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Smokey
09-25-2010, 09:06 PM
Just browse the TV guide to see which Sitcom are on daily, and these are the ones that make me switch channels.

The Nanny: Notwithstanding her NY accent, Fran Drescher "down to earth, warm-hearted wisdom" wear out quick.
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Two and a Half Men: This show had so much potential. But as one reviewer put it, they've turned from lovable geeks into sleazy frat boys where every joke is sexual in nature.
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Hanna Montana: Unrealistic situations delivered by bad acting-as bland shows seem to be theme of Disney Channel.
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Family Matters: No comment :D
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TheHills44060
09-26-2010, 09:48 AM
Roseanne.....*vomit*

Worf101
09-26-2010, 10:34 AM
Not only do I hate these sitcoms... I never watched them unless forced to and never ever saw what people saw in them...

"Seinfeld" - Annoying, whiney, self absorbed NY City folks. I went to High School with these people, they weren't funny then, they aint funny now.

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" - See above as Larry David was/is responsible for em both.

"Friends" - Same as Seinfeld with slightly less annoying people. Never new New York City was such fun when I was desperately trying to get out of it.

"Welcome Back Kotter" - I was educated in the NY City School system, it wasn't funny then and it's even less funny now.

"Good Times" - I was born and raised in the Projects, wasn't funny then, ain't funny now. When John Amos quit the the show in protest, that should've told you something.

"What's Happinin?" - Oh just don't you love the dancing black folk? Pheh!!!!!

Off the top of my head.

Worf

Jack in Wilmington
09-26-2010, 01:26 PM
Not only do I hate these sitcoms... I never watched them unless forced to and never ever saw what people saw in them...

"Seinfeld" - Annoying, whiney, self absorbed NY City folks. I went to High School with these people, they weren't funny then, they aint funny now.

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" - See above as Larry David was/is responsible for em both.

"Friends" - Same as Seinfeld with slightly less annoying people. Never new New York City was such fun when I was desperately trying to get out of it.

"Welcome Back Kotter" - I was educated in the NY City School system, it wasn't funny then and it's even less funny now.

"Good Times" - I was born and raised in the Projects, wasn't funny then, ain't funny now. When John Amos quit the the show in protest, that should've told you something.

"What's Happinin?" - Oh just don't you love the dancing black folk? Pheh!!!!!

Off the top of my head.

Worf

Worf you are definitely in the minority (no pun intended) on Seinfeld and Friends. They are two of the most successful sitcoms of all times. I think I remember you not liking Tyler Perry's stuff, so I guess what has to be asked, what do you find funny in sitcoms?

Smokey
09-26-2010, 02:38 PM
Worf you are definitely in the minority (no pun intended) on Seinfeld and Friends.

I understand not liking Seinfeld and Friends, but Worf puzzle me about Good Times. That show did lost two of its lead charactors, but it still managed to be pretty funny.

02audionoob
09-26-2010, 04:10 PM
It's not looking good so far for $#*! My Dad Says.

JohnMichael
09-26-2010, 04:26 PM
I am a big fan of Big Bang Theory but was not pleased with the first new episode. Now I am far from a prude but I thought the dialogue went from clever to smutty easy laughs. Is it me or was someone else surprised by the change. Especially now that the show is on at 8 o'clock.

02audionoob
09-26-2010, 04:34 PM
I am a big fan of Big Bang Theory but was not pleased with the first new episode. Now I am far from a prude but I thought the dialogue went from clever to smutty easy laughs. Is it me or was someone else surprised by the change. Especially now that the show is on at 8 o'clock.

That show has been my clear #1 favorite over the time it's been on and I too was disappointed in the latest episode. I prefer the nerd/science humor over the sexual direction.

poppachubby
09-26-2010, 04:34 PM
I don't know the names of any, because they are mostly all the same from what I can see. My wife enjoys watching TV, I don't.

RGA
09-26-2010, 07:06 PM
I think the premise of the post is wrong since MOST Sitcoms are terrible so it is easier to select the ones you like.

I enjoyed

Mary Tyler Moore
WKRP in Cincinnati (It's close to audio related too)
Taxi
M.A.S.H
Frazier
Cheers
Family Ties
Friends (though I disliked it at first it grew on me)
Seinfeld (definitely get why people would not like this one - they're all smarmy sleazeballs but that's kind of the point)
Bob Newhart (both of them but I liked the second one better)
King of Queens (which is a modern day Honeymooners)
Coach
Roseanne (sorry but this was a counter to the syrup of the Cosby Show - Roseanne was more how it really was in a family dynamic and that played well until near the end of the run.) (American Shows tend not to know when to quit so they end on a loser.
The Simpsons
Two and Half Men was good earlier than later.
All in the Family
Faulty Towers (which is still probably as good as a half hour show ever got)
The Black Adder
The Honeymooners
I Love Lucy

Geez I watched way too much tv

Hyfi
09-27-2010, 04:35 AM
The Simpsons
Faulty Towers (which is still probably as good as a half hour show ever got)
The Black Adder
The Honeymooners
I Love Lucy

Geez I watched way too much tv

Now there is a good list but missing Mr Bean and Are you being Served, Waiting for God, and the Bucket Lady.

Worf101
09-27-2010, 06:17 AM
Worf you are definitely in the minority (no pun intended) on Seinfeld and Friends. They are two of the most successful sitcoms of all times. I think I remember you not liking Tyler Perry's stuff, so I guess what has to be asked, what do you find funny in sitcoms?
First things first Jack.... I'M IN LOVE WITH YOUR GEAR!!!! You list of equipment gives me goose bumps.... As for the sitcoms I loved:

"Cheers" - Regional, funny, reinvented itself a couple of times after major cast changes.

"The Cosby Show" - For the first 4 or five years at least. Proved that Black folks could be entertaining WITHOUT being chicken eating caricatures.

"Sanford and Son" - I know htis choice might seem in drect condradiction to my statement above but Redd Foxx was a comedic master.

"I Loe Lucy" - Nuff Said.

"The Simpsons" - Iconic and game changing.

And there are a few other I liked. Bottom line on Seinfeld and Friends. I don't care how successful they were/.are, they didn't resonate with me. Sorry.

Worf

Troy
09-27-2010, 09:17 AM
I'm with Worf on Seinfeld and Friends. Ghastly crap that only serves to retard the growth of American culture. This junk taught a whole generation that it's ok, and even cool, to act like a self-absorbed twat. That they're both so popular only strengthens this position, actually.

At this point in my life I refuse to give sitcoms any more of my time. It's something that every American would be better off doing.

Well, I do enjoy Weeds on Showtime . . . And I do think Curb Your Enthusiasm pushed Seinfeld's "lovable douchebag" concept so far beyond taste and the way it all blows up in Larry's face at the end of each episode (similar to Cleese in the spectacularly funny Fawlty Towers) that it can be pretty damn funny at times.

But overall? Sitcoms suck donkey balls.

dean_martin
09-27-2010, 02:45 PM
I am a big fan of Big Bang Theory but was not pleased with the first new episode. Now I am far from a prude but I thought the dialogue went from clever to smutty easy laughs. Is it me or was someone else surprised by the change. Especially now that the show is on at 8 o'clock.

I have to agree wit ya, JM. My wife and I watch this one together, but it seems that some of the CBS sitcom writing and storylines are crossing over from show to show. The baser humor from 2 1/2 Men (the all-too prominent fart and sex jokes) creeped into Big Bang and the procreation ideas were similar to that other CBS show with David Spade. (damn! can't remember the name of it, but one of the couples hires a surrogate to carry a child.)

Amazingly enough, the frequent references to string theory in Big Bang made me do a little research. Theoretical physics has changed quite a bit since my last physics class.

At least Bored to Death is back on HBO.

Jack in Wilmington
09-27-2010, 04:33 PM
First things first Jack.... I'M IN LOVE WITH YOUR GEAR!!!! You list of equipment gives me goose bumps.... As for the sitcoms I loved:

"Cheers" - Regional, funny, reinvented itself a couple of times after major cast changes.

"The Cosby Show" - For the first 4 or five years at least. Proved that Black folks could be entertaining WITHOUT being chicken eating caricatures.

"Sanford and Son" - I know htis choice might seem in drect condradiction to my statement above but Redd Foxx was a comedic master.

"I Loe Lucy" - Nuff Said.

"The Simpsons" - Iconic and game changing.

And there are a few other I liked. Bottom line on Seinfeld and Friends. I don't care how successful they were/.are, they didn't resonate with me. Sorry.

Worf

Thanks for the compliment on my gear. Its not always an easy task and lord knows I've made some mistakes. But it puts a smile on my face when a distinguished member of the forum says you've done a good job.

Fair enough on Seinfeld and Friends. I respect your opinion. But I did blink twice on Sanford and Son. It was always one of my favorites.

Jack in Wilmington
09-27-2010, 05:01 PM
I don't know guys, are you all that serious that you can't laugh. I love sitcoms and I always have. From the days of McHale's Navy, Hogan's Heroes and F Troop through Happy Days, All in The Family. I watch the news at night and it's one tragedy after another and I need something to escape and sitcoms are it. I spend most of the day at work trying to make people laugh and have a good time. Life's to short not to have fun. That's my motto.

Hyfi we love the britcoms. As Time Goes By is our favorite.

Smokey
09-27-2010, 07:20 PM
Now there is a good list but missing Mr Bean and Are you being Served, Waiting for God, and the Bucket Lady.

British sitcoms seem to go for more laid back humor than US. Although some of their humors in sitcoms goes above my head (I guess you have to be british), but the hidden jokes seem to be more funnier than spoken ones.

Troy
09-28-2010, 09:37 AM
I don't know guys, are you all that serious that you can't laugh. I love sitcoms and I always have. From the days of McHale's Navy, Hogan's Heroes and F Troop through Happy Days, All in The Family. I watch the news at night and it's one tragedy after another and I need something to escape and sitcoms are it. I spend most of the day at work trying to make people laugh and have a good time. Life's to short not to have fun. That's my motto.

Why do you have to be serious if you don't like sitcoms? It's important to understand that they are not mutually exclusive.

To me, they just aren't very funny. They are so predictable and cheap. Too much of the humor is based on making fun of people. And I dislike seeing these attitudes seeping into American culture.

Like to have fun? Turn off the TV and create your own fun instead of watching the fake fun on TV. Live your own life, not the lives of the pretend people on TV.

Hyfi
09-28-2010, 09:44 AM
I'm with Worf on Seinfeld and Friends. Ghastly crap that only serves to retard the growth of American culture. This junk taught a whole generation that it's ok, and even cool, to act like a self-absorbed twat. That they're both so popular only strengthens this position, actually.

At this point in my life I refuse to give sitcoms any more of my time. It's something that every American would be better off doing.

Well, I do enjoy Weeds on Showtime . . . And I do think Curb Your Enthusiasm pushed Seinfeld's "lovable douchebag" concept so far beyond taste and the way it all blows up in Larry's face at the end of each episode (similar to Cleese in the spectacularly funny Fawlty Towers) that it can be pretty damn funny at times.

But overall? Sitcoms suck donkey balls.

So how is Weeds a sitcom? I do like it though, great stuff.

You could not have described Friends and Sienfeld any better. I think it made people dumber than the two shows put together.

There is nothing funny about stupidity and those shows just insult ones intelligence.

Troy
09-28-2010, 12:04 PM
So how is Weeds a sitcom? I do like it though, great stuff.

Weeds is 30 minutes of funny characters in funny situations. If it's not a sitcom, what is it? This new season is the funniest/best since Agrestic burned down in season 2.

02audionoob
09-28-2010, 03:24 PM
I often change the channel when the entire episode is based on some sort of tiresome deception or when its basic premise is that men are idiots (as compared to women)...so that's probably quite a few shows.

3LB
09-28-2010, 08:38 PM
I've fallen out of love for many faves

I'm hearing ya Worf. Sitcoms featuring African-Americans were as predictable and backhandedly racist as a McDonalds commercials featuring African-Americans back in the '70s - one taste of that McRib and a southern church revival would break out.

Cheers, Seinfeld, Friends all wore out their welcome. I think the first two years of Happy Days was a hoot, even now, but it became The Fonzie Show and sucked. At least Lavern & Shirley gave us Lenny and The Squigtones. Two And A Half Men is periodically funny, but yes, it got old after two seasons. Watching a 'falling-down drunken womanizer' play a 'falling-down drunken womanizer' is just too odd these days.

All In The Family was great for its first three or four season, then it was a train wreck

I hated all the spin-offs of All In The Family (The Jeffersons, Maude which spun Good Times) Good Times could have been great but it does what so many sitcoms do, turn into a vehicle for one character, in this case Jimmy 'JJ' Walker, the most nominally funny comedian ever. Tom Arnold is a riot compared to Walker. I think Good Times might have had the first catch-phrase (Dy-No-Mite!). John Amos agreed to do the show only if they kept a short leash on Walker, which they did not. I have to admit though, I did check into this show as a kid so I could oggle a young Janet Jackson (Miss Jackson if yer nasty). Same with another bad sitcom, One Day At a Time (Bertinelli).

Roseanne was great (IMO) for the first three or four seasons, but turned into a train wreck as well. Cosby Show was hit or miss for me. Too schmaltzy, too cutesy. When the youngest kid got too old to be cute and precocious, they invented a new one, and recycled the first two or seasons worth of "kids say the most smartassed things".

In fact, piss on every sitcom that ever had the smartassed, lippy brat child. Different Strokes - the poster sitcom for child actor disfunction, didn't invent the idea, but made it a standard. Hated Facts Of Life. Wow, there are hundreds of bad sitcoms, all of them popular.

And piss on all the teen phenomina shows, like the ones that were popular just because of a popular teen hearthrob. Disney and Nickelodian are whizzes at inventing phenoms. Every shows has a teen in it that can sing, has magic powers, or both and all the adults are blithering idiots. Hanna Montana bugs me the worst, because it proves what complete sheep people are. If a major conglomerate tells you to watch, listen, and buy a product, then we freakin do it. Miley Ray Cyrus is just as bad a singer as her dad, but she sells out concerts and is a platnum selling artist. And its so obvious that she is so terrible... but nobody cares, because its phenomina, and no one wants to be left out. It plays right into what Branford Marsallis said: "We live in a culture where the idea of what you are, is more important than you actually being that and it all works as long as everybody is willing to wink at the same time." Many kid based sitcoms play this aspect of our society big time.

The most tragically unfunny sitcom star ever - Nell Carter

Phew... RGA is right, prolly easier to list the ones we like.

I Love Lucy (even this show went on way too long)
Andy Griffith Show - until Barney left
All In The Family - seen reruns of the first few seasons lately? They really broke the mold dint they? Made us look at a very egregious aspect of our society - lets face it, some of these early episodes are still all too relevent.
Sanford And Son - Redd Foxx's masterful comic timing kept this from being a disastor really. It too forced race issues into the home, but never got as heavy-handed as All In The Family.
Soap - as groundbreaking as it was, it really was unrealistic as hell
Everybody Loves Raymond - he was a male Lucy Riccardo, but it worked for me and it had a superb cast. Some episodes make me squirm.
Cheers - consistantly funny, though I rarely watch reruns
Will And Grace - written by gay guys, acted by straight actors, most of the time. Never took itself seriously, had some great episodes and even though the Jack McFarlan character was a caracture of an over-sexed gay male, Will was a grounded, professional yet openly gay male and the glue that held together a lot of zaniness (admittedly, too much at times). Helped humanize a sector of society that I (just being honest here) hadn't much interest in getting to know until this show.
And back when I actually had a premium cable channel, I liked The Garry Shandling Show on Showtime. My wife hated it though. I thought it was innovative.

Worf101
09-29-2010, 04:50 AM
Tried to give you some love 3LB but I need to spread it around some.. You hit every single nail on the head, I couldn't have said it better myself. Yeah, I forgot about poor Nell Carter.... I first saw her in "Ain't Misbehain'". She had the body of a battleship and a voice to match. So sad. Once again well played sir... well played.

Worf

Smokey
09-29-2010, 04:11 PM
Sitcoms featuring African-Americans were as predictable and backhandedly racist as a McDonalds commercials featuring African-Americans back in the '70s - one taste of that McRib and a southern church revival would break out.

How did you come up with that conclusion?

So you're sayng shows like Good Times, What's Happening, Thats My Mama or Sanford & Son were all racist which I find hard to believe. I mean show like Whats Hapening were about three teenage high school boys doing teenage things and didn't notice any thing racial.

Good Times started as slightly racial (mostly due to Micheal as militant midget), but then it fell into usual sitcoms routine. I must admit though that JJ was annoying at first, but he came into his own after James left and was pretty funny.

The only show I found slightly racist was Jeffersons which I didn't care for except for first couple of seasons where Mother Jefferson was in the show.


Tried to give you some love 3LB but I need to spread it around some.

I took care of it :)

Worf101
09-30-2010, 03:56 AM
How did you come up with that conclusion?

So you're sayng shows like Good Times, What's Happening, Thats My Mama or Sanford & Son were all racist which I find hard to believe. I mean show like Whats Hapening were about three teenage high school boys doing teenage things and didn't notice any thing racial.

Good Times started as slightly racial (mostly due to Micheal as militant midget), but then it fell into usual sitcoms routine. I must admit though that JJ was annoying at first, but he came into his own after James left and was pretty funny.

The only show I found slightly racist was Jeffersons which I didn't care for except for first couple of seasons where Mother Jefferson was in the show.



I took care of it :)
Believe, after all I've done and everywhere I've been, both in and out of uniform, I'm not one to readily throw the "race" card at someone or something unless I'm DEEPLY and profoundly offended. As a Black American who was born and raised under Jim Crow (both the northern and southern versions I might add) I must say that all of the shows mentioned above with the exceptions of "The Jeffersons" and "Sanford and Son" I found extremely offensive and patently racist in the extreme. But in that BET and other networks featuring shows about African Americans didn't exist we watched these shows because flawed as they were they were SOMETHING. You don't know how much you need to see video affirmation that you exist until you don't have it. If you lived overseas for a time and didn't have access to American or British media you'd know what I was talking about.

So when these shows first came to be we watched them for the novelty of the characters involved. But the networks can never been accused of being "brilliant" nor groundbreaking, Most of the time they just mimic one another in a race to the lowest common denomenator. But in that something had to follow "Julia" and they'd protrayed black folks as saintly the next stop was funny. And that was what we got during that whole period and the majority of it would've made Step n' Fetchit blush. Just my opinion.

Worf

Feanor
09-30-2010, 08:54 AM
Now there is a good list but missing Mr Bean and Are you being Served, Waiting for God, and the Bucket Lady.
Ah! Brit sitcoms!

I quite liked (not loved) Are You Being Served? and Keeping Up Appearances ("Bucket Lady").
I HATED Mister Bean.
I never caught Waiting for God.There were plenty of other decent Brit sitcom that I kind of enjoyed but the names don't come to mind. E.g. the one about a black British chef; really quite good!

Feanor
09-30-2010, 09:02 AM
I'm with Worf on Seinfeld and Friends. Ghastly crap that only serves to retard the growth of American culture. This junk taught a whole generation that it's ok, and even cool, to act like a self-absorbed twat. That they're both so popular only strengthens this position, actually.

At this point in my life I refuse to give sitcoms any more of my time. It's something that every American would be better off doing.

Well, I do enjoy Weeds on Showtime . . . And I do think Curb Your Enthusiasm pushed Seinfeld's "lovable douchebag" concept so far beyond taste and the way it all blows up in Larry's face at the end of each episode (similar to Cleese in the spectacularly funny Fawlty Towers) that it can be pretty damn funny at times.

But overall? Sitcoms suck donkey balls.
That's pretty much the bottom line, Troy.

Regarding Seinfeld, my kids got me sucked in to the series and ultimately I enjoyed it. Absolutely true that it was about "self-absorbed twats". Maybe I was just too old for the message but I certainly didn't take away that it's OK to be like that. I tried and I think, ultimately, succeeded convinced my kids too that it isn't.

I never watched any Curb Your Enthusiasm : enough was enough already!

GMichael
09-30-2010, 09:58 AM
Any sitcom where they relied on someone with a screechy voice as their main atraction. I just don’t find that funny. Can’t change the chanel fast enough.

I also don’t have much use for the ones with political agendas. Even if I agree with them, it’s not why I watch a comedy.

Smokey
09-30-2010, 08:18 PM
As a Black American who was born and raised under Jim Crow (both the northern and southern versions I might add) I must say that all of the shows mentioned above with the exceptions of "The Jeffersons" and "Sanford and Son" I found extremely offensive and patently racist in the extreme.

How can you say that about lovable charactors such as Mable King, Esther Rolle and Theresa Merritt (Mama) :hand:

You said that is your opinion and I repsect that. But meanwhile some of greatest Tv comedy moments might be lost.

Worf101
10-01-2010, 04:35 AM
How can you say that about lovable charactors such as Mable King, Esther Rolle and Theresa Merritt (Mama) :hand:

You said that is your opinion and I repsect that. But meanwhile some of greatest Tv comedy moments might be lost.
It isn't the first time, won't be the last... that we, WITH respect and friendship, agree to disagree... See folks it's not so hard to have a difference of opinion and not resort to stabbin' on another with kitchen knives..... yet.... :biggrin5:

Worf

GMichael
10-01-2010, 05:15 AM
It isn't the first time, won't be the last... that we, WITH respect and friendship, agree to disagree... See folks it's not so hard to have a difference of opinion and not resort to stabbin' on another with kitchen knives..... yet.... :biggrin5:

Worf

We don't have any members who would do such a thing. :rolleyes:

3LB
10-01-2010, 05:16 AM
How can you say that about lovable charactors such as Mable King, Esther Rolle and Theresa Merritt (Mama) :hand:

You said that is your opinion and I repsect that. But meanwhile some of greatest Tv comedy moments might be lost.I watched all of those shows and never felt they insulted the black community, but was educated by friends of mine while in the Navy. They asked me how I felt about The Beverly Hillbillies or Dukes Of Hazard, or even The Andy Griffith Show at times. You'd be surprised at how those shows made the rest of the country view southernors (who are just as capable of laughing at themselves as anyone). I took so much crap in the Navy for being from the south, mostly from miserable people whose catharsis was making others more miserable. The assumption a lot of racist people (I still encounter) make about southernors, is that they've just found a brother-in-arms, assuming all southern white males are kard karrying klansmen. I used to laugh my ass off at the Beverly Hillbillies when I was a kid. Not so much now.

A few of my navy buddies back in the '80s would shake their heads at those old '70s sitcoms and say "at least we got Cosby". The great thing about irascible, prejudiced dudes like Fred Sanford and Archie Bunker, is that while it was funny to see them get bent out of shape and act out, from time to time they got their asses handed to them for their ignorance.

But I see where Smoke is coming from, I have some fond memories of a few of those shows. Rerun from What's Happening was already well known to my household having seen him as a member of The Lockers, a performing dance troup on the Flip Wilson Show, on which they had made several appearences and if memory serves me, they were on other variety shows like Cher (my mother was a nut for TV variety shows). Remember when Rerun tries to "boot"... a Doobie Brothers concert?:shocked:

For whatever reason, whenever a TV sitcom comes along and focuses on any one geographic region, ethnic group, or culture, there will be those who take it for anthropological fact rather than the parody that it is.

RGA
10-01-2010, 02:47 PM
E.g. the one about a black British chef; really quite good!

It was called Chef and I liked it too. People said no one is like that - but I think it is - just watch Gordon Ramsey LOL. I think he has the record for most F-bombs in a 1 hour show.