Television
I remember when I used to watch television:
just sit down, lay back, and put the mind in neutral. Come to think of it, the mind
is usually in neutral, so lets say put the mind in park. However after attending ITI,
television has been nothing but a rumor. And sadly the mind is still in park. That being
said, I have vague memories of shows that I once enjoyed but now no longer seem to be on.
Monty Python's Flying Circus
"And know for something completely different..." And so
began each episode of Monty Python. A sketch comedy show that totally avoided topical
humor and championed the silly and the nonsensical. There was no actual Monty Python, and
no flying circus either. Just five loony Brits and one loopy American cartoonist. The was
little to no structure to the episodes, characters from one sketch might wander into
another, cast members would complain over not getting any good lines, and sometimes entire
sketches might be abruptly abandoned. The first episode I ever watched featured people
unsuccessfully trying to hide in empty fields behind very obvious bushes and trees, (and
consequently being blown up when being found) I was hooked. And so I entered a world of
dead parrots, upper class twits and lumberjacks who wore suspenders and a bra. This show
is almost thirty years old, and even now it can still reduce to me tears. If a person can
watch the Silly Election and not laugh once, they should be hit repeatedly with a blunt
instrument, or have a sixteen ton weight dropped on them.
NOTE: Monty Python's Flying Circus is now being broadcast on
the Comedy
Network on Monday Nights!!!
SCTV Yet
another sketch comedy show. Obviously not even close to being in the same league as Monty
Python, but SCTV had its charm. Basically a parody of network television, SCTV was a
fictional TV network run in the fictional town of Melonville. The strong point of SCTV was
it's recurring characters: from station manager Guy Caberlero (who wheeled himself
around in a wheel chair for sympathy) to funny man Bobby Bittman and talk show host Sammy
Maudlin, Melonville was full of wacky personalities.
NOTE: SCTV is now being broadcast daily on the
Comedy Network
!!!
Fawlty Towers Starring
John Cleese, (also an ex-Python) as the owner of a small British hotel, this very simply
is the perfect sitcom. Like many British sitcoms, there wasn't many episodes made, but
that's a good thing, as each episode has a very high quality. There has seldom been a
character as nasty as Cleese's Basil Fawlty. He's rude to the guests, can't stand his
wife, and just outright abuses Manuel, the Spanish waiter. Each episode features a plan of
Basil's completely and uttely failing. You know he's going to lose, but you never know
how, and that's the beauty of the show.
NOTE: Fawlty Towers is now being broadcast on Saturdays on
the Comedy
Network !!!
Northern Exposure This
show was on for about six seasons on CBS in the early nineties, and I still haven't met
anyone who has even heard of it, let alone watch it. Northern Exposure was one of those
criticallly acclaimed shows that on a good week might crack the top one hundred. One
of those shows that had a large following in cyberspace, but no following whatsoever
in realspace. All I know is that it was consistently one of the funniest hours on
television. If anyone cares, A&E has resurrected the show, so it can be enjoyed by a
few, and ignored by the masses all over again.
Homicide: Life on the Street
The best hour of drama that I've seen in recent memory. The trials and tribulations of
Baltimore homicide detectives is depicted with brutal honesty, (being an ex-Baltimore
homicide detective, I can make this claim). The acting on this show was incredible, and
every character was a memorable one (with the exception of the hated Falsone of course).
This was another show that was acclaimed critically and ignored universally, nonetheless I
urge anyone who reads these words, to watch Book TV (a digital cable station) at 1:00 in the morning Monday -
Friday, I'm sure you'll thank me for it later.
I also enjoy the Simpson's and Seinfeld,
but so does everyone else, so I'll be brief: these shows are funny.
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