Don't people like to laugh anymore? I was perusing the top 25 list of television ratings and was astounded by the lack of comedic programming. With "Friends" and "Frasier" gone, and "Everybody Loves Raymond" running on fumes, is the situation comedy dead?
For the week of Feb. 7-Feb. 13, only two sit-coms ("Raymond" was ranked No. 9 and "Two and a Half Men" was No. 11) and one hour-long comedy, "Desperate Housewives," (No. 4) were among the top 25-rated shows according to Nielsen Media Research. The rest were populated with CSI and its associated spin-offs, various versions of reality series, and a random assortment of other cop dramas.
What does it say about the state of television comedy when Charlie Sheen can claim to have the second highest-rated sit-com on television? And it's probably only because he's following "Raymond," a show that has been rumored to be finished for at least a couple of seasons.
NBC used to be the great pillar of comedy, hearkening back to the legendary Brandon Tartikoff and his eye for great talent. "Cheers" and "Family Ties" were only two of his successful decisions. Then came "The Cosby Show" and "Seinfeld," bringing NBC to the top of the food chain. Now, they're in a miserable state. The ratings for the Matt LeBlanc spinoff "Joey" are abysmal. Nothing seems to go right for the peacock network.
But looking back to the weekly ratings charts, is there actually a problem at NBC's entertainment division? Or have people just stopped looking to sit-coms for laughter? Maybe it was the shock of the Sept. 11 attacks, but that's the overly simplistic reason.
One aside - "The Simpsons" has been the stalwart in defining comedy for the last 15 years, but it's not a sit-com. It has a genre all to itself. For the purposes of this discussion, it stands above and beyond analysis.
There is something unknown about today's climate that has stifled comedic growth on television. The programming that passes for humorous today is dreadful renditions of Top 40 hits on "American Idol." I woefully admit to never have watched an episode of "Desperate Housewives," but I can easily tell that it falls far from being classified as a situation comedy.
That brings up an interesting sidenote to the discussion of the death of the sit-com, the growth of alternative laughfests. FOX has been the key figure in this side genre of side-splitting cult favorites that fail to last more than a season or two. "Andy Richter Controls the Universe" was sadly unappreciated, likewise with "Greg the Bunny," which was the Seth Green vehicle that was a pre-"Avenue Q" look at a demented version of "Sesame Street." These shows, starring unconventional characters acting without a studio audience, were filled with subversive humor which failed to connect to viewers.
The latest version of the "bizarre" sit-com is my personal favorite, "Arrested Development." Under a constant threat of cancellation, Mitchell Hurwitz and his clan of writers continue to write gut-busting humor with blink-and-you-miss-it moments of unforgettable humor. David Cross, Will Arnett, and the rest of the cast are phenomenal at depicting the unrefined Bluth family. But if recent history tells us anything, it's that "Arrested" isn't gonna be around long on network television.
Perhaps cable television will be the future nursery for comedic programming. "Family Guy" has thrived on Cartoon Network and TBS; "Chapelle's Show" presents biting racial commentary not heard since Richard Pryor. HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is one of the most critically acclaimed comedies on television at present, and until recently shared that distinction with "Sex and the City." With all the clamor about decency standards and moral values on the small screen, cable might be the only safe haven for edgy, humorous television.
So here we are, almost halfway through the current decade, and what will future cultural historians say was the landmark sit-com of our decade? There isn't one. The '70s have "All in the Family." The '80s have "The Cosby Show" and/or "Cheers." The '90s have "Seinfeld" and a few other worthy nominees including "Roseanne" and, painful as it is to concede, "Friends." But the '00s? Nothing.
The genre isn't dead, just comatose. The American public will still watch a great sit-com, they may even watch a halfway decent one. This decade's iconic show - the one that hasn't been written yet - what will it be? Not a silly rehashing of a British comedy, such as "The Office" or "Coupling," but something original.
It has to be a sit-com which captures the super-information age and can shed some funny but shrewd commentary on the high-strung and fearful times we live in. Lastly, this unwritten show had better be smarter than William Hung mangling "She Bangs."
To quote the Stephen Sondheim song, what television needs now more than ever is "Something appealing, something appalling, something for everyone - a comedy tonight."
