The Office UK
.... especially the Final Christmas special.
.... especially the Final Christmas special.
The Best Show on the History of Television
- Thread starter Miggs
- Start date
b_line
Well-Known Member
I've never gotten past the first episode of that series.
I guess that's why they made the Office US....
jimmy eat jazz
Well-Known Member
I watched season 1 of Hannibal. I don't mind dark and gory, but it was too dark and too gory over too long of a time for my tastes. Serial killers and serial killings can make good/interesting viewing in reasonable doses, but the constant bombardment of it in Hannibal was just too much for me (same reason I watch criminal minds now and then but can't get into watching it regularly).
jimmy eat jazz
Well-Known Member
I just finished Season 6 of SO and am heading into Season 7. While I've enjoyed it, one of my main motivations to keep with it is to see Gemma finally get what's coming to her. I loath her character more than just about anyone I recall ever watching on TV or in the movies. When her end comes, I hope is slow and painful. I just hate that sociopathic bitch.
jimmy eat jazz
Well-Known Member
I'd rank Frazier among all time great sitcoms. Almost every episode delivered numerous laughs.
I could, however, say Seinfeld was better. Sorry.
30 Rock is up in the top 5 sitcoms for me as well.
One reason I rate Arrested Development as best sitcom ever was absence of laugh track. I hate, hate, hate the laugh track. I have a hard time watching comedies anymore that use a laugh track. Good comedy doesn't need it; and with bad comedy, it's so annoying to hear fake people give fake guffaws to something that isn't that funny.
Red
Well-Known Member
Breaking Bad remains my favorite TV drama.
And Seinfeld my favorite sitcom. Still watch the reruns every night at 11. What the heck is it about the show that I can still watch reruns and never get sick of them? Before Seinfeld, I liked Mash and Cheers.
And, in an earlier America, lol, I loved Jackie Gleason and The Honneymooners. And, in that same earlier day and age, for drama, Perry Mason.
And a shout out for The Twilight Zone. TV execs would not allow Rod Serling to tackle "sensitive" issues of his day and age, so he decided he could write about issues and get away with things using a sci fi venue. And it worked....
And Seinfeld my favorite sitcom. Still watch the reruns every night at 11. What the heck is it about the show that I can still watch reruns and never get sick of them? Before Seinfeld, I liked Mash and Cheers.
And, in an earlier America, lol, I loved Jackie Gleason and The Honneymooners. And, in that same earlier day and age, for drama, Perry Mason.
And a shout out for The Twilight Zone. TV execs would not allow Rod Serling to tackle "sensitive" issues of his day and age, so he decided he could write about issues and get away with things using a sci fi venue. And it worked....
The Death of Garry Shandling reminds me that pretty much all his output was superior to Seinfeld as well.
We'll set aside the Larry Sanders Show for a second. Everyone who was there or saw it that one year it was on Netflix knows that it was genius level stuff. I want to talk about the earlier Garry Shandling Show and precisely why it was the forerunner for, and superior to, Seinfeld. Fundamentally, these shows have a similar premise. Both are based upon a young to middle-aged comedian who shares the titular name and job with the real-life actor and show creator. Both run away from being traditional sitcoms. Both were wildly creatively successful. But there's a catch in execution:
Seinfeld forsakes being a television show by refusing to have a plot. This is the famous "show about nothing." It's been analyzed to death.
On the other hand The Garry Shandling Show acknowledges that it's a television show by relentlessly pointing out all the time that the whole thing is fake. The Theme Song is written from the perspective of a person who was asked to write a theme song for a television show; Garry wanders off sets and asks the studio audience for plot advice mid-episode; Garry comments in real time that the conversation he's having doesn't have naturalistic dialogue; etc. etc. The laugh track exists, but it's an actual living breathing thing that Garry interacts with.
Seinfeld is like Lichtenstein. Shandling is like Magritte.
Seinfeld may be pop art, but Shandling is real art.
We'll set aside the Larry Sanders Show for a second. Everyone who was there or saw it that one year it was on Netflix knows that it was genius level stuff. I want to talk about the earlier Garry Shandling Show and precisely why it was the forerunner for, and superior to, Seinfeld. Fundamentally, these shows have a similar premise. Both are based upon a young to middle-aged comedian who shares the titular name and job with the real-life actor and show creator. Both run away from being traditional sitcoms. Both were wildly creatively successful. But there's a catch in execution:
Seinfeld forsakes being a television show by refusing to have a plot. This is the famous "show about nothing." It's been analyzed to death.
On the other hand The Garry Shandling Show acknowledges that it's a television show by relentlessly pointing out all the time that the whole thing is fake. The Theme Song is written from the perspective of a person who was asked to write a theme song for a television show; Garry wanders off sets and asks the studio audience for plot advice mid-episode; Garry comments in real time that the conversation he's having doesn't have naturalistic dialogue; etc. etc. The laugh track exists, but it's an actual living breathing thing that Garry interacts with.
Seinfeld is like Lichtenstein. Shandling is like Magritte.
Seinfeld may be pop art, but Shandling is real art.