Very few sitcoms carry the political weight they did back then. Although occassionally one might go there. The last one may have been Murphy Brown. Now, we're in the age of the dramedy - Boston Legal, Ugly Betty, Buffy, Studio 60...where the tough issues are presented either as drama or comedy. And situation comedies are relegated to farce very rarely allowed to be "dramatic" or "heavy" - and I think they've suffered a bit as a result. There's less quiet moments. Too many jokes cram-packed inside the episode. To work, a joke needs to build, you need the down time - I think. Seinfield is partly responsible for that change.
There are a few exceptions - The Class, How I Met Your Mother, My Name is Earl, and Scrubs which have dramatic moments, but not many. And none of these come close to the impact of MTM or Mash or Murphy Brown.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2007-02-25 11:34 pm (UTC)Now, we're in the age of the dramedy - Boston Legal, Ugly Betty, Buffy,
Studio 60...where the tough issues are presented either as drama or comedy.
And situation comedies are relegated to farce very rarely allowed to be "dramatic" or "heavy" - and I think they've suffered a bit as a result.
There's less quiet moments. Too many jokes cram-packed inside the episode.
To work, a joke needs to build, you need the down time - I think. Seinfield is partly responsible for that change.
There are a few exceptions - The Class, How I Met Your Mother, My Name is Earl, and Scrubs which have dramatic moments, but not many. And none of these come close to the impact of MTM or Mash or Murphy Brown.