Source: TV icon Dick Van Dyke: ‘I don’t get the comedies today’ – TODAY Entertainment.
“It seems to me that relationships are what’s missing. I think back to ‘All in the Family,’ when you knew what those relationships were and the comedy that came out of that. Today it’s just one line after another, and they seem to try to cover too much in the way of story in a short time. Then I think they signal when they’re trying to be funny, and the minute I catch someone trying to be funny, then I won’t laugh.”
I am not one to frequently look back at the “good old days”. But when it comes to comedy TV shows I, like Dick Van Dyke above, just don’t get most comedies today. I think he is right about relationships are what is missing. I don’t know who to lay the blame on for this. There are a number of possible reasons.
- Facebook/etc where one line jokes are the norm — Facebook and Twitter are the current social media and they basically only lend themselves to short messages. It seems like most comedies in TV are just a string of tweets strung together
- Kids short attention span — I know kids today need to be constantly entertained. At least that is the message I get from so many of the retired teachers that visit my site. Short attention spans necessitate short jokes I guess.
- Poor writers — Could it be that the writers of today just don’t have the skills and life experiences of those of yesteryear? I know spelling and grammar are almost out the window now with number one above. Maybe the ability to tell funny stories is going with it?
- It’s just what the younger audience wants. — Maybe a string of one-line jokes spread out over a half hour (actually 17 minutes) is just what the kids want now days. We all know that the 17-25 year olds are the target groups for most TV shows.
- Middle is good, many are not — I do like the comedy “The Middle”. It has the one liners but at least it carries through with a story line. But give me a Newhart any day.
- Even the one with Betty White is short of relationships — Betty White’s new show entitled ” Hot in Cleveland” is really no exception to the one-line strings. They really struggle to put in a theme every week.
- When did the constant sexual message become funny? — I have been searching around the cable companies for new shows and am somewhat surprised to see so many with a strong sexual theme. It almost embarrasses me to watch some of them. They are just gross to me, but what do I know.
I don’t know, maybe I am just becoming one of those old fogies that complains about everything. We all need something to laugh about and most of us used get that relief from comedies on TV. If anyone can suggest some good ones please let me know. I sure could use some…
RJ's Corner 
It’s the cynicism of so many of the shows that turns me off. And it’s done in such a casual manner. Whereas, in Seinfield, eg., the cynicism of the characters was THE focus, thus the butt of the humor, rather than just a cheap way of getting laughs. That and the increasing nastiness of the kind of humor. I’d rather read a good book. :)
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Hi Steve, I,ve read a few good funny books but they seem to be few and far between. The one I remember the best was by Erma Bombeck. But I really need to just sit down veg out and get a laugh or two. I remember looking forward to Saturday nights in CBS. They had quite a lineup then. Newhart, Mary Tyler More, Mash, and another I can’t recall right now. I just want a comedy that is not for sex crazed teenagers or someone under ten years old…… (ha)
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I wrote a post for Blog Critics a while ago called “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. It was about Two and a Half Men and the young actor that called them out for being so obscene. All I could think when he did that was “Finally, someone has the nerve to speak the truth!”
We watch Netflix a lot because we can choose what we want to watch and when. I love a good laugh better than the average bear!
Barbara
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Hi Barbara, yeah I saw that but he quickly recanted when it looked like his $300,000 per episode was in jeopardy. Money speaks louder than words…. I live in a rural area with a not so fast DSL line so downloading TV is not much of an option. I just want a TV show where I can get to know the characters and get a laugh from them.
Some of my favorite TV is Downton Abby, Person of Interest, Suits, and a few others. But as you notice there aren’t any comedies on the list. We did buy all the seasons of the old Bob Newhart show on DVD but have already gone through all of them. Oh where, oh where have the real comedies gone?????
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