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Tag: Sitcom

sunny

‘It’s Always Sunny’ When Max Watches TV

May 2, 2017 / / 0 Comments

What happens when you get five degenerate friends that own their own dive bar in Philadelphia? You get some raucous and off-putting situations with a tumultuous storm of dark and politically incorrect (but nonetheless hilarious) behavior. Such is the premise of the TV show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Since the show’s inception in 2005, Sunny has become a major hit for its oxymoronically pitch-black and light tone.

Throughout the years, the show has acquired a pretty large fan base and FXX has recently renewed it for its 13th and 14th seasons. The show has spawned plenty of merchandise, a traveling rendition of one of the episodes, and a consistency to the show’s plot and nature. A big fan of the show, Max Rubinstein (former Dickinson graduate and my partner in crime) allowed me to interview him about his fandom.  For him, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is more than just a source of entertainment; it serves as both a connective tissue for his social relationships and way for him to make new connections.

The show’s consistency is the bedrock of Max’s fandom. Even with its different approach to the typical sitcom, Sunny has been extremely successful and generated a large fan base. Max started watching his sophomore year of high school and quickly zipped through it on Netflix. But he didn’t stop there. He watched the show at least once a day throughout college. He says that now, “I probably watch three episodes a week, but at peak time I was watching three episodes a day, every day.” It makes sense then that he claims he can quote word for word sixty percent of the show’s lines, with some episodes as high as ninety percent. Max loves the show for its “nuanced, fucked-up humor.”

Sunny has been known for drawing attention to taboo topics like abortion, gun control, Naziism, and pedophilia, but instead of coming off as rabble-rousing or mean-spirited, it’s somehow loveable for doing so.

At times it can go further than social awareness and even provide social commentary on these controversial topics. For example, in a recent episode, “The Gang Turns Black”, the gang gets electrocuted during a storm and wakes up in black bodies. The gang then goes about their day and experiences all the different ways that African-Americans are oppressed on a daily basis. In typical Always Sunny style, the episode turns when Charlie, who is being played by a young black actor, gets shot suddenly by the police at the end of the episode. This scene directly addresses police shootings of black children like Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin, showing that the writers of Sunny pay attention to real world events. The content of the show and attention to real world events and problems, like racism, makes this show extremely intelligent, and the fundamental reason fans like Max love its “nuanced fucked-up” nature.

Even with such dark and political humor, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia maintains a massive following because of the show’s predictable and reliable structure. This consistency allows viewers like Max to feel more deeply connected with his peers while watching the show together. He says, “…it’s just a fun thing to do with friends. It’s a good fall back, because you know everybody’s going to have a good time watching it together.” Like most sitcoms, one can jump around to any episode and be able to fully understand it. The show relies heavily on character tropes, sticky situations, and dark humor, making it easy to watch an episode without much background context.

Not only are the episodes self-contained, but its easy to find new ways to enjoy them, allowing fans to watch the same episodes time and time again. Max and his friends have made a fun drinking game to watch alongside the show. He says, “it helps to be a long time Sunny watcher, because you drink whenever a character does one of their character motifs. Or when there’s a recurring joke in the show, or when another recurring character appears.”

This type of repetition creates memories, which helps create bonds. Max says that nearly all of the friends he makes are avid Sunny watchers, and he’s usually converts the ones that aren’t. As with any show, the content may not be the sole reason why someone is a fan. These connective opportunities with others can also serve as motivation to continue watching a show, as it builds common ground. Communal watchings acts as a sort of space to hang around with friends, create memories, bond over the reliable nature and shared love of Sunny.

There are even instances when Sunny interacts with Max’s life outside of the show, showing that his fandom extends beyond a TV screen. He said, “…yeah, me and my friends were able to quote the show so much, that we could make a Sunny reference to nearly anything in conversation. So we would realize that would be pretty off putting for everyone else. So we made a game that whenever we reference Sunny in front of other people that didn’t watch the show, we would have to drink.” Even in his life outside of TV watching, Sunny began to manifest in his ways of speaking and interacting with his friends and other people. For Max, the show can as a conversational safety net; he’s always able to refer back to the show if there’s ever an awkward moment among his peers.

Max has also put in labor towards his fandom, as he has spent outside time thinking about the show and has dressed up as some of the characters. Max told me that at one point he put hours of thought into compiling an extensive list of his top thirty episodes and then shared it with his friends. This intense meticulousness and care towards the show exemplifies how much the show means to him. He has even dressed up as different characters for Halloween along with his friends. Last year he dressed as the character he most identifies with, Charlie, who shares his “…sense of wonder and adventure, [and] feels love very strongly, which is something that I feel too. And Charlie just does ridiculous things, does weird things, eats weird things, and I like doing weird things.”

However, Max was not the only one; his good friend Nick also dressed as “Fat” Mac that year (in season 7 of the show, Rob McElhenney decided to put on 30 lbs because he thought it would be funny if the character of Mac was fat all of a sudden) and the two proceeded to act out the show throughout the night. In previous years, Max has also dressed as the McPoyle brothers with his good friend Graham. The costumes generated interest among non-Sunny watchers, inviting them to join in on the show’s social sphere by piquing their interest.

Max continues to spend much of his free time interacting and engaging with elements of the show. In small groups with other fans he has even made some of the meals from the show. He says, “I’ve cooked some of the meals that they’ve brought up in the show, like milk steak (when you boil milk and drop a steak in it until it cooks). It wasn’t terrible.” This happens to be Charlie’s favorite meal, an iconic part to his mostly cat-food and gasoline diet. Max and his friends bonded over the ridiculous labor of making this specific meal together. The physical act of making it made it worthwhile despite its gross nature.

Max has even presented his Sunny fandom in situations when other may have no idea about it. To do this, he made Charlie’s beer vest from “The Gang Goes to Hell Part One”. This required creating an elaborate duct tape vest with many different holes and pockets to put beer cans in. Max wore this to a party one time, inciting vehement questioning by those partygoers who were unaware of the show. Max boasted of his knowledge of the show and was proud to explain to anyone who asked (and some who didn’t) what the beer vest meant or did, hoping to gain more viewers and more connections to the show. He fed off of the energy of being a part of something that others might not know about and felt a deep-seated connection to those that did.

There have been times when Max has been rewarded for his devotion to the show. While in Australia, Max went to a Portugal. The Man[1] concert, and had heard through the grapevine that the band was also a fan of the show. He heard reports that the band sometimes played the song, “Dayman”, created by the characters in “The Nightman Cometh”, as a warm up. He said, “As we walked in they were playing it and I thought ‘I’m in a good place’.” Max felt safe and secure once he realized he was in a space where people also shared his same interests.

There was there was even a live version of “The Nightman Cometh” that went on tour with the actual actors. Unfortunately, Max did not get a chance to see the performance, as they are no longer touring. However, the performance can be found on YouTube and Max has watched it many times. He wishes, though, that the actors would go on tour again. These specific presentations of fandom prove to Max that there exists a sense of belonging among Sunny fans, and that others want to connect to something on a deeper level as.

Sunny also was Max’s first introduction to Netflix. The site, a place to continuously binge watch TV, provides all fans of all different shows to engage in fandom. With its limitless nature, a fan can watch hours upon hours of their favorite show, building up one’s fandom little by little. This introduction to Netflix provided Max with other shows like Bob’s Burgers or Breaking Bad, inviting him to engage in other fandoms. Netflix changes the game for fans and TV watching in general, as it can be both be a place to watch your favorite shows on repeat or put on in the background of a social setting. ‘Netflix and chill,’ if you will. The introduction to Netflix brought Max’s fan potential to the surface, allowing him to experience Sunny at all hours of the day, and also served as an outlet to maybe try something new.

The show itself acts an avenue for social belonging for its fans and proves that it can be more than just a source of entertainment. The show has changed the way Max thinks about TV, but also has influenced his mannerisms and speech, how he picks and interacts with his friends, and what he does in his free time. Max’s fandom proves that fandom itself is more than just liking a TV show, artist, or movie; it can be a source for belonging, activity, and social engagement that can bring people closer together to experience both new and old things.

 

[1] This is correct punctuation for the band’s name.

 

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The Dick Van Dyke Show

May 3, 2015 / / 0 Comments

The Dick Van Dyke Show can be seen as one of the first sitcoms that resembles our modern conception of the genre. The show strayed from its predecessors, with Mary Tyler Moore’s spunky take on the housewife role and a new mobility evoked between home and work. At the same time, The Dick Van Dyke Show has roots in the older Vaudeville-variety style of the 1950s. This in-between existence is perfectly exemplified in the season one episode “Oh How We Met the Night We Danced.” The popularity of this episode most likely stems from Van Dyke and Moore’s incredible comedic and dancing talent, both of which were hallmarks of the show. However, this seemingly simple episode reveals much about the historical, political, and industrial contexts of the series.

One of the most popular episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show, “Oh How We Met the Night We Danced” reveals how Rob and Laura Petrie, the protagonist couple, first fell in love. When Laura comes upon Rob’s old Army boots, Rob tells the story to their son Richie (played by Larry Matthews) through a series of flashbacks. The scene opens on a dance number for the USO during World War II. Rob is working as an emcee for the stage, and meets Laura during rehearsal. For him, it’s love at first sight, but Laura is utterly disinterested, prompting Rob to go to great lengths for even a second glance–but, of course, ultimately winning her over in the end.

This episode heavily spotlights Mary Tyler Moore, whose take on the housewife character offers insight into the changing representations of women throughout the series. Given that The Dick Van Dyke Show premiered the same year the National Organization for Women (NOW) was founded, the nascent radical feminist movement is nowhere evoked in the show. Instead, one can glean progressivism with regards to gender roles from certain creative choices behind the show.

Even today, Laura Petrie remains iconic, from her warbling exclamations of “Oh, Rob!” to her fashion-forward cigarette pants. This sartorial decision in particular–apparent throughout “Oh How We Met the Night We Danced”–is symptomatic of the understated feminism throughout the series. Originally, Moore was supposed to wear the classic pearls and dresses of the 1950s, but at her insistence that this would not be an accurate representation of the modern housewife, the costumers agreed on her soon-to-be ubiquitous pants. This decision to break away from previous tropes, however trivial, foreshadows the atypical housewife that Laura would prove to be. Unlike the unobjectionable domestic goddesses of The Donna Reed Show and Leave it to Beaver, Laura had a more fully developed personality. Like Lucille Ball’s Lucy, another exception, Laura was depicted as sarcastically funny, physically attractive, and domestically gifted, all simultaneously. Also like Lucy, she sometimes longed for a life beyond the kitchen, fondly remembering her days dancing in the USO, as seen in “Oh How We Met the Night We Danced” (and in one early episode even going back to work as a dancer). Though she was by no means a major agent in the then-burgeoning women’s liberation movement, Laura presented her own discreet, feisty, sharp-witted kind of feminism.

Though The Dick Van Dyke Show can be seen as politically progressive, it should be noted that stylistically it bridged the gap between the classic vaudevillian-comedy shows of the 1950s and the more realistic products of the 1970s, but often retained some of the increasingly old-fashioned comedic devices of the former. Throughout “Oh How We Met the Night We Danced,” the influence of vaudevillian comedy is particularly evident. First, the flashback opens on a soft-shoe sequence, one of several such scenes. This focus on stage performance hints at the traditions of old-style variety shows in which dance numbers were a major attraction. The climax of the episode occurs when Rob and Laura finally dance and sing together, strengthening the importance of the stage through the show. Perhaps even more revealing of vaudevillian influence is Rob’s comedy intro to the dance performance, a programming format directly derived from variety shows. With slapstick physical comedy, Rob entertains the troops before turning the stage over to “The Idaho Potatoes,” a jazz band, thus alluding to the show’s vaudevillian origins. To heighten this similarity, the scene is shot head-on, effectively putting the viewer in the dance hall audience’s position. It is unsurprising that the show features vaudevillian characteristics, since many show regulars, including Rose Marie (Sally) and Morey Amsterdam (Buddy) started their careers on the vaudeville stage. Carl Reiner, the show’s producer, also sometimes sent scripts over to radio scribes and vaudeville fixtures for “punching up.” With this continued influence of variety, it’s clear that The Dick Van Dyke Show was truly between eras.

Many sitcoms that followed this iconic series borrowed ideas that either originated from or were made popular by The Dick Van Dyke Show. This sitcom was one of the first that explored the meta-subject matter of a show-within-a show. Largely basing it on his experiences with Your Show of Shows, producer Carl Reiner created the predecessor to 30 Rock and The Larry Sanders Show, which also followed the behind-the-scenes of fictional TV shows. Like these later iterations, The Dick Van Dyke Show used self-referential humor to poke fun at the entertainment industry in a refreshing new brand of comedy.

The Dick Van Dyke Show was also original in its focus on both the home and the workplace. Previously, sitcoms such as I Love Lucy mainly followed domestic life. In this series, however, Rob moves freely between home and work, as plotlines weave among all the characters. In “Oh How We Danced the Night We Met,” the story shifts from the home to the professional pasts of both Rob and Laura. Indeed, Laura’s background as a dancer, an unconventional career for a sitcom housewife, is a surprising variation from her wholly domestic predecessors. This mobility is representative of the increasing movement of women between the public and private spheres occurring on a larger societal scale. In terms of sitcom history, this mixture of settings paved the way for future shows to provide insight into the workplace and the home, a feature prominent in modern television.

Perhaps the strong influence that The Dick Van Dyke Show still has on modern sitcoms is the reason for its ability to withstand the test of time. Over fifty years later, “Oh How We Met the Night We Danced” continues to be utterly hilarious. Van Dyke and Moore delight audiences with good-natured sarcastic banter and charming chemistry. The dance numbers, though they were actually challenging for Van Dyke and Moore to master, look effortless and hold timeless appeal. Like the rest of the series, this episode feels both modern and decidedly vintage, as universal humor mingles with classic vaudevillian presentation. A time capsule from the Camelot era, this upbeat, sharp-witted show will remain a classic worthy of its place in the annals of television history.

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Fresh Off the Boat

April 13, 2015 / / 4 Comments

Fresh Off The Boat is one of the newest ABC sitcoms. It comes to the network from Nahnatchka Khan, who based the show off of chef Eddie Huang’s memoir of the same name. Though the title suggests a family of immigrants just arriving to the United States, the show follows the lives of the Chinese Huang family after their move from Chinatown in Washington D.C. to Orlando in the mid-1990’s. It centers on their struggle to assimilate to a new culture, while also having much more similar sitcom tropes such as difficulties fitting in at school, challenges running a successful business, and issues surrounding parenting.

Though the show revolves around hip-hop fanatic, 11 year old Eddie (Hudson Yang)–who, despite being young, has a sharp wit to him–the episodes all have the theme of assimilation central to their plots in one way or another. Eddie, for instance, is trying to fit in with the kids around him in school. His mother (Constance Wu) is trying to fit into the new white culture that she has found herself surrounded by. And the father (Randall Park) is trying to discover the correct way for his restaurant to fit into the community and garner patrons. Despite the obvious racial conflicts in the show, this is a series based much more on exposing the ridiculousness of people who believe stereotypes rather than on making fun of immigrant culture.

While the show has deep-rooted racial dynamics, it also plays on much more typical situational comedy tropes. In addition to standing out at school because he is Chinese, Eddie goes through the typical adolescent struggles of trying to make friends or being cool (through the music he listens to or, in one instance, by getting his hands on a porno). Similarly, his mother has trouble adjusting to her new white housewife neighbors and eerily calm grocery store, but also has to go through the trouble of finding a job and figuring out how to raise her children when they resist a lot of what she wants from them. Eddie’s father, meanwhile, wants the best for the family, but is also constantly dealing with issues in his restaurant. Most of the comedy around him is more about professional failure and the difficulties of being a restaurant owner and a passive dad, which has little to do with his race. His involvement with American culture is exemplified by his attempts to get his western themed restaurant off the ground by appealing to customers’ whiteness.

The strongest part of the show is the character dynamics. The Huang family has three young children, with Eddie the most prominently featured character. Eddie is sort of wise beyond his years–a trait emphasized stylistically through regular voiceovers from his adult self–and has a smart aura about him. He is a really likeable character because he is trying to make friends and do all the things he wants to as a young child but this causes conflicts with his parents, namely his mother. The clashing of cultures between his Chinese parents and his assimilation into American culture is the perfect platform for the majority of the comedy of the show. While he also faces the familiar trouble of finding friends and fitting in at a new school, a lot of the comedy geared towards an older audience arises from his overbearing mother and goofy father. His father is constantly trying to find ways to successfully run his western-themed steakhouse and can be seen as somewhat of a weaker character with his reluctance to confront his employees and children. He typically plays second fiddle to his opinionated wife when it comes to making decisions. The mother, on the other hand,  demands attention in a way that puts her in awkward situations that draw much of the laughter. The youngest brothers are mostly just there for comic relief from the rest of the show, which sometimes deals with the tougher issues. The final member of the family is the grandmother, who rarely speaks and has a somewhat indeterminate role on the show.

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The show is chalk-full of 90’s references. Part of the excitement of watching it is in the nostalgic feeling one can get. The music on the show is almost all old-school rap, as that is all Eddie listens to. Eddie is also a basketball fan and sports a Shaquille O’Neal Orlando Magic jersey in one of the first episodes, circa the mid-90’s. The focus on adolescent boys also enables lots of references to things like Hi-C Ecto Coolers, Lunchables, VHS tapes, and Ella Macpherson to be prevalent. Despite middle-school-age boys’ issues being one of the main plot drivers on the show, the frequent references to things of the past means this show is aimed more at an older audience who grew up in this time than contemporary viewers who are the same age as Eddie.

The problems around parenting, the efforts of the characters to fit into the white American culture, and the constant 90’s references suggests that the ideal viewer for the show is very particular. Given the issues being brought up on the show, it would appear to appeal to either parents, immigrants or ethnic minorities, or young adults who grew up when the show was taking place. That being said, I think part of the idea behind the show is also to expose the dominant white culture in the American society to the things people go through when they are not a part of this group. Thus it could be useful for just about every American to give it a watch for more than just a laugh. Though the writers do a really good job balancing comedy, moral lessons, and racial issues in each episode, the declining viewership of the show since its premier indicates audiences have not taken to this idea, despite the high praise the show has received from critics.

Fresh Off The Boat is a groundbreaking show simply based on the fact that it centers on Chinese-Americans, a group that has rarely been seen in sitcoms. Its brilliance goes much deeper than this though. It is a refreshing comedy with a unique take on racial issues that seeks to undermine a lot of the Asian stereotypes in this country. In this way, it is a little ahead of its time and, as with a lot of more clever, critically acclaimed sitcoms, it is not a ratings smash, since it is trying to do more than just be silly or show slapstick humor. Fresh Off The Boat is a really strong show that consists of excellent writing and acting. It is hard to have the star of a primetime sitcom on network television be a young child, but Hudson Yang is more than up to the task of leading this show in his hilarious and deep portrayal of Eddie Huang. Hopefully the viewership can climb in the second half of the first season because it would be great to see this show picked up for future episodes as it tells a very compelling story surrounding an Asian-American family and the issues they face everyday.

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