TV Has a Serious Comedy Problem, and This Year’s Emmy Nominations Prove It
TV Has a Serious Comedy Problem, and This Year’s Emmy Nominations Prove It
Amazon Freevee’s Jury Duty was one of this year’s most pleasant surprises, and we were thrilled to see the unscripted courtroom comedy nab an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy Seri…
I've noticed the same goes for movies. There's plenty of funny films with comedy as the second genre, but never as the purpose of the film. Think of Superbad, Dumb & Dumber, Police Academy. The main purpose was to laugh! But now it's always romcoms, dramedies, or wise cracking superheroes.
Maybe it's tiktok. Maybe it's because everything is a sequel/rehash these days. I just want another Leslie Nielsen film!
Do you think the issue is that people don't go to the cinemas specifically for comedy films? I personally only ever go for action and thriller films (with the odd horror film sprinkled in), because I feel like seeing it at the cinema can greatly enhance the experience. Feels a bit of an overkill experience for a comedy film personally.
I don't know how many people are on a similar wavelength, but maybe a lot of comedy films are now hybrids because it gets bums on seats?
Post covid we don't go out as much, and post inflation we go out less because everything is crazy expensive.
So why would you go to a theater to watch a comedy? That's literally the perfect use case for streaming.
The big studios have been putting all their eggs in the most profitable basket in the last few years, which is huge action-packed franchises that consume record-breaking budgets. The mid-budget summer movie as we knew them up to 2015 or so (think Hangover, Superbad, Bridesmaids,...) have been dying out as a result, unfortunately. But the cracks of this model are now starting to show due to many "big" franchise productions bombing at the box office this summer.
Honestly, I hate watching comedies in theatres because of all the laughing which generally drowns out the second half, or subtleties of the joke which I don't like. I'd rather just wait until I can stream it at home.
That's not too say I wouldn't go see a movie if someone offered, but in not running to buy tickets to the next, I don't know, Apatow movie.
I think the opposite; comedy movies stopped being cinematic.
There are some good comedic filmmakers still, but a lot of them in the 2000's and 2010's were written and shot as high budget TV shows. At that point, why not just watch it at home?
You also seem to have the death of a lot of movie physical comedy, so you have to rely on other genres to supply the "cinematic" look.
I miss things like Scrubs, 30 Rock, Arrested Development, Community - they all struck a balance between being comfortable/wholesome and cool/intelligent.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine was close but ultimately got bored of itself and started to do weird novelty stuff before petering out. Big bang theory etc are way too sitcommy.
Derry Girls on Netflix (in the US) is very solid, and wisely wrapped it up after their post-Covid season was just a bit less dynamic, plus the cast was straining credulity as teens in S1, to say nothing of S3 four years later. It's got heart and a bit of pathos, but it's a legitimate comedy and sometimes in a guffawing broad sort of way.
The Good Place is the best Michael Schur show from beginning to end, and only bested by Parks and Rec seasons 2-5, IMHO. TGP was silly and high concept from the beginning, so there was more room to be weird without throwing the show off track, and it had a story to tell that wrapped up nicely.
Reservation Dogs on FX is not uproarious, but it's very human and has some really funny coming of age stuff. I think it's only got one more season, but honestly, that amount of notice should generally be enough to get a comedy or dramedy to a sufficiently satisfying resolution or at least pause point. The unexpected cliffhanger cancellations that come by surprise or via showrunners playing chicken with their bad ratings are the really frustrating ones.
Mr Mayor was the new Tina Fey show but it’s already cancelled. AP Bio reminds me a lot of Community, but that was also cancelled. Animal Control is similar to Brooklyn 99 but not nearly as good. Abbott Elementary is kinda like the office, and is pretty good, and is still on, so people should definitely watch it.
Writers still haven't recovered from the 2016 election lol
But fr I think NBC making most of the good sitcoms is a big part of it. NBC has been making hit sitcoms since the 70s, but for the first time in awhile, they don't have any hit comedies anymore. In the 70s, they had Sanford & Son, in the 80s they had Cheers, in the 90s they had The Cosby Show and Friends, in the 2000s they had The Office, in the 2010s they had Parks & Rec and Community and 30 Rock and Superstore and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
I do think that ABC might be poised to take over NBC's spot as top comedy broadcaster though, Black-ish was a smash hit and now they have Abbott Elementary as well.