I'm not sure how many of you agree with me on this, but in the last couple of years, there has been a lack of redeeming Sitcoms to watch on television. With so many excellent Drama shows premiering last season for instance: Person of Interest, Once Upon a time, Homeland... One hoped that with it, we would also be exposed to some excellent new sitcoms as well to give us a little laughter between our dramas, but alas we were left hanging (unless for some reason you like the show "New girl", which in my opinion after watching 9 episodes was really mediocre at best.
We have certainly come a long way from when Sitcoms used to pretty much rule television, and in fact there was a scarcity of decent dramas that weren't procedurals. Consider, the 90s and early 2000s.. when Seinfeld, Friends and Fraiser were on the air, and then later on we were introduced to Spin City, Scrubs, Two and a Half Men (early years), even How I Met your mother in the early seasons was pretty damn incredible- but now, we're left with sitcoms in their dying stages and the new ones pretty much only reaching mediocrity.
Of course as Always, there are exceptions, and in my opinion the only sitcom I genuinely look forward to weekly is "PARKS AND RECREATION"... it is Niche, but beyond incredible. Also, when community is on, I'll admit it definitely gives me laughs on the good episodes, but in a season it has several Hit & Miss.
At the moment, Modern Family is reaching a stage where the humour has become predictable, and soon will become stale after a couple more seasons. Big Bang Theory, though still having its moments, is also quite predictable now. How I met Your mother has overstayed its welcome, and it is still a mystery to me as to how Two and a Half Men is still airing- Cancel that Bitch CBS!! 30 Rock is smart enough to know the show has run its funny cycle, and are ending the series after 6 seasons, 4 of which were phenomenal.
The question remains: Where does Hope lie in the Sitcom World?
I still don't quite have the answer, however, I can tell you where it doesn't. All the aforementioned shows, except for Parks and Rec. Happy Endings will definitely not do it, even though it too has its moments. The show is dragged down by 2 inconceivably bad actors and characters: Elisha Cuthbert as Alex and Zachary Knighton as Dave. HEAR ME: They do not belong in a sitcom or anywhere near comedy!!
So I looked to this year, having hope then I watched the previews for most: The New Normal, Ben and Kate, Guys with Kids, Partners, Animal Practice... Quite frankly, they are all just CRAP! Then I took the time to watch "Go On".. someone as talented as Matthew Perry, the genius behind Chandler Bing surely would come through. At first, the series seemed quite lackluster, not really having many haha moments because of the nature of the story.. however after the 3rd Episode, this series gets into it's stride. The latest episode that aired was hilarious, and I definitely LOL'd a bunch of times. The cast is a strange concoction of characters, however they seem to mesh quite well, and now that the morbid part of the story has passed, they have written in some pretty funny sh*t.. I would advise you give it a try, and stick with it because it definitely is getting better and better with each episode.(much like Community did with its first season)
I'm not sure it's enough to save the sitcom world, and one can only hope mid-season has better things in store for us, seeing as their about 7 or so sitcoms set to air. Though after seeing a few previews, I'm not convinced at all. What do to? Rent DVDs of the classics, especially of shows you didn't manage to watch like "JUST SHOOT ME" or "SEINFELD"... you'll get a lot more laughs then watching the crap that's on now. If you're willing to look for humour in other sources, I would advise you to dive into animation namely "ARCHER".. it is perhaps the funniest thing on television at the moment. It is simply incredible.
