Friday Fight: The One Where Do We Still Need Sitcoms Anymore?
Even though Lindsay and Gabe are friends, they very rarely agree on anything. Every day, they have a fight about something. On Fridays, we publish one.
gabe: i didn't watch Do Not Disturb, was it really that bad?
lindsay: Yes, it was as bad as it could possibly be.
gabe: you would hope jason bateman would steer it clear of the shoals
gabe: the sitcom shoals
gabe: the fall new sitcom shoals
lindsay: I tried to find the tiniest evidence that it was once a good show but got ruined by too many tv execs.
lindsay: But there's nothing there.
gabe: is that such a thing?
gabe: a show that doesn't exist that was good without existing?
gabe: i mean, if it exists as a bad show
gabe: isn't it just a bad show
lindsay: Well, it's by an Arrested Development writer
lindsay: So I thought he must have started with a good idea
lindsay: or good jokes
lindsay: but if he did, there are no fossils left in the show that made it to TV.
gabe: was the show making fun of sitcoms?
gabe: you'd think that in 2008
gabe: we would know that putting "sassy black lady" into a sitcom should have some kind of deeper meaning
lindsay: Totally, but instead she's just a sassy black lady character.
lindsay: There's nothing meta about the show
lindsay: And the chick who plays the dumb blonde receptionist
lindsay: is like, sorry, way too old to be that character
lindsay: I mean, 30 Rock has a dumb blonde receptionist
lindsay: so it can be done
gabe: 30 rock is sort of a hybrid
gabe: between a standard sitcom
gabe: and one of these newfangled sitcoms
gabe: but i don't know if agree with your post that sitcoms need to be buried in a coffin
lindsay: Well this is going to sound terrible
lindsay: but have you watched old sitcoms lately?
lindsay: They're also pretty awkward
gabe: old sitcoms are the worst
gabe: but that doesn't mean new sitcoms have to be the worst
gabe: there's still hope for the sitcom
lindsay: Well I mean even Cheers
gabe: ew, "even" cheers?
gabe: i am not talking about cheers
gabe: that show is stupid
lindsay: I don't know, I guess I thought you thought Cheers was the ultimate acheivment of mankind.
lindsay: or something
gabe: sam and diane should drop dead
lindsay: they probably will soon
gabe: sam and diane should take a long walk off a short bridge to nowhere
gabe: if sam and diane were both tied to the train tracks and i had to choose one, i would go get drunk instead
lindsay: Well duh
lindsay: I'd take a picture first
lindsay: hello, Pulitzer!
gabe: but i liked Friends
gabe: a lot of people don't know that about me
lindsay: The thing is, I STILL like friends
gabe: i use that for ice breaker games
lindsay: but I can't tell if I would like it if it was unfamlliar
gabe: when you have to tell people something no one knows about you
lindsay: I know
gabe: i say "i like friends"
gabe: i'm the worst at ice brekaer games
lindsay: Actually, I have a secret theory that you don't really like Friends
lindsay: and that you're trying to add a surprising layer to your character
lindsay: Shake things up, if you will
gabe: haha
lindsay: Because it really seems like you would hate Friends
lindsay: So you must be really complex
gabe: no, that comes from when i say i like Frasier
lindsay: hahaha
lindsay: Frasier.
gabe: i went through a minor Frasier phase
lindsay: I've seen every episode of Frasier
gabe: i think i was kind of depressed, but i watched a lot of Frasier
lindsay: Don't worry
gabe: Frasier is terrible
lindsay: I like Niles
lindsay: but Frasier was a horrible awful person
lindsay: always
gabe: if sam and diane and niles and frasier were all tied to separate train tracks
lindsay: No, Niles is great
lindsay: Niles gets it
gabe: i would learn how to drive a train
lindsay: Actually
gabe: how to stop a train and make it go in reverse
lindsay: that could happen in the world of Frasier
lindsay: because they did all know each other
gabe: TRUE
lindsay: on account of Frasier being a spinoff
lindsay: I want to see Maris
lindsay: I actually thought that the other day
lindsay: they should do a show called Maris
lindsay: NOW
lindsay: now is the time
lindsay: it could be called "Remember Maris?"
gabe: anyway
gabe: the thing is, we're going to get just as bored of these meta-sitcoms
gabe: The Office and what not
lindsay: Yeah
lindsay: We don't need any more
lindsay: except that spinoff
lindsay: but after that, done
gabe: haha
lindsay: the door is closed
gabe: that spin-off is going to be a disaster
gabe: mark my words
lindsay: awww
gabe: Disaster Town, population That Spin Off
lindsay: well it does seem like they don't really know what it's about yet
gabe: even if it's successful, i predict disaster
lindsay: which is a little worrying
gabe: it will be like the show in Extrsa
gabe: When the Whistle Blows or whatever
gabe: hugely successful and an utter nightmare
lindsay: You know I just realized that I watched the american office pilot when it leaked online
lindsay: and I was like 'worst show ever'
gabe: well, the pilot was terrible
gabe: if they did not turn the show into something else
gabe: it would have been the worst show ever
lindsay: Are You 'avin' a laugh?
gabe: when the pilot aired on TV
gabe: because some of us
gabe: live AMONG THE PEOPLE
gabe: on PLANET EARTH
gabe: and not in our LIBERAL IVORY BLOG TOWER
gabe: where we watch LEAKED PILOTS
lindsay: it leaked to everyone!!
gabe: and drive JAPANESE COMPUTERS
gabe: when it aired on TV i turned it off halfway through
lindsay: on whatever proto version of youtube existed then
gabe: it was unbearable
lindsay: I think you had to download it
gabe: "it leaked to everyone, you just got an email from a publicist with a password and you went to a mirror site and downloaded it in three parts, burned it to a CDR and watched it on your Apple TV."
gabe: everyone
gabe: everyone did that
lindsay: hahaha
lindsay: I don't even know what most of those words mean
gabe: i think that you pretend to hate 2 and a half men
gabe: because you think that's what smart people hate
gabe: but in reality
gabe: you love that show
lindsay: Actually, I tried to watch it and cultivate a contrarian liking it personality trait
lindsay: but it really is THAT bad
lindsay: I tried to do what you do with Friends with it
gabe: ew, that's even worse
gabe: don't do that
gabe: stop doing things like that
gabe: why do you do thigns like that?
gabe: because of sadness?
lindsay: No, actually I tried to watch it because I thought maybe it could be good but nobody knows
lindsay: And I would be the discoverer
lindsay: but it's just angry-makingly bad
gabe: yeah, no that makes sense. it only gets 18 million viewers a week
gabe: probably no one ever saw it
lindsay: Nobody I READ THE WORDS OF
gabe: a diamond in the rough
lindsay: What I choose to hate watch in my own private time is no business of yours.
gabe: that's not true
gabe: that's not true anymore
lindsay: hahaha
lindsay: Okay, I guess Two and a half men was about exactly as bad as a movie where people eat shit.
gabe: you love How I Met Your Mother
gabe: and that's mediocre
lindsay: Correction: I loved the first two seasons of How I Met Your Mother
lindsay: pre-stunt-casting
lindsay: so pre-not-about-to-be-canceled
lindsay: No, that show was good
lindsay: And could be good again but has gotten too relationshippy
gabe: no, that show was fine
lindsay: It used to not be for pussies
gabe: i would categorize that show as "fine"
gabe: it was "watchable"
lindsay: I mean, it wasn't "Not for pussies! pussies beware!" but now it's a little For Pussies only.
gabe: i just think that any show can be good or bad
gabe: GENIUS OPINION
gabe: but i mean
gabe: My Name Is Earl
gabe: is like Arrested Development for idiots
gabe: it tries to play with the form
gabe: but it's miserable
gabe: it's also super popular
gabe: so we should probably quit and/or be fired
lindsay: I feel like I'm completely caught up on my name is earl
lindsay: from the incessant promos
lindsay: there are worse shows than my name is earl
lindsay: it's like Scrubs
gabe: haha, you like my name is earl
lindsay: you never really think about it, but if it's on you don't rush to change the channel
gabe: My Name Is Earl is your boyfriend
gabe: you should replace all the "yous" in that sentence with "I's"
gabe: becuase i do not do that
gabe: i have never once in my life
gabe: casually found myself watching My name Is Earl
gabe: "oh, whoops, i just watched My Name Is Earl" is not something I've ever said
lindsay: hahaha
lindsay: everyone on that show is dumb
lindsay: that's the premise
gabe: OK
gabe: so the end result of this discussion
gabe: is that I think there's still hope for the sitcom
gabe: and your favorite show is My name Is Earl
gabe: right?
gabe: have I got that right?
lindsay: And your favorite show is Frasier.
gabe: not anymore
Posted by Lindsay at 6:00 PM in Friday Fight, Sitcoms
Tags: 30 Rock | Do Not Disturb | Frasier | Friends | My Name Is Earl | The Office
I disagree with you both on so many points, but I still loved this. Hooray for you guys.
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You two are adorable with your Friends love! Cutest.
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My Name is Earl actually used to be a good show. Then something happened around the second or third season and it got terrible. It's kind of sad, really.
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I love Friends, but I agree with Lindsay; I don't think I would ever watch Friends as a new show. Friends is that show people/I still watch because it's familiar and takes you back to the days where it was Ross and Rachel and you actually had something to laugh at on a Thursday night. I have a love/hate relationship with sitcoms as sometimes the overload of Primetime Drama makes me suicidal, yet at the same time, the sitcom formula is so stale I could just die.
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i can't believe i just read half of that conversation.
i actually felt like i was in an actual episode of friends.
my mind went numb for close to 20 seconds.
i now have a sudden urge to go to a coffee shop and not order a coffee.
just sit there all day and talk furphy's.
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I can't believe how long it was before 'that's your boyfriend' came out, I was looking for it for ages!
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Is "hate-watch" a thing? A new verb? I Googled it because I instantly loved it, and plan to use the hell out of it -- but all the top results (too lazy to scroll to second page) were about keeping watch for hate crimes.
I like Lindsay's usage much better.
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That's not Jason Bateman in Do Not Disturb, it's Jerry O'Connell.
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Correct. Jason Bateman directed the episode.
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