Is anyone else annoyed at sitcoms?

[teddymines]

What passes for comedy today gives me little faith in American values. Any night of the week you can tune into the same bland, pre-packaged "entertainment" featuring people without pimples, in pristine well-lit "homes" making crude wise-cracks and getting canned laughs.

I'm not a prude, but what's up with insults being funny? And the person who insults the other always gets laughs from the audience BUT NEVER FROM THE CAST! "Too bad about not getting the job. You could always clean up dog crap in the park." (insert fake laughter here)

To me, sitcom is good because of the characters, not the flimsy plot: Sanford and Son, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Seinfeld.

 

[soccerbud34]

someone needs a little hug

 

[911paramedic]

IMO if these actors get upwards of a million per episode (train robbery) then I should see a new episode every week, 52 weeks a year. If a soap can be on everyday, a weekly series should be duck soup.

 

[pulse8]

<< IMO if these actors get upwards of a million per episode (train robbery) then I should see a new episode every week, 52 weeks a year. If a soap can be on everyday, a weekly series should be duck soup. >>

Do you really think NBC can afford to pay each member of Friends 52 million dollars a year? A soap doesn't generate nearly as much money as Friends does. I hope you're not thinking about going into business.

I love how everyone thinks they can run a TV network better than the people doing it.

 

[minendo]

Put down the remote and step away from the TV.

 

[darthmango]

I agree completly. Not one new sitcom in the past few years has been even close to decent, except those who break the mold and go for something different. Malcom, for example, has no canned laughter, but guess what, the show is actually funny! On the simpsons DVD somone said that because there is no laugh track on the show they have to put in about 1/3 more jokes to fill the time. I'm guessing the current mantra of sitcom writing goes something like this: "well, we could come up with something clever, or we could just go with what we have and turn the the laugh track really loud."

 

[notfred]

You'd prefer to watch people with pimples in the dark?

 

[911paramedic]

Do you really think NBC can afford to pay each member of Friends 52 million dollars a year? A soap doesn't generate nearly as much money as Friends does. I hope you're not thinking about going into business.

Sorry, I meant to add to my comment that they should get $1 mil for the ENTIRE year, not per episode, thats just crazy.

Don't get me started on payscales, I have a real tough time knowing that UPS drivers make more per hour than we paramedics do. Now that is wrong. Like to see them run a full code on a package, tape, tape, paper, tape,...

 

[pulse8]

<< Do you really think NBC can afford to pay each member of Friends 52 million dollars a year? A soap doesn't generate nearly as much money as Friends does. I hope you're not thinking about going into business.

Sorry, I meant to add to my comment that they should get $1 mil for the ENTIRE year, not per episode, thats just crazy.

Don't get me started on payscales, I have a real tough time knowing that UPS drivers make more per hour than we paramedics do. Now that is wrong. Like to see them run a full code on a package, tape, tape, paper, tape,... >>

The money is there and since you are so wise in the ways of network television, who should get that money??

Someone has to make that money because that's how much the networks generate. In order to pay them that much, they HAVE to be making a good deal more than the 132 million they are shelling out for the cast.

 

[LordMaul]

Yes. I can't stand the stupidity. That's why I don't watch TV. :Q

 

[b0mbrman]

The way TV works is awesome...if you don't watch a show, they have bad ratings and advertisers don't want to spend money on the show. The network likes money so they take off the show.

You know what you should be saying? An equivalent question to your's is "Is anyone else annoyed at what the general American public likes about sitcoms?"