I’ll be honest, I’m a big sucker for heavily-serialized genre TV shows. But I also like a comedy from time-to-time. I love what they’re doing on Community and Modern Family, and deeply mourn the loss of Arrested Development (every day). And maybe it’s because I love these awesome shows so much that the new fall comedies look so terrible in comparison.
I Hate My Teenage Daughter — Although I loved Jamie Pressley in My Name Is Earl, in the trailers for I Hate My Teenage Daughtershe comes off as shrill and annoying. And that goes for the rest of the cast as well. In fact this whole show looks like one big shout fest between unappealing self-centered teenage girls and their unappealing self-centered mothers. Nothing good can come of this.
Last Man Standing — Tim Allen’s manly-man shtick was funny in the ’90s when we were all talking about the emasculation of the American male, but I think we’ve covered this ground before; and so has Allen. Today, the same shtick just comes off as buffoonery playing to the lowest common denominator — you know, the same people who are really looking forward to the new Two and Half Men premiere with Ashton Kutcher. *shudders*
Whitney — Although Whitney Cummings has some funny stand-up material, it doesn’t seem to have translated well onto the small screen. In truth, I want to like Whitney,but I have this nagging feeling that they put all the funny parts in the trailerand there won’t be anything else to keep me interested week after week. Sorry, Whitney, I won’t be watching.
2 Broke Girls — I can imagine the pitch meeting: “I have an idea, let’s do something never attempted in the history of TV comedy; we’ll take two characters who are polar opposites and make them live together in an apartment as they struggle to navigate life and relationships. It’ll be hilarious!” Although I love Kat Dennings in just about everything she’s been in, I think the writing on this show may be below her acting ability. Sorry, Kat, I don’t think this will last till mid-season.
The New Girl — Zooey Deschanel may be cuter than a smiling baby riding a puppy over a rainbow, but this show relies a little too heavily on her personality and not enough on the actual writing. Although the pilot (released early online, below) had a few laughs, overall it seemed like it was trying too hard. This one might be able to survive if the writers can get into a groove and think up some more imaginative storylines. So, the jury is still out on this one.
Up All Night — This is one of the few possible bright spots in the fall comedy lineup. With Will Arnett, Christina Applegate, and Maya Rudolph, this cast has some serious comedy chops — but can the writers take the massive talent of the cast and turn this baby-blues comedy into a winner? Arnett’s Running Wilde failed miserably last year. But here’s to hoping this one actually turns out well.
Suburgatory — Another bright spot in the otherwise dry-heave-inducing comedy lineup this fall is Suburgatory, which looks like it might actually be funny. Take a little bit of Glee (without the singing), throw in supporting characters played by the brilliant Cheryl Hines and Alan Tudyk, a helping of endearing Junosarcasm, and voila! — a show that might actually be a hit.
I guess the entire lineup isn’t terrible, just most of it. With that being said, I hope I’m wrong. And I hope that the trailers and pilots of these shows aren’t showing us how brilliantly funny each of these shows will turn out to be. Of course, that’s like saying, “Maybe this time my Big Mac will actually look like the picture on the menu.” Hmmm, I wonder what’s on tap for mid-season replacements.
James Ged is a writer and TV addict. He spends most of his days reading TV blogs and blogging for CableTV.com, but he also regularly tends to his tumblr: TV Buzzer.
Clacked by Guest Clacker
on Sep 16, 2011 @ 14:03 EST5EDT
It’s not you. While there are a couple dramatic shows I have some small interest in (Persons of Interest, Pan Am, Terra Nova), the only comedy that even seemed remotely worth 20 minutes of my time was possibly Suburgatory. Everything else seems more like a spoof of hollow, dumbed-down TV sitcoms than something actually going on the air in 2011.
Yeah, all the shows I’m excited for are the ones coming back. I’m so excited for The League.
Of all those listed only “The New Girl” sounds even remotely entertaining. And that’s only because I have a soft spot for Zooey. Otherwise, in the comedy department I’m looking forward to the return of “Community” and “Raising Hope,” but that’s it.
I thought Up All Night was really funny. I enjoyed it. But in general I agree that the new comedies don’t look promising. I probably won’t even bother with The New Girl. Is it me or does Zooey Deschanel just play the same character over and over?
The fact is, sit-coms just aren’t as funny as they used to be. I love Community and Parks and Rec, but I was watching some old reruns of Friends tonight and couldn’t remember laughing so hard at a TV show in forever. Even 10 years later Friends is as funny as ever, while a lot of today’s sit-coms seem to be trying to return to unfunny, overly sentimental, Full House territory. What’s up with that?
That’s an interesting observation. And I would almost argue that the reason the new shows aren’t as funny is that they are still trying to be like Friends and other great sitcoms from 10-15 years ago instead of coming up with new concepts. Shows like 30 Rock, Community, and Modern Family are killing it because they’re not relying on old formulas or the same old jokes, but rather they’ve found new territory to explore, or at least they’ve found a way to explore old territory in a new way.
In some respect, you could say Modern Family is basically Everybody Loves Raymond, they’ve just found a way to come at it from a different angle and approach the same basic material in a fresh way.
. . . . .
James:
I’m giving New Girl a go (I’m taking a big leap in trying this on for size as I see potential in the pilot) and looking forward to 2 1/2 Men’s re-launch as a discovery project to what happens on that front.
Nothing else holds interest for me.
Although I wasn’t impressed by the pilot, I think there might be promise for New Girl. The pilot seemed a little rushed and some of the gags seemed forced, but if the writers can clue into some great story lines instead of just relying on Zooey looking cute for the camera, I think they may have something good going. I’m cautiously hopeful.
- I find Zooey so ridiculously adorable that I feel obligated to at least attempt to watch New Girl.
– I missed the 1st Up All Night episode, but I might tune in for the next. I heard the pilot was uneven for reshoots anyway.
– The rest of the comedy lineup looks too terrible to even bother with though.
On the bright side, we have tons of great shows returning. I don’t think anything was tragically canceled at the end of last season to make room for these shows. It’s just that they’re low on fresh ideas right now. I’m okay with that as long as the networks are making the most with what they have.
The Chicago Code…
Watched it in its entirety, and thought it was fairly well done, but I thought they told a complete story and I don’t think it was a tragedy it ended. I’d compare it to “The Black Donnellys” in that sense.
Yeah, I think it is a respect thing. A show is going to get fans … Maybe not enough to get the back nine picked up, or even a second season. But you show loyalty to these fans by crafting a story can have SOME type of ending at the end of 13 (or 22).
For the type of fans that shows like this (Hyper-dedicated), it leads to them seeking out the same showrunner and writers in future projects. Otherwise, it turns them off (Like me, considering watching anything from the people from The Event).
I loved the Chicago Code and I was really bummed that it got cancelled. Fortunately, Shawn Ryan knew well in advance that the show was going to get cancelled so he was able to end the series in a fairly fulfilling way. But I still would have loved to see season 2 ann where they took the show after Gibbons was in jail.
Respectfully disagree. Ryan didn’t know that The Chicago Code wasn’t going to be picked up until a day or two before the upfronts. I’m pretty sure the whole series was in the can before the premiere even aired.
But Ryan was smart enough to end the first season on a great stopping point. The story would have gone on after that, but we were left with a complete arc. More showrunners should write their first 13 episodes that way.
+1 to that, Ivey! Then we wouldn’t have anymore “Flash Forward” syndrome (or “Twin Peaks”, to go further back, heh).
Meh,nothing really stands out. The BBC just recently had a show that me and Kate just caught just after Dr. Who called Friday Night Dinner. 2 of the 6 episodes we have been able to see were just plain great. Then just yesterday I read online that Greg Daniels (The Office) was working on bringing it over to NBC. I really hope it works out better than the American version of The IT Crowd, but from that we seem to have gotten Community, so I have some hopes for another great series soon.
My favorite Comedy of the new season, Apt. 23, is a midseason replacement.
The fact that I’m actually planning on watching a new Sitcom might just be the last sign of the apocalypse. I’ve only watched three (HIMYM, Scrubs, BBT).
Apartment 23 looks promising, but since it’s slated for mid-season I didn’t include it on this list. If anything, I’m really interested in the way James VanDerBleek’s portrayal of himself works within the show. I always love it when shows break formats or experiment with crossing over into reality, kind of like what Community does (a lot).
I forgot Community. I fell in love with that over the summer. So this season will be an all time high for me watching 4 at once. Crazy.
But not being a Sitcom guy, I watched very few pilots. Just Apt. 23 (on a whim), New Girl, and 2 Broke Girls. I really had a lot of hope for 2 Broke Girls because I’m such a fan of Kat Dennings, only to be disappointed like you.
Up All Night is 30 Rock with a baby. It’s nothing new.
However most comedies take a few episodes to figure things out, just look at Community.