12-02-2016, 11:04 AM
Certainly might be an American thing...If you look at the great UK comedies - Black Adder, Father Ted, The Young Ones, Mighty Boosh, IT Crowd, Black Books, Fawlty Towers (et-bloody-cetera) - there's certainly no obsessive revolving around coupledom. If anything these comedies are anti-relationship, or at least completely uninterested in the topic. There's a bit of sex here and there, but no hook-up lasts longer than one episode. Their main focus seems to be "unusual people in dire straits and surreal occasions". Also a very definite strain of Catch 22-like terror and absurdity.
On the other hand, none of these shows ran for longer than 4 seasons. They were short, concentrated works of art. TBBT managed a certain surrealism and similar unusual quality in its first 4 years. Personally I'd add S1-4 to the above list of classic comedies.
The current show still has hilarious moments, no doubt. The writers and actors are some of the best in the business. But the damn thing as a whole isn't as unique anymore. It's just a very very competent romcom. Well-written, unchallenging, relatable to many normal folk. "Everyone" gets jokes about babies, sex, marriage, gender differences (O what larks), couple problems...So financially it makes sense to appeal to "everyone", particularly when you want to go past 4 seasons.
Yet Seinfeld, 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Simpsons (if that counts) and so forth kept that surreal and aesthetic quality throughout their endless seasons. Even Frasier managed to weave in romance repeatedly without making it the whole claustrophobic focus of the series, and without oddly demonizing single people. The main thing with Frasier was they didn't alter the characters to do so.
Sheldon, now...
YES YES WE KNOW.
But seriously, if they'd managed to keep Sheldon out of the romcom world, and kept him the unique, strange detached planet around which the OTHERS orbited in their little conservatively-coupled satellites, or at least gave him a relationship which didn't normalise and diminish him, I'd still be watching the damn show. But the character we fell in love with/idolised just isn't there anymore, and this decision (made back in season 5, evidently) will never cease to baffle me.
(OH DEAR GOD GRIPE IS BAFFLED STOP THE FECKING PRESSES!)
Anyroad, we'll always have Blackadder's approach to relationships...
![[Image: tumblr_mopulr9YnQ1qbcb48o1_250.gif]](https://68.media.tumblr.com/c501ecfc86a6387b33ca312949565ad2/tumblr_mopulr9YnQ1qbcb48o1_250.gif)
![[Image: tumblr_mopulr9YnQ1qbcb48o2_250.gif]](https://68.media.tumblr.com/3bb8a0d0301a2c3818450f4f05bf4a79/tumblr_mopulr9YnQ1qbcb48o2_250.gif)
![[Image: tumblr_mopulr9YnQ1qbcb48o3_250.gif]](https://68.media.tumblr.com/7388298e67ea811258f0c91bbf39ca5f/tumblr_mopulr9YnQ1qbcb48o3_250.gif)
![[Image: tumblr_mopulr9YnQ1qbcb48o4_250.gif]](https://68.media.tumblr.com/895e8eff244884efed27acc31b1ffd71/tumblr_mopulr9YnQ1qbcb48o4_250.gif)
On the other hand, none of these shows ran for longer than 4 seasons. They were short, concentrated works of art. TBBT managed a certain surrealism and similar unusual quality in its first 4 years. Personally I'd add S1-4 to the above list of classic comedies.
The current show still has hilarious moments, no doubt. The writers and actors are some of the best in the business. But the damn thing as a whole isn't as unique anymore. It's just a very very competent romcom. Well-written, unchallenging, relatable to many normal folk. "Everyone" gets jokes about babies, sex, marriage, gender differences (O what larks), couple problems...So financially it makes sense to appeal to "everyone", particularly when you want to go past 4 seasons.
Yet Seinfeld, 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Simpsons (if that counts) and so forth kept that surreal and aesthetic quality throughout their endless seasons. Even Frasier managed to weave in romance repeatedly without making it the whole claustrophobic focus of the series, and without oddly demonizing single people. The main thing with Frasier was they didn't alter the characters to do so.
Sheldon, now...
YES YES WE KNOW.
But seriously, if they'd managed to keep Sheldon out of the romcom world, and kept him the unique, strange detached planet around which the OTHERS orbited in their little conservatively-coupled satellites, or at least gave him a relationship which didn't normalise and diminish him, I'd still be watching the damn show. But the character we fell in love with/idolised just isn't there anymore, and this decision (made back in season 5, evidently) will never cease to baffle me.
(OH DEAR GOD GRIPE IS BAFFLED STOP THE FECKING PRESSES!)
Anyroad, we'll always have Blackadder's approach to relationships...
"WHERE THE HELL'S MY PARACHUTE?"