LITTLE ROCK — What’s your preference - comedy or drama? Maybe even reality?
A recent article in The New York Times by TV critic Bill Carter reminds us that when times get tough, viewers get laughing. Carter quotes sitcom genius Chuck Lorre as an authority.
“Comedy thrives during economic downturns,” Lorre said. “You know, if you’ve had a bad day, laughter is a better remedy than watching a coroner pick shrapnel out of some poor guy’s private parts.”
Lorre is the guy who created such favorites as Grace Under Fire, Cybill, Dharma & Greg, Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory.
The current ratings reflect Lorre’s philosophy but also might be an indication that television is just being cyclical again. What’s up this year (or for several years) is bound to wane eventually as the audience grows weary of the clones.
Carter notes that in 2008, “only two comedies ranked among the top 10 shows at this point in a new television season. Two years earlier, the total was zero.”
It’s a different tale this season, with sitcoms enjoying seven of the top 10 non-sports slots among the advertiser coveted 18-to-49 age demographic.
Of course, TV programming always goes with the flow. If audiences seem to be enjoying one police procedure series, then we’ll get a half dozen copycats next year.
If one singing competition show is good, then four or five have to be better. Right? Maybe not. Just ask Simon Cowell, whose The X-Factor is drawing about 8 million fewer viewers from what he predicted pre-season.
The reason? Viewers eventually tire of the same old thing.
A dearth of comedy in recent years has opened the door for fresh programs. Comedy is up this fall with Fox’s New Girl and CBS’s 2 Broke Girls officially stamped as hits.
Also showing promise are Suburgatory and Last Man Standing (both on ABC) and NBC’s Up All Night.
Even veteran sitcoms are picking up more viewers, Carter notes. How I MetYour Mother (CBS) is up 23 percent this season. The Big Bang Theory (CBS) is up 8 percent.
Credit for leading the current comedy charge goes to ABC’s Modern Family (up 25 percent), the winner of the Best Comedy Emmy for the past two seasons.
Modern Family recently passed the slowly sinking Two and a Half Men to become TV’s top-ranked sitcom.
Many critics are comparing Modern Family’s influence with that of The Cosby Show, which reinvigorated the genre in 1984 after comedy had been pronounced dead. The Cosby Show (1984-1992) knocked prime-time soaps Dallas and Dynasty off their top spots and was TV’s No. 1 show for a remarkable four seasons beginning in 1985-86.
It remains to be seen whether Modern Family will have that sort of lasting influence. I doubt it. Times have changed. But if the show has opened the door for more creative comedies, then we’ll all be better off.
If there’s one trend flowing through the current comedy crop, it’s the rise of the funny female lead. There are a number of women heading strong comedies this season, including Zooey Deschanel (New Girl), Kat Dennings (2 Broke Girls) and Whitney Cummings (Whitney).
Finally, if you prefer reality shows during hard times, maybe you’re like one of my co-workers. She enjoys the courtroom shows because “all those poor saps are worse off than I am.”
Sarah scores. The CW is pleased enough with SarahMichelle Gellar’s new drama Ringer to order up a full season of episodes.
What that means. Some readers have asked me to explain what “full-season order” means and why it’s a big deal.
Back in the day, a new series almost always could count on having a full season to make enough of an impression to earn a second year. It hasn’t been that way for quite some time.
These days, most network series will get, at most, a preseason order of 13 episodes, and if they do well enough, the “back nine” will be ordered to bring it up to a full season of 22 episodes.
Of course, if a series starts badly and goes south, the network has the option to pull the plug after only a couple of episodes. Some series were so notoriously awful, they got the ax after only one episode.
That list includes Heather Graham’s 2006 comedy Emily’s Reasons Why Not and the infamous Who’s Your Daddy, which aired on Fox in 2005.
This season, NBC’s The Playboy Club lasted three episodes before being the first new series to die.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail: mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style, Pages 58 on 10/30/2011