Quick thoughts on sitcoms – CliqueClack behind the scenes
Thought you had enough of behind the scenes at CliqueClack, after reading our diatribes on Reaper’s fate and the top 100 sci-fi shows, didn’t you? Well, maybe in another life you’ll be so lucky, but today you get graced with another installment. This time, Julia started it, innocently enough.
C’mon, read it. It’s actually pretty relevant considering all of the new sitcoms the networks are trying this season.
JULIA: Any Arrested Development virgins around here? Because if I were, I would offer to do a Diary, but I am pathetically, helplessly in love with this show. But I’m just suggesting, it’s worth getting into. And I will happily aid and abet anyone interested in getting addicted.
BOB: Funniest show to ever be on TV.
[and now begins the controversy...]
Separated at birth: Stargate Universe and Arrested Development – Guest Clack
First-time guest clacker Ryan enjoyed snowy Northeast winters for a few years, but now lives back home in humid Hawaii. He wishes it were still cold enough to wear a suit and tie when going out.
Before Friday’s episode of Stargate Universe, I was certain that Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright had merely taken the Battlestar Galactica character sketches, filed off the serial numbers, and tossed them through the Stargate. I now know the truth, which is that they stole them from Arrested Development instead.
Arrested Development keeps playing games with my heart
Since The Curious Case of Benjamin Button got made, it was inevitable that a new movie would take its place in the “will-it-won’t-it” category of perpetual confusion. And taking Benjamin’s place? Arrested Development.
Today news was released that a screenplay is in the works, but, the article notes, that doesn’t mean we should expect anything, since none of the actors have signed on.
Maybe it’s shows like Community that have me longing for more Arrested Development. After all Community also features the younger, socially-incapable guy (Abed) and the older, trying-to-be-cool guy (Pierce). There was a beauty pageant plot on Parks and Recreation, which bore some strong resemblance to the episode where Maeby wins an inner beauty pageant and George Michael decides to join the army after Steve Holt and his dad compete in a triathlon together. That whole storyline with Andy questioning his sexuality on The Office made me miss Tobias more than I think anyone ever should.
FOX Sunday night lineup – Clacking the dream
Yes, the 2008-2009 network television season’s in the bag. But, you know what? It’s not all tears and depression. Let’s be honest; most nights, the networks air a pretty stinky lineup of shows. Apparently, it’s really hard to put on three straight hours of quality programming, and some networks even struggle to put on two (and when that’s hour-long shows, it’s only two series per night. Why so tough, FOX and The CW?)
But even more true is the fact that today is no exception. The networks have rarely managed to keep us satisfied all night (this is a family post, perverts!), so enough with our lamenting the good old days. Instead, I propose an alternative: a build your own strongest lineup for each night of the week from each one of the big four networks (never will The CW have enough good to qualify. Although we might be able to mine something from The WB and/or UPN….)
A few months back, we discussed the ultimate in nights of television, NBC’s Must See Thursdays. But, plenty of other nights, and other networks, have storied histories (both good and bad). So, with a little suggestion from Peter Lynn, and a little chronological order, what say we visit Sundays on FOX, first. Read the rest of this entry »
Better Off Ted: Smart, silly and obviously horribly doomed
Nicole Yates is back Guest Clacking for us again….
Victor Fresco’s Better Off Ted gives me hope that networks actually want to take a chance on something quirky and hilarious. Unfortunately, these types of chances don’t usually last very long. Let me explain.
Better Off Ted stars Jay Harrington as Ted, a button up kinda guy who is the head of R&D at Veridian Dynamics, a company that makes pretty much everything. It’s a sort of veiled GE if you will, promptly explained with a hilarious opening ad for the company in which they explain they are everywhere and do everything (including making a sheep). Jay is more or less the straight guy, with his little daughter as his conscience.
Ted has to deal with his boss Veronica, who could come off as a psycho or a Jack Donaghy clone if not for her odd understanding of her overlords (the upper, never seen bosses) and her hilarious can-do attitude that Jay also shares. Portia de Rossi takes one part Lindsay from Arrested Development and a tiny bit of Olivia from Nip/Tuck and rolls it into Veronica, a bun-wearing corporate soldier. What really sells her character for me is that she delivers all of her lines like she walked out of an old screwball comedy, goofy facial expressions and all.
My Wife and Kids – CliqueClack Flashback
I was flipping through the channels yesterday afternoon, when I came upon a rerun of My Wife and Kids on ABC Family. Instead of continuing to flip the channels, I stopped. It had been quite a while since I sat down and watched the Damon Wayans sitcom, but they were doing a special episode in the Bahamas, and I do love me a good TV stunt. I was only about five minutes in when I recalled something that I had forgotten: this show is actually pretty funny.
My Wife and Kids certainly isn’t the edgiest series that has ever been on television, nor does the writing set the world on fire. What it is, is a solid family sitcom — and what’s wrong with that? As much as I love it, not everything needs to be Arrested Development. Part of what made My Wife and Kids great is that even though the day-to-day situations were slap-stick and ridiculous, the characters were grounded in the real world.
CliqueClack Flashback – Arrested Development
Join me as I flashback to a time not so long ago, a time when television was at it’s funniest, a time when Arrested Development was still on the air! With all the news about an Arrested Development movie surfacing, I thought it was an appropriate time to wax poetic about the funniest show ever to be on television, at least in my opinion.
From cornballers, never-nudes, Bob Loblaw, great voice-overs, and blind lawyers, every bit in this show hit it out of the park.
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