I probably have way too much time on my hands. I think I watch more TV and movies than anybody I know with the exception of my brother, but even then we're on par. I wouldn't say this is necessarily a bad thing, I'm just good at multi-tasking and usually have a few episodes of South Park or It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia lined up while I vacuum and do my dishes.
The way I consume film and television probably says something about my own attention span as I'm almost never giving my full attention to anything with the recent exception of the absolutely fantastic "Klok Opera" from Metalocalypse, "The Doomstar Requiem" (but more on that later). Even so I feel as though my attention span or even my willingness to devote attention to something worth watching is a little beyond the average television watcher. Now that I see that in writing I feel like that's a given. Hmm. Moving on.
Television shows most definitely cater towards those with little to no attention spans, giving viewers repetitive jokes that require no background or repackaging the same punchlines, catchphrases or characters in order to pander to the casual viewer. The two main culprits of this recently are The Big Bang Theory which seems to have devolved into the Sheldon Cooper show (Bazinga) and in the latest seasons, and much to my dismay, Community. Community started off as a clever, self aware comedy that riffed off popular culture and television tropes while giving us interesting characters and outrageous premises (who didn't love the paintball episodes). Unfortunately it has decayed into the broadest sense of comedy, ditching the niche, genre spoofing jokes in favour of Troy and Abed in the morning. One of my favourite shows Red Dwarf also fell victim to this to a lesser extent with the recurrence of the Dwayne Dibbley character.
What I'm trying to comprehend then is why we have allowed ourselves to be content with these shows bringing us the lowest common denominator. This isn't a blog about slamming shows and movies that I don't like, because I have and always will be a person whose chief philosophy is "Live and Let Live" or in this instance "To Each Their Own". I am not judging fans of either of the shows I've just mentioned, but what I do want to do is provide alternatives that I think with a sliver of effort and willingness to watch beyond an episode or two most will find rewarding and endlessly entertaining.
So here goes.
For starters I want to recommend two shows which I think are the perfect compliments to the two examples I've listed above. First off for lovers of The Big Bang Theory I suggest The IT Crowd. It already has a bit of a fandom this side of the Atlantic and while it still follows the standard sitcom formula of isolated storylines from episode to episode it doesn't resort to recycling catchphrases and doesn't think it's smarter than it actually is. Which works because it is a very clever show. For those who are like me and are disappointed with the direction Community has been taking lately I bring you Spaced, a short lived comedy brought to you by Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (the Shaun of the Dead guys) which has just as much love for popular culture and riffing off genre conventions as Community but does it without as much smugness.
One of the best written shows currently on television right now, and one I would love to talk about forever but won't is The Venture Bros. which after five seasons has not lost any of the charm or wit that first attracted me to it. An animated series that both parodies and pays tribute to the adventure shows of our childhood from Johnny Quest to Astro Boy. I hold this series in such high regard not only for its humour paired perfectly with more grown up themes, but mostly for its rich tapestry of characters and backstory. The show does focus on a new story each episode but retains running plotlines throughout the show that might leave viewers a little lost if they start watching halfway. Across the first 4 seasons there is so much plot that there needs to be a video so viewers can play catch up with all the twists and juicy plot details.
Possibly at ends with my original argument that shortening attention spans are the cause for some fairly bland television, the 11 minute per episode Metalocalypse is short enough that you can take in a quick episode or two, yet its story and visual style are vivid enough that 11 minutes might be enough, though the show did flirt with the standard 22 minute format for the 3rd season. While Metalocalypse IS about a death metal band, and there are plenty of jokes (and songs) for fans of that genre of music there is still plenty to be found here for those who won't get the Dimmu Burger reference. What makes this show so unique for me are the incredible visuals. The concert sequences in the show are sometimes quite literally breathtaking or delightfully ridiculous. Their hour long rock opera special "The Doomstar Requeim" is one of the most visually arresting pieces of animation I've seen in a long time. Warning though, Metalocalypse is not for the faint of heart as it does contain many adult themes and strong, graphic levels of animated violence. It doesn't hurt that the music rocks too.
Just to show that I'm not all about cartoons with wacky characters I'd like to mention the fantastic albeit sometimes farfetched Jonathan Creek. A murder mystery show that Sherlock Holmes would be proud of, it follows the titular Jonathan who designs elaborate stage magic tricks for a living. In his off time he somehow becomes embroiled in different mysterious deaths and uses lateral thinking, rather than the sensationalized forensic work of CSI, to deduce who, or rather how, the crime was committed. The show is mostly driven by Jonathan's unofficial sidekick as he is mostly unwilling or uninterested in crime solving to begin with. The show treads the line in tone, never quite being a comedy but also never quite being a drama either, and at the end of every episode you'll be kicking yourself for not having figured it out yourself.
Obviously these are just a few programs that I've chosen as alternatives to what I find are the same shows with different characters and different settings (though invariably a living room or laboratory is involved). If there are other shows that you love that don't get the attention that they deserve share them in the comments section. Hopefully we can broaden each others' horizons and I won't be stuck rewatching Friends.
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