Must-snob TV: I watch what I want to watch, and I’m not worried that I’m missing a thing
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- April
- 23
If you’d like to read an enjoyable, intelligent take on all things television, I recommend Tim Goodman’s column for the San Francisco Chronicle.
There, now that I’ve said something nice about the guy, I can respond without remorse to his recent piece defending the popular, broad-humored Monday night lineup on CBS.
Goodman argues that there is a kind of “too cool for the room” mentality among those who favor the subtle, cringeworthy humor, single-camera style and laugh track-free approach of the NBC Thursday night comedies to CBS’s more traditional (some would say cliched) fare.
The problem with sophisticated comedy – be it anti-obvious in nature, keenly observed absurdities or ironically dumb by choice – is that it creates its own little laugh ghetto from which you never get out. You don’t want to watch “Two and a Half Men” because, well, it’s “Two and a Half Men” with Charlie Sheen, for God’s sake. What more need be said?And yet, there’s a smugness – almost a righteousness – to people who can only tolerate “30 Rock” or “Weeds” and sit around lamenting the death of “Arrested Development.” Hey, it takes one to know one.
So I guess he’s saying he feels this way too, and this way of thinking has threatened to deprive him of some quality viewing. Goodman goes on to make the case for How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men and The Rules of Engagement.
In the circles where I chat about NBC’s far superior The Office and 30 Rock. There are those who have taken a liking to HIMYM, laugh track, Doogie Howser and all. I’m not one of them, but fine. I’m not a big Scrubs or My Name is Earl fan either, for that matter.
But the reasons I don’t watch The Charlie Sheen Show (Men) or That Show With Puddy from Seinfeld That Nobody Watches (Engagement) is not because of how they’re shot or because a canned audience is trying to tell me when to laugh. It’s because they stink. They’re not funny. They’re consistently painfully unfunny, at least to me. It’s like, as Butthead of Beavis and Butthead used to say, they’re not trying very hard.
All in the Family had a laugh track, yet it was the best sit-com ever made. MASH was a multi-camera; tell me it wasn’t brilliant. I Love Lucy was known to dabble in slapstick. Funny anyway, no?
Sure, CBS schools NBC in the ratings—twice as many people typically watch Two and a Half Men as watch 30 Rock. But that doesn’t make me feel special. It makes me worry my show is going to get canceled.
Also, I reject the idea outright that my ongoing lament for Arrested Development is keeping me from seeing quality TV. It does save me from some garbage, though, since I can watch it to my heart’s content on DVD or on Hulu. Man I miss that show.
More important, it’s silly for a writer, be it columnist or blogger, to try to convince me of the worth of the show or shows he loves by condescending to me. And confessing to be a snob as well doesn’t make me appreciate being called one any more.
It’s like this guy over at Slate, who makes the case for tuning in to Friday Night Lights (about a year too late) by concluding his first paragraph with “If none of this interests you, maybe you don’t actually like television.”
Or maybe it’s reading overly snarky opinions I just don’t like.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 at 4:27 pm by Brian Howard.
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There is a difference between snarky and being a rude ass… (sorry).
I love HIMYM, but I despise Two and a Half Men. I like Old Christine, but think Big Bang is stupid. How about some of us like 30 Rock, Weeds, and some don’t. Bah! That guy sux.
That just cracked me up, erika. In fairness, Goodman’s not typically a snarky guy. But you’re right. I love The Office and 30 Rock, but I could never get into Earl or Scrubs. I guess I’ll have to stop being such a sit-com elitist.