kpowers said:

namepeace said:

Context is key. The setting, characters, references, sub-plots, humor, and even the preachy moments were unlike anything TV had seen before . . . or since.

In fact, it may be the most grounded portrayal of college life, period, on the small screen.

That being said, the biggest flaw in ADW was the development of the 2 main characters, Whitley and Dewayne. Whitley often came off as a one-trick-pony character, and Dewayne turned from likeable and relatable into kind of a jerk. I thought it did a better job of developing the secondary characters, which kept it fresh for a while.

Overall it's still one of my favorite sitcoms ever.

With ALL that said I still didn't find A Different World funny. Went down hill after season 1. Whitley and Dewayne are blah.

Diff'rent strokes
It takes . . . diff'rent strokes
It takes . . . diff'rent strokes

To move the woooorrrrld!

(hmmmm)

namepeace said:

kpowers said:

With ALL that said I still didn't find A Different World funny. Went down hill after season 1. Whitley and Dewayne are blah.

Diff'rent strokes
It takes . . . diff'rent strokes
It takes . . . diff'rent strokes

To move the woooorrrrld!

(hmmmm)

Yes Different Strokes was better than A Different World

Who's the boss >>>>> tony was fine imo

also

Taxi was so funny

free2bfreeda said:

Who's the boss >>>>> tony was fine imo

also

Taxi was so funny

...

[Edited 2/4/16 16:12pm]

kpowers said:

Graycap23 said:

kpowers said:

Yes Different Strokes was better than A Different World

ohhh Lawrd. Now that was funny.

Trailer Park Boys - my all time fav

JoeBala said:

God I was in love with Susan Dey back in the day, those big beautiful eyes and that huge gorgeous mouth. Valerie Bertinelli is the only one that came close to that level of perfection.

Pokeno4Money said:

JoeBala said:

God I was in love with Susan Dey back in the day, those big beautiful eyes and that huge gorgeous mouth. Valerie Bertinelli is the only one that came close to that level of perfection.

I had a crush on Keith Partridge...

Pokeno4Money said:

JoeBala said:

God I was in love with Susan Dey back in the day, those big beautiful eyes and that huge gorgeous mouth. Valerie Bertinelli is the only one that came close to that level of perfection.

kpowers said:

Pokeno4Money said:

God I was in love with Susan Dey back in the day, those big beautiful eyes and that huge gorgeous mouth. Valerie Bertinelli is the only one that came close to that level of perfection.

She looked amazingly young for so many decades...and still looks great.

Yeah, I'll have to go with Seinfeld as well, OP. It remained consistently good for so long, combining dry humour, socio-temporal observations and slapstick, while capturing the American vernacular in ways that I had never seen before. What was more remarkable about its success is that it was in complete contrast to what were the common US-sitcom tropes, which were driven by the family unit and normative ideals, whereas this was about individualists and the circumstances of their being. Other shows had the syntax of relationships and moral high-ground, whereas the characters on Seinfeld were narcissists only in it for themselves. In that sense it was more fascinating, the characters were never presented as archetypes of nobility or sacrifice, and suffered karma for their actions yet we still laughed at their tragedies.

My other favourite sitcoms:
The Thin Blue Line - The other Rowan Atkinson shows in Black Adder and Mr. Bean were getting all of the attention at the time, so I think this was his most underrated show of the 90s but also perhaps his best. It copped a lot of flack for its 'dated' British humour but watching it now I find its double entendres and situational humour quite funny, and he did an exceptional job as the stiff upper-lip Englishman trying to negotiate a changing Britain, and he was ably supported by James Dreyfus and David Haig.

Mother and Son - Widely regarded as probably the best Australian sitcom ever and with good reason, excellent performances from Ruth Cracknell and an oddly subdued Garry McDonald.
Black Books - Bernard Black is one of the greatest sitcom characters of all time for me and the show really sells on Dylan Moran's performance alone, always found Bill Bailey and the chick who plays Fran the weak links, but the writing and set-pieces more often than not made up for it.

Keeping Up Appearances - Just good old fashioned British humour, sure the show was driven by one joke (Hyacinth is annoying and all the other characters only exist to avoid her), but they really each defined their parts. I love that Richard Bucket is such a hen-picked husband on the show but irl Clive Swift is a dirty old prick, in one interview he said people kept coming up to him in the street and saying "Richard Bouquet!" and he'd go "fuck off".

One Foot in the Grave - Old pricks are funny

My Wife and Kids - Kind of a guilty pleasure, I watched this show during a particularly gruelling time of my life and it never failed to cheer me up. It was one of those family unit shows but Damon Wayans, Tisha Campbell and George Gore made it work, for the first few seasons anyway. It was the role of a lifetime for Damon Wayans in particular, he could veer between grounded and over-the-top which suited him much better.

Father Ted - Just reminds me of better times while watching it more than anything else. The show largely succeeded on the back of Dermot and Ardal, the way they inhabited the characters and their ad-libbing and improvisation was exceptional. I watched a behind the scenes thing with Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews and got the sense they thought they were funnier than they actually were, a lot of the jokes they wrote fell flat and their arcs often just went nowhere, Dermot and Ardal saved the show for me and made it so memorable.

[Edited 2/10/16 1:48am]

spacedolphin said:

Yeah, I'll have to go with Seinfeld as well, OP. It remained consistently good for so long, combining dry humour, socio-temporal observations and slapstick, while capturing the American vernacular in ways that I had never seen before. What was more remarkable about its success is that it was in complete contrast to what were the common US-sitcom tropes, which were driven by the family unit and normative ideals, whereas this was about individualists and the circumstances of their being. Other shows had the syntax of relationships and moral high-ground, whereas the characters on Seinfeld were narcissists only in it for themselves. In that sense it was more fascinating, the characters were never presented as archetypes of nobility or sacrifice, and suffered karma for their actions yet we still laughed at their tragedies.

My other favourite sitcoms:
The Thin Blue Line - The other Rowan Atkinson shows in Black Adder and Mr. Bean were getting all of the attention at the time, so I think this was his most underrated show of the 90s but also perhaps his best. It copped a lot of flack for its 'dated' British humour but watching it now I find its double entendres and situational humour quite funny, and he did an exceptional job as the stiff upper-lip Englishman trying to negotiate a changing Britain, and he was ably supported by James Dreyfus and David Haig.

Mother and Son - Widely regarded as probably the best Australian sitcom ever and with good reason, excellent performances from Ruth Cracknell and an oddly subdued Garry McDonald.
Black Books - Bernard Black is one of the greatest sitcom characters of all time for me and the show really sells on Dylan Moran's performance alone, always found Bill Bailey and the chick who plays Fran the weak links, but the writing and set-pieces more often than not made up for it.

Keeping Up Appearances - Just good old fashioned British humour, sure the show was driven by one joke (Hyacinth is annoying and all the other characters only exist to avoid her), but they really each defined their parts. I love that Richard Bucket is such a hen-picked husband on the show but irl Clive Swift is a dirty old prick, in one interview he said people kept coming up to him in the street and saying "Richard Bouquet!" and he'd go "fuck off".

One Foot in the Grave - Old pricks are funny

My Wife and Kids - Kind of a guilty pleasure, I watched this show during a particularly gruelling time of my life and it never failed to cheer me up. It was one of those family unit shows but Damon Wayans, Tisha Campbell and George Gore made it work, for the first few seasons anyway. It was the role of a lifetime for Damon Wayans in particular, he could veer between grounded and over-the-top which suited him much better.

Father Ted - Just reminds me of better times while watching it more than anything else. The show largely succeeded on the back of Dermot and Ardal, the way they inhabited the characters and their ad-libbing and improvisation was exceptional. I watched a behind the scenes thing with Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews and got the sense they thought they were funnier than they actually were, a lot of the jokes they wrote fell flat and their arcs often just went nowhere, Dermot and Ardal saved the show for me and made it so memorable.

[Edited 2/10/16 1:48am]

"Keeping Up Appearances" is one of my all time favorite comedies, as is "Are You Being Served."

Pokeno4Money said:

JoeBala said:

God I was in love with Susan Dey back in the day, those big beautiful eyes and that huge gorgeous mouth. Valerie Bertinelli is the only one that came close to that level of perfection.

Remember C.H.O.M.P.S

purplethunder3121 said:

kpowers said:

She looked amazingly young for so many decades...and still looks great.

Yes she did, and yes she does. She was the only reason I watched Hot In Cleveland.

Hard to believe she was into coke for a while.

kpowers said:

Remember C.H.O.M.P.S

No, I don't remember that show at all!! And I'm usually good at remembering anything 80's/90's.

Pokeno4Money said:

kpowers said:

Remember C.H.O.M.P.S

No, I don't remember that show at all!! And I'm usually good at remembering anything 80's/90's.

Well it was a movie that came out in 1979. You can see the trailer on youtube

kpowers said:

Pokeno4Money said:

No, I don't remember that show at all!! And I'm usually good at remembering anything 80's/90's.

Well it was a movie that came out in 1979. You can see the trailer on youtube

Thank you, I'll have to check it out. And thank you for the great pics!! Good memories ...

Laverne and Shirley

purplethunder3121 said:

spacedolphin said:

Yeah, I'll have to go with Seinfeld as well, OP. It remained consistently good for so long, combining dry humour, socio-temporal observations and slapstick, while capturing the American vernacular in ways that I had never seen before. What was more remarkable about its success is that it was in complete contrast to what were the common US-sitcom tropes, which were driven by the family unit and normative ideals, whereas this was about individualists and the circumstances of their being. Other shows had the syntax of relationships and moral high-ground, whereas the characters on Seinfeld were narcissists only in it for themselves. In that sense it was more fascinating, the characters were never presented as archetypes of nobility or sacrifice, and suffered karma for their actions yet we still laughed at their tragedies.

My other favourite sitcoms:
The Thin Blue Line - The other Rowan Atkinson shows in Black Adder and Mr. Bean were getting all of the attention at the time, so I think this was his most underrated show of the 90s but also perhaps his best. It copped a lot of flack for its 'dated' British humour but watching it now I find its double entendres and situational humour quite funny, and he did an exceptional job as the stiff upper-lip Englishman trying to negotiate a changing Britain, and he was ably supported by James Dreyfus and David Haig.

Mother and Son - Widely regarded as probably the best Australian sitcom ever and with good reason, excellent performances from Ruth Cracknell and an oddly subdued Garry McDonald.
Black Books - Bernard Black is one of the greatest sitcom characters of all time for me and the show really sells on Dylan Moran's performance alone, always found Bill Bailey and the chick who plays Fran the weak links, but the writing and set-pieces more often than not made up for it.

Keeping Up Appearances - Just good old fashioned British humour, sure the show was driven by one joke (Hyacinth is annoying and all the other characters only exist to avoid her), but they really each defined their parts. I love that Richard Bucket is such a hen-picked husband on the show but irl Clive Swift is a dirty old prick, in one interview he said people kept coming up to him in the street and saying "Richard Bouquet!" and he'd go "fuck off".

One Foot in the Grave - Old pricks are funny

My Wife and Kids - Kind of a guilty pleasure, I watched this show during a particularly gruelling time of my life and it never failed to cheer me up. It was one of those family unit shows but Damon Wayans, Tisha Campbell and George Gore made it work, for the first few seasons anyway. It was the role of a lifetime for Damon Wayans in particular, he could veer between grounded and over-the-top which suited him much better.

Father Ted - Just reminds me of better times while watching it more than anything else. The show largely succeeded on the back of Dermot and Ardal, the way they inhabited the characters and their ad-libbing and improvisation was exceptional. I watched a behind the scenes thing with Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews and got the sense they thought they were funnier than they actually were, a lot of the jokes they wrote fell flat and their arcs often just went nowhere, Dermot and Ardal saved the show for me and made it so memorable.

[Edited 2/10/16 1:48am]

"Keeping Up Appearances" is one of my all time favorite comedies, as is "Are You Being Served."

Am free

Okay, I really enjoyed, How I Met Your Mother, and Parks & Recreation.

free2bfreeda said:

Cheers

Indeed.

Has to be my top four ... don't ask me to rank them though!!

But if this counts, it'll win hands down!!

It ain't the best, not even good, but I still like Love Boat for some silly reason...

I guess this would be considered a failed series, as it only lasted two seasons, had the misfortune of being aired at the same time as The Cosby Show at the peak of its popularity during most of its first season, and then aired at the same time as A Different World in its second season, thus effectively killing the show.



Basically it was a comedy about an obnoxious right-wing detective who was love with his gun and was always getting into as miuch trouble as the crooks he was supposed to be catching. ABC moved it away from The Cosby Show and put it on Friday nights in midseason, where it at least developed a cult following. But they effectively killed it the following season when they moved it back to Thursday night so they could develop TGIF lineup on Friday nights.