Nogrod wrote:Note to self- be nicer to Zenfinte on our next private sale  :D

Ahhh, curses! My convoluted plan to increase the price of my collection has failed!!

Zenfinite

Badmike wrote:So, I'm at home today doing work and watching TV and hapen to see a Futurama marathon.  Not a show I've ever gotten into or followed, mostly because what I've seen of it doesn't interest me. Couple of hours in, I'm waiting for my first smile (much less laugh).  Does anyone find this show funny?  What am I missing?   This show is awful.

Mike B

I found the 1st 2 seasons funny as hell and the rest to be pretty awful. I stopped after season 4 but I understand they brought the show back. Haven't watched any of the new episodes.

Badmike wrote:So, I'm at home today doing work and watching TV and hapen to see a Futurama marathon.  Not a show I've ever gotten into or followed, mostly because what I've seen of it doesn't interest me. Couple of hours in, I'm waiting for my first smile (much less laugh).  Does anyone find this show funny?  What am I missing?   This show is awful.

Mike B

I felt pretty much the same.  I watched a handful of episodes from the first season and it just never caught on with me.  On the other hand, I feel exactly the opposite about The Big Bang Theory.  When it came out I wouldnt watch it because I figured it would be crap.  Now that I have been watching it in re-runs I wish I had watched it from day one.  Even though it is completely over the top in some cases, in others it is spot on.  Nice to know the producers actually did some homework about the comic book nerd mentality.  I used to know a guy JUST LIKE Sheldon who was working towards his doctorate in astrophysics.  The only significant difference is he worked at Wendy's.  

But if I want a cheap laugh nowadays I'll just watch Family Guy.

Badmike wrote:So, I'm at home today doing work and watching TV and hapen to see a Futurama marathon.  Not a show I've ever gotten into or followed, mostly because what I've seen of it doesn't interest me. Couple of hours in, I'm waiting for my first smile (much less laugh).  Does anyone find this show funny?  What am I missing?   This show is awful.

Mike B

Opinions are like.....well, you know the rest. Futurama happens to be my favorite animated show of all time. Every single episode of the original 4 seasons is hilarious in its own right. At its best, it hangs right there with The Simpsons. At its worst, it beats the crap out of Simpsons at its worst.

As an aside, I'd like to know what you consider funny. Different people have different ideas of humor. Big Bang Theory? Hilarious. 30 Rock? Stupidest show I've ever seen. It's all just opinion.

Zenfinite

P.S. Gary Gygax thought enough of Futurama to be in an episode. What other shows thought highly enough of GG to star him in their show??

I love Fururama.
Now as for the Big Bang Theory, that show is hilarious.  My daughter perks up and giggles at the theme song (course she seems to also do that with some commercials too).

ShaneG.

FormCritic wrote:

Plaag wrote:I love Fururama.
Now as for the Big Bang Theory, that show is hilarious.  My daughter perks up and giggles at the theme song (course she seems to also do that with some commercials too).

ShaneG.

I really wanted to like Big Bang Theory.  I suspect that the three episodes I've seen just weren't the good ones.

In one they open with playing Dungeons And Dragons (course the best show that featured D&D was Community), and Sheldon makes various choices throughout the episode with dice rolls.  Course that is just one of the good ones.

ShaneG.

Mike, have you checked out Archer, it's on FX.

Busman wrote:Mike, have you checked out Archer, it's on FX.

Yep, just started watching the episodes on Netflix a few weeks ago.  Pretty funny stuff, a great secret agent spoof.

I cut out the rest of your quote just to make a point. Arrested Development sucks. I've never laughed at a single episode. None of the actors are amusing in the slightest.

It's like talking about art, or food. It's so subjective as to almost demand an argument. Just one of those areas, like religion and politics, that I tend to avoid.

I've laughed so hard at some episodes of Arrested Development I couldn't breathe.   So yeh it is subjective; I've met people that hate the Marx Brothers (my wife for one), and others that thought Perfect Strangers was the funniest comedy of all time.  For some reason people still keep giving Adam Sandler money for the absolute crap he has been shitting out lately.  But one thing is for certain: Futurama sucks balls....

Mike B.

JasonZavoda wrote:I've enjoyed the first four seasons of Big Bang Theory, but it is mostly because of the Sheldon character. I've only seen a few episodes of season 5 but so far they weren't particularly funny. I'd recommend starting from the first season with the show. There is far too much of a soap opera storyline to just watch it by random episode.

With Futurama I found that something bad happened to the writing starting with season 3. I feel the same way about season 6 and later of the Simpson's. Both shows slipped for me in the writing, and continued a downward spiral.

Overall I think the british have done the best humorous TV series. Allo Allo, Father Ted, One Foot in the Grave, The first 5 seasons of Red Dwarf, the first two seasons of Coupling, Black Adder, Fawlty Towers, The Old Guys, Thin Blue Line, Good Neighbors, Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister. To a lesser degree series like Are You Being Served, Keeping Up Appearances and Last of the Summer Wine from about 1985 to 2000.

So much of comedy is based on time and place, and rarely does it get funnier the longer it's been since it was originally released. Shows I used to enjoy at the time like Soap, Night Court and The Cosby Show make me cringe now, no doubt like some shows I like now will not age well in the future.

Here are some of my lists, I'm probably leaving out some but I've racked my brain.  I couldn't just put out a top ten so I divided it up. I have specifically left out sketch shows and focused on shows with a continuing cast and theme (leaving out such classics as Laugh In or Carol Burnett Show).

Classic television comedies (pre-1980):

1. Bob Newhart Show
2. WKRP in Cincinnati
3. Monty Python
4. Fawlty Towers
5. All In the Family
6. The Beverly Hillbillies (When I was young, I thought this was stupid, didn't get the implicit satire)
7. Dick Van Dyke Show ( I can't believe the man couldn't hit it big again. He was really a comedic genius)
8. Mash (until Blake and Burns left)
9. Dobie Gillis Show (this really needs more pub)
10. Mary Tyler Moore Show (when I was young, I didn't get the humor here. Only watching it on reruns later on when I was older did I understand the humor)

Notables: The Odd Couple, Barney Miller, Get Smart, Green Acres, Batman (yes Batman was a comedy, even at the time, if you think differently you don't get it), Taxi

Modern television comedy (post 1980):

1. Arrested Development
2. Seinfeld
3. The Simpsons (1st decade)
4. The Office (American, 1st few seasons)
5. That 70s Show (takes a couple of seasons to get really good, last season sucks)
6. King of the Hill (You might have to be from Texas to get all the nuances of this, I've had a lot of people say they don't know why it's supposed to be funny).
7. Southpark (1st decade)
8. Black Adder
9. Cheers (actually got better after first two seasons)
10. Fraiser (not everyone's cup of tea.  I'm surprised it won best comedy emmy 5 seasons in a row, I think the quality is very uneven, but some episodes are hilarious)
10. House (Ok, I know it's supposed to be a drama, but I laugh out loud at least once an episode.  Hugh Laurie is a funny dude)

Notables: Raising Hope, Modern Family, Community, 1st two seasons of Moonlighting, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Two and a Half Men (until Sheen started going nuts), Big Bang Theory, Newhart, Mad About You, Family Guy, Friends (before it got self-aware that it was "special"), 3rd Rock from the Sun (not the last few seasons)

Great Forgotten TV Comedies:

1. Police Squad (Classic, better than the movies by far)
2. On the Air (Little known comedy that lasted a few weeks, starring a lot of Twin Peaks alumni and done by Lynch/Frost.  Hysterically funny in some parts, very odd little show).
3. It's Like, You Know (Seinfeld on the West Coast, it was just getting really good when it was cancelled, some of the episodes are great)
4. The Life and Loves of Dobie Gillis (ok, it lasted 4 1/2 seasons, but no one remembers this now)
5. Action (Jay Mohr, actually being funny)
6. Love That Bob (lasted 5 seasons, but rarely shown in syndication so I never saw an episode until about 10 years ago. Extremely underrated and I have no idea why it's not shown more, better than a lot of 50's dreck like Father Knows Best. Great early appearances by Dwayne Hickman (Dobie Gillis), Nancy Kulp (Miss Hathaway later on Beverly Hillbillies), and Ann Davis (later Alice the Housekeeper on Brady Bunch).
7. Buffalo Bill (Dabney Coleman playing a scumbag, genius)
8. Hooperman (For my money, the only funny thing John Ritter has ever done)
9. No Soap, Radio (ran for five weeks back in 1982, haven't seen it in years, I'd probably hate it now. But at the time it reminded me of shows like Police Squad and Monty Python, weird sketch comedy with a young Steve Guttenberg).
10. The Associates (one season wonder in the late 70s by the same writers as Mary Tyler Moore and Taxi between gigs.  Havent' seen it in 30 years but I remember it well, starred a really young and funny Martin Short, probably impossible to see now since it only lasted about a dozen episodes).

Mike B.