DVR Results: Comedies

Actually, I am not sure that most of these would be straight comedies or dramas, as you could classify the dramas especially as action shows or sci-fi/fantasy shows instead. Between comedy and drama, I like a mix. Most of these shows, especially Grimm and Person of Interest, have healthy doses of humor, and while Scrubs was classified as a sitcom, it would often hit hard emotionally. But that’s how I roll. I have a serious life, perceived humorously as much as possible. So really, it’s the half-hour show and the hour shows, and we are starting with the half-hour shows.

The big winner here is Big Bang Theory. It is funny, and I do enjoy it, but the real source of its victory is that my family likes it. Mom looks forward to it, and is fascinated by Sheldon (never having had a kid quite that weird, I guess), and Julie and Maria seriously cackle with laughter at it. It is easier to have something that the whole family likes. Generally, they think I like weird stuff. (They may have a point.Just to give you a baseline, sitcoms I have loved in the past include Frasier, News Radio, and Scrubs.)

Of the others that I have been checking out, my favorite has been Modern Family. Continuing with the weird animal analogies for our laughter, this one makes me bark like a seal—in that the laughs come from places that I am generally not expecting, and so there are these unexpected sharp bursts of laughter. I can’t define why it appeals to me so much, but it does. The first episode I saw was “Fizzbo”, and I have not loved any of them quite as much as that (good leadup, good payoff, and good handling of clown issues), but still every episode has had some laughs and also some emotional depth.

Parks and Recreation: I think this one has a good chance of making it on to the family watching list also, due to Rob Lowe. My sisters and I recently read his memoir, and their love for him was firmly cemented by it, so I have actually heard one of them say that they need to try watching it. I love his utter dorkiness, but I suspect my favorite characters will be April and Andy. And Champion, of course. I am not loving the election storyline, and I can see that the subject matter may not appeal to me as strongly.

Community: This has moments that I really appreciate, but I think is being handicapped on two levels. One is that by my somewhat random pattern of recording, I seem to keep missing the strongest episodes, and getting the ones that people don’t like quite as much. The other, though, is that I think this might be a show where joining late is more of a handicap, where a deeper familiarity really enhances the enjoyment. I’m not opposed to going there, and I definitely do wish them six seasons and a movie, even if I am not watching. (And no, I did not see that episode either.)

30 Rock: This one is not new to me, as I have watched it before, and sometimes I love it and sometimes it doesn’t do that much for me. I am glad when it is brilliant, but there’s no way of knowing in advance.

That just leaves Portlandia. Portlandia was pretty disappointing. There were good bits. The Battlestar Galactica bits were great. Wanting to watch “just one more” is something I totally get, I loved the Moores, and getting in Edward James Olmos, Jamie Callis, and the real Ronald D. Moore is just a coup. Also, the punchline with starting in on Doctor Who was a perfect ending. I need to give major props to that episode. Also, I found the one couple’s trip to the wedding planner, breakdown during rehearsal, and the divvying up of friends that resulted in reconciliation over a Pub Quiz memory and basketball tip off wedding to be funny and touching and pretty Portland. The opening bit for that one show where everyone was a DJ, yeah, I can totally see that happening. Oh, and I adore Kyle McLachlan as Mayor, even if I am totally burned out on Sam Adams.

The only problem is that there’s a lot more to the show, and I basically just covered everything I like. I was surprised to find my mother laughing more than I did, and it wasn’t that she got the stereotypes that they were mocking—she was just laughing at people being idiots.

I remember when I read the first review of the show, and that complaint was that the punchline for pretty much every skit was someone freaking out over something, when I tend to think of us as really kind of mellow out here. Some of it may be perspective, because I do not actually live in Portland—I’m out in the suburbs and commute in. Most of my time here I spend in downtown and some in Oldtown, and they are in different areas for their filming usually, so maybe in some areas people do freak out more, and I just don’t know it.

However, it was more that a lot of the ideas sounded funny, but then the execution was not. I get the idea of an adult Hide and Seek team or Scavenger Hunt team with a really short guy giving them the advantage being funny, but then they weren’t. I’m glad I finally saw the first episode, because since I heard about it I would sometimes think “If you liked it then you should have put a bird on it” (to the tune of Single Ladies), and the opening bit when they are putting birds on everything is kind of funny, and then the idea that they would find a real bird completely repulsive is also somewhat funny, but again, Mom laughed pretty hard and I got annoyed.

See how much easier it is to explain why you don’t like something than why you do? Maybe I should use the summer to catch up on the first few seasons of Community.