Comedies

I mentioned on Dan's blog that I don't watch dramas now and don't really see the appeal any more, but that I love comedies, so I will talk about them now.

The Office - I think Dan mentioned this show a few times, if I haven't, and if you haven't heard of it, you are probably living under a rock or are my mom or something. It's set in an office (huh huh) for Dunder Mifflin, a paper company, and follows the day to day travails of Jim Halpert, a salesman there. The comedy is very character driven, with Jim and his love interest, Pam, the receptionist, being the only normal people on the show. The other main characters include Steve Carrell as the childish, egotistical, stupid, yet somehow endearing boss Michael, and Dwight, Jim's rival salesman with delusions of being a totally bayd dude. Also Dwight lives on a beet farm. There are a bunch of other characters, my favorite probably being Creed, but you just have to see the show to understand how good it is. There is a lot of drama type stuff earlier on between Jim and Pam, which I guess a lot of people really got hooked on, but I found boring. Now that that is pretty much settled, I'm happy, though the humorous parts may not be as good as they once were. It's still hilarious, though.

I should mention that it is based on a British show of the same name which has Ricky Gervais in the boss's role. I've seen one season (series) of that, and while it is funny, and the boss absolutely hysterical, I'd have to say the American version is much better.

30 Rock - This show stars Tina Fey, basically playing herself as Liz Lemon, the head writer of a show at NBC. It's also very character driven, with Liz being neurotic, Alec Baldwin's corporate character being somewhat evil but charming enough to get away with it, and Tracy Morgan (as Tracy Jordan) being a completely nonsensical celebrity who does whatever childish thing he wants. Tracy is the best part of the show, and if I could recommend an episode to point this out, I'd say watch the one where he is on Larry King telling people to panic about the economy. This last season is actually slightly annoying because there is too much focus on Liz not being able to find a man, which is an absurd plot point because she is Tina Fey. Also, that sometimes ends up sounding like a tv version of Cathy.

Curb Your Enthusiasm - If I recall correctly, this is an HBO original. I watch all these shows via the internet, so I don't really have to worry about that. It stars Larry David, who was the creator and basic inspiration for Seinfeld. It has a lot in common with that show in that a lot of the humor comes from the minutia of daily life, but it is quite a bit different in that Larry (as himself) is much less considerate a person and is in a situation where he doesn't really have any need to maintain social standards. Storylines usually focus on him being kind of a jerk, making a feeble attempt to fix it, then giving up and suffering the results. I can't recommend it for everyone, but I love it.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - From FX, maybe, but I think rebroadcast on Fox? It was apparently made very cheaply, like $60 for the first episode. It follows the stupid and petty affairs of three friends, Mac, Dennis, and Charlie, who run a bar in Philadelphia. Dennis's sister Dea, who is a waitress there, is also a main character, and later Danny Devito joins as Dennis and Dea's dad, although he turns out not to be their real dad. Basically they are all horrible people and argue over stupid things, going to stupid lengths to get back at each other. Other times they are just selfishly trying to get themselves something with no concern for anyone else. Dennis thinks of himself as "a winner," being handsome and getting whatever he wants; Mac thinks he is really bad and is always doing stupid karate moves and showing off his muscles; Charlie is a complete moron who huffs glue, can barely read, and is obsessed with a waitress; Dea likes to pretend she is more noble than the others despite her being the same, and likes to think of herself as a psychologist, having failed out of college with a psychology major. The show is hilarious because they are all terrible and basically end up having terrible things happen to them as a result. Again, not for everyone.

Peep Show - I talked about this show before, I think. It's British and is shot from the point of view of the characters, mostly the two main ones, Mark and Jeremy. We often get to hear their inner thoughts, too. Mark is the prime example of a nerd. He is terrible with women, completely hates social situations, enjoys reading history and playing video games, and generally lives a life of quiet desperation. Jeremy thinks of himself as a musician, but he is really just a leech, living almost entirely off Mark, and generally treating him badly, but usually returning to him by the end of an episode. This is another show where things rarely go well for our main characters, and the end result of their schemes is generally a humiliating scene for them. I think it's great, but who knows if you will like it?

I should mention a couple others that I sometimes watch:

Scrubs - I think this show has been on for like 8 seasons or something. Some people are absolutely diehard about it, others claim that it used to be funnier and that they are just reusing the same jokes. Having watched almost all of it, I can say that it was never really funny, and it continues to be mediocre at best and irritating at worst. It follows a few characters who work at a hospital, and usually ends with the main character, J.D. giving some sappy monologue about what lesson he's learned. There's a lot of character drama which gets really annoying after a while. I do keep watching it, so I guess it can't be that bad, but only when there is nothing else to do.

The Big Bang Theory - This show is about nerds. Occasionally it is worth a chuckle, but it's pretty typical trash sitcom fare. It's another one of those shows that I will watch if it's raining or something. They are usually pretty accurate about their nerd stuff, though, so bonus points for that, I guess.