SitComs Old and New.

[dANdeLION]

Moonlighting lost it's edge when Dave and Maddie finally did the horizontal bop.

I completely disagree, especially since I just watched all those episodes on dvd. Cybill got pregnant, and Bruce broke his collarbone skiing, so there were limits to what could be done for the final 8 or so episodes of season 3, which made a bad situation worse, because Moonlighting was always running late as it was. I still think they intended to do a 4th season, but Bruce did Diehard while Cybill was having her twins, and that was that for Bruce!

[lucimay]

dude...you know WAY too much info about their personal lives.

[dANdeLION]

Hey, I have three words for you, Luci.

BEST.

SHOW.

EVER.

[danlo]

Mr. Ed? Oh most definately

[dANdeLION]

Quit horsing around, Wilbur.

[dlbpharmd]

"that hot Marine colonel chick"- OMG she IS incredibly hot isn't she!!!!?

Damn skippy - when my wife started watching JAG re-runs, I was ambivalent - until I had one look at Mac (Catherine Bell.) Now JAG re-runs are Tivo'd.

[Cail]

Oh yeah, Catherine Bell......

I agree dAN, I really liked Moonlighting, but you have to admit, whatever the reason, it fell off at the end.

[dlbpharmd]

Boys, it just doesn't get much better than that.

[Cail]

I agree. I didn't really care for JAG, but she's the reason I watched it.

[Fist and Faith]

OT from sitcoms - but that's what I've been screaming about Smallville and JAG. Clark won't hook up with Lana? Harm won't hook up with that hot Marine colonel chick? Give me a break!

EXACTLY!! I've never seen JAG, but Smallville is one of the things I was thinking about, even though it's not a sit com. The other is the TRULY pathetic Who's the Boss, which I almost never watched for MANY reasons besides this one.

The problem is that when they do finally hook up, the shows usually get worse. Mad About You went right in the toilet when the kid came along.

Well, I guess that's true. However, it was already several seasons old by then, and was probably gonna die miserably anyway. At least the final ep, with Janeane Garofalo as their grown up daughter, was great.

[dANdeLION]

Thanks Cail! I never realized how talented an actress Catherine Bell was!

[dlbpharmd]

Who's the boss was that lame Tony Danza show, right? Well, I wouldn't have done Judith Light either. Now, take Alyssa Milano on Charmed, along with Shannon Doherty - that's an entirely different subject altogether. Rose McGowan is hot too, but anybody who would crawl into a bed with Marilyn Manson - yeah, not even with dAN's.

[drew]

Back to the sitcom discusion....
Fist..You really liked Home Improvemnets?
That is the show will ALL the stereotypes..I'm pretty sure it was Tim Allen who strated the whole, 'Men don't ask for directions' Thing.

The only episode that sticks out as half decent in my mind, is the one where Tim and Al switched positions on the show, and Al screwed up as much as Tim normally did.

My fasvorite WKRP was the Softball tournement, so intence wondering of Les was going to catch that ball or not.

Night court had those few episodes where they had do do a couple of hundred cases in one night...they were always pretty funny.

The last episode with Dianne on it was a pretty good Cheers.

Perfect Strangers...was excellents until.....they had kids, it was the last season anyway, so I guess it's okay. I still find myself singing the Bibbi-bobka song.
"When you're rolling out the dough, just be sure to take it slow, if you roll the dough too quick, bibbi-bobkas make you sick..."

[Fist and Faith]

Fist..You really liked Home Improvemnets?
That is the show will ALL the stereotypes..I'm pretty sure it was Tim Allen who strated the whole, 'Men don't ask for directions' Thing.

I think that "directions" thing has been around since the invention of the car. Honestly, I don't remember much about the show. But I watched it often, so I must have liked it. Same with Friends. But I enjoy the grunting ape stereotypes, and making fun of them. And I liked the Tool Time Girls! Heh. No, I won't watch a show for that reason, but it makes it that much easier to watch.

My fasvorite WKRP was the Softball tournement, so intence wondering of Les was going to catch that ball or not.

I don't remember that one. How about the time Carlson threw the turkeys out of the helicopter. Les screaming, "Oh, the humanity!" And later, Carlson saying, "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."

Night court had those few episodes where they had do do a couple of hundred cases in one night...they were always pretty funny.

I loved the unpredictability of it. Some hilarious stuff went on, and I never saw it coming.

Perfect Strangers...was excellents until.....they had kids, it was the last season anyway, so I guess it's okay. I still find myself singing the Bibbi-bobka song.
"When you're rolling out the dough, just be sure to take it slow, if you roll the dough too quick, bibbi-bobkas make you sick..."

I didn't watch this enough to have ever heard the song. In every episode I saw, Larry was coming up with these outrageous lies to tell his girlfriend. It drove me crazy to see such an idiot, and see such a babe with him, so I didn't watch it.

[Hound Of Chulainn]

There hasn't been a good traditional sitcom from the States since Seinfeld. It will never get better than that. They're disposable shows that are easy to produce and sell to a network, and they break the first rule of comedy. It's actually written into the script to allow ten to fifteen seconds to let the laughter and applause die down, which kills jokes completely.

You know why Who's On First is so brilliant? It pops. It goes at break-neck speed, and the delivery is impeccable. Now, imagine that routine being written in this day and age. It would be a cataclysmic failure because it sacrifices timing, and that's why sitcoms don't work anymore, at least on people who have any respect for the tenants of great comedy.

There have been a couple of good ones come out of the UK recently (Two Pints Of Lager, anyone?), but the days of "filmed before a live studio audience" are just about over.

[A Gunslinger]

Seinfeld, Scrubs, and the Office are the best modern comedies.

For old comedies. pound for pound nothing beats Soap and the Odd Couple.

[sgt.null]

the Job (Denis Leary)
Sports Night

those are about the only ones I have liked.

[Hound Of Chulainn]

It annoys me that I couldn't get into Rescue Me - I was given the impression that it was going to be a show in the same vain as The Job, so I was let-down. Which is a shame, because I've heard great things about it.

The Job was superb though, pity it didn't survive.

[sgt.null]

rescue me is brilliant. Denis Leary is outstanding. i find it much in the same as the Job.

[Rocksister]

That 70's show. Sorry, it was my era and brought back some grand memories. Chukka boots, the advent of foreign cars into American society, flower power, Led Zeppelin, Peter Frampton, etc., tight disco pants, roller skating, "the circle," I could go on and on. I loved Hyde and Red the most. It went off the air way too soon. Loved the panty episode. I watch reruns in syndication every single day.