Monsters of Television

“Double bounce me! DO IT!“

Is it wrong that I kind of enjoyed “Aerodynamics of Gender” about as much “Epidemiology”? I’m not suggesting that this week’s episode is better than last week’s, but they’re doing different things, and I just happen to enjoy this week’s goals, overall, more than last’s week.

Which shows the flexibility of the show. It can do a splashy postmodern zombie romp, and do it very well, one week and then do this significantly less splashy episode (solid RoboCop work aside) that still has some good character beats in it. And that’s why I love this show so much: it can both of these things, and when it does them well, it does them really well. Read more »

“That’s really funny, Cougartown, but you’re Cougartown and I’m not going to watch you.”

As the ABC comedy block is about to start for Wednesday night on the East Coast, listen in as Matt and Nick discuss if Modern Family lives up to the hype and what the best comedy on television is for the season thus far. Matt walks a fine line as he proposes one of the most reviled shows on Monsters to be a contender.

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“What was that accent?”

And just barely slipping in before the witching hour on Halloween (on the West Coast anyway) are some thoughts on this week’s Halloween episodes. Some of the things we reference:

• Evel Knievel is has, in fact, passed.
• Matt is not the only one lazy enough to be three-hole punched.
• Sofia Vergara might have been influenced by some mid-90s television.
• Maybe the writers on Chuck still live in fear of the Chuckpocalypse.
• Smallville does love them some horror episodes.

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“Troy, make me proud: Be the first black guy to make it to the end.”

“Epidemiology” is an instructive example in pop culture roulette. In fact, when you consider it in relation to “Modern Warfare” and “Basic Rocket Science”, you realize the three levels of how pop culture roulette.

I know, I know. I’m about to suck all the joy out of a zombie episode with ABBA music talking about how Community deploys homages and who it positions characters within it. But why else do you come here if not for me to suck the joy out of your viewing experiences?

…The episode was pretty great, though. Read more »

“Hard to believe I’m not really not really in space.”

A lackluster episode of Community is still better than most comedy on television, so I can’t be too disappointed in “Basic Rocket Science” even if I do think it’s one of the weakest episodes the show has done in a while.

Like “American Poultry” and “Modern Warfare,” “Basic Rocket Science” is a high concept episode doing a full on riff of a particular film genre (in this case, space movies). I remember one of the critiques around “Modern Warfare” was that it didn’t serve the ensemble very well since they were dispatched so quickly (“Troy made God angry!”). My contention, that they needed to leave for the actual character impact to occur, Jeff and Britta having sex on the study table, would end up paying off in the end actually came true in the finale of last season and the premiere of this season.  Like the folks who were iffy on “Modern Warfare,” have the same quibble with “Basic Rocket Science”: where’s the character beat in this episode, because I’m not really feeling it. Read more »

“Then you’re not listening because his has lasers.”

It appears it was “Let’s talk about religion!” week for some broadcast comedies and Glee (nailed it). It’s an odd trend to just have happen at once (Modern Family dealt with religion this week as well, but I don’t watch Modern Family so I can’t comment on it) and even Community got wrapped up in the trend.

I’ve seen a lot of discussion on Twitter about how television fiction handles religion. Typically it’s done in a one-off episode and is then never mentioned again (unless you’re Bones, and then you mention it in passing constantly, but that’s because you’ve got two sensible characters discussing differences of beliefs). But sitcoms tend to follow the one-off formula a little more than others, a semi-very special episode as it were that helps bring a story around to the central idea expressed in Glee‘s “Grilled Cheesus” and this episode of Community: It’s okay not to believe in God, but for the love of God, please believe in something. Read more »

“Is this you being me-TA?”

Oh, Community. I missed you and our wily knowledge of sitcoms (and of my funny bone).

A common trait for shows, of any genre, is to ramp up the things that seemed to work well in the first season and just keep doing it. Lost decided that it needed a lot more crazy mystery stuff because that’s what people were talking about, so ramp it up to 5 or 6 hatches and some creepy microfilm (and more survivors!). Veronica Mars went with a more layered mystery and more looks into Neptune, ramping up the noir Naked City (not as gritty, of course).

For its return to the screen, Community keeps the meta humor running full blast, and while I do find meta humor very funny and engaging, it does crowd out the less meta and more humane, emotional beats that I’ve always felt the show excelled at. Read more »

Here at Monsters of Television we value one trait above all else: snark. Sure, we have to be able to write intelligently and put TV shows in academic and societal contexts, but why do it if you’re not going to be witty about it? So in tribute to both television and snark, I have compiled a list of 10 of the snarkiest, wittiest characters on television. I’m including pictures and videos for all of you out there who don’t read so good. See? Snark. Here we go. Read more »

“Do you try to evolve, or do you try to know what you are?”

Community is a show that became better as it went along. It was rough going until “Intro to Statistics” (better known as the Halloween episode) and the show hit its stride, figuring out that its voice is ultimately highly referential comedy that also picks apart the sitcom genre. It’s an exciting place to position yourself because so few sitcoms really want to acknowledge their genre, and the ones that do are the animated ones that can do really wacky things (The Simpsons, Family Guy).

But underlining all of that is that the show often still wears its heart on its sleeve, so no matter how meta and snarky it might get, there was always a take away at the end of the episode, something that grounded the episode beyond the hijinks (I’ve written about this ad nauseum). And show how has managed to balance those elements and bring them together into a coherent whole: much like Pascal’s triangle, the snark and the heart add up to equal Community (this is as strong as my math metaphors get).

However, “Pascal’s Triangle Revisited” can’t quite find that balance, and suffers a bit as a result. Read more »

“Who cares about a stupid exam? We’re a study group.”

They could’ve stayed in Spanish forever. It could’ve been that simple. And it would’ve been kind of easy for them, and Community isn’t really about easy and simple. It likes to tweak the sitcom enough to do different things, including acknowledge the passing of time in a fairly realistic way given its setting. And after the awesomeness of last week’s “Modern Warfare,” “English as a Second Language” was kind of a nice refresher course on the series overall structure.

Of course, a show sets a precedent like this and I start holding it accountable: it had better end in 4 years. I don’t want to see Community: The New Class with Jeff as the instructor for Introduction to Judicial Systems helping a bunch of new kids figure out their way in life.

…I just doomed us all, didn’t I? (I expect a creator credit and an associate producer credit if that happens, Dan Harmon.) Read more »