Do the networks have some ...
Question: Do the networks have some sort of love-hate relationship with one-camera comedies? I have found most of them hilarious, but the minute I get attached, they're gone. I adored
Miss Guided,
Aliens in America and even the one where Andy Richter was a private eye. Before that, I loved
Undeclared, which lasted about a minute and a half. The only ones the networks seem to hold on to are
30 Rock and
The Office, two of my favorites. Is there something I'm missing? Am I the only one who rolls on the floor laughing when these shows come on? Or do they not attract the target demographic? I love the CBS Monday night traditional comedies (with the possible exception of
Two and a Half Men and the David Spade one), but what about the one-camera comedies? Are they the future or the past? I'd like to know because right now I find myself staying up past midnight to catch my new favorite,
Corner Gas. I can't keep this up.
Answer: Seems to me the networks, and many critics, like single-camera comedies more than the general audience does. This style is very much in vogue, especially on NBC (
30 Rock,
The Office,
My Name Is Earl and
Scrubs, which is moving to ABC this fall) and also on pay cable (
Curb Your Enthusiasm,
Entourage and
Weeds, to name a few). These shows tend to get great reviews and lots of award nominations — remember
Arrested Development? — but for whatever reason, few of them hit the mass-market vibe the way more "traditional" comedies like
Friends,
Seinfeld,
Frasier,
Everybody Loves Raymond or even CBS's current blockbuster
Two and a Half Men have tended to do in the recent past. The failure rate for the trendier looking comedies is at least as high as for the old-fashioned sitcoms, especially if they're airing on comedy-challenged networks like ABC and the CW, but they're not being singled out. It may look that way right now, mainly because so many networks are dabbling in them. Programmers love these shows, because they consider them hipper and fresher than the "traditional" sitcom. I happen to think there's good and not-so-good in both forms, but it's not easy these days for any comedy of any sort to catch on.
