A fresh crop of network comedies — with 'Abbott Elementary' leading the way — are keeping broadcast TV relevant in the streaming age. Alan Sepinwall on five shows the Big Four are doing right.
, and a few others), sitcoms need time to learn what’s funny about each character, about the actors who play them, and about how everyone interacts. If you’re flailing around early on trying to generate story ideas, or stylistic flourishes, then that’s less time and effort available for developing the actual comedy in your comedy.The Office, or any of the other modern mockumentary series, but the series’ most frequent director, Randall Einhorn, did.
A school proves an excellent location for this style of humor. The stretched funding of a public school provides endless fodder for dark comedy, while the kids — especially the ones in the kindergarten class taught by the school’s elder stateswoman Barbara — are so young and full ofenergy that they’re easy to turn to for a silly visual gag whenever the satire is at risk of feeling too bleak.
In this week’s episode, Janine proposes that the school start up a gifted program like the one she loved so much as a girl. She means well, and her extremely woke friend Jacob finally finds his niche running this new program. But the creation of it has a domino effect on everyone else that results in, among other things, animal control paying a visit to Janine’s classroom.
Imitation is the sincerest form of television. It’s also often incredibly useful at giving new shows time to find ways to become their own thing.premiere on ABC at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesdays, then stream the next day on Hulu; same goes forGrand Crew Ghosts Want more Rolling Stone?
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Texas power grid had no problems at peak winter storm demand, Abbott saysThe Texas power grid had no problems keeping up with peak demand early Friday morning, Gov. Greg Abbott said.
Read more »
Paisley Harding leads No. 16 BYU women’s basketball to comeback win over GonzagaAfter taking a knee to the face and getting four stitches, Paisley Harding returned to the game to lead the No. 16 BYU women's basketball team to a comeback win over Gonzaga on Saturday.
Read more »
Bitcoin Lightning Network Capacity Reaches All-Time HighBitcoin's Lightning Network hit another milestone, an all-time high in public network capacity.
Read more »
Texas power grid had no problems at peak winter storm demand, Abbott saysThe Texas power grid had no problems keeping up with peak demand early Friday morning, Gov. Greg Abbott said.
Read more »
CNN staffers grill WarnerMedia boss over Jeff Zucker resignationTop talent at the cable news network grilled WarnerMedia Chief Executive Jason Kilar over his decision.
Read more »