From: dnadams@nyx.cs.du.edu (Dean Adams)
Subject: Re: Married With Children...  New life?
Organization: University of Denver, Dept. of Math & Comp. Sci.
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 92 10:55:06 GMT


>dnadams@nyx.cs.du.edu (Dean Adams) writes...
 >>Actually, to ME there is NOTHING more disgusting than the endless 
 >>number of "wholesome family" shows that pollute the network schedules.
 >For me too..., one of the reasons I like MWC _and_ The Simpsons (half 
 >wholesome) *grin*

So you say here, BUT...

 >>The "old Bundys" (first season) where NOT the Bundys!  As with most shows, 
 >>it took a while for them to "find" the true characters.  Once they did, it 
 >>was fantastic!!
 >All I can say is: I really don't agree.

OK.  But I rather doubt there is more than a handful of people who think the
series was better in the *first* season, compared to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.
Come on.  Peg bundy actually COOKING dinner every night?  How could that
possibly be "right"?  Also, the show did not become a hit until they found
the "true characters" in the 2nd and 3rd seasons...  If what your are saying
was a common perception, then the show would have been canceled sometime
during the second season.

 >>Well, then perhaps it is time to move on.  Right now they are RUINING
 >>the program for all the rest of us *real* FANS who love the show!
 >I'm sorry I want a little change, guess I'm not a *real* fan.

We are not talking about a "little change", this is *HUGE* mess.

 >Hmmm... I want inter-league play (baseball)... ooops goes against 
 >the grain, Guess I'm not a real fan!
I wouldn't know...

 >>"grow"??   Now is the time for them to be FUNNY, as usual.   This new awful 
 >>kid is NOT funny even in the slightest!  Therefore it CANNOT be at all good.
 >What was that about the Bundys finding their true characters and flavor 
 >later?

What about it?   This kid is a pure "spoiler".  He can't act and 
he is NOT at all funny.  That IS his "true character and flavor".
This "new kid" thing is as old as dirt, and I can not think of
a single example where it wasn't awful...

 >Why don't you give the kid a chance (more than two shows) to fit in?

I have now seen FOUR shows from this season.  Fortunately #704 is not
nearly as bad as the previous one, probably because the kid isn't
featured very much...  We also see the *other* big "change" for this
season, which sadly is not very funny either.

 >>Good for them, but we are NOT talking about BH 90210 here.
 >I *wasn't* talking about them!  I wasn't even thinking about that,
 > I was thinking Parker Lewis ...

I liked that to some extent during the first season.  I lost interest during
the second.  What I saw of it didn't seem nearly as funny.  I guess you are 
saying you thought it got "better"?  Oh, well.

 >and a Different World (Colleg of course).
I have never seen or wanted to see that show.

 >I hate that F*UCKING 90210!

Oh, really?  Why?  I hate any stupid "message" nonsense when the have it,
but the show DOES work on the level of being nothing but simple "mind candy"
about high school girls going to the beach or arguing with their girlfriends/
boyfriends, etc.

 >>What do you mean "grow"??   Why should it be "time" for them to 
 >>do *anything* other than being the funniest show on television?!
 >>"growth" does not sound particularly FUNNY to me!
 >If a show is to survive it must change, or it can voluntarily end,

If a show is to survive, it must remain ENTERTAINING.  Nothing more (or less).
"change" does not have to be a problem, but the age old "add the new kid"
routine is nothing but a pure kiss of disgusting DEATH.  Just ask Alf.

 >like The Cosby Show or Family Ties.  
To horribly "wholesome" examples (especially the former), 
thankfully put out of their misery (and ours)...<heh>

 >Take a look at all of the long running shows (classic and new) were 
 >they all the same for their entire runs?

The two best examples I can think of (other than MWC), would be CHEERS
and NEWHART.  Those shows just happen to be about the BEST written and
performed comedy shows ever made.  They are both DAMN funny all the way
up to the last/recent episodes.  That is "the same" I suppose...

 >>NO, if YOU are "bored" then just stop watching!  DON'T ask for the show to 
 >>be turned into some "normal" disgusting family type crap with a new kid.
 >Go back and reread that paragraph!  I didn't say I wanted that family crap!
 >I said the kid gives them a chance to do something *different*

Then let them be "different" in SOME OTHER WAY!  The kid is AWFUL.

 >> >Say it seems like they're parodying themselves.  
 >>Hmmm... "parody" on MWC.  No, say it ain't so!  :->
 >A parody of a parody is not funny to me
That is something you came up with.  I've seen no "parody of parody".

 >>As many as they want, as long as they are FUNNY!  (and they ALWAYS are!!)
 >I guess that is ther gist of our disagreement, I don't think they are...

It is certainly a lot less funny now, but I happen to think the "exchanges" 
between Bud and Kelly are just about ALWAYS incredibly funny stuff.  In fact
they are what *saved* the first episode of this season.  Were you saying you 
*don't* find those scenes funny?   If not, then I really think this is just 
not the show for you...

 >At least 10 of my (vast horde :-) friends have said to me: "MWC is getting 
 >stupid" or "MWC is getting boring" or "MWC is just not as funny as when it 
 >first came on"

They must have seen the last few episodes then...!   Once again, if they
think MWC needs a "standard boring, conventional family" to be funny,
then *clearly* they would be better off with another show.  It is the
UNCONVENTIONAL (i.e. original) aspects that has made MWC a HIT.

 >>Ugh... aka it gives them a chance to be "boring and unfunny", which is 
 >>hardly something that should be on the show even "once in a while" !!
 >>That plus the fact this kid is TERRIBLE and incapable of delivering
 >>a line without making your skin crawl is hardly a reason to celebrate.
 >First off I said  I want the Bundys to stay as they are.
It really didn't sound that way to me.

 >Second (nothing to do with the Bundys or MWC), why do ^feel 
 >being family like has to be unfunny!?!?!?
 >The aformentioned Cosby and Family Ties are only two of the "Family Sitcoms" 
 >that are still funny to me today ( and to a _hell_ of a lot of other people.)

And *THERE* it is.  I for one don't want MWC to be ANYTHING like those shows!!
I see absolutely nothing "funny" about mindless and boring "wholesome" family
garbage.  If that is what you like then by all means watch those shows with
my blessing! <heh>   Just don't tell me that I should accept MWC becoming
more like those programs!   OR how that would make it somehow "better".

REMEMBER, it is supposed to be "**NOT** the cosbys" !!

Also... as for those "hell of a lot of people", MARRIED WITH CHILDREN
has been *consistently* getting MUCH better ratings in the syndication
market compared to those oh-so-precious cosbys...  :->

-{ Dean Adams }-