Now I am looking at lists of the most popular, watched, profitable sitcoms of all time, realizing I have never watched a lot of these. Like any Chuck Lorre ones or Modern Family, Raymond, Raymond-like shows. I made fun of my spouse for watching all of Big Bang Theory but supposedly he watched for the caltech adjacent jokes.
― Yerac, Thursday, 27 June 2019 16:13 (five years ago) link
Called the "King of Sitcoms" during the 2010s,[4][5][6][7][8] he has created and produced sitcoms including Grace Under Fire, Cybill, Dharma & Greg, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, Mike & Molly, Mom, and The Kominsky Method.
omg first against the wall
― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 27 June 2019 16:14 (five years ago) link
Lorre is only redeemed by having worked on Roseanne.
― I Ate Those Food (Old Lunch), Thursday, 27 June 2019 16:15 (five years ago) link
let's be real, all sitcoms are bad except for the first five seasons of Cheers
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 27 June 2019 16:19 (five years ago) link
I've never been more ashamed of my parents than i was when i realized they habitually watched two and a half men
― VAR me to the end of yawn (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 27 June 2019 16:19 (five years ago) link
Wow, Dharma & Greg is a show I have not thought of in years.
Do sitcoms become dated the fastest of any kind of entertainment?
― jmm, Thursday, 27 June 2019 16:20 (five years ago) link
http://www.vulture.com/2015/02/two-and-a-half-men-finale-review.html
i highly recommend reading about what happens in the 2 1/2 men finale
― na (NA), Thursday, 27 June 2019 16:25 (five years ago) link
is this seriously what 2 1/2 Men was about??? I kind of want to watch it now if I ever get a bacterial/viral infection in my brain.
― Yerac, Thursday, 27 June 2019 16:33 (five years ago) link
― na (NA), Thursday, June 27, 2019 9:25 AM (three minutes ago) Bookmark
holy shit
― VAR me to the end of yawn (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 27 June 2019 16:43 (five years ago) link
in fairness to chuck lorre charlie sheen was a real anti-semitic POS to him in public statements at the time he had his little implosion so it's understandable that he was bitter but what a nihilistic finale to a show that ran for 11 years
― VAR me to the end of yawn (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 27 June 2019 16:51 (five years ago) link
wrt Friends it's been interesting to see it from today's perspective. Ross is a sociopath.
this is not today's perspective
― quelle sprocket damage (sic), Thursday, 27 June 2019 18:00 (five years ago) link
ross isn't really a sociopath he is just quite typical of the male romantic hero of the 90s - mopey, jealous, sad-case dickhead. it's instructive to remember that while the cast of friends are gen x the creators and writers were more baby boomer, and the social mores and attitudes really reflect that (not that gen x didn't also have a similar tolerance for awfulness in their romantic heroes - see ethan hawke in anything).
― VAR me to the end of yawn (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 27 June 2019 18:06 (five years ago) link
Ross was definitely being written as a non-hero and terrible person by the second half of the series, it's just that his friends and family couldn't quietly and slowly ostracise him as they might in real life bcz the actor was still one of six leads
dude pursued and dated one of his underage students
― quelle sprocket damage (sic), Thursday, 27 June 2019 18:26 (five years ago) link
I was just gonna say, I hate Chuck Lorre and think 2 and a half men and Big Bang are the worst things in the world...but I always thought Dharma and Greg was decent.
― dan selzer, Thursday, 27 June 2019 19:16 (five years ago) link
hard disagree
― VAR me to the end of yawn (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 27 June 2019 19:26 (five years ago) link
Xps to yerac: I’m from nz and used to get ppl yelling BRITT! BRITT! at me (it was the hey day of flight of the conchords) - at that point I hadn’t even seen the show.
― just1n3, Thursday, 27 June 2019 19:31 (five years ago) link
My neighbor's 16 year old daughter carved the Friends logo into a pumpkin for Halloween, and she and her crew dressed up as the characters from the show. Separately another friend's daughter had a big banner made up for their 16th birthday in Friends logo font that spelled out "The one where X turns 16".
It's fucking weird, I never really watched it and had sort of forgot about it and had no idea kids these days etc.
― joygoat, Thursday, 27 June 2019 19:46 (five years ago) link
My gf's niece is on the same trip (somewhat recently binged the series, had some hs graduation thing similarly themed 'The One Where...'). I guess it's weird but then I guess it's also like that thing where I was thrilled to inherit my mom's Monkees records ca. '87.
― I Ate Those Food (Old Lunch), Thursday, 27 June 2019 19:52 (five years ago) link
i was finding the zoomer love for the office kind of weird recently until i remember i love the show cheers which started 2 years before i was born and ended when i was 8
― VAR me to the end of yawn (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 27 June 2019 19:55 (five years ago) link
This looks terrifying:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1JdWOqc9Q8
― DJI, Thursday, 27 June 2019 19:58 (five years ago) link
so many people my age love cheers xp
and i assume i would too
― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 27 June 2019 19:58 (five years ago) link
cheers has a lot of timeless elements, like talking to people at a bar
― mh, Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:02 (five years ago) link
the sexual politics of cheers are pretty of their time. like my woke gf won't watch it with me
― VAR me to the end of yawn (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:04 (five years ago) link
but there's a lot to love about it (i kind of get off the bus after diane leaves)
that's maybe fair? I feel like a lot of the interactions would play out differently in 2019 and the different aspects of feminism you get from Diane/Lilith/Rebecca have modern analogues but the portrayals and outcomes would have to play differently
early seasons Sam's a womanizer of the type that doesn't play well in that there are occasional "women are crazy" tropes when obviously he's treated women badly or led them on only to ghost
Norm's boilerplate wife jokes are buffered by the fact that he obviously really loves her and doesn't really take it when other people say things about her, iirc
― mh, Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:10 (five years ago) link
yeah lots of:
Sam: women are crazy, Diane.Diane: You're a pig, Sam Malone!
― VAR me to the end of yawn (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:11 (five years ago) link
Friends debuted 25 years ago. When Friends debuted, The Brady Bunch had debuted 25 years before.
― omar little, Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:15 (five years ago) link
The Brady Bunch was similarly a "thing" with my generation I guess.
― omar little, Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:16 (five years ago) link
yeah Norm's zings on Vera are a performative mask for self-loathing
and Sam's sluttiness was played as a non-positive more often than not
― quelle sprocket damage (sic), Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:20 (five years ago) link
hard disagree. it's remarkably progressive for 1983.
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:22 (five years ago) link
"progressive for 1983" is still timely
― VAR me to the end of yawn (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:22 (five years ago) link
(Sam's ability at conquest is only acclaimed as admirable by a) unfuckable losers who say in as many words that they do so because they're living vicariously through him, and b) Carla, who is universally sex-positive, but also lives vicariously because the expresssion of her own positivity has been drastically curtailed by her extreme fecundity)
― quelle sprocket damage (sic), Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:24 (five years ago) link
shhh y'all are making me want to get into cheers
― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:25 (five years ago) link
sic otm
the most problematic aspect of it is Sam and Diane's relationship, and on last viewing I thought the way that played out was actually better than I had remembered it. See the Cheers poll thread I guess.
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:25 (five years ago) link
Brad, do it!
― mh, Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:28 (five years ago) link
I remember Cheers being soooo good but I haven't seen an episode in over 1-2 decades.
― Yerac, Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:28 (five years ago) link
for ex., in the *third* episode of the show there's a subplot about a patron who's confused about what to do about his son's interracial relationship which also turns out to be a homosexual one (this reveal is played as a joke on Coach, who is of course initially confused). But the way its resolved is with the dad spontaneously coming to the conclusion that he must accept his son as he is because he loves him and wants him in his life. This is not how the vast majority of other 80s sitcoms would have handled that setup.
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:28 (five years ago) link
plus it's funny! The writing is filled with tons of great throwaway lines/gags
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:30 (five years ago) link
I just read that Frasier doesn't show up until season three and comes on the show as Diane's love interest, which I guess checks out but I swear I remember him as a recurring guest before then. I'm probably just remembering episodes out of order!
― mh, Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:31 (five years ago) link
i think he isn't initially diane's fiance but they get together shortly after he appears? definitely doesn't show up til season 3
― VAR me to the end of yawn (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:32 (five years ago) link
it's weird that I liked Frasier on Cheers but I really did not like the show Frasier.
― Yerac, Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:34 (five years ago) link
initially diane's fiance but they get together shortly after he appears
Frasier debuts as Sam's therapist!
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:35 (five years ago) link
the show Frasier is garbage also fwiw
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:36 (five years ago) link
Shakey offtm, but it's no Cheers
― quelle sprocket damage (sic), Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:40 (five years ago) link
Frasier is a different genre of sitcom, it's a definite shift into the '90s upper-class urbanites style and away from the working-class of Cheers, which was more in the vein of Taxi and WKRP et al in that regard. It's still good imo.
― omar little, Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:41 (five years ago) link
Frasier had some good characters but all of the running plot devices wore thin really quickly, imo
we get it, Frasier's brother has the hots for their dad's therapist but he's married, whatever
― mh, Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:51 (five years ago) link
when did they add cheers to netflix and what other older sitcoms are available? taxi? bewitched? the andy griffith show??
― Mordy, Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:53 (five years ago) link
(just checked - no, no, surprisingly yes)
the entirety of Cheers has been on Netflix for several years
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:54 (five years ago) link
taxi is streaming on hulu btw
― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 27 June 2019 20:55 (five years ago) link