's awful, soul (and dream) crushing relationship with Roy kept her from Jim even as the two flirted at the reception desk.  

Jim (John Krasinski) was always looking at the camera in that "can you believe this" sort of way as his boss Michael Scott (Steve Carell) ushered his employees into conference rooms for meaningless meetings.  He egged on Dwight Schrute, his humorless co-worker, encasing Dwight's stapler in Jello or impersonating Dwight perfectly, but it all came back to Pam.

Michael Scott, meanwhile, was a clueless and spineless boss, unable to stand up to the warehouse when the office workers beat the warehouse at basketball and therefore should have had Saturday off.  Time was wasted in so many ways, from movie Mondays to meetings about whatever was annoying Michael.

The moments that I remember most were not necessarily the funniest.  In one episode, it is revealed that Michael is working a telephone sales job to help pay off the debt he's accrued over the years.  This causes him to finally run away from the office, only to be tracked down and consoled by his girlfriend Jan.

There's another episode in which Michael takes the women in The Office to the mall to go shopping, and over lunch Michael reveals that Jan has mistreated him, and the women urge him to break up with her.  Finally, Michael has Jim and Pam over to a dinner party and we learn just how toxic his relationship with Jan has become, as eventually the police are called.

4.  Arrested Development

Arrested Development is the story of the children of two very self-absorbed parents.  As the story begins, George Bluth Senior (Jeffrey Tambor) is arrested for corrupt business dealings, and The Bluth Company is left adrift.  Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman) and his son George Michael plan to leave the family behind, but can't, as he is the only one with any business sense (supposedly) and he doesn't want to deprive George Michael of time with his family.

His siblings Lindsey, Gob (pronounced "jobe"), and Buster are different shades of clueless, but all are as self-obsessed as their parents.  Michael struggles to raise his son and provide a good environment for George Michael with his family being around and George Sr in prison.

The writing is razor-sharp for much of the series, with a lot of wordplay and character-based silliness (a lot of it featuring Lindsey's husband Tobias, who can move around like a cat and puts himself in a lot of precarious situations).  Gob is an illusionist whose stage shows involve a lot of him dancing around with a knife in his mouth or simply holding cards in his hand.  Buster is a mama's boy who clings to Lucille and rebels against her by dating her friend, also named Lucille (and played hilariously by Liza Minnelli).  

 5. Taxi

There's a theme in each of my five choices.  Without memorable characters, a sitcom is noise, a painful laugh track going off after every line or just plain boring.  Many sitcom stars have moved on to other series, only to find that the same magic just isn't there.  Joey Tribbiani couldn't really be Joey without the rest of his Friends.  Jason Alexander was in a couple different series that didn't last, and same for Matthew Perry.

Taxi, as Sitcom points out, didn't really have any main characters.  There was no love interest to root for, so the viewer rooted for everyone in the group, especially against the vile Louie (Danny DeVito).  Sure, the show centered on Alex (Judd Hirsch) as someone to give advice (or money, in an early episode), but each character had his or her own troubles, so they all helped each other out.

What made it work?  There were a couple of unusual characters that occasionally stole a scene or episode.  Latka (Andy Kaufman) was frequently butchering the English language but would also provide a kind of examination of American culture by comparing the traditions of his culture.  Reverend Jim provided one of the funniest scenes in the show by repeatedly asking what a yellow light meant on a driving exam and not understanding the group's answers.  

These worked for a laugh or two, but the characters all had relatable issues.  In the pilot, Alex reveals that he hasn't seen his daughter since she was little and regrets it.  Bobby (Jeff Conaway) is continually looking for work as an actor.  Elaine is searching for something besides cab-driving.  Louie has his own struggles, but mostly resists any urge to be a decent human being.  There's an all-for-one spirit throughout the show, and the writing is good enough to support the characters.

Veep and TV Bosses

Before looking at the first season of Veep, I thought I'd look at some of my favorite and least-favorite TV-comedy bosses.

 

• Michael Scott (played by Steve Carell), for instance, is cringe-inducing at times on The Office in his blundering and inability to manage, but as The Office went on, his character is fleshed out and next to some of the characters (the bears, beets, and Battlestar Galactica- loving Dwight Schrute, for one), Michael looks downright normal.

 

 

• On the other hand, Arthur  Carlson (Gordon Jump) is so bumbling and fumbling and clueless that I couldn't really sink my teeth into WKRP in Cincinnati.  I know that he didn't totally have his position by merit, but there's very little spark of intelligence, so it seems the radio station runs in spite of him, and the surrounding characters aren't memorable enough for me to stay tuned.

• One of my favorite TV bosses is the despicable Louie DePalma (Danny Devito) on Taxi.  Louie is enough of a villain that the cabbies he manages have no choice in some episodes to rally against him.  Since he is so vile, there are also episodes where he has to go along with the group, and it's fun to see him squirm. 

 

• The show that I found most consistently funny last year was Brookyn Nine-Nine, and the dynamic at the start was that Captain Ray Holt (Andre Braugher) and Detective Joel Peralta (Andy Samberg) wouldn't get along because Peralta's a free-wheeling detective and Holt is very disciplined.  They clash many times during the season (Peralta doesn't want to wear a tie, for example), but Holt is well-played in that he's pretty much deadpan, so when he loosens up, it's even funnier.

• Finally, one boss who is consistently funny (because he's so exaggerated) is George Steinbrenner on Seinfeld.  Shown only from the back and voiced by Larry David, George is often left shaking his head after leaving Steinbrenner's office (if he's not leaving it, in one case, to go to a mental institution at Steinbrenner's orders)

So is an incompetent boss (even in a comedy) a bad thing, especially when the boss is the Vice President of the United States?  I'd say Veep leans more in the direction of The Office (since it's HBO, a much more vulgar version, of course).  As the season progresses, I started to wonder about the backstory of Selina Meyer (Julia Louis Dreyfus).  The credits show headlines from a run for president that didn't turn out well (a meltdown is hinted at), and she now leads an office that is nowhere near respected (in fact, a potential candidate for governor explicitly tells Selina that he does not want her endorsement).  To say she's awkward around people is an understatement, so at some point she must have done something right to even be considered a presidential candidate.

The staffers in her office also turn out not to be the most capable, leaving Selina without a real "ideas" person to lean on, so between the fact that the president dumps undesirable projects on her office and there's here's no real competence in her office, Selina's chances for success don't seem too high.  Julia Louis Dreyfus is funny throughout the season reacting to all this madness, and Tony Hale is particulary good as her "body man", frequently whispering tidbits (some quite absurd) as politicians and other notables approach

I thought the last few episodes were the strongest, as the personalities became more defined and the stakes were raised, so I'm looking forward to seeing the newer seasons.








 

The NFL, overexposed?

Look, you didn't ask for my opinion, but here it is...

I've heard a lot of talk about Mark Cuban's Facebook post about the NFL being overexposed and how there might be a drop in popularity due to overexposure.  Here's the thing, though.  If people haven't yet gotten sick of the NFL, it's not likely to happen. 

The NFL's giving higher profile to their Thursday night games this season.  The league knows that two teams that have only had three days to rest and recuperate are not likely to produce high-quality football, but they don't care.  They know that the eyeballs will be there, because the NFL's a habit.  Fantasy football's a habit.  People telling each other who is on their fantasy football teams at the office, on the bus stop, on radio shows (and to complete strangers) is a habit.  We can't help it.  If pro football's on, we're watching it.

Even anticipating football's a habit.  People start to salivate when the schedule is released (in a three-hour TV special, no less), thinking about all those Sundays and Mondays (and Thursdays) huddled in front of a high-def TV with junk food and beer, rooting on their teams during a possibly scintillating, possibly mind-numbing three and a half hours.  The phrase "indisputable visual evidence" is uttered so often that it's a wonder we believe anything life has happened without indisputable visual evidence.  (Oh yeah, that's what Facebook is for, indisputable visual evidence of everything, including apparently virtual reality).

Myself, I try to anticipate what ridiculous rule or rule change might come out of the owner's meetings.  This year, the NFL decided to ban the goalpost dunk, with Rams coach Jeff Fisher fretting that a player's hamstring might tighten up if a game is delayed because a crossbar needs to be adjusted after being displaced.  The NFL doesn't worry about those same players not having enough time to recuperate between Sunday and Thursday, but dunking a football and delaying a game, that could lead to some serious injuries.

Is this all to say that I'm anti-NFL?  No, not really. I'm a sports fan, so I consume a lot of sports media and the NFL dominates.  Maybe I just need to turn all the talk off and show up at game time.  Chicken sounds good.
 

Music Spotlight

Jamestown Revival, "California"

I think their entire debut album Utah is excellent.  This is just a fun listen, and in particular I think the song "Home" might be one of my favorite album-closers.   Here's "California", the second track on Utah:

http://youtu.be/VidjX0j04og







Nickel Creek, "Destination"

I'm really looking forward to A Dotted Line (due out April 1).  I've always thought that Nickel Creek had such a distinct sound and was sad to see them break up several years ago.  I'm not a fan of Chris Thile by himself, but with Sara and Watkins, there's much more of a nice balance.

http://youtu.be/JawK7QcEGKU





Nickel Creek, "The Lighthouse's Tale"

This is a very haunting song from Nickel Creek

http://youtu.be/ARIr6S_0lAQ




Feist, "The Bad In Each Other"


Feist's music sometimes meanders too much for me, but she does have a knockout voice.  This one sounds like it would be the perfect concert opener, with the stomping intro and determined guitar.
From 2011's Metals


http://youtu.be/mV8BrMDtOjY


Feist, "Caught A Long Wind"

This song, also from Metals, is a little more gentle, but is still goosebump-inducing in parts.

http://youtu.be/Q1Ywmjn_1FU


RETRO PICK: 

Phil Collins, "We Fly So Close"

I wasn't a big fan of Both Sides, but this song is absolutely beautiful.  Incredibly melancholy, but like "In The Air Tonight", it's incredible for the mood that it sets.

http://youtu.be/Pzs8Cdrgzw0



And finally...


Yuna, "Falling"

This is my current favorite song.  I've listened to it dozens of times, but I always hear something new.  Her latest album Nocturnal has a jazzy, laid-back vibe, and her voice is accompanied by some just perfect choices instrumentation-wise.  It's a great workout song, great chill-out song, just an overall great song.

http://youtu.be/HGY2MBdv9Y0






 

Enough Said (and other movies)

Enough Said:

Out of the movies that I've seen over the last month and a half, the best by far was Enough Said.  It's the story of Albert and Eva, both of whom are previously divorced.  They meet at a party, hit it off, and begin seeing each other. 

Eva's a masseuse, and one of her clients is Marianne.  Marianne's a poet and a bit of a free spirit, and she and Eva strike up a friendship.  She doesn't have anything good to say about her ex, and Eva's all ears, but things become complicated when Eva figures out that Marianne is Albert's ex-wife.

I have to recommend Enough Said because I felt like it was a realistic romantic comedy.  Eva's a bit oblivious to certain realities (for example, that it might be hurtful to her daughter that Eva's getting really chummy with her daughter's best friend) and starts to see some of Albert's habits as flaws after hanging around with Marianne.  Gandolfini's Albert is very vulnerable.  It's obvious that his habits (however innocuous) annoyed Marianne to no end, and that they just weren't a match, but Eva seems to take her word as gospel and sees flaws that may not even really be flaws. 

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Other films I've recently seen:

The Spectacular Now

This is a solid teen-romance film, and an opposites-attract teen-romance film.  Miles Teller gives a very John Cusack like performance as Sutter, a high-schooler who carries around a flask and is very much about the present (to the detriment of any future he might have).  Sharlene Woodley (The Descendants and the upcoming Divergent movie) as Aimee is a very naïve and innocent girl who falls for Sutter, who continues his self-destructive behavior even after they start dating.  It's easy to dislike Sutter, but throughout there's a sense that there's a decent guy underneath all the trouble.  It's also easy to see why Sutter is the way he is after meeting his father (played by Kyle Chandler).  The struggle for Sutter to change and the suspense of not wanting to see Aimee get hurt makes this a compelling watch.

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Katy Perry:  Part Of Me

I didn't really feel like I learned too much from this documentary, other than that Perry's shows might be sensory overload.  Yes, touring is difficult, and yes, it takes a toll on one's personal life.  It wasn't a shocker that Katy was a bit of a ham as a kid. Altogether, this wasn't a terrible documentary, just not terribly enlightening.

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French Immersion (at UWM's Festival of Films in French)

Goofy film about life in Quebec at a French Immersion school for adults.  Said adults are not allowed to speak English in school or with their host families.  Culture shock leads to most of the humor.  The school is being investigated because of mismanagement, so the school's leadership tries to do everything they can to save it, and one of the new students has political aspirations but needs to hide for a little while.  It's a likable film without too much depth or intensity.

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Dans La Maison (In The House)

This was a second viewing of a film screened for Milwaukee Film Club members last year, and since I knew of the twists and turns this time, it wasn't nearly as entertaining. 

 

The film centers around the budding relationship between Germain, a literature teacher,and one of his students.  Early on, the teacher laments the disappointing quality of his students' work, as they seem incapable of even describing their weekend in an interesting manner.  Along comes Claude Garcia, who tells the story of the happenings in his friend's house as he begins tutoring him in math. 

Germain begins mentoring Claude, as he sees Claude's potential, but begins to offer his opinion on the plot and writing style. Claude, meanwhile, begins to linger in his friend's home and writing on life there.  Eventually, this becomes very complicated for both Germain and Claude and has consequences for both.

My second viewing felt a bit tedious, but I definitely recommend it, as it is a unique experience, both funny and suspenseful.

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The Lego Movie

After seeing the trailer for The Lego Movie, I couldn't wait to see it opening weekend.  Although it's aimed at kids, it looked like it would be able to be versatile enough to appeal to adults as well.

The plot is pretty simple. Lord Evil Business (Will Ferrell) has a weapon called the Kragle, and plans on using it to change the world as everyone knows it.  He's tired of people messing with his stuff, so he intends to stop that with the Kragle.  Lord Vetruvius (Morgan Freeman) says that there is a chosen one who will find the Piece of Resistance and be able to thwart Lord Business.  Emmett Brickowski winds up finding the piece.  The trouble is, there's nothing special about him.  He can't put two pieces together to save his life, which frustrates him and his friends.

The Lego Movie didn’t wow me the way I hoped it would.  It’s a good movie, not great, mostly because I wasn’t sure in watching it what it wanted to accomplish.  Was it a story about how an ordinary person could be special?  Was it supposed to be just a zany film featuring Legos?  For a brief second or two, I realized that this could just be one giant ad for Legos with some pleasant moments. 

That’s not to say that there weren’t parts I enjoyed.  There are some hilarious characters (Bad Cop, for instance, is one of Lord Evil Business’s henchmen, but he also has another side, like some Legos do).  I think Will Arnett as Lego Batman may be my favorite Batman ever, as he spoofs how dark Batman tends to be.  And Will Ferrell voices a great villain in Lord Business, playing a menace with good comic timing.

This movie’s for the kids, of course.  But I did read some glowing reviews saying how much adults will love it, so  I did have high expectations going in.  Though they weren’t totally met, I do recommend seeing The Lego Movie and I’m glad it’s out there.

Super Bowl Thoughts

Well, that got out of hand quickly, didn't it?  The first snap sails over Peyton Manning's head, the Seahawks do The Safety Dance, and Broncos fans/Seahawks haters get a little bit of a feeble, queasy feeling that this Super Bowl might be a let down.

It wasn't going to be an easy night for Mr. Manning.  The Broncos weren't used to this NFC West brand of football.  Many moons ago, they and the Seahawks were AFC Westers, back when the Seahawks weren't sporting much of a defense, much of an offense, much of anything, and the Broncs were led by a rambling, scrambling John Elway.  Nowadays, the Seahawks engage in twice (and sometimes thrice) yearly scrums with the only team that seems to keep it close, the 49ers. 

Think you're going to beat the Seahawks with a statue like Manning at QB?  The Seahawks were practically in his helmet.  Manning looked truly ill at ease.  This wasn't going to end in an orange blaze of glory, not tonight, not when the Legion of Boom was taking away everything.  The Broncos (like the Colts) rely on timing, quick passes, long drives.  They were used to little resistance.  They sure didn't get anyin the AFC playoffs.  Against the Pats, Manning might as well have been wearing a red jersey, because he wasn't touched at all.   The Seahawks made him squirm, stutter, and scowl all night.

The 'Hawks offense was nothing to sneeze at, either.  Under little pressure from the Broncos, Russell Wilson became comfortable and started throwing rainbows.  Percy Harvin reminded the world why he's so dangerous (when he can stay healthy) in more than one aspect of the game.  It was truly a clobbering in all phases of the game.

After Harvin broke the kick return to start the second half, it was all over but the commercials, and it was too bad they weren't better.  Any other night, the TV gets turned off after all hope is extinguished, but this is the Super Bowl and the commercials aren't supposed to be bathroom/kitchen break time, but there was little of note this year.  I did crack up at the Doberhuahua commercial, and the Seinfeld/Costanza/Newman reunion was nice to see, but otherwise, there was not much of note. Same goes for Bruno Mars, by the way.  Not that he wasn't entertaining, but I didn't feel there was anything I hadn't seen before.

Hopefully next year someone can stand up to Seattle, but for tonight, they're the champions, andoverwhelmingly so.