The Only Place You Can Find A Main Street These Days Is In Disneyland—And Just Try To Buy A Gun There!

Arrested Development will probably be cancelled this season, which means we'll soon see a dropoff in the number of articles telling us what boobs we are for not appreciating that heavy-handed, relentlessly unfunny show and an increase in the number of articles telling us what boobs we were for not appreciating that heavy-handed, relentlessly unfunny show. If you really care about good writing and sophisticated satire, there's something much sadder to fret about: Mike Judge says this will be the last year of King of the Hill. Enjoy it while it's still around -- and while it isn't being preempted by football.

Comments

[theOneState]

You're a boob, Jesse.

[Jason Ligon]

I love Hank Hill. That a sympathetic redneck can have a place on network television makes me smile.

[leo]

Jesse's a boob.

[The Great Ape]

Arrested Development was so much better than King of the Hill. Texas isn't that interesting and I bet GW looooves KotH.

[Jesse Walker]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: The one great innovation of Arrested Development was to prove that a sitcom without a laugh track could still feel like it has a laugh track. And not because anyone's laughing.

[gaius marius]

That a sympathetic redneck can have a place on network television makes me smile.

how about the white house, mr ligon? 😉

[smacky]

I have to agree with The Great Ape. I don't watch that much television, but in the one or two times I viewed Arrested Development there were more laughs than the 10 or so times I've watched King of the Hill. Hicks are not funny. They are all too life-like for my comfort or amusement.

[FWA]

I disagree, Arrested Development was/is an excellent show, and shed the formulaic stupidity of many sitcoms. But so did King of the Hill, a great satire of southern values, with a dash of admiration for its characters thrown in.

Truth is, there's far too few shows of the caliber of either of these. I'm sure Trading Spouses plans to double its efforts.

crap.

[SPD]

that heavy-handed, relentlessly unfunny show

Speak for yourself! I think Arrested Development was and is very funny. King of the Hill, on the other hand, did and does nothing for me, and not just because Hank strikes me as a Mr. Anderson sans teenaged foils.

[smacky]

There is one exception to my "Hicks are not funny rule": Bill Hicks is funny.

[R C Dean]

That a sympathetic redneck can have a place on network television makes me smile.

how about the white house, mr ligon? 😉

I really don't think Geena Davis or Martin Sheen qualify as rednecks, gaius.

[Jesse Walker]

How to write an Arrested Development script:

1. Have the narrator say what's about to happen.

2. Show it happening.

3. Have the narrator summarize what just happened.

4. Repeat.

[Jennifer]

I've always liked King of the Hill, especially from the early years. The area of Virginia where I grew up wasn't nearly as deep-fried Southern as Texas, but still I feel like the characters were based on people I knew as a kid.

[cjp]

I must step up to defend the honor of AD, my true TV love.

Where else can you hear a seriously-in-denial-about-his-homosexuality character say a line like, "mmmm, I can taste those meaty leading-man parts in my mouth already!"

[smacky]

The sheer fact that David Cross is on Arrested Development is proof of its inherent superiority over King of the Hill.

David Cross rulez.

[thoreau]

RC Dean shoots and scores!

[Timothy]

I like both, but I'm more a fan of Arrested Development.

Jesse: Are you saying it's Brechtian? Because if it's Brechtian you're honor-bound to accept its genius or angry thespians will come after you.

Overall, though, I'm still pissed that Andy Richter Controls The Unviverse never got a proper chance. It was better than both of those.

[KV]

Everyone who thinks Jesse Walker is an arrogant snob and who thinks Arrested Development is hilarious, gimme a 'hell yeah'.

Hell yeah!

[SPD]

Jesse,

I liked King of the Hill much better when it was called All In The Family.

[The Great Ape]

Jesse, the naration would last the entire show if they had to point out every sight gag, inside joke, and double meaning. And tell me you can't help laughing every time you hear the name 'Bob Loblaw'.

[cjp]

Hell yeah!

With a caveat: I'm the snob, and that's why I like AD. Jesse is a philistine who doesn't appreciate Great Art.

[Jason Ligon]

Wow, you guys really don't think KoTH is funny or clever?

There is quite a bit of interesting stuff in there from my POV. Peggy Hill is a great character and cautionary tale. I've met that person who dumps her whole identity into being 'the smart one', and Peggy is a good exploration of how that mentality can go wrong. I was a lot like that at one point in my life, and it kind of made me a jackass. I consider myself a recovering jackass now, but it is still something I have to be cognizant of.

Meh, maybe stupid hick characters just speak to me.

[Jesse Walker]

I liked King of the Hill much better when it was called All In The Family.

Oh for heaven's sake. The setup, setting, style, and politics of the two shows are completely different. And Mike Judge is far more clever than Norman Lear.

the naration would last the entire show

It does!

[cjp]

I blame Fox's marketing for the failure of AD.

When the show first came out, the previews made is look soooooooo stupid, and they still do. When my mom told me she watched, I was like, "that dumb crap?" When I accidentally watched it one night, I was instantly hooked.

Thesis: AD is too smart for the dullards at Fox to sell properly. Discuss.

[AC]

King of the Hill is one of the few TV shows that got consistently better every season. As sad as I am to see it go, I'm glad Judge is finishing it while it's still good.

[hick]

Jason,

Hee haw propane tractor beer curb Daisy Dukes.

Capice?

[Jason Ligon]

I'm in the Jesse camp here. I despise Brechtian self awareness. It may be okay for a single play, but eventually it devolves into greater and greater attempts to show how clever you are, and the conscious audience has its attention directed to nothing so much as the ego of the writer.

[Timothy]

Jason will soon feel the wrath of the thespians. Much like I did when I said that "Waiting for Lefty" was pretty good for a communist play.

[The Great Ape]

Hopefully AD goes the way of Family Guy. It may be the only hope, but I dobn't think it's as likely with actors vs. voice-overs.

[Jesse Walker]

Hey, I like Brechtian self-awareness. Just not when it's done with a sledgehammer.

I will give Arrested Development this: It has a great cast. I hope Jeffrey Tambor finds a new gig as soon as he can.

[mk]

I haven't seen much of AD, but I'm pretty certain that they never featured a character being molested by a dolphin. That particular milestone belongs to KOTH.

[Geotech]

King of The Hill is clever without bragging about how clever it is. And I wouldn't consider Hank Hill a "stupid hick" as much as I'd consider him a normal, level-headed guy surrounded by goofballs.

"heavy-handed and relentlessly unfunny" is how I'd describe Bill Hicks, incidentally.

[Amanda Hugginkiss]

Hell yeah!!

Jesse a boob is.

However, King is hilarious too and I'm sorry to see it go, even if I can only catch it on reruns on cable because it never seems to be on Fox.

You want a seriously unfunny show? Try the last few seasons of The Simpsons.

[SPD]

mk,

AD did have a character have his hand bitten off by a seal. Not the same, granted.

One final note to AD-haters : I thought the point of Arrested Development was that it was supposed to be over the top. Having no redeeming morals or messages is exactly what made it so appealing. And now you're slamming it for being exactly what it intended to be? You know, funny?

[Jason Ligon]

"Hey, I like Brechtian self-awareness. Just not when it's done with a sledgehammer."

The sledgehammer is the fate of all gimmick related shows. I liked AR the first couple of times, but I got tired of it pretty quickly.

[Jason Ligon]

Hick:

You forgot football.

[digamma]

Jesse's reaction just proves that Franklin said some things Whitey wasn't ready to hear.

He also said some things African-Americany wasn't ready to hear.

[Russ D]

I thought the point of Arrested Development was that it was supposed to be over the top.

Yes, but it wound up being just as more-annoying-than-funny as Pauly Shore in doing so.

[digamma]

Tobias: Well, yes, but I?m afraid I prematurely shot my wad on what was supposed to be a dry run, if you will, so now I?m afraid I have something of a mess on my hands.

Michael: There are just so many poorly chosen words in that sentence.

[jive miguel]

if AD goes, who will be left to help raise awareness of never-nudism?

[smacky]

You want a seriously unfunny show? Try the last few seasons of The Simpsons.

Ok, I know there are a lot of disagreements on this thread about what is funny and what is not, but I think we can all agree on this one. Right on, Amanda.

[Jesse Walker]

I think we can all agree on this one.

Not me. The Simpsons isn't as consistently great as it used to be -- what could be? -- but it remains far funnier than most shows. Even with the distractions of having a baby, it's the one show I make sure to watch every week.

[Jim Walsh]

Bill Hicks is funny...

No, he's not...to me, anyway. I never understood the appeal of Hicks. Smug and sophomoric are not the same as edgy and funny.
The only thing Hicks ever said that made me laugh at all was a non-political line about the Beatles: "Of course the Beatles did drugs...why else would they let Ringo sing?"
Other than that, I'll take old-schoolers like Lenny Bruce and Lord Buckley any damn day of the week.

[downstater]

If only more shows would go off the air at the top of their game, this man would still have his arm! That's why you always go out at the top of your game!

My wife and I are Arrested Development addicts, but I've never watched it on tv - we just rent the dvds. King of the Hill is hilarious also.

[Geotech]

Smug and sophmoric are the new clever.

[Jason L]

Best comedies on TV:

(1) Family Guy
(2) Curb Your Enthusiasm
(3) AD

...

(637) King of the Hill

[smacky]

Not me. The Simpsons isn't as consistently great as it used to be -- what could be? -- but it remains far funnier than most shows.

Hm, I disagree. Of course, I can't speak for everyone else here. I just think their politics are annoyingly ham-fisted and overtly liberal, and that said politics and cultural commentary obscure most of anything that would be funny. The rest of their humor is usually just obscure cultural references for the smarty-pantses in the viewing audience, which I tire of. Then again, I stopped watching The Simpsons regularly years ago, because of the shitty musical numbers that they insisted on incorporating in place of actual humor. *shudder*

[Sandy]

King of the Hill jumped the shark way back when Dale's wife stopped cheating on him.

I appreciate Arrested Development, but I wasn't able to make myself watch very regularly.

The Simpsons have really started to wear on me, even some of the reruns seeming more tiresome.

Basically I watch South Park, occasionally interspersed with Reno 911, My Name is Earl, and the Office (now the American one).

[smacky]

By the way, Congratulations on your baby, Jesse.

Re: Bill Hicks, I guess I would categorize him as more "bitter" than "sophmoric". Smug, yes. But it's his bitterness that I enjoy...it's more than just comedy. He's more of a...phenomenon. His stand up would, at times, border on the terrifying, especially when he'd go into a rant. I guess he's not strictly "comedy", in the purest sense, which I find refreshing.

[M1EK]

BOTH shows were good; much better than most. And The Simpsons at half-assed is better than anything else that's left.

[Dave]

Arrested Development just blows........! Hollywood trying to make Hollywood laugh!

Its a shame but I think its finally time to put "The Simpsons" out of its misery!

[The Great Ape]

All the Simpsons writing and creative talent is going into Futurama, which is damn good now after a slow start.

[Jason Ligon]

I don't get the appeal of The Family Guy. I've seen two or three completely great episodes and maybe ten more that were unwatchable. It seems to miss more than it hits with the shotgun approach to jokes.

[Deus ex Machina]

Nobody has brought up American Dad in this discussion. That show has grown on me in the past couple of weeks. It's politics are overtly blunt, but who else would do a musical number about Saudi Arabia?
Plus, anything with Patrick Stewart in it can't be all that bad.

[Don Mynack]

Agree with M1EK, for perhaps the first time ever. Fox certainly seems to be the best over-the-air net for comedy, by an insurmountable margin.

[Jesse Walker]

Thanks, Smacky.

Great Ape: They're still making new Futuramas? I knew it was on Cartoon Network now, but I thought that was only reruns. I liked that show, though I didn't think it was in the same league as Simpsons/King of the Hill/South Park.

Family Guy is OK, but a little goes a long way.

[clarityiniowa]

AD and Curb Your Enthusiasm trade on the same schtick - sort of a pastiche of a characature of a send-up of a sitcom. What typical sitcoms would be like if they were made on DV Handycam rather than filmed in front of a live audience. A meta-sitcom, for want of a better term.

For me it works slightly better for Curb, but AD has some hilarious moments. I will miss it.

What bugs me about KoH is why and how the hell a fairly sensible if somewhat stunted personality like Hank Hill marries, fathers and surrounds himself with utter morons. A tragic underachiever.

[Lowdog]

Wow, lots of opinions here.

I don't like AD or King of the Hill.

I like The Office sometimes.

I like Family Guy most of the time.

The Simpsons I've always liked, but haven't seen the new ones for at least a year.

Futurama is usually pretty good.

Only saw the first season of Curb, and thought it was hi-lar-i-ous.

But I really only watch sports or educational channels when I actually watch tv, so there you have it.

[The Great Ape]

Jesse, it may only be reruns now, but there are always episodes that I have not seen showing on the weeknight CN run, but they may be older shows that I never saw when I stopped watching a few years ago before I started back up. I just assumed they were new, will have to look into it.

[Jason L]

Speaking of Adult Swim...

Did anyone see the rerun of Harvey Birdman last night with Secret Squirrel? There was a reference to Reducto maybe being a libertarian.

[quasibill]

Futurama has the distinction of being the only comedy to ever bring me close to tears.

The episode about Frye's dog really hit me. And I don't even like dogs that much. Other than that, I've really found the show funny. Haven't really enjoyed AD the few times I caught parts of it. King of the Hill? Hit or miss, with more hits than misses. Family Guy? Hit or miss, with more misses than hits, but when it hits, it really hits.

And South Park is king. Nothing else consistently makes me ashamed of myself for laughing at something so 'wrong'.

[mediageek]

Nobody has brought up American Dad in this discussion.

Go to your room.

[Geotech]

"What bugs me about KoH is why and how the hell a fairly sensible if somewhat stunted personality like Hank Hill marries, fathers and surrounds himself with utter morons. A tragic underachiever."

His father.

[The Great Ape]

what's wrong with cripple fights? i was raised under the impression that they are legitimate sport, much like cockfighting.

[SM]

Put me down on the KOTH side of this. But then the only sitcom i've ever liked is "Home Improvement".

[clarityiniowa]

Thank Prime Cause nobody has brought up anime', or manga, or whatever the hell the kids're calling tacky, Japanese faux-animation these days. They all look like 1950's dentist-office paintings come to life.

[JasonL]

Libertarians on AS, cont'd... from episode 4.6: "Where The Buggalo Roam."

Leela: Fine, Mr. Know-It-All-About-Something-Finally, you tell a story!

Frye: With pleasure. (spookily) Once, not far from here, four people set out on a cattle drive--

Bender: (speaking fast) Robot gets bored and kills Frye with a hammer! (normal) Sorry, go on.

[Time Lapse. Someone peers through the bushes.]

Frye: And then, while they sat helplessly around the campfire ... a demented knife-wielding escaped lunatic libertarian zombie mutant snuck up and--

[Arrested Development Narrator]

Tobias: Well, yes, but I?m afraid I prematurely shot my wad on what was supposed to be a dry run, if you will, so now I?m afraid I have something of a mess on my hands.

Michael: There are just so many poorly chosen words in that sentence.

And at this point, Michael provided a punchline for Tobias' statement by explaining that Tobias had used unintentionally humorous phrasing, thus ensuring that viewers who didn't understand the the unintentional humor of the phrasing would understand that they had just witnessed an instance of Emmy-winning comedy.

[huh]

Jesse:
"Family Guy is OK, but a little goes a long way."

That explains a lot, doesn't it?

Family Guy is now far superior to the CURRENT Simpsons. (though classic Simpsons still wins)

[Les]

How to write an Arrested Development script:

1. Have the narrator say what's about to happen.

2. Show it happening.

3. Have the narrator summarize what just happened.

4. Repeat.

Jesse, all due respect (and that's a lot), but you writing about comedy writing (have you ever written a comedy script?) is like me writing about economics. Nothing wrong with not finding a (brilliantly hilarious) show funny, but it's really silly to pretend to know why it's not funny, as if "funny" is an objective thing.

[BrianL]

Arrested Development: I was just thinking how incredibly laugh-out-loud funny the most recent episode was. The show grew on me--and I also think it's gotten funnier. Jesse, how can you dis Opie's--er, Ron Howard's narration, especially when he makes fun of Andy Griffith?

King Of The Hill: Still good, but not quite as funny as it used to be. Going out while still high-quality seems like a good idea to me.

Simpsons: Went from "every episode is smart and funny" to "very few episodes are both smart and funny, and some are neither". I still watch, though.

South Park: I don't have cable, so I hardly ever see it.

Family Guy: Every episode I've seen, including two that people deliberately showed me to prove how good it was, has been crude and unfunny.

American Dad: Have never watched due to my dislike of Family Guy.

Futurama: Word is that a movie is being made. Probably straight-to-DVD. I think this is my favorite of all the current/recent animated shows.

other sitcoms: Scrubs has been the funniest show on TV for the past few years. How I Met Your Mother is cute and kinda funny and somewhat worth watching. My Name Is Earl just doesn't strike me as anything special. (I grew up around too many people like that.) I just saw my first (and last) episode of The War At Home--this has got to be one of the worst shows ever.

[mk]

JasonL,

Yeah, I caught that. Of course Reducto is a libertarian. He carries a gun constantly and wants to reduce the federal gov (along with everything else in the world). I don't know how I missed it.

[keith]

Anything you may not recognize from Futurama's Cartoon Network run is from the much beleaguered final season, when like King of the Hill, it was endless batted around, cancelled, and pre-empted for other fare.

I think KotH has some of the most well-rounded, best written characters on television, and it's managed to do that for years. AD strikes me as funny sometimes, and trying way to hard to be "the crazy kid" at many others. Honestly, I didn't even know it was still on. I thought it already got cancelled.

O'Reilly Factor is still the funniest show on television. Where else can you see a grown man threaten to beat up a kid who's dad was killed on 9/11?

[smacky]

But then the only sitcom i've ever liked is "Home Improvement".

SM,

Speaking of objectively funny, with this statement, it's official: you have no sense of humor.

[JasonL]

Keith,

He is a (sometimes) drug prosecutor, though, which raises questions.

[The Great Ape]

Jesse,

Futurama last aired new on 8/10/03. I guess I did miss a lot.

[JasonL]

But wikipedia states he is,

"Highly obsessive compulsive and prone to occasional paranoid and/or conspiracy theorist monologues."

Which sounds a lot like a libertarian.

[Geotech]

I think the original premise for Home Improvement that Tim Allen wanted was for it to just be about Tool Time. If he'd had his way, it would've been a much funnier show.

[Viking Moose]

CONGRATS, Jesse!!!!

All the Best to your now BIGGER family! 🙂

perchance Baby Jesse and Gaius Minimus will be pals later in life.. 🙂

kind regards,
VM

[Timothy]

Smacky: DUDE, JTT getting cancer (or being scared of getting cancer and having a thyroid problem or whatever), now that was comedy!

Oh, that wasn't supposed to be funny? Whoops.

[Jesse Walker]

Jesse, all due respect (and that's a lot), but you writing about comedy writing (have you ever written a comedy script?) is like me writing about economics.

Now that hurts. Just as I'd rather be right than president, I'd rather be funny than right.

Anyway, no, I haven't written any TV comedy scripts. But I have written a few things that were supposed to be amusing. Not all of them for Reason. (I'd throw in a bunch of links, but then the post would be rejected. I'll point you here, though.)

At any rate, I agree that it's all subjective; it goes without saying that my explanations for why Arrested Development isn't funny are really explanations for why I don't think it's funny. In this case, you'll note, most of the TV audience seems to agree with me.

[Jesse Walker]

Thanks, VM.

[smacky]

Talk about a cult of personality....Tim Allen has so many apologists...I just don't get it. If you need apologists for your "humor", you aren't funny. As much as I like him, that applies to Bill Hicks, too, who is at least (arguably) interesting in many respects.

Heh heh...tools. *chuckle*

Home Depot...ROTFL!

[JDM]

I'm shocked to find that there are people out there watching AD. I thought that was like all those horrific cable sitcoms that no one but a TV critic could like. Like the Larry David show, or Sex In the City.

[Chris Puzak]

BrianL:

They were not making fun of Andy Griffith. This cannot be stressed enough.

[rafuzo]

I must say I did like some of the absurdity of AD, and they fired off the occasionally funny side-gag (like having Jason Bateman's dorky brother roll into scene on a segway), but overall the narration did really get in the way. I think "Arrested Development Narrator" up there really nailed it.

It's interesting to see the two sides of the debate around King of the Hill, and how many people a) vehemently like one and not the other, and b) the surprising number of people who found value in both. Generally I don't go in for the snarky po-mo commentary-as-humor sitcom genre for which Seinfeld paved the way, primarily because the scripts read like ex-high school drama nerds getting back at the cruel world with the voice TV provides them. AD clearly falls in this category, finding just about nothing sympathetic or redeeming in the characters it portrays. Even the Simpsons, in portraying their characters as boorish, nitpicky, peevish and nihilistic still found *something* in their characters from time to time. Shows like AD, the Family Guy and Curb Your Enthusiasm are just long circle jerks at the feet of the god of sarcasm, and while occasionally funny, it wears off fast.

[ralphus]

Michael Bluth: Do you know what they do to people who commit treason?

George Sr.: First time!

Michael Bluth: I've never heard of a second.

George Sr.: I got the worst fucking attorneys.

---

Tobias Fnke: Okay, Lindsay, are you forgetting that I was a professional twice over - an analyst and a therapist. The world's first analrapist.

---
Narrator: Gob was recently hired by the Bluth Company's rival, Sitwell Enterprises. And although he started off well...

Gob: 52% of the country is single. That's a market that's been dominated by apartment rentals. Let's take some of that market. I call it "Single City."

Narrator: ...his ideas failed to evolve.

Gob: It's, like, "Hey, you want to go down to the whirlpool?" "Yeah, I don't have a husband." I call it "Swing City."

Stan Sitwell: Let's get into some new areas, if you don't mind.

Narrator: But Gob continued to fine-tune his first one.

Gob: How do we filter out the teases? We don't let them in. This goes for the guys, too. Because sometimes the guys are tapped out. But check your lease, man. Because you're living in Fuck City!

Stan Sitwell: You're fired.

---

I'm going to miss this show. I hope FX or Comedy Central picks it up.

Steve Holt!

[clarityiniowa]

Naw, sorry, I disagree. Can't have enough sarcasm. Just sooooo much to be sarcastic about.

[FatDrunkAndStupid]

I like King of the Hill. I don't think it's stongest episodes (my favorite was the Bobby wants to be a plus size child model ep) were ever as good as the best of Futurama, The Simpsons (back when it was watchable), or the Family Guy. But it's been far more consistent. When the Family Guy is on, it's funny, but there are a lot of times when it makes me cringe. I never cringed watching King of the Hill. And in an unrelated topic, all you should be watching the best show on television by far, "Veronica Mars", every Wednesday at 9pm. Record that other show. VM needs the ratings more.

[Gieber Goldfarb]

Having no redeeming morals or messages is exactly what made it so appealing.

Actually, every episode of "Arrested Development" ends with a moment where the characters learn a lesson (usually Michael learning he has to put less pressure on his son) and deliver the moral. The creator, who started on "The Golden Girls," has called it "the hug at the end" and pointed proudly to the fact that there's a heartwarming moment in every episode. Really "Arrested Development" (which I like a lot) gets a bum rap for being a cynical anti-sitcom like "Curb Your Enthusiasm." It's really a traditional sitcom that happens to do weird plots.

And as for "King of the Hill" love:

BOBBY (Pamela Adlon): Mr. Strickland got up under more balls than a midget hooker.

LUANNE (Brittany Murphy): Good thing that I don't have dangerous brain powers, or right now you'd be in a thousand little pieces!

DALE (Johnny Hardwick): I'd like to live in your fairy-tale world, Hank, but the Fair Play For Cuba Committee is retro-fitting my mower to power Fidel's one-man escape sub.

PEGGY (Kathy Najimy): He said, "Peggy, I think I might be gay." And this was back when being gay in Texas was not as much fun as it is now. We decided the only way to know for sure was to test him with Peggy Platter. So we went back to his place, gently pushed aside his decorative throw pillows, and ... ho yeah.
LUANNE: Did you fix him?
PEGGY: Oh, no, Luanne, he was not broken. Just gay. Very, very gay.

[JD]

After reading all these comments, rarely have I felt happier not to own a TV. (Although I did actually like KoTH when I watched it a little bit, a few years ago.)

[downstater]

rafuzo,

man, i gotta disagree about the characters in AD being without redeeming qualities. I mean, surely Michael is a sympathetic character and there are certainly redeeming qualities in his son, niece and brother Buster. Lots of sarcasm, but I don't think they're hollow characters either.

G.O.B. has no redeeming qualities - but I find him to be the best character on the show.

Honestly, the narrator never really bothered me and I never really noticed it until reading about it on this thread. Now it will probably be all that I can pay attention to, thanks for ruining it for me everyone!

[temujin334]

G.O.B. has no redeeming qualities - but I find him to be the best character on the show.

You just can't deal with the fact that he has a super thin wife with huge cans.

[poco]

The rest of [The Simpsons'] humor is usually just obscure cultural references for the smarty-pantses in the viewing audience

Hey, they were doing that back in the golden age of Season 4 -- Hitchcock, Citizen Kane, Streetcar.

I don't get Family Guy either. I haven't seen a whole AD, but in promos I saw and loved the teenage son (name?) walking dejectedly past the beagle on top of the red doghouse.

[Stevo Darkly]

With all respect, I like King of the Hill quite a bit.

I've never seen Arrested Development. Perhaps it's a worthy show. But many a clever show never makes it through the narrow urethra of popular taste.

But you know what I think is one of the funniest shows on TV right now? Cross-between-Airplane-dumb-and-MST3K-smart funny?

MXC (formerly Most Extreme Elimination Challenge) on Spike TV.

If you're not familiar: They took a 1980s Japanese game show, Takeheshi's Castle, which has lots of cheesy physical stunts for the contestants, usually involving swinging on ropes over bodies of water and dropping onto, or falling off of, various unstable platforms. In fact, I can't see how if most contestants don't end up with middling to serious injuries.

But it's not the dopey slapstick that does it for me. What they also did was completely redub and rewrite all the contestant interviews and commentary, in the manner of Woody Allen's What's Up, Tiger Lily? The commentary of the two Japanese hosts, allegedly named "Vic Romano" and "Kenny Blankenship," is particularly hilarious.

For example, in the last episode I saw, allegedly two teams were competing -- the Gangsters vs. the Gamesters (mobsters vs. video game players and designers). There was a sequence that went something like this. (Apologies in advance for rampant stereotyping.)

VIC: Next contestant up is transexual hitperson Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

MR & MRS SMITH: (grabbing rope on which he/she will swing across a body of water) Fugheddaboudit! You silly old thing!

KENNY: Vic, is there really such a thing as a Gay Mafia?

VIC: Yes, of course there is, Kenny. They run the entertainment indus--

(SHARP "BEEP" NOISE blanks out the rest of the dialogue. Simultaneously, a TEST PATTERN blanks out the screen.)

(After about two seconds of this, we return to the program.)

VIC: Of course not, Kenny. Gay people are the smartest, kindest, most compassionate people you'd ever meet. They would never resort to any heavy-handed "mafia-like" tactics.

KENNY: Right you are, Vic!

There was also a reference to an Islamic video-gamer who invented a game platform known as "the Sunni PrayStation," which only works if you're facing toward Mecca.

Maybe you had to be there.

I wish they would put the show out on DVD.

[ralphus]

Speaking of KOH - which I like - they've been running Beavis and Butthead on Comedy Central complete with music videos. They're just as funny as when I used to watch them drunk and high in college.

I hope Judge's new movie "Idocracy" gets released soon. The premise is that an average American is frozen and revived in the distant future and discovers that the culture has declined so much that he is now the smartest man alive. Sounds like "Sleeper" meets "Futurama" but with Judge at the helm it should be great. Apparently the studio isn't sure how to market it. You'd think they would learn their lesson after "Office Space".

Besides in "Idocracy" Terry Tate Office Linebacker is President. How can it miss?

[Geotech]

Stevo, yeah here's one I like from MXC

Vic: What's "fuckin' a" mean?

Kenny: I believe it's New Jerseyan for "indeed".

[Jim Walsh]

...we'll soon see a dropoff in the number of articles telling us what boobs we are for not appreciating that heavy-handed, relentlessly unfunny show...

I had my fill long ago of pompous critics lecturing me about self-indulgent crapola that I'm supposed to like, from Northern Exposure to Days And Nights Of Molly Dodd, not to mention anything with Joan Cusak...

[Stevo Darkly]

Geotech -- yeah, I love that stuff!

I also remember once one of the competing teams was "the Spiritualists" and they introduced one of the contestants as "Swami Davis Junior, a 'real-time clairvoyant.' He's able to predict events as they're happening."

[SM]

smacky,

"Speaking of objectively funny, with this statement, it's official: you have no sense of humor."

It only gets worse. I like several lesser known brit sitcoms, like Mr. Bean's "The thin blue line", "Keeping up appearances" etc. Can't stand "The office", though.

[Max]

Steve Holt!
Hell Yeah!
If it doesnt get picked up by another network, it will be a shame. So many people of the "right" demographic love it. It got cancelled due to Fox's retardation.
OT- ever wonder why one of the biggest industries in the USA takes summer vacation? I still go to work, and still watch TV, over the summer months. And they are surprised when shows "break out" durring the summer (Sex in teh City, etc). All that LA sun has fried these network suit's brains.

[FatDrunkAndStupid]

Another great King of the Hill Episode was the 2000 Election one. Hank is pressuring Luanne to vote becuase, "If GW doesn't get enough votes in Texas, the media might not call it a landslide". They go to a meet the canidates forum, and Luanne becomes smitten with the good looking Communist canidate. Hank is devestated when he actually gets to shake GW's hand, and the rest of the episode centers around Hank's struggle to reconcile himself with supporting a canidate who has a limp handshake.

HANK: Did you send in those voter registration forms I gave you on your eighteenth birthday?
LUANNE: No, but that's okay -- I'll just vote for President next year.

HANK: I still get goose pimples thinking about pulling the lever for Councilman Fred Ebberd. 'Course, then he betrayed me.

THIRD PARTY CANIDATE TED GANNAWAY: The polls and the media have been ignoring my campaign. But they're in for a surprise when longshot candidate Ted T. Gannaway moves out of his parents' basement and into the White House!
HANK: Look, a fringe candidate. Poor misguided bastard.

CAMPAIGN ADVISOR: (after Bobby saves the life of a pig) This is the sort of heroism the Governor loves to attach himself to.

GEORGE W. BUSH: Hey, there's Heimlich County's newest hero!
BOBBY: I was just in the right place at the right time, like any hero.

HANK: This man could be the next leader of the free world. We're gonna have nutjob Third World dictators walking all over us when they find out the man in charge doesn't have a strong enough finger to push the button.

HANK: With voter turnout at all-time lows, not voting makes me more American.

[ralphus]

And lay off Family Guy you haters. Sure it's crass, crude and sophomoric - but it's fucking funny. Last week's opening with the Bin Laden video out-takes was great. Don't believe me. Check it out here.

http://massdestraction.com/1378-Funny_Osama_Bin_Laden_Cartoon.html

The "Police Squad" homage featuring Stewie was icing on the cake. It was appropriate too because the show uses the Zucker Bros shotgun comedy style. They fire a lot of jokes at you and a lot miss, but the ones that hit are hilarious. And the show is smarter then most critics think. A lot of the jokes use historical and literary references that fly over your average slack-jawed network viewers head.

Plus, I don't see how any free speech loving person couldn't have loved the FCC episode.

[Shem]

If you need apologists for your "humor", you aren't funny.

Does this go for AD too? It seems like all 4 million of it's regular viewers have as their hobby "justifying Arrested Development."

Myself, I didn't really have any opinions either way on AD when I first watched it. This changed, however, when I had to sit through my first lecture about how much of an ignorant blockhead I was for not "appreciating the best show on television." At that point, I started to actively wish for the show's end. And, now that it's finally come, schadenfreude is a beautiful thing, I must say.

[WaltonBoy]

Sorry. You are not funny if you have to explain your jokes with voiceovers.

I've watch Arrested Development and tried to see the good in it. I like some of the premise and thought it was close to being very funny. What bothered me were the voiceovers. Most TV shows/Movies aren't very good or well written or well directed if you have to have voiceovers.

So to me, if was like a comedian that has to constantly explain his jokes. Not funny.

King of the Hill is usually good but doesn't have the re-watch-ability of The Simpsons.

[ralphus]

Most AD fans I know don't try to go around justifying it. They just think it's funny and wish more people did too. But I know where you're coming from Shem. I'm the same way about any show produced by David Chase since the Alley McBeal onslaught. Self-important critics have done as much to hurt AD as FOX's shitty marketing efforts did.

But even if you?re not a fan of AD you have to admit, it's sad that a show with good writing, a subversive sense of humor, a great cast and a loyal fan base is getting canceled yet Stacked lives on.

[ralphus]

I don't understand the beef with the narration. It's never come off to me as "explaining" the jokes. It's usually used to deliver punchlines or to frame a flashback.

[clarityiniowa]

I appreciate when the creators and writers of a show realize it's peaking and leave us wanting more. "Everybody Likes Raymond" almost, but not quite, lasted too long. The backstage squabbles and salary maneuvering crept in and nearly poisoned the show the last couple of seasons. But the series was, in the end, very respectful to its loyal following.

[DaveInBigD]

I'm a big ArDev fan, and hate to see it go. Jesse's formula for the show sums up some of the format, but nothing about the jokes in the show.

But I won't argue its funniness here. Watch two or three episodes in a row, and you'll probably start catching the rythm of the humor (and some of the referential humor).

But this is just another in a long list of funny shows that Fox has cancelled because they couldn't figure out how to market them (Family Guy, Firefly, and possibly Wonderfalls come to mind). They have a penchant for creating shows that are more unique than some of the other networks (I can't think of one CBS show I've watched more than twice in the past decade), but they're so quick on the cancel trigger that they don't have time to stand. Admittedly if ArDev was going to gain wide appeal, it would have done so by its third season.

King of the Hill I will mourn less. It's kinda like PBS - I like the idea that its there if I want to watch it, but I rarely ever actually want to watch it.

[robert]

ralphus,
how about the epicac race on family guy
i still laugh about that one.

dumb? yes. funny? hell yes.

[robert]

imo

the formula for arrested development is closest to an old show called "soap" with billy crystal and led to the spinoff "benson"

[dead_elvis]

AD isn't funny. But it strikes me as the kind of show I would have thought was freakin' hilarious when I was 15.

King of the Hill is great. It's simply filled with interesting, funny characters. It had me hooked in the first or second season when Hank (seeing a female enviro protester) said "would it kill a tree to wear a bra?" My wife and I still toss that one around... It's also worth some giggles just to hear Peggy butcher the Spanish language.

This Simpsons, despite devolving into ham-fisted politics and characters that are stuck in their types, still manages to pull of a couple of brilliant episodes a season. The halloween episodes are still the best each season.

[ralphus]

robert,

Epicac race was classicly gross.

Axe body spray for sick cats was another great dumb funny moment.

Or

Man: Say Phil, what do you say to Happy Hour after work?

Phil: I'd say looks like Cheryl's gonna have another black eye to explain to the neighbours.

[both laugh]

Phil: Come on, I'm buyin

---

Not classy, but funny.

[Franklin Harris]

Jesse Walker is off my Christmas card list.

If I had one, that is.

[Shem]

DaveInBigD-I think it's owing to Fox's place as #4 network. They need something to distinguish themselves, so they're willing to take a chance on some pretty offbeat stuff. But, their place in the ratings means that they can't really afford to keep something around unless it's either an immediate, massive hit or the sort of tasteless tripe that has proven success on Fox.

And in the abstract I can musuter some sympathy for a show that wasn't just like everything else on Fox getting canceled, but in terms of AD I can't be anything other than happy as a little girl to see a bunch of annoying loudmouths loose their favorite show. Not to say all or even most of the show's fans are, but c'mon? Y'all can't tell me you're not even a little bit embarassed by some of the pretentious claptrap that's coming out of some of AD's supporters.

[biologist]

just add Arrested Development to the list of highly amusing shows that Fox has cancelled:

Andy Richter Controls the Universe
Greg the Bunny
Get a Life
The Tick

[bachwards]

I think it's a bit inaccurate to blame Fox for Arrested Development getting cancelled. They promoted the hell out of it, and quite frankly, the fact that it lasted beyond the first season is a miracle. I never watched it consistently, though it seemed like something I would enjoy. That said, Arrested Development, King of the Hill, and Futurama (which Fox did legitamately screw over) certainly deserved to stay on the air more than the utter tripe that is Family Guy, American Dad, etc.

[Derek]

Each episode of Arrested Development relies heavily on its characters and self-referential story arc. This makes it a richly funny show, but it also means the uninitiated miss a great deal. I hope the explanation for Mr. Walker's heresy is that he saw too few episodes to apprehend the show's brilliance, rather than what I feared when I first read his post praising King of the Hill - that the man was born without a funny bone.

So long, Bluths. 🙁 🙁 🙁

[Cromulent]

As my name attests, I'm a HUGE Simpsons fan. I've loved them since the Traci Ullman days. Okay, so I'm a geek, but I find the obscure allusion sporting. It's also why Family Guy is so fun. While Family's references are are often movie or TV scene carbons, the drop in of 19th century conservative figures? I love it. A quick flash to Disraeli writing by candlelight then looking to the audience "you don't even know who I am" after a reference to him. Yes, I do. Thanks for reinforcing my geekdom. But dammit I love it. Nothing like a fart joke followed by a Somerset Maugham one. That's full spectrum humor, baby.

[Greg Conko]

Jesse,
You're a heathen. And I still think Boogie Nights was over-rated.

[Buster]

You only hate me beacuse I'm a monster! A monster!

[Eric the .5b]

I probably disqualify myself from responding by watching TV roughly once a week, but I won't let that stop me.

(1) Family Guy
(2) Curb Your Enthusiasm
(3) AD

I've never seen AD, but knowing it pales even compared to the most overrated animated comedy and the most overrated live-action comedy I've ever seen saved me the time of looking it up.

Nobody has brought up American Dad...anything with Patrick Stewart in it can't be all that bad.

Patrick Stewart singing Oingo Boingo, no less.

MXC (formerly Most Extreme Elimination Challenge) on Spike TV.

Oh, GOD that is a great show if you want to belly-laugh and wince at the same time.

Northern Exposure

I watched very little of that show, but mostly found myself annoyed at the characters.

[Cliff]

One cartoon that has escaped everyone's notice is "The Venture Brothers". It has had one season on Cartoon Network, but it is a great satire of the old "Johnny Quest" Saturday morning cartoon.

The heroes and villians have many psychological issues and are truly dysfunctional.

Race Bannon (from "Johnny Quest") even made a cameo appearance on the "Venture Brothers". He was shown dead with his parachute dragging him and some kids found him and poked him with a stick.

There is a body guard for the father character (Dr. Thaddius "Rusty" Venture) named Brock Sampson (voice Patrick Warburton) who is truly hilarious. In one episode, Brock's secret agent license had expired and Hank and Dean (the 2 main characters) help him cram for his exam...

Dean: Question #1 - You're in Prague, a sniper's in the window above you, there's an alligator behind you, and a grizzly bear in front of you, what do you do? Do you...

Brock: Back somersault, pry off the alligator's jaw, use it as a boomerang to take out the sniper. He falls out the window - the grizzly will go straight for the easier meal.

It is written by the same team of writers that did "The Tick". It is my favorite cartoon. I can't wait for the new season.

[Stevo Darkly]

I forgot about The Venture Brothers! I love that show also, especially since I loved the orginal Jonny Quest show when I was a kid.

[Cliff]

If Stevo likes "The Venture Brothers" too, I feel like I am in good company.

[Kevin Carson]

Professor: Astronomers changed the name of Uranus centuries ago to put a stop to just such sophomoric humor.

Frye: What's it called now?

Professor: Urectum.

[James Anderson Merritt]

King of the Hill is preparing for its swan song? That's a damn shame, I'll tell you what.

[dead_elvis]

Thanks for the heads up on Venture Brothers. I also watched Johnny Quest as a kid. I'd be curious to see it now, I imagine it would seem pretty campy.

[Gieber Goldfarb]

"The Venture Brothers" is really just a knockoff of a cartoon called "Toby Danger," which aired as part of the late lamented "Freakazoid!" series. "Toby Danger" was the most dead-on accurate parody of Jonny Quest I've ever seen, and turned the Dr. Danger character into a guy whose inventions basically kill half the world:

TOBY: These flying sidewalk panels are really neat, dad. Did you invent them to race cars?
DR. DANGER: No, Toby. They were a by-product of the meltdown of your adopted sister Sandra's home town.

DASH O'PEPPER: Heads up, you heathen monkeys!

DR. DANGER: Can nothing stop this thing?
DASH O'PEPPER: Just let me throw a barrel at it!

[Ed]

"Leave It To Beaver" makes me laugh.
It has a very retro feel to it, and filming it in black and white is pure genius.

[Captain Awesome]

I can't believe there was a whole thread yesterday with people discussing Family Guy as being too crass an animation, and no one brought up the animated crassness heavy-weight, "Drawn Together"

[Stevo Darkly]

Thanks for the heads up on Venture Brothers. I also watched Johnny Quest as a kid. I'd be curious to see it now, I imagine it would seem pretty campy.

I have seen some old episodes recently (you can rent from Blockbuster or whatever). Some things I noticed:

1) The animation is a bit cheaper-looking than I remembered it.

2) It's a lot more violent than the pussy cartoons that punk kids watch nowadays.

3) It's almost impossible to watch the old shows without projecting all kinds of gay subtext into them.

[ralphus]

Captain,

After watching South Park kick Scientology in the nuts last night I got a call from my sister. I turned down the volume half paying attention to Drawn Together as we talked. I have no idea what the plot was, but it involved the Veggietales. I looked up at one point and the cucumber was going on a kill crazy rampage shooting everyone in the house. It was the most graphic and disgusting thing I have ever seen. I'll be tuning in next week for sure.

[Shem]

It's almost impossible to watch the old shows without projecting all kinds of gay subtext into them.

Ain't that just the way, though? Harvey Birdman's pilot episode involved a custody suit between Race Bannon and Dr. Quest. And Johnny Quest is hardly the only place you see it; practically the entirity of the 80s appears gay in retrospect.

[Ted]

Lindsay: You?re one to talk. You haven?t had a serious relationship since your wife. And you guys weren?t even speaking toward the end.

Michael: Lot of that was the coma.

Lindsay: Yeah, I?ve heard your side of it.