This clip is probably the perfect metaphor for Archie Bunker's plight in All in the Family.
From his POV, everyone's always taking something from him for reasons that are vague at best.
I've probably blogged here before that All in the Family was the best television show ever created and Archie the best character.
I stand by that assessment.
I defy anyone to name another television show that covered as much ground, from social commentary to politics, to gender roles to physical comedy to drama...all virtually seamlessly.
Here's a snipped from the wiki-entry agreeing with yours truly.
In addition to its candid political dialogs, All in the Family's story lines also included a sense of realism not previously associated with sitcoms. A 1973 episode, for example, found the Bunkers discovering a swastika painted on their front door. (It had been intended for their Jewish neighbors down the street.) An activist from the Jewish Defense League showed up, proposing violent retaliation against whoever painted it, but upon leaving, he was blown up in his car, as the Bunkers watched in horror from their front door. To interweave illness, crime, or in this case, the off-screen violent death of a character into the plot of a comedy show was an unprecedented move.
If there was ever any doubt that I'm perpetually apprehensive about bringing new things into my life, I proved it yet again last week when I watched, loved and lamented the 2006-passing of the charming Fox show, Arrested Development.
What a treat!
I'm not sure how I tripped upon it, but added it to my Netflix list and watched Season 1 last week and was immediately smitten.
Starring former kid-star and brother of Justine, Jason Bateman, it's about a dysfunctional family trying to maintain appearances and the family business after the patriarch, Jeffrey Tambor (AKA Hank "Hey Now" Kingsley) was thrown in jail for embezzlement in the pilot.
The perfectly-chosen backdrop for everything that goes on in the series is the outwardly-beautiful, yet shoddily-constructed, model home they live in, out in the middle of nowhere. It's the ultimate metaphor.
I won't bore you with more plot lines from the show, but I'm anxiously awaiting getting seasons 2 & 3, and recommending that you do yourself a favor if you've not seen this delightful show and rent it right away.
Curb Your Enthusiasm, which had the Black family move in with Larry and Cheryl, as well as 30 Rock, have both crossed lines unthinkable a few years back this year when it comes to making racial stereotypes the butt of jokes.
The paper correctly notes that the theme running through the gags almost invariably has to do with white uncomfortability with racial stereotypes, but you have to start somewhere.
Kudos to these shows, though, for pushing the envelope. The taboo around including all ethnic groups in the humour pool is, in my opinion, more demeaning than respectful and this is a sign of progress.
I don't usually watch 30 Rock, but I suspect I might have to hop on the bandwagon.
Clips/episodes I have seen before were really much cleverer than your average show and this one, which I believe is from last night, really gave me a good chuckle!
I stumbled across an absolutely hysterical show on FX recently and may start to keep up with it.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia stars Danny Devito as a bar owner and his 20-30-something-ish cohorts and some of their general hijinks. The characters are generally pretty dopey individuals, but the situations they get into allows the writers to explore some pretty edgy social critiques.
In the first episode I caught, a man who just moved over from Israel moved into the neighborhood and bought the building next to theirs. Due to some archaic city zoning documents, it turns out that he owns the whole block and ends up trying to push the gang out. In the meantime, they get into a bunch of spats and he erects some fences all around their little otherwise-worthless area and the lead characters resort to making terrorist-like videos, toilet-papering and poop-bag throwing.
You get the drift...I had cramps I was laughing so hard.
I highly recommend this show.
Fox seems to have cracked down on use of videos from the show because most of the Youtube content is now null, but I was able to find an official trailer for the upcoming season. Check it out if you haven't already.
Californication, a new series on Showtime this year is pretty damned cool. They had the pilot episode available on Netflix and I've been getting the other episodes by alternative means, Matey. The pilot and first regular episode had a bit too much graphical, gratuitous sex scenes for something where the story should be the backbone, but they seem to have toned that down to more suggestion than plumbing and the show really benefits.
The one thing that can never go too far, or be too gratuitous, is their willingness to throw down a good Warren Zevon reference now and then, so that alone is worth everyone's time!
You can get the gist of it from the clip below, but Duchovny gets to show off some of his admirable comedic timing as well as some charm. Speaking of charming, his daughter is just precocious enough to be entertaining, but occasionally dips her toe over the line.
Give it a look if you have the time and inclination!
But because I couldn't even last until the first commercial break during Tuesday night's premier of Cavemen, I feel no remorse about posting this unfavorable review from the LA Times.
We were joking at work yesterday on whether you could go to Vegas and bet on how long till the show is canceled. I'll have to check into this.
clipped from thepage.time.com
If there was ever any doubt that I'm perpetually apprehensive about bringing new things into my life, I proved it yet again last week when I watched, loved and lamented the 2006-passing of the charming Fox show, Arrested Development.
Two video shorts I've posted here recently have prominent mentions in a Times article this morning on the increased frequency of race-based humor in network and cable sitcoms.
I had to check and see what my coffee was laced with this morning as I nodded my head in agreement with the Times editorial staff.
