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Post by Matthew the Swordsman on Apr 22, 2018 2:45:20 GMT
The most depressing classic sitcoms I've seen are Steptoe and Son (1962-1974) and Mother and Son (1984-1994).
What are the most depressing classic sitcoms you've seen?
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Post by dirtypillows on Apr 22, 2018 5:40:01 GMT
Probably "The Honeymooners". And I like that show a lot, but poor Alice might as well be living in solitary confinement for all her super drab surroundings. There was an episode once that showed the Norton's apartment, and I thought it was relatively cheery and pleasant and had some life going on inside. They actually had wallpaper and a couch and a coffee table! If I were Alice, I would be visiting Trixie all the time. I'd be sleeping on that couch, too. And that's really saying something, because I don't much like Trixie. (there's just not much there!)
"All in the Family" is kind of depressing to me, too, at times because the main character is just so dumb and obnoxious. He isn't nice to ANYBODY! And I like Sally Struthers in real life, but Gloria gets too shrill. And Mike has no class or manners. The only character I really like is Edith, and that is mostly because I feel so sorry for her. Actually, Edith is a kind character.
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Post by telegonus on Apr 22, 2018 6:40:22 GMT
I know where you're coming from re The Honeymooners, a show I don't watch much these days. Its drabness is a turnoff, but its "love conquers all" theme turns me on, and I dig it.
All In The Family is a show that's darn near worn out its welcome with me. In its day it was the hottest show on television, but it was a topical show, and that time has passed (I feel the same about MASH, which I never liked, and the ads for which on MeTV featuring various ex-regular players talking about it as if it were the Bible, strikes me as weird).
To return to Archie Bunker: All In The Family seemed to work best in its earlier years, true for many show; and the more politically correct it got the more it came to annoy me. It was like if someone has humiliated Archie-proved him wrong-shown him the error of his ways America has taken a Great Leap Forward in raising its consciousness on whatever issue was being dealt with that week.
The show came to feel more like sermons with a few laughs,--that I could get on my local NPR station--rather than a funny TV show. Even when I was wholeheartedly in agreement with the "messages" I didn't care for the delivery system. Also, the show began losing its edge, which initially was psychological as much as political, and that dragged it down, too.
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Post by President Ackbar™ on Apr 22, 2018 6:57:55 GMT
Even as a kid, I felt bad that Good Times was set in the projects.
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Post by Matthew the Swordsman on Apr 22, 2018 7:49:07 GMT
Even as a kid, I felt bad that Good Times was set in the projects. I'm gonna see Good Times (1974-1979) eventually so I can compare it with its British remake The Fosters (1976-1977), the latter being a relatively upbeat show. (and before you ask, yes the British remake featured a Black cast, living in a tower block in South London). I'll be posting a thread about UK remakes of U.S. series in a few minutes.... |
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Post by wmcclain on Apr 26, 2018 21:38:32 GMT
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Post by marianne48 on Apr 27, 2018 23:36:45 GMT
Growing up in the '60s and '70s, everyone I knew had a set of two parents. Maybe there were one or two kids whose parents had divorced, but at least both parents were still living. It was disturbing to see all those TV shows with widows and widowers raising their kids--what had happened to all those still-young spouses? Presumably it was considered taboo back then to depict a TV family headed by a divorced parent; the networks instead all presented an endless series of shows with dead moms and dads, often with little or no mention made of just what had happened to them, leaving kids to wonder. In sitcom land, a dead parent meant: comic hijinks ensue!
At least some of these shows managed to be fun--The Partridge Family went on the road with a family band, The Brady Bunch kids always seemed to be having a good time together, etc. But one of the saddest was Family Affair. On the surface, this seemed to be a reworking of Bachelor Father from the 1950s. But that show succeeded in being lighthearted, with John Forsythe living a suave bachelor lifestyle while his adopted daughter goofed around with her friends and the housekeeper was always making wisecracks. In contrast, Family Affair's "swinging bachelor," played by Brian Keith, always seemed half-asleep, while the housekeeper, pompous Mr. French, just spent his time huffing in exasperation at the kids' "hijinks," which were pretty dull. (The three kids were orphaned when their parents were both killed in a car crash--quite a tragic premise for a sitcom). The older daughter was possibly the most boring teenager of the late 1960s, while the two younger children, learning some kind of
preachy lesson every week, just seemed too solemn for little kids. The younger daughter began the role in little girl dresses and puppy tails; she was forced to stay in that same getup throughout the run of the series, much to her dissatisfaction. (Anissa Jones was
a classic example of a dysfunctional child star and she and her real-life brother both died young). I remember watching a few episodes of this "comedy" as a kid and always finding them stultifying.
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Post by Jayman on May 17, 2018 1:05:20 GMT
Probably "The Honeymooners". And I like that show a lot, but poor Alice might as well be living in solitary confinement for all her super drab surroundings. There was an episode once that showed the Norton's apartment, and I thought it was relatively cheery and pleasant and had some life going on inside. They actually had wallpaper and a couch and a coffee table! If I were Alice, I would be visiting Trixie all the time. I'd be sleeping on that couch, too. And that's really saying something, because I don't much like Trixie. (there's just not much there!) "All in the Family" is kind of depressing to me, too, at times because the main character is just so dumb and obnoxious. He isn't nice to ANYBODY! And I like Sally Struthers in real life, but Gloria gets too shrill. And Mike has no class or manners. The only character I really like is Edith, and that is mostly because I feel so sorry for her. Actually, Edith is a kind character. I"ve never thought about it like that because it's such a funny show. But yeah that apartment is really really drab. But to be fair we never see the bedroom. |
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Post by them1ghtyhumph on May 17, 2018 2:27:33 GMT
Honestly, of course everyine is entitled to their opinion, but it is hard for me to imagine ANYONE thinkung The Honeymooners depressing anybody.
The mind is a terrible thing...........
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Post by taylorfirst1 on May 23, 2018 14:54:24 GMT
There is nothing depressing about The Honeymooners. If anything it is a very uplifting show.
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Post by deembastille on May 23, 2018 18:34:38 GMT
I love Lucy
An insane, yet theatrically talented woman married to a Cuban no talent ass clown.
A middle aged woman married to an older miser of a building owner/landlord.
Poor child who barely spends time with his parents who although spend like 9 years having him, drop him off at an elderly neighbor it grandparent for months at a time.
Mad about you. See a long awaited baby.
Friends. Among other things see Lucy's baby.
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Post by iamnotarobot on May 25, 2018 20:00:21 GMT
Someone bought up MASH and that's it. Especially after they got preachy. It became like a bad dream.
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Post by iamnotarobot on May 25, 2018 20:01:37 GMT
There is nothing depressing about The Honeymooners. If anything it is a very uplifting show. HELLLOOO BALL! |
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Post by telegonus on May 27, 2018 6:14:58 GMT
Someone bought up MASH and that's it. Especially after they got preachy. It became like a bad dream. It must have been its big happy family feel that endeared it to so many, but its charms were lost on me. I never cared much for MASH, liked it a little when it was new but when it became,--wha?--mainstream hip I bailed. Also, the leading players never appealed to me much, and Klinger was more annoying than funny. It came to seem more like a dramatic series with occasional laughs than a comedy when Alan Alda took over. I dunno. There was something charmless about the show. It seldom drew me in emotionally, and when it did I always knew where it was going. |
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Post by telegonus on May 27, 2018 16:22:06 GMT
Someone bought up MASH and that's it. Especially after they got preachy. It became like a bad dream. It must have been its big happy family feel that endeared it to so many, but its charms were lost on me. I never cared much for MASH, liked it a little when it was new but when it became,--wha?--mainstream hip I bailed. Also, the leading players never appealed to me much, and Klinger was more annoying than funny. It came to seem more like a dramatic series with occasional laughs than a comedy when Alan Alda took over. I dunno. There was something charmless about the show. It seldom drew me in emotionally, and when it did I always knew where it was going.
I think I actually mentioned it myself  . Oh well. More repetition: I agree with the other poster on Family Affair. Brian Keith was a good actor, but I didn't find him a funny guy. There was a downer quality ti him. I've seen him play comedic roles in films reasonably well, mostly broadly ( Thre Hallelujah Trail comes to mind), but Ive seldom found him to be a "fun" player. |
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