1019: Black Comedy

[Blitzgal]

No way would I put Arrested Development in the same category as Everybody Loves Raymond, King of Queens, Home Improvement, etc. There may have been a family at the center of the show but it turned that tired family sitcom laugh track format on its head.

[Junkenstein]

Originally Posted by Blitzgal

No way would I put Arrested Development in the same category as Everybody Loves Raymond, King of Queens, Home Improvement, etc. There may have been a family at the center of the show but it turned that tired family sitcom laugh track format on its head.

Exactly but i wanted to mention an amazing sitcom, featuring a stand-up comedian, that used a classic format and turned it upside down.

You can say the same for "Lucky Louie".

The sitcom format had its share of duds, but once in a while, with a good comic and some good writers you had a gem that made the comedian popular.

I cant think of any reality show that stands out that way. Yet, those are the way to go if you want to make good money. Either that or act in a thousand comedies, hoping to catch a very good one sooner or later (Just think of the number of crappy stuff that Galifianakis had to do before hitting the jackpot with the hangover)

[spooky]

I blame MTV and "The Real World" for the current reality television wave. And the creators apparently drew inspiration from PBS, a 1973 reality show called An American Family. According to TV Guide, it was considered #32 on it's list of the greatest shows of all time.

I think reality TV in it's current form was an economic inevitability, due to it's low cost and people's constant fascination in human interest stories. While there are shitty lowest common denominators throughout the genre, the genre itself is a much higher concept idea than TV sitcoms.

Isn't This American Life considered in that same genre, does anyone think that show is anything close to lowest common denominator? And if we shit on Joe Rogan for the worst, shouldn't we also laud him for the best?

[Junkenstein]

Originally Posted by spooky

Isn't This American Life considered in that same genre, does anyone think that show is anything close to lowest common denominator? And if we shit on Joe Rogan for the worst, shouldn't we also laud him for the best?

Of course i laud him for the best. I think that Joe Rogan made one of my all time favourite stand-up dvd's ("Live from the belly of the beast"). The point is that he's still more famous for Fear Factor, and he acquired popularity more from that than from his comedy.

And Fear Factor is a good example of rotten reality TV, where you have to watch fucked up people do fucked up things, possibly with a sarcastic host that makes fun of them.

I'm not saying i blame Joe Rogan for anything, i'm saying that i see why a comedian with a strong personality like Marc Maron could say what he says.

It's similar to what Hicks said in his bit about Jay Leno or about making commercials on tv (If you do a commercial every word that comes out from your mouth is suspect"). Many people are still saying that what he said was "pretentious". I think that he was being honest and bold, and there are way too many people who are afraid to be that way.

[Yarbles]

Great show. Marc was very good, as were Keith and Chemda.

Regarding Rogan, Marc's response seemed part standup snobbery/jealousy (because Rogan didn't make it the "right way") and self-righteous idealism. So what if Rogan danced for the man. As clowns I bet Keith and Chemda did that quite literally. Are we to dismiss their current work because they "sold out" along the way? And blaming Rogan, even partly, for the death of scripted TV is a major stretch. Joe didn't force millions of people to watch and he didn't write the union/guild contracts that make scripted TV so expensive to produce.

I'm not sorry if it's harder for failed standups to get a job writing a hack sitcom. Life doesn't guarantee success. If they can't write something more entertaining than a guy eating a goat penis, then maybe they should find another line of work. But I don't buy the premise that reality shows killed TV. There was a period of adjustment, but there are probably more high quality scripted shows on now then ever before. I don't watch any realty TV, but my viewing schedule is as full as ever. Even more so in the summer, which use to be a TV dead zone.

[Blitzgal]

Originally Posted by spooky

Isn't This American Life considered in that same genre, does anyone think that show is anything close to lowest common denominator?

It's more like journalism about real people and situations. Well fuck, that's what journalism is. So....it's journalism.

[Hodad]

Originally Posted by better dylan

I agree this show was outstanding.

I disagree with marc about Joe Rogan being a sell out. Joe Rogan did what he had to do to get where he wanted to be. Now that he is comfortable he can go and do stand up and do ufc without having to worry about making ends meet. It's really a means to an end.

If the ends justify the means, then do you think the Dane Cook also did what he had to do to get where he wanted to be. Now that he is famous, he can do movies and pay someone to write jokes for him so he is not a sell out???

[spooky]

Originally Posted by Blitzgal

It's more like journalism about real people and situations. Well fuck, that's what journalism is. So....it's journalism.

It's an ill defined line, and they are all very closely related.

[Junkenstein]

Funny twitter factoid: today is Joe Rogan's Birthday.

[juliofromny]

I was anticipating this episode for almost a week (almost as soon as it appeared on the calendar) and I wasn't at all disappointed. I hope Marc shows up for more episodes