(no subject)

[shadowkat]

Watched some Friends clips...and it does not date well. But then none of the 20th Century series really do...

Comments

[mefisto]

Dramas might hold up better. In general, the humor in comedies becomes dated pretty quickly. Dramatic themes, in contrast, can be timeless.

[shadowkat]

I'd agree. It's possibly why I prefer dramas and struggle with some sitcoms. The difficulty with humor is well it is supposed to offend on some level. And usually some group of people is the brunt of the joke. Comedy isn't exactly known for being inclusive.

[mefisto]

Yep.

[threemeninaboat]

As a homo is was so awful in 90's I've never watched it, even then it was appalling.

[shadowkat]

Well, it was a upper middle class white heterosexual comedy about upper middle class white hetersexual relationships, and far from inclusive in any way - there's a reason I wasn't that into it myself. (It was inclusive of Jews - three out of the six characters are Jewish in the show. And a big point is made of that - the writers were white, heterosexual, Jewish, and upper middle class - writing about their lives in NYC.)

The 20th Century was not the most inclusive century in regards to television series and films. Although Dramas were better and more so. Comedies - ugh. There's a reason I've never been much of a fan of situation comedies. [ETA: Were there any inclusive comedies? I'm trying to think of one? There were less offensive ones - such as Fraiser.]

The 1990s were better than previous decades in that respect, but far from what we see now.
I mean, you did not see homosexual couples on network television in the 20th Century, unless it was as the brunt of a joke (see Will & Grace) or a stereotype. Although Will & Grace was kind of ground-breaking, and very late 1990s. And we didn't see homosexuality shown at all in a positive way on network television until about the 10s? I think? In the 20th. Even the Big Bang Theory (more recent) isn't great in this respect. Comedy tends to like to make fun of the other, and often in a nasty way.

20th Century and early 21st Television comedies, I'd think would be painful for anyone who wasn't heterosexual or white. I mean Seinfield was kind of nasty too. So was How I Met Your Mother (which was early 00s), Big Bang Theory, Everybody Loves Raymond, and oh so many others. Cheers certainly had homophobic jokes, as did MASH, etc. Although not as frequent as Friends - which was geared mainly towards heteroexual comedy - which can be very offensive at times. (It's why I can't say I was into it, or a big fan. Because there were a lot of cringe-inducing jokes on the show.)

[conuly]

I never liked it.

[iddewes]

I was never really into it. But it is true especially about comedies that they don't age well.

[shadowkat]

I can't say I was either. I watched intermittently like I watch most situation comedies. Some episodes were hilarious, some fell flat.