It’s the middle of summer. Despite all the great stuff out there, it’s sometimes hard to know what to watch. Not only that, but the state of the world these days sometimes drives me to want to watch something comfortable. I don’t always want to be shocked, scared, or even challenged. Sometimes I just want to sit back and enjoy.
“Reliable Yuckfests”
I use the term “reliable yuckfest” to refer to that old-style situation comedy with a laugh track and a cadence measured in jokes per minute. This is the sort of entertainment that dominated the second half of the twentieth century, and only began to lose its luster as the DVR and bingewatching became popular.
These shows were meant to be disposable, to come and go once, give you a little lift, and go away. There was very rarely any meaningful change from week to week, and so if you missed an episode, so be it. There were no season-long arcs, no real life events to speak of, and nothing but a soothing supply of easily digestible jokes.
Were they as good as we remember?
I Love Lucy. The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The Cosby Show. Family Matters. These were just a few of the reliable yuckfests of their day, well regarded today and easy to count on for a quick laugh. This is the sort of entertainment I rely on as summer rolls through. There’s plenty of it. Look at Crackle or Pluto for tons of it. You’ll also find it on prestige apps like HBO Max. Peacock and Hulu are good bets too. Even Paramount+ has a decent supply.
And so I find myself drawn to these shows. I can pick one, stretch out in my easy chair, and the worries of the day just roll on by. But lately, after a few years of comfort food TV, I find myself somewhat unfulfilled. Watching more than two or three of any of these shows reminds you that they were never that good.
Yes, there is “that” episode of Everybody Loves Raymond. The one that still makes us smile. But what about the other 23 episodes that season? Watching them over and over again shows the weak tropes the show is made on. The long-suffering and surprisingly smart wife, the buffoonish and inconsiderate husband who gets a pass because he means well. The supporting characters who very rarely have any sort of inner life. It’s all there. And honestly, it’s all pretty boring.
The social context
And of course, the social context of these shows becomes a problem the further back they go. Anything older than about 15 years old is going to start showing some kind of wince-worthy stereotypes. Go back to the 1960s and it gets really bad for women and minorities. Just the act of watching requires you to have some sort of mental gymnastics going on. Yes, the world was a different place then, but didn’t we realize what was going on? I guess not.
There has to be a compromise
It seems like I can’t quite get a compromise when it comes to the stuff I stream. Either it’s deep, dense and challenging, or overly light and stereotyped. Isn’t there something in the middle, something that just lets me relax without putting my brain into a joke-induced seizure? You would think with all the great television out there, someone would have figured this out. But surprisingly, no one has.
