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Remember the Blue Collar Sitcom like Roseanne, Honeymooners, All In the Family, or even King of Queens or Still Standing? What happened to those shows?
NBC
Parks and Recreation
About a Boy
Growing Up Fisher
CBS
Two and a Half Men
The Big Bang Theory
Mike & Molly
2 Broke Girls
The Crazy Ones
We Are Men
The Millers
FWBL
Bad Teacher
FOX
New Girl
The Mindy Project
Dads
Brooklyn Ninety Nine
Enlisted
Surviving Jack
ABC
Modern Family
The Middle
Last Man Standing
The Goldbergs
Trophy Wife
Super Fun Night
Mixology
Neighbors
Remember the Blue Collar Sitcom like Roseanne, Honeymooners, All In the Family, or even King of Queens or Still Standing? What happened to those shows?
NBC
Parks and Recreation
About a Boy
Growing Up Fisher
CBS
Two and a Half Men
The Big Bang Theory
Mike & Molly
2 Broke Girls
The Crazy Ones
We Are Men
The Millers
FWBL
Bad Teacher
FOX
New Girl
The Mindy Project
Dads
Brooklyn Ninety Nine
Enlisted
Surviving Jack
ABC
Modern Family
The Middle
Last Man Standing
The Goldbergs
Trophy Wife
Super Fun Night
Mixology
Neighbors
I don't really get where you're trying to go with this post? Do I remember Blue Collar sitcoms? Yes. Are there still Blue Collar sitcoms on TV today? Yes. You listed some above (2 Broke Girls, The Middle, New Girl, The Goldbergs). They would all be considered Blue Collar.
Are there still Blue Collar sitcoms on TV today? Yes. You listed some above (2 Broke Girls, The Middle, New Girl, The Goldbergs). They would all be considered Blue Collar.
I don't think 2 Broke Girls, and New Girl can be considered truly Blue Collar, as they are more aspirational.
The Middle is the only solid blue collar hit. The Goldbergs plunging ratings means they probably will be cancelled.
Quote:
Originally Posted by skeeter31
I don't really get where you're trying to go with this post?
I was hoping for some commentary. TV seems to be getting more detached (like movies about rich people in the 1930's, or Mexican TV where most actors are light skinned).
I don't think 2 Broke Girls, and New Girl can be considered truly Blue Collar, as they are more aspirational.
Agreed.
I think there are probably three things at play here.
One, mainline network TV is still floundering as the cable networks continue to put them to shame. The networks continue to produce shows like it's 1985, while networks like AMC, HBO, FX, etc. are defining the future of television. The traditional networks' inherent conservatism --- "We do it this way because that's they way we've always done it!" -- is really hurting them.
Two, writers are taught to "write what you know." Many TV writers probably came from blue collar backgrounds, but very few of them are living blue collar lifestyles in Hollywood. They're either living poor and not succeeding or they're making lots of money in Hollywood but working 80 hour weeks with no personal lives. There's not much in between those two extremes.
Three is studio interference. The people making decisions about what shows get made are clueless about average Joe and Jane's life. They read spreadsheets and listen to focus groups and idiots with MBAs. There are some truly brilliant executives in Hollywood, but they aren't the norm. The idiots outnumber them 10 to 1, and every idiot executive has at least 10 idiot sycophants who will never admit the Emperor has no clothes.
And a final point:
Even when TV does try to do a blue collar show, there's an inherent disdain in most of it. A show about two broke girls might have been fun. But they made Two Clueless Idiots instead. The Middle treats its characters with a certain amount of affection. But then you get shows like Raising Hope or Family Guy that portray blue collar families as hopeless idiots, suitable only to be laughed at by their superiors.
One, mainline network TV is still floundering as the cable networks continue to put them to shame.
Thank you for your considered response.
For the purpose of this post, I am not including animated SITCOMS.
Although final decisions have not been made, there may be as few as 14 SITCOMS returning to the four networks. At one point in the mid '90s NBC alone had more than 14 SITCOMS.
CBS
The Big Bang Theory - 17.82 million viewers
The Millers - 11.06 million viewers
Mike & Molly
2 Broke Girls
Two and a Half Men
NBC
About a Boy
Growing Up Fisher
Parks and Recreation
FOX
New Girl
The Mindy Project
Brooklyn Ninety Nine
ABC
Modern Family - 9.99 million viewers
The Middle
Last Man Standing
BTW: I think the Millers gets it's entire audience from people who watch TBBT and are too lazy to change the channel. I bet there is almost nobody that turns on that show just for itself.
Cable seems to be branching into SITCOMS and away from it's traditional dependence on Thrillers, fantasy, drama, reality and stand up. But Cable SITCOMS attract smaller audiences (like Wilfred, Hot in Cleveland, The Ex's, Always Sunny , Anger Management, etc.). They also do some drama with a comic touch,
Do you think there will be a day when Cable can produce a very popular SITCOM, like they did in other genres (Walking Dead)? Or is the day of the smash hit SITCOM just ending?
Do you think there will be a day when Cable can produce a very popular SITCOM, like they did in other genres (Walking Dead)? Or is the day of the smash hit SITCOM just ending?
The era of the traditional sitcom is dying. By that I mean the 3 camera show filmed before a live studio audience on 3-4 recurring sets with a canned laugh track. Those kinds of shows are dying. Good riddance to them.
But situation comedies themselves are changing. I think we'll see more sitcoms with the format of Brooklyn Nine Nine or New Girl.
And I agree about The Millers. That show just baffles me. I don't know how it made it to air. The cast is fantastic. I love the three lead actors. But the premise is banal, and the writing just plain bad. I don't know how so much talent got involved in such a bad show.
I'd put Mike & Molly in with blue collar, working class families. Mike's a cop -- not a detective. All of the families involved live in standard middle class housing, with multi-generations living together to save money. Molly was a teacher (professional worker), but now unemployed and deep in debt.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark S.
And I agree about The Millers. That show just baffles me. I don't know how it made it to air. The cast is fantastic. I love the three lead actors. But the premise is banal, and the writing just plain bad. I don't know how so much talent got involved in such a bad show.
The Millers have had some brilliant, hysterical episodes interspersed with some real bombs -- like the recent one about the children's show -- how that one made it to air is a mystery! Love to see this get a more solid footing and really take off.
I think Blue Collar tv had it's place and time but now the audience demands something new a fresh which is a good thing. I loved watching shows like Family Matters, Home Improvement, and other shows like that but after a while the humor becomes stale and your left wanting more. Shows like Parks and Rec and Community came along and gave us something new to laugh at. I think The Office was the catalyst for shows like that and Modern Family to do better when it comes to making us laugh.
And I agree about The Millers. That show just baffles me. I don't know how it made it to air. The cast is fantastic. I love the three lead actors. But the premise is banal, and the writing just plain bad. I don't know how so much talent got involved in such a bad show.
Well, another way to look at it is, they can lose an average of 6.5 million viewers from The Big Bang Theory, and still have some of the 6th highest ratings for a CBS scripted show.
There has been only a single episode aired so far this season without a new TBBT airing directly before. Of course even second run TBBT episodes still attract a pretty big viewership.
This fall they are going to move TBBT to monday's for 8 weeks to allow for Thursday Night Football. They may try to run The Millers a few times without their strong lead.
What about the George Lopez series where he was a father working as a plant manager? I liked that one, but their house was a bit too nice for "blue collar", living in L.A. Even though he was a manager. I liked that it gave the Mexican American blue collar perspective. Plus I just think he's funny
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