100 TV Shows-#46 Anything But Love
Anything But Love
I used to love sit-coms.
I grew up with the classics, some of which have already been discussed and some lay ahead. So from the mid-70's to early 80's, I was fully capable of enjoying anything with a laugh track. Now it's the genre I have the least interest in, UNLESS it's something that's in the process of deliberately subverting the form like Arrested Development or Seinfeld, and I was NEVER really into Seinfeld either. About the only one I can stomach at all these days is 30 Rock and I don't think I've watched in over a year.
The very idea of a "classic" sit-com brings out a real sense of disgust, detachment, and snobbery. I get very, "Oh really? You enjoy that?"
This is one of the last situation comedies, I remember watching and enjoying without the detachment and distaste I've formed since then. Clearly I wasn't quite such a snobby bitch back then and there's also the sheer likeability (at least at the time) of Jamie Lee Curtis and Richard Lewis. They had great chemistry and I was genuinely rooting for them to get together.
I had a major crush on Richard Lewis. I LOVED his stand-up persona of neurotic, Jewish, craziness and loved seeing him on the Tonight show. I got even more interested when I ready his book, The Other Great Depression, where he discussed graphically his experience as an alcoholic, drug addict and sex addict. I thought it was hot in an incredibly sick way. (Lately, not so appealling. Even when he was on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, he was reminding me of late-period Lenny Bruce, which is really not a good thing.)
Jamie Lee Curtis had great charm and sweetness in this part, which made it very sad for me when she turned up last season on NCIS and I wanted to bitch-slap her something fierce and was nearly projectile vomiting at the sight of her and Gibbs getting it on. (No, this is NOT just butt-hurt Gibbs/Fornell shipper talking, I'm perfectly fine with Gibbs and Abigail Borin.) Her character was just so appalling and plot-pointy. I don't know if I hated her more before or after they tried to humanize her with the kid and obligatory EEEEEEVIL ex.
Love for Ann Magnuson and Bruce Weitz in supporting parts after the first re-shuffle. Yet another show that the network seemed to have no faith in and kept demanding changes and then pulled the plug on the whole thing.
My only specific scene memory is Hannah's room-mate making fun of Marty's hair (a classic 80's mullet) and saying, "Who is he, the lost Bee-Gee?" why doing the hands through hair gesture that was very typical of Richard Lewis' in both his Anything But Love character and his stand-up routines.
I sometimes wish I could enjoy sit-coms again, but I don't see it happening anytime soon.
Click to viewI used to love sit-coms.
I grew up with the classics, some of which have already been discussed and some lay ahead. So from the mid-70's to early 80's, I was fully capable of enjoying anything with a laugh track. Now it's the genre I have the least interest in, UNLESS it's something that's in the process of deliberately subverting the form like Arrested Development or Seinfeld, and I was NEVER really into Seinfeld either. About the only one I can stomach at all these days is 30 Rock and I don't think I've watched in over a year.
The very idea of a "classic" sit-com brings out a real sense of disgust, detachment, and snobbery. I get very, "Oh really? You enjoy that?"
This is one of the last situation comedies, I remember watching and enjoying without the detachment and distaste I've formed since then. Clearly I wasn't quite such a snobby bitch back then and there's also the sheer likeability (at least at the time) of Jamie Lee Curtis and Richard Lewis. They had great chemistry and I was genuinely rooting for them to get together.
I had a major crush on Richard Lewis. I LOVED his stand-up persona of neurotic, Jewish, craziness and loved seeing him on the Tonight show. I got even more interested when I ready his book, The Other Great Depression, where he discussed graphically his experience as an alcoholic, drug addict and sex addict. I thought it was hot in an incredibly sick way. (Lately, not so appealling. Even when he was on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, he was reminding me of late-period Lenny Bruce, which is really not a good thing.)
Jamie Lee Curtis had great charm and sweetness in this part, which made it very sad for me when she turned up last season on NCIS and I wanted to bitch-slap her something fierce and was nearly projectile vomiting at the sight of her and Gibbs getting it on. (No, this is NOT just butt-hurt Gibbs/Fornell shipper talking, I'm perfectly fine with Gibbs and Abigail Borin.) Her character was just so appalling and plot-pointy. I don't know if I hated her more before or after they tried to humanize her with the kid and obligatory EEEEEEVIL ex.
Love for Ann Magnuson and Bruce Weitz in supporting parts after the first re-shuffle. Yet another show that the network seemed to have no faith in and kept demanding changes and then pulled the plug on the whole thing.
My only specific scene memory is Hannah's room-mate making fun of Marty's hair (a classic 80's mullet) and saying, "Who is he, the lost Bee-Gee?" why doing the hands through hair gesture that was very typical of Richard Lewis' in both his Anything But Love character and his stand-up routines.
I sometimes wish I could enjoy sit-coms again, but I don't see it happening anytime soon.