Welcome to The Filibust!
I am Travis, the second head to the right on the photo above. Among these passionate writers of topics of great value, I am the Media and Entertainment writer. I'm a pop culture fiend, and an avid lover of TV and movies. But enough introduction, lets get to the goods.
The 62nd Primtime Emmy Awards Ceremonies were held this past Sunday evening. These awards elevate, not the best shows, but those with the most clout. Example; Mad Men winning for the 4th year in a row, when “Breaking Bad” continues to put out much more compelling television than the former.
I am Travis, the second head to the right on the photo above. Among these passionate writers of topics of great value, I am the Media and Entertainment writer. I'm a pop culture fiend, and an avid lover of TV and movies. But enough introduction, lets get to the goods.
The 62nd Primtime Emmy Awards Ceremonies were held this past Sunday evening. These awards elevate, not the best shows, but those with the most clout. Example; Mad Men winning for the 4th year in a row, when “Breaking Bad” continues to put out much more compelling television than the former.
However, my biggest grievance with this year's Emmy's are with its winner of “Outstanding Comedy Series”.
The nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series included: Modern Family, 30 Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Glee, Nurse Jackie, and The Office. Two of these shows have been nominated every freaking year, won a couple and then descended into crap TV (The Office, 30 Rock). Another is a terrible excuse for a “comedy” show (Glee), another is a genre stealer and average in its own right (Modern Family), one I have not seen, thus, will not judge (Nurse Jackie), and one of these shows just came off from one of its smartest and funniest seasons, even after 7 years (Curb Your Enthusiasm). Guess what show won? Modern Family. A show that steals every nuance from other TV shows is seen as “Outstanding” in the eyes of the entertainment media elite. Please.
It is a grave injustice that Larry David's ingenious and hilarious season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” was snubbed. Even after the show's best season, and “Seinfeld Reunion”, it wasn't enough in the eyes of the Emmy people. For shame.
I guess it could be worse. Maybe “Glee” would have won if Disney and the CW hosted the Emmy's. It could be hosted by Miley Cirus, with performances by Justin Beiber and The J-Bro's, and the Outstanding drama Emmy would go to “Gossip Girl”. Then we would have no choice but to allow hell to engulf this terrible terrible world. We would gladly jump into the lake of fire rather than be forced to grant any sort of credibility to the likes of “Glee” and “Gossip Girl”.
So I say to all of you in agreement, Keep the fire.
The nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series included: Modern Family, 30 Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Glee, Nurse Jackie, and The Office. Two of these shows have been nominated every freaking year, won a couple and then descended into crap TV (The Office, 30 Rock). Another is a terrible excuse for a “comedy” show (Glee), another is a genre stealer and average in its own right (Modern Family), one I have not seen, thus, will not judge (Nurse Jackie), and one of these shows just came off from one of its smartest and funniest seasons, even after 7 years (Curb Your Enthusiasm). Guess what show won? Modern Family. A show that steals every nuance from other TV shows is seen as “Outstanding” in the eyes of the entertainment media elite. Please.
It is a grave injustice that Larry David's ingenious and hilarious season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” was snubbed. Even after the show's best season, and “Seinfeld Reunion”, it wasn't enough in the eyes of the Emmy people. For shame.
I guess it could be worse. Maybe “Glee” would have won if Disney and the CW hosted the Emmy's. It could be hosted by Miley Cirus, with performances by Justin Beiber and The J-Bro's, and the Outstanding drama Emmy would go to “Gossip Girl”. Then we would have no choice but to allow hell to engulf this terrible terrible world. We would gladly jump into the lake of fire rather than be forced to grant any sort of credibility to the likes of “Glee” and “Gossip Girl”.
So I say to all of you in agreement, Keep the fire.
Travis, i'm not saying you're way off, but you're slightly askew. You can't say 30 Rock has descended into crap, because you've only seen maybe 2 or 3 episodes. I'll give you The Office. You're also speaking out of turn on Modern Family, again having only watched a couple episodes, if not only snippets.
ReplyDeleteYou're arguing against Modern Family from a stance of what the Germans called Sitz im Leben - Life Setting. The same reason you don't "get" Modern Family is the same reason i hated "Mad About You" in the 90s: i wasn't married, didn't have children or in-laws, i just wasn't there...thus the disconnect.
what makes Modern Family work isn't its format...the single camera/mockumentary thing has been done (cf Arrested Development, The Office)...it's the structure - a show where each character is utilized, not a foil, and the jokes are spread around...even the kids aren't tertiary characters who run in and out of frame every 3-4 episodes (cf Everybody Loves Raymond)...they're funny, they act like kids, they get funny kid lines.
Furthermore, i've always had somewhat of an issue with giving awards to shows that aren't readily available to the public: Sopranos, Sex and the City, Curb, Weeds, Nurse Jackie, Entourage, etc. The network shows have to play by some set of rules (FCC)...the aforementioned don't and therefore can be "edgy" and push boundaries because there's no accountability. I'm not saying these shows should be punished because of the content, but it's not a level playing field. Perhaps there should a Cable Emmys category where these can go head-to-head.
The the Emmys truly want to recognize the most original comedy, give it South Park. every year. Consistently the funniest, "edgiest" (there's your cable criteria) show on TV. It will never happen.
Disclaimer: The views of this blog are the absolute views of the writer. The views of the writer will not be swayed by "Logic" nor "Facts" so don't event try.
ReplyDelete;)
-------
To address a couple of this commenter's points,
I first ask the question, how many episodes does one need to watch to make a judgment call on the tv show? Ask my fourth grade teacher, and she'll tell you that I have trouble "listening" for periods of time. It's my general rule to give shows 2-3 episodes followed by a judgment to cease watching or continue. I did this with both "30 Rock" and "Modern Family", and found neither of them intriguing. Also, the degradation of 30 Rock into mediocrity comes from a very reliable source of mine to be fair.
I can see the unfair playing field on Cable vs Network argument, but shows don't have to be edgy. A good show is a good show.
Now I'm bored of typing.