11/8/13
View Logs: Dads S1 Episode 7
Episode Title: Foul PlayThis... show... has... no shame. In a very bad way and not in ways the Family Guy writers probably intended...
So this episode is making fun of plays. Yeah I know, plays aren't really that fun anymore. It hasn't been the public's art for a long time just like other older artforms like classical music, paintings, calligraphy (for asian societies), Jazz, etc. The list goes on. Yet, and this is one thing most people haven't bothered to think about, plays actually have lived on fairly well in the digital age. You wanna know why? I'll give you a hint... IT'S CALLED TV!
Seriously, why do you think TV screen fiction can be so different than movies? The dramas are written in 4-5 act structures. The sitcoms are usually written with 2. In fact, TV has always remained very close to plays. That is why TV often doesn't put emphasis on the visuals. It's about the writing, it's about the script. Yet, this show without a shred of brain matter, decided to go open range on plays when, ironically, a lot of the visual cheapness of plays are very often seen in sitcoms like this one...
You know what? TV actually owes a lot to plays. Aaron Sorkin is known to go between TV and the stage because he has always felt that writing for the stage sharpens the mind to write for TV. A lot of amazing TV dramas drew their structure and inspiration from tragedy plays. Plays are still actually much more relevant to the modern public than most people realize. If TV didn't develop the way it did? Well... every show would be Dads basically... *shudders*
In other words... THE JOKES AGAINST PLAYS AREN'T FUNNY! And it's not that plays can't be made fun of. They totally can. But the way they were jabbed at in this episode just felt so lazy... Anyone remember the South Park NASCAR episode? That's an incredibly good example of the writers not taking the lazy route. It's so easy to make fun of NASCAR. Yet, the way South Park did it had a lot of intelligence and research to it. That's how you make fun of something.
Ugh... I know I know... shame on me for expecting anything different...
