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demetrithegreek wins! demetrithegreek beat SayAnythingFan 15 to 4
My Name is Earl is the only bad comedy made by NBC.
SayAnythingFan said
The Office, Scrubs, and 30 Rock are funny comedies and pretty much the best on tv. My Name is Earl however is not. It's about a bunch of rednecks and is far less deep then the others. It's girl is **** and it's supporting character we're supposed to laugh at why? Because he's dumb. A dumb supporting character for laughs, I've never seen that before! Jason Lee's acting is basically to stand around with a confused expression on his face. And it's change of styles from comedy about the rednecks, to the karma thing, to this new fantasy set up is jarring. It's not by a longshot the worst comedy on tv, but it is the worst on NBC.
demetrithegreek said
First of all, I can't understand a word of your argument, although I am sure that "It's girl is **** and it's supporting character we're supposed to laugh at why? Because he's dumb." somehow makes sense.
How can you say My Name is Earl is bad? I would say it's probably the third best of NBC's Thursday night comedies, but that's because 30 Rock and the Office are so good! There is no way you can say - with a straight face - that Scrubs is better than Earl! At least the stories on Earl change all the time. Scrubs follows the same format every week: the gay one calls the black one chocolate bear, the ditz sleeps with some one, the angry guy says re-he-he-lee, the gay one broods, then learns something, then the credits role.
And your argument that the show changed tells me that you've never really watched the show. It never changed focus or format. The only time it wasn't about karma was the first ten minutes of the first episode.
SayAnythingFan said
Alright I'm sorry if that was not very clear. First of all I don't hate My Name is Earl, it's better then most comedies on the networks which shows how horrible they are now. And it's certainly not the worst one ever. It is the worst one CURRENTLY on NBC however. What I was saying about Randy was that in pretty much all shows the supporting character is "dumb" and we're supposed to laugh at it. That happens on most comedies and movies and it seems to me that that entire joke is no longer really funny.
I knew you would bring up Scrubs but in response let me say this about Earl's format: The mustached one did some bad thing to a guy, and despite doing it sometimes 20 years ago, finds him and tries to fix it, the blond one goes "shut up", the black one says "hi Earl" and the dumb one ogles the latina, and the mustached one learns a lesson about goodness. Then the credits roll.
Once again, sorry I wasn't clear before.
demetrithegreek said
But see, here's the thing about Earl - it had one bad season and has bounced back with it's best season to date! Scrubs had a bad season (#6) and it completely sank the show. Scrubs used to be my favorite thing on TV, and now I can't even watch it.
In your first argument you mentioned that Earl isn't "deep" like Scrubs, 30 Rock and the Office. How, pray tell, is 30 Rock deep? I love 30 Rock. It's the only thing I truly look forward to on television, but I love and look forward to it, because it's goofey. Earl deals with redemption and Karma. The Office deals with what exactly? My Name is Earl isn't moving social mountains, but it's a comedy.
SayAnythingFan said
I meant that it isn't deep in its comedy. 30 Rock does not go deep with emotion at all but it has complicated and hilarious satire like the episode where Jack gets a little league team. Only 30 Rock could turn it into a biting satire of Iraq. The Office of course has so many awkward moments that it could have a hall of fame. And your apparent worst enemy Scrubs is not above spoofing itself. My Name is Earl's deepest amount of comedy? Well this week the latina one thought she was a lesbian.
One more thing about Scrubs: How did it fall in season 6? It's just then that there were more shows like it with a monologue and fantasy sequences. One of these: My Name is Earl.
But I have to agree with you on one point: Zach Braff is REALLY gay.
demetrithegreek said
Well, see we have some common ground. And did you see Garden State? That **** was awful! But I digress.
You're telling me that because Scrubs came first it has to be better than My Name is Earl? That is ridiculous. By that logic Gilligan's Island is better television that Lost.
In season 6 Scrubs became the live action version of Family Guy. Remember the South Park episode where they explained Family Guy as "a plotless excuse to string as many 80s references together as can fit in 30 minutes?" That's exactly what Scrubs became. All of the comedy was in the cut aways and had nothing to do with what was going on in the episodes.
I will say that the four comedies on NBC Thursday (starting with Scrubs) changed TV comedy for the better. I don't need to be told what to laugh at by a recording of a studio audience, and I appreciate the approach all four have taken. I just think 30 Rock, the Office and My Name is Earl (in that order) stand out a little more than Scrubs.
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Comments
ellie 04/29/08
Demetrithegreek that was pretty funny. And I agree.
chewbaccasmom 04/29/08
I do agree that The Office, 30 Rock and Scrubs are better than Earl but Earl is by no means bad. But to use how "deep" they are as an argument SayAnything is pretty absurd.
huzzah 04/29/08
Is Thursday night the only night NBC airs comedies these days?
Nialle 04/29/08
If we're going with Earl being the worst comedy NBC has ever made EVER, I would have to volunteer The Single Guy, Caroline in the City, teachers., Coupling, Suddenly Susan, etc. as prime examples of terrible comedies. Earl is better than all of those shows.
palais 04/29/08
Huzzah, I believe Thursday is the only night for comedy on NBC. Unless you count the fact Deal Or No Deal is actually a comedic exercise in cruelty on a audience who really doesn't know better.
As for the task at hand, I love all four of the NBC Thursday night comedies and watch every week. I'm a Scrubs fan from the start, and continue to follow it through the one trillion time slots NBC has given the show over the years.
Since Demetrithegreek has slammed my show, I must deduct ten points.
That being said, Earl is in no way a bad show, and I think SayAnyhting needs to be clearer on the argument. Deduct ten points.
It's a tie for me. Continue.
outlatrbdr 04/30/08
are you out of your mind. Earl has spent the last few weeks showing that they can write all of the cliche's of television. while the last several episodes have been severely heavy the comedy has still shown throuhg all the way down to the excellent series finale epidsode in the coma
twistr02 04/30/08
finally, someone has said what i've been thinking since this season of earl began: haven't i seen all this before? what's all the hype about? i stopped watching after i couldn't make it past the first 5 mins without getting bored. i just wish it was voiced more eloquently than sayanything's rant.
cynthia 04/30/08
If the issue would have been My Name Is Earl was the weakest of the current NBC comedies I would agree. Saying it is the worst blocks out as Nialle points out The Single Guy, Caroline, Veronica's closet etc. They were far more terrible. I am hesitant to vote for the other side because I happen to enjoy Scrubs and want to show some solidairty to my fellow Scrubs fans. But since say anything said it was the worst comedy, I have to go with the other guy.
loglady 04/30/08
i really do like scrubs...i really do, well at least the first few seasons, i've got to be honest with myself and remember that the show has kinda gone downhill...and that does make me sad.
if this had come up last season i might have said that earl was weaker than scrubs, but after this season i've got to give the nod to earl.
and really, in no way shape or form it the worst comedy that nbc has aired ever...
twistr02 05/01/08
my vote for sayanything is based on the argument that earl is the worst comedy *currently* on nbc. i would definitely have to disagree that it's the worst comedy every made by nbc . . . other than those previously mentioned, and i hate to have to say this being a friends lover, but, joey as well as inside schwartz, four kings.
outlatrbdr 05/01/08
joey was bad. it slipped away in the night and no one even noticed. how sad. of course the monica chandler spin off of raising the kids would have been a better choice. more elements of comedy, better to explore these two characters than to watch joey hook up with everyone, plus the undeniable commercial fact that it would have been a family oriented comedy which always tends to succeed even if done in a so so manner
greywolf17 05/02/08
I'm not a fan of most of the current NBC comedies. I've seen My Name is Earl a few times and never found it funny. I haven't seen The Office yet, and from what I've seen on the trailers and heard from friends, it doesn't seem like my kind of funny. Scrubs, well ... no comment.
The only current comedies (that still have new episodes) that I have enjoyed are: 2 and a Half Men & Back to You.
ABCSOAPS55 05/03/08
While i love 30 Rock and Scrubs i am not a fan of "The Office" and i would consider that the worst comedy on NBC but saying it's the worst comedy on NBC isn't that kind of like being the smartest special ed student or the fastest fat kid? no offense, but i'm just using an analogy.
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