Television

jamieanderson1968 said:
Watched the 1st 2eps so far and we are enjoying it.

Though, I would like to see a crime/mystery where the detective is NOT grappling with their own demons/past/addictions etc
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Scooby-Doo co-creator Joe Ruby dies aged 87 - BBC News
 
Hollywood said:
My wife and I started watching HBO's Mare of Easttown (3 episodes in) and we love it so far! Great cast including Kate Winslet, Guy Pierce and Evan Peters who is perfect at acting drunk. Anyone else watching this series?
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jamieanderson1968 said:
Watched the 1st 2eps so far and we are enjoying it.

Though, I would like to see a crime/mystery where the detective is NOT grappling with their own demons/past/addictions etc
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This was my thought. After watching the first episode I read an AVClub review that extolled the show's post-George Floyd examination of the flawed people at the center of the justice system; to me, Mare felt like just another detective fit in the mold of True Detective / Broadchurch / heck, even Dark.

I've only watched the first episode, and it's well-made...I don't know how the depiction of impoverished America sits with me; many of the characters are cartoonishly mean. I think the pet shop scene sums it up for me: it seems like you're supposed to feel for Mare not being able to afford a nice terrarium, but she spends the scene grumbling about how the turtle's gonna die anyway.

I'm going to catch up because I've heard enough people banging the drum for the show, but I'm having trouble seeing why this particular detective procedural stands head and shoulders above other detective procedurals.
 
Bull Shannon said:
This was my thought. After watching the first episode I read an AVClub review that extolled the show's post-George Floyd examination of the flawed people at the center of the justice system; to me, Mare felt like just another detective fit in the mold of True Detective / Broadchurch / heck, even Dark.

I've only watched the first episode, and it's well-made...I don't know how the depiction of impoverished America sits with me; many of the characters are cartoonishly mean. I think the pet shop scene sums it up for me: it seems like you're supposed to feel for Mare not being able to afford a nice terrarium, but she spends the scene grumbling about how the turtle's gonna die anyway.

I'm going to catch up because I've heard enough people banging the drum for the show, but I'm having trouble seeing why this particular detective procedural stands head and shoulders above other detective procedurals.
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Because the central mystery is supported by such strong sense of place and character. The strong ensemble around her (Winslet) is compelling and powerful which provides a real sense of tragedy.
 
Also, we recently finished The Good Place and are now watching Superstore. While I enjoyed TGP and appreciated its originality, Superstore makes me LOL waaayyy more often. I'm not saying it should be higher on the list than TGP, but seems like it should be somewhere on a top 100 list.
 
ranbalam said:
Here's a fun list...

www.rollingstone.com

100 Best Sitcoms of All Time

From classic romcoms to workplace mockumentaries, cringe comedies to antihero showcases, some shows that defy definition, greatest sitcoms.
www.rollingstone.com www.rollingstone.com
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Completely agree with the top 3. Also, if you want something a bit more thorough, check out this book…

TV (The Book)

Alan Sepinwall, a contributor to this list as Rolling Stones main TV critic, has been a favorite of mine back since his day at HitFix.
 
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In some ways I think a list like that is even more difficult to do than a Best Albums type list because TV comedy has changed SO much from the 50s to today and there's a larger core issue in terms of what makes a great sitcom, adding in the subjectivity of humor. Some people will judge sitcoms on a laugh per minute basis, some will judge it as you would judge a movie or dramatic show, some are more mixed, etc. Really tough job.

(Edit: Agree with TLK, Sepinwall's book is great as is Sepinwall)

My higher level thoughts on the list which I think is a really really good list all things considered.

  1. The Office (US) is a bit too low. It is certainly a flawed show and it went too long but it's the defining sitcom of a decade by a good margin to me (you can argue BBT or Modern Family but aging is already showing on those).
  2. The sitcom definition is pretty darn arbitrary there. I get it's tough, but how you decide something like The Wonder Years or Freaks and Geeks isn't a sitcom but You're The Worst or Fleabag is, for instance, is a muddled line (nothing against any of these shows btw).
  3. Married With Children is probably the biggest snub on the list
  4. I think that including shows that aren't complete with less than, like, 5 seasons is a mistake. Several shows on the list took huge hits or rose up based on how good they stuck the landing. Imagine if The Office was cancelled after S4? I bet it'd be higher. What if HIMYM didn't completely bungle their ending? What if P&R was cancelled after S3, etc. Too much can change.
  5. There is a lack of generational diversity and I don't necessarily think it's wrong. Like, the 60s are kind of left out there, and the late 80s-mid-90s like wise, but I'd be hard pressed to come up with too many snubs in that area either.
  6. There's definitely an element of reverence here. Like, maybe I'm just being too young snotty here, but a lot of these older sitcoms just aren't as clever or funny as newer ones. I really wonder if you re-watched, say, The MTM Show or The Honeymooners or I Love Lucy, if you'd tumble them down the list compared to some of the complex, clever comedies of the modern day. (Edit: I really enjoyed MTM and Lucy when I watched them, never really watched a ton of the Honeymooners)
  7. Streaming definitely affected some of this. It's not lost on me that both modern comedies and classic ones on streaming services were helped by this.
  8. New Girl is underappreciated still. Go back and watch it, still great through and through.
  9. I'm very split on including animation. Like, if you do include it there's no real quibbling with those choices and I wish they found a place for Archer among others, but animation is just a very different beast with different expectations. Shows like The Simpsons or KotH or Futurama can run for 10+ seasons with the same characters, same age, and no real expectations among fans for plot movement, in some ways its the last standing traditional sitcom. Like, it's gotta be a bit easier when you can just age up Bart 20 years if you gotta or fly into space for a fun episode right?
 
CroutonBoy said:
I started rewatching Cheers a couple months back. Still holds up, even the early seasons.
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Yup. I hadn’t watched it since I was a kid, about 10 years ago, the Hallmark Channel was airing the show at like 3 AM in 4 episode blocks we decided to record it on the DVR and rewatched the whole thing and absolutely loved it. Since then we have rewatched the entire series at least 4 times and it’s probably the show we turn to most for “Comfort TV” outside of The Simpsons.
 
waruv said:
In some ways I think a list like that is even more difficult to do than a Best Albums type list because TV comedy has changed SO much from the 50s to today and there's a larger core issue in terms of what makes a great sitcom, adding in the subjectivity of humor. Some people will judge sitcoms on a laugh per minute basis, some will judge it as you would judge a movie or dramatic show, some are more mixed, etc. Really tough job.

(Edit: Agree with TLK, Sepinwall's book is great as is Sepinwall)

My higher level thoughts on the list

  1. The Office (US) is a bit too low. It is certainly a flawed show and it went too long but it's the defining sitcom of a decade by a good margin to me (you can argue BBT or Modern Family but aging is already showing on those).
  2. The sitcom definition is pretty darn arbitrary there. I get it's tough, but how you decide something like The Wonder Years or Freaks and Geeks isn't a sitcom but You're The Worst or Fleabag is, for instance, is a muddled line (nothing against any of these shows btw).
  3. Married With Children is probably the biggest snub on the list
  4. I think that including shows that aren't complete with less than, like, 5 seasons is a mistake. Several shows on the list took huge hits or rose up based on how good they stuck the landing. Imagine if The Office was cancelled after S4? I bet it'd be higher. What if HIMYM didn't completely bungle their ending? What if P&R was cancelled after S3, etc. Too much can change.
  5. There is a lack of generational diversity and I don't necessarily think it's wrong. Like, the 60s are kind of left out there, and the late 80s-mid-90s like wise, but I'd be hard pressed to come up with too many snubs in that area either.
  6. There's definitely an element of reverence here. Like, maybe I'm just being too young snotty here, but a lot of these older sitcoms just aren't as clever or funny as newer ones. I really wonder if you re-watched, say, The MTM Show or The Honeymooners or I Love Lucy, if you'd tumble them down the list compared to some of the complex, clever comedies of the modern day. (Edit: I really enjoyed MTM and Lucy when I watched them, never really watched a ton of the Honeymooners)
  7. Streaming definitely affected some of this. It's not lost on me that both modern comedies and classic ones on streaming services were helped by this.
  8. New Girl is underappreciated still. Go back and watch it, still great through and through.
  9. I'm very split on including animation. Like, if you do include it there's no real quibbling with those choices and I wish they found a place for Archer among others, but animation is just a very different beast with different expectations. Shows like The Simpsons or KotH or Futurama can run for 10+ seasons with the same characters, same age, and no real expectations among fans for plot movement, in some ways its the last standing traditional sitcom. Like, it's gotta be a bit easier when you can just age up Bart 20 years if you gotta or fly into space for a fun episode right?
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I agree with a lot of this (though not the bit about New Girl that show got much more annoying as it went along (as did more than a few shows on this list TBH) I totally agree with the reverence portion especially.

My biggest snubs outside the ones already mentioned that I completely agree with; I think Three’s Company should be somewhere on the list and I might be the only person that prefers Newhart to The Bob Newhart Show but regardless, I think Newhart shoulda landed somewhere on the list.

Also, really happy to see Night Court just sneak inside the top 100.
 
Hollywood said:
My wife and I started watching HBO's Mare of Easttown (3 episodes in) and we love it so far! Great cast including Kate Winslet, Guy Pierce and Evan Peters who is perfect at acting drunk. Anyone else watching this series?
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I finished the first one and cried because I felt bad for Mare.
As for the fishtank and her saying it was just going to die anyway, I think it shows that she's trying to keep a distance between her and other things/people. Don't get attached; it's just going to die. It speaks of a life where things were continuously taken away so she had to grow a thick skin.
I'm going to get back into it but the first one had me a bit emotional.
BjorgenFjorgen said:
Lodge 49!
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This is one of my favorite shows ever. I think I need to rewatch it.
 
nolalady said:
This is one of my favorite shows ever. I think I need to rewatch it.
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Same! I watched it in January and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. The Crying of Lot 49 is one of my favourite novels so I was predisposed to liking it, but it's so warm and inviting. Such a shame that AMC didn't renew it, but I'm hoping they finish the story in some format. I read the creator's short story collection, too, Middle Men, and really enjoyed it. (One of the stories is about a group of plumbing supply salesmen, haha.) The music in it is also incredible. I made a huge playlist of every song featured in the show (using TuneFind) and have found so many awesome albums through it.
 
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