Posts with tag sitcoms
Posted May 13th 2008 10:34AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, My Name Is Earl, Ugly Betty, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free
Recently, the
AOL list of the 50 Best Sitcoms of all time got me thinking about
ten all time great sitcom sidekicks. Working on that list inspired me to look at the best in sitcom siblings -- ADULTS ONLY. The brother/sister relationship, brothers, sisters, family dynamics are great fodder for comedy. For my collection of the best, I've limited it to grown-up siblings only because there are some truly funny things that happen only among adults brothers and sisters that are unique and universal at the same time. After all, unlike the childhood years when kids are controlled by parents, adult siblings remain close and in each other's lives by choice -- and that has made for some wonderful situation comedy.
Niles & Frasier Crane, Frasier Two brothers, both psychiatrists, both opera buffs, both wine connoisseurs, both heterosexual despite evidence to the contrary. The Crane brothers were like two peas in a very funny pod, sparking each other in comedy, competitive and supportive at the same time. Making their brotherly friendship even funnier was the fact that their Dad, Martin, who was nothing like either one of them. What's even funnier is the fact that when
Frasier was originally spun-off from
Cheers, the writers didn't include the character of Niles. It was only after seeing an 8x10 of David Hyde Pierce, and how much he looked like Kelsey Grammer's brother, that they put him in the pilot.
Frasier would not have been nearly the hit comedy it was without the brother angle.
Continue reading Eight sets of memorable sitcom siblings
Posted Jan 29th 2008 8:06AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on DVD, OpEd, Documentary
Pioneers of Television (in stores today) is a pretty big title for a documentary series, especially one that lasts only four episodes. You wonder, what are they going to mention and what are they going to leave out? This PBS show isn't the most comprehensive look I've seen on each of its subjects, but for one miniseries in one package, it's actually well put together, and you're going to see some TV footage, photos, and interviews I bet you've never seen before.
Continue reading Pioneers of Television - DVD review
Posted Dec 2nd 2007 5:02PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Ugly Betty
After having a slew of beautiful faces grace the set,
Ugly Betty is well-known for its guest stars. I mean, come on, they got Victoria "Major!" Beckham. It doesn't get much more fabulous than that. Following the logical progression of guests, the next celebrity preparing to shoot a spot on the campy fashion show is... Gene Simmons.
Yeah, I'm confused too. Reading
this article doesn't make me feel any better, as it looks like Mr. Simmons is determined to keep the details of his appearance super hush-hush. Past guests have been pretty open about their roles, so I'm starting to wonder if Simmons is going to play a significant, storyline-shifting part. Dare I speculate that he's Amanda's real daddy?
Hmm... Fey Sommers and Gene Simmons. For some reason, the idea of Simmons having a secret sex room doesn't seem so far-fetched.
Posted Nov 14th 2007 8:24PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Industry, Cancellations, WGA Strike
As the WGA strike continues, it's not only Letterman and Leno who won't be getting paid. Many shows are already in hiatus or laying off staffers due to production shutdowns.
Show fans are searching high and low trying to find out the status of their favorite shows. Search no more. I researched the web and have compiled the most complete list I can at this time to let you know where your favorite show stands.
Continue reading How is your favorite show affected by the WGA strike?
Posted Sep 18th 2007 10:41AM by Liz Finn-Arnold
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, TV Royalty, OpEd, Early Looks
In July, I was at a
sitcom writing seminar in which
Sam Simon (who helped develop
The Simpsons)
declared: "the sitcom is dead." Veteran comedy writer
Ken Levine (who hosted that sitcom seminar), however, disagrees. Ken believes the traditional multi-camera sitcom
might be on a respirator, but still has a pulse. Levine said, "I would amend Sam's statement and say that yeah, the bad, stale, family sitcom with tired rhythms, forced laughs, and bogus characters is dead."
I guess if you're trying to revive the dying sitcom, a good way to start is by assembling a top-notch team. And Fox's new Wednesday night comedy,
Back to You, does just that.
Continue reading Back to You -- An early look
Posted Sep 4th 2007 2:03PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Industry, Casting
Starz Entertainment is getting into the scripted sitcom biz with two new comedy series slated to kick off in January.
The first, Hollywood Residential, focuses on the problems facing a home-makeover show geared toward celebrities. The other new series, Head Case, is about a psychotherapist whose clients are all big Hollywood celebs.
The "celebrity" angle of both shows is not a coincidence: Mike Ruggiero, Starz VP of programming, says it's a way of getting viewers used to seeing scripted shows on the channel by featuring some of the celebrities also seen in the movies that originally made up Starz's programming. I don't quite understand that logic, since HBO seemed to do just fine when it started airing original programs without any big names attached.
Continue reading Comedy news: Starz picks up scripted series, Gilbert joins Big Bang Theory
Posted Feb 23rd 2007 2:43AM by Julia Ward
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, NBC, OpEd, 30 Rock
(S01E15) Let's skip the foreplay, get straight to the penetra-sch. Three storylines. Josh's negotiation. Kenneth's induction into Tracy's entourage. Jenna's
Maxim gaffe. All brilliant.
Despite the perennial grousing about the dearth of good comedy on TV, Thursday nights alone are a careful, VCR-assisted juggling act for me between
The Office,
The Sarah Silverman Program,
Ugly Betty and
30 Rock. It's like a mini-golden age of comedic goodness. The best part is that each show couldn't be more different from the other.
30 Rock doesn't do telenovela plot twists or series-long character arcs or queffing episodes. Well, they might do a queffing episode if that were permissible on network television. What
30 Rock does best is goofy set pieces, zippy one-liners and Alec Baldwin. So, let's get straight to the goods, shall we? An inventory, if you will.
Continue reading 30 Rock: Hard Ball
Posted Jan 30th 2007 1:46AM by Jay Black
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, NBC, OpEd, Watercooler Talk, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
(S01E13) They got stuck on a roof?
Really?
Seriously?
They got stuck on a freaking roof!?
Just let that sink in a second. Aaron Sorkin, boy genius, reviler of all things "lowest common denominator", actually had his two love interests... get... stuck... on... a roof.
Excuse me while I go find something to jam in my eye. Repeatedly.
Continue reading Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip: The Harriet Dinner (Part One)
Posted Jan 25th 2007 7:02PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: FOX, The Simpsons, Animation
There's a short but informative interview with television writer Don Payne over at the Futon Critic. Payne has written for Hope and Gloria, The Brian Benben Show, Men Behaving Badly and Pride and Joy. He has also written the screenplays for My Super Ex-Girlfriend and the upcoming Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Payne has also been a writer on The Simpsons for the last eight years.
Continue reading Futon Critic chats with Simpsons scribe Don Payne
Posted Dec 23rd 2006 9:32AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, CBS, Industry, Programming, OpEd, Cancellations
CBS has announced that, after nearly a decade of being on the air,
King of Queens will end after its current season runs out in May. Now that
Will & Grace and
That 70s Show are out of the picture, the program is currently the longest-running sitcom on air
Although the show still experiences some decent success in ratings and only recently got their first Emmy nomination (a nod to star Kevin James, this year), I think it's time to pull the plug. I actually used to find the show relatively enjoyable (compared to similar sitcoms like
According to Jim), but the whole "Check out the fat guy with the hot chick!" thing began to wear thin a few seasons ago.
Ooh! Here's an idea: A wacky sitcom all about a fat wife and her super-hot husband. Haha, I'm just kidding... We've already seen that on
Roseanne, with Roseanne Barr and that smokin' super-fox John Goodman.
Posted Nov 7th 2006 2:28PM by Julia Ward
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Industry, FX, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Pickups and Renewals
One of the few half-hour comedies to hear any good news these days is FX's
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which was just
picked up for a third season by the network. Danny Devito has also committed to appear as a series regular for all subsequent seasons.
Sunny's third season will consist of 15 new episodes. That's five more than the second, and eight more than the first.
Sunny's pick-up is big news in the television industry for reasons that have nothing to do with Devito, FX's fan base or the reputation of barkeeps in Philly.
Sunny is one of basic, ad-supported cable's biggest sitcom successes ever, and its pilot episode is the stuff of industry legend. The episode was shot on a digital camcorder and distributed for amounts that have been said to range from $85-$400. That pilot, which picked up steam via the internet, resulted in the show's creators Charlie Day, Rob McElhenney and Glenn Howerton receiving $400,000 from FX to shoot a first season.
Continue reading It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia gets a third season
Posted Oct 16th 2006 10:35AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Things I Hate About TV
I hate it when a network, a star, or a producer refers to a TV show that "looks like a movie." Is this supposed to impress me? I don't really care if a TV show "looks like a movie," because I look for the actual content of the show (writing, stars, direction, etc) before I look at how it looks. Give me a good script that looks terrible and I'll take it over a formula show that looks fantastic any day.
Take
Smith. The network (and more than a few TV critics and fans) kept saying it looked like watching a movie only on our TV sets. Um, yeah, only I think what people meant by this is that the cinematography in the pilot was good and it had some good explosions. Not a terrible show, but really, that's what it came down to.
Continue reading Things I Hate About TV: It's just like a movie!
Posted Oct 15th 2006 4:19PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV Royalty, Industry, Programming, Celebrities, Ratings
What's in this week's issue of America's favorite TV mag?
- Lost isn't on the cover, and neither is Desperate Housewives. So it must be Grey's Anatomy.
- How the new season stands so far, the winners and the losers.
- As The World Turns is finally going to deal with the death of soap vet Benjamin Hendrickson, who committed suicide earlier this year. His character Hal Munson will also die on the show.
- Matt Roush likes 1 vs. 100.
- An interview with horror master Wes Craven.
- Will Saxondale be another Brit comedy hit for NBC?
- In the print edition: a look at Ugly Betty (a surprising hit for ABC in the Thursday 8pm slot), and yet another damn article about Dancing with the Stars.
Posted Oct 7th 2006 8:04AM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, TV on DVD, Comedy Central
On the surface,
That's My Bush!, the
short-lived series from
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, seemed trite and silly, a collection of tired sitcom and cliches and lame one-liners. Really, though, it was a show that was too damn smart and funny for its own good. The series ran for eight episodes in 2001, and ended four months before the 9/11 attacks. It's interesting to think how or if the show would have continued in the wake of the attacks, but while it was set in the Bush White House, its main target was not the president, but sitcoms in general. Every episode played with the sitcom convention in some way, and if that made you roll your eyes at the inane plots and over-the-top acting, well, that was exactly the point. The complete series will be released on DVD on October 24. The disc will include extra footage, bloopers and commentaries.
Posted Sep 14th 2006 8:48PM by Michael Canfield
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, HBO, BBC, The Office, Celebrities
It's two and out. Ricky Gervais says the upcoming season of
Extras will be
the last one. At least he feels that way "at the moment," he told the Britain's
Sun newspaper [via
zap2it.com]. As they did with the original version of
The Office, Gervais and writing/producing partner Stephen Merchant say they don't want the show to wear out its welcome, a notion that occurs to most American sitcom producers much later than twelve episodes -- more like 120, say. Or never. Gervais wants to do drama next, and I think he should give it a shot. His comedies have a thread of drama running through them anyway -- Dawn and Tim's romance for example. I'm just saying a drama from Ricky Gervais not a completely whacked idea.
The second series of
Extras begins Thursday on the BBC. It'll run on HBO in the Unites States, debut date is not yet set.
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