Like most people of my generation, I’m typically in the middle of watching a television series on Netflix (or some other streaming service). These shows are usually dramas of some kind; I just recently got finished watching The Tudors, for example, and before that, Luther. Fantastic show. I personally prefer it to Sherlock, if you think it fit to compare the two. Perhaps I’ll write a blog post about it sometime, but it’s mostly due to plot coherence and maturity of tone (the second point being personal preference and the first being a measured criticism). But I digress.
Sometimes, when I’m in-between shows on Netflix and all feels wrong in the world, I jump over to a comedy. Most notably, I’ve rewatched all of Scrubs which is without a doubt the best comedy show of all time (more on that later). I watched a good five seasons of Community which I also thoroughly enjoyed, and right now I’m currently powering through another popular comedy series.
A quick side note, one comedy I’ve never been very invested in is Friends. I don’t know if maybe I was just barely out of their target audience or what, but I find the show highly overrated. It’s funny enough, and I’ll watch it if someone else has it on, but there was this whole culture built up around the show’s characters in which people tried to mimic them and apply their logic to real life, and it always sort of… irked me. And I’m not sure I like laughter tracks. Why should I need to be told when to laugh?
Well, anyway, what I wish to discuss is the balance of how much tragedy to put in a comedy. I believe Scrubs had the perfect balance, with your typical conflicts between friendships arising and being dealt with in a humorous or heartwarming manner, but also the larger themes of death, love, personal growth, and the stress of working as a doctor. I could watch the chronicles of John Dorian many times over (barring the season we do not speak of) and still find life lessons and reassurance. Also, seeing as this blog post is the king of unrelated side-notes, isn’t it cool how ‘John Dorian’ is so similar to ‘John Doe’?
Community was excellent as well, especially Abed. I haven’t actually seen the last season yet (it’s not on Netflix, boo) but I’ve seen the majority and whilst Community is overall more lighthearted than Scrubs, it still has its poignant moments. Most notably, for me, was Abed’s character.
The problem with comedy is that without some elements of tragedy, or continuity of plot, you leave the audience with no lingering interest. It’s why, I think, so many comedies opt to have a potential couple whom they propose to the audience through a series of will-they-won’-they events, usually only allowing this plot-line to have a conclusion when they’ve sufficiently built up lasting interest in other elements of the series. And to have plot you need conflict, and to have conflict you need some sort of tragic event. This is why death happens in comedy, even though it isn’t funny. It allows characters to develop, making you more invested in their character and increasing the vibrancy of the comedy.
Perhaps there’s something to be taken away from that.
Perpetually Perturbed 