At the culmination of every professional sports season, columnists like to hand out their end of year awards. They name their personal MVP’s, Rookies of the Year, etc, then explain their picks. These are among my favorite columns to read. Like all good writing, they lend themselves to debate and discussion. But why stop at sports? Other forms of entertainment have seasons too. The network television season just ended. Let’s hand out some awards for that. I’m going to focus on sitcoms, because I like them better.
MVP: Parks and Recreation. Parks and Rec manages to seem completely real and absolutely genuine despite being populated almost exclusively by crazy people. Leslie Knope, Ron Swanson, Tom Haverford, April Ludgate and Andy Dwyer all have the potential to become super exaggerated and dominate the action, but they never do. The writers and producers have turned restraint into an art form.
Rookie of the Year: Happy Endings. You probably don’t even know this show exists. It only aired for a few weeks and not until 10pm, which is not a traditional sitcom slot. And, at first glance, it looks like it should be terrible. It’s the story of 6 young friends dealing with the pitfalls of young adulthood. Just like every other sitcom since “Friends,” except this one has an interracial couple and a gay dude. But the writing on this show is great. The conversations sound like real conversations. Yes, the gay dude is a stereotypical character. But, it’s not the stereotypical gay character. He’s the stereotypical irresponsible guy character, who has no plates and never cleans up the chinese food that spilled on the floor. At one point this year, he talked about adding someone to his spank bank. It didn’t even bother me that much that he was talking about another dude. Also, Damon Wayans, Jr. is in it.
LVP (least valuable): The Big Bang Theory. Let’s be clear. It’s not the worst sitcom on TV (That’s the one with Nick Swisher’s wife that got cancelled by CBS.) Big Bang theory was the most disappointing sitcom this year. It took a major step backwards. The comedy became too broad. They turned it into slapstick. And the hot chick banged the Indian dude who doesn’t talk. Where do you go from there? I’m clearly in the minority in holding this opinion. Today I read that Big Bang Theory had surpassed “Two and A Half Men” as the highest rated comedy on TV.
All-TV First Team:
Parks and Rec: I already told you why
Modern Family: Luke has passed Manny as the show’s best character.
The Office: The show reached an emotional peak when Michael Scott left. They should have stopped there, because Will Ferrell was an abortion.
Cougar Town: I’m as surprised as you are. But a show that started as “Older lady bangs teenagers” show has now turned into a funny relationship show with a weird collection of funny characters. Just like Scrubs. Which makes sense, because it’s from the same people that did Scrubs.
Community: It somehow manages to take ridiculous fantasy episodes and make them fit into the narrative. Shirley got pregnant while Greendale was being overrun by zombies. But, I bought it.
All-TV Second Team:
How I Met Your Mother: It’s a bit over emotional, but still really funny. This is because the main character is a whiny pussy. Less Ted, more Marshall and Barney
Big Bang Theory: It should be so much better
30 Rock: This season was about as good as the show’s second season. Unfortunately, the 1st year was when this show peaked.
Family Guy: Have you noticed that they’ve started doing more long jokes? A couple of weeks ago, they showed an entire music video during the episode. Some may say it’s Scott McFarlane turning traditional sitcoms on their ear. I think the writers are just too lazy to write a full 22 minute episode
Raising Hope: I will admit, I am including this show because I needed a fifth show for the 2nd team. It’s pretty funny though. I don’t watch it every week. But, it’s better than the rest of the shit that’s out there.
Sports Illustrated: May 30, 2011
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