The new guys run across some clever Geordi-level ducting or wiring trick Art pulled off 30 years ago and can't figure it out.
Finally saw the 3 episodes that are up and enjoyed them. It's definitely gotten better each ep. It's weird hearing Rauch's normal voice.
Caught up with the third episode. I don't find the jokes particularly funny, nor do I have any real attachment to the characters. Like several people have said before me, I think they're just trying too hard to be funny. And Dan Fielding seems to have lost his character's former witty charm in favor of being a downer. The smart-assness is still there, but it's different now. It's like he's being a smartass because he hates people and hates life, not because he finds humor in the situations. I know his situation with his wife is a plot point for this behavior, but too much of that and he's going to end up being completely unlikeable. However... I think the show hits the mark when they get past the dumb jokes and into the personal lives of the characters. The connection between Dan and Abby is excellent, especially with what happened in episode 3. Perhaps if some of the other characters were focused on this way, maybe I would care about them more than just as plot devices for wannabe comedy writers.
Yeah. It's sad. Sometimes all that left of us at any old job is a name on an old document or at best our image is buried in a group photo of years gine by. Other than that we just become old ghosts of times past.
I just saw the Big Bang episode with Shatner and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The last shot of the episode is a group shot with Kareem's head out of frame and Bernadette standing next to him. The pinnacle of wit.
I expected episode 3, "Just Tuesday," to be as cringeworthy as a typical Three's Company plot, and I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, the outing of the undercover cop was stupid, and so was Olivia's whole b-plot with the perks, but the developments set into motion by the outing of the cop weren't so stupid, and the reveal of Abby being a recovering alcoholic made it all worth it. It's not as good as the original, or Barney Miller, or M*A*S*H, or Get Smart, but (and I think I've said this before) it's certainly better than most of the monuments to Kitman's Law that dominate television today.
To be fair, the majority of sitcoms in the '60s or '70s were awful -- remember Sturgeon's Law. TV has always been "dominated" by drivel -- remember Newton Minow calling it a "vast wasteland" back in 1961. It's just that we've forgotten the dozens of bombs that were quickly cancelled, or the fluff that was popular in the day but proved forgettable, while remembering the few exceptionally good and enduring shows. Granted, I lost interest in sitcoms two or three decades ago. For a while, they just seemed to have too much sameness, just being about families or work or school or a bunch of friends sitting around talking about sex. And then they started to do this found-footage observational sort of thing that I just didn't get. But I recently discovered The Good Place, and it was one of the most brilliant and thoughtful sitcoms I've ever seen, and a delightful throwback to the imaginative fantasy sitcoms of the '60s, my favorite sitcom era. So there's still good, even great stuff being done.
That's it. As we get older and leave the workplace we are pretty much forgotten. Especially if you have no kids. We become ghosts. Ignored, no longer important and forgotten. Just old retired people that young people look at and glad they aren't there yet. Pretty sad. Generation Z might get lucky if science can find a way to slow or stop the aging process.
Sadness is not something I have. People can forget me all they want. I won't forget them or the impact I had or they had. Being ignored, no longer important and forgotten sounds nice to me.
To clarify: Sturgeon's First Law: 90% of television is shit. Sturgeon's Second Law: 90% of everything is shit. Kitman's Law: Pure drivel tends to drive from the television screen ordinary drivel.
With the 2 previous episodes, it felt like they were getting ahead of themselves, where they all agree that Abby is always like this, where she hasn't had a chance to establish herself. This one felt more "naturally" a season 1 episode... with Gurgs and Olivia bonding a bit, we get a sense of Neil (which i hope they explore... i hate to say it, but also being the child of an Asian parent, some talk of him being a disappointment to his parents, and maybe himself), and Dan being conflicted about his old self (and Abby helping in the process), felt "right." I was a little confused how that revenge was supposed to work? What was she gonna do, and why did she give up? I also double checked.... so Julienne is an orginal character. But it would be nice if we did get some characters that "lost to Dan" back in the day to make an appearance (in addtion to Mr. & Mrs. Bob Wheeler). I dont have the time to follow sitcoms like i used to growing up, so this will be the main one (i have a couple others i am interested in). I am enjoying it. I think Gurgs has been perfectly cast, and she has just the perfect Night Court vibe. Olivia is the one i feel is trying too hard...almost feels like an SNL sketch, where they are looking at the cue cards to tell the joke. Oh, and TVLine.com has an informal poll on their episode 4 recap. Here are the results B (above average) 37.67% A (excellent) 28.84% C (just OK) 20.47% D (below average) 8.6% F (fail) 4.42%