Political Comedy An Unfortunate Crutch

As Saturday Night Live aired yet another set of political sketches, the question that some may wonder is this. Is this kind of humor used too much as a crutch? You might as well say it is now for the last year or so. Seems like anything you hear from comedians is liberal bullshit. There's no equal bashing. I get the world and Hollywood is still bitter over Trump becoming president a year later, but nobody is that bitter, are they?

The fact that in the last few months, several SNL alumni are getting sick of  the political stuff and worry about oversaturation says a lot. Especially when you have someone like Dana Carvey, who was funny as George HW Bush, expressing worry. You watch the show for funny characters. That has always been the glue of these guys. From the Olympia Cafe bits to Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, you want to see them try. They didn't go overboard with both Bush presidents, Bill Clinton and even Obama. I'll blame it partially on these Collegehumor writers taking over as head writers last year, but things could change with last months Weekend Update anchors becoming head guys. Whether all these writers realize the potential fatigue is all another question. 

Even then, you would be able to find something funny in an SNL skit than you would these late night comedians who keep bitching and moaning about Trump, politics, etc... in a never ending cycle. Sadly, these things are what get ratings. You can blame some of it on the unfunny Stephen Colbert, who took over the late show in 2015. It's basically his Comedy Central show, only without the young college guys who do bong shots as his main audience. Jimmy Kimmel can get very vocal about political things. A reason why he struggles at times with Republican viewers ever since the Las Vegas Shooting back in October. Seth Meyers doesn't even surprise me with his late night show. Seems like anything he talks about is Trump before getting his guests and talk to them about life. You don't see anyone like Jimmy Fallon anymore where he just wants everyone to laugh, even if some of the jokes aren't that funny.

Of course, anyone who has seen my blog will know my disdain for the Jon Stewart type comedians. (https://sullivanentertainment.blogspot.com/2017/05/political-comedy-is-unfunny-today.html from a blog I made back in May) Colbert is a prime example. There's still the TBS late night show with the horribly unfunny Samantha Bee. She doesn't even try. She is just another arm chair politician molded like Stewart. At least with some Stewart jokes, you could get a chuckle despite trying to play armchair politician himself. As far as other types go, there is still John Oliver and Bill Maher. Unfortunately, these people get ratings from people whose high priority in life is scoring drugs and figuring out what college to go to if they are smart enough to get accepted. If this is your main source of news, you're better off without it.

With all the stuff going on in Hollywood with the sexual accusations, political sayings, and everything in between, entertainment is a shell of its former self the last few years. Something will change. It's like anything that may be considered overstaying their welcome. Eventually, it could get stale. If things don't change, it will be a collision course of turmoil where even both sides get tired. Making fun of Trump should be put in these shows. Overusing this idea will make things way worse than they should.

Police Squad: Victim of a Different Era?

TBS has put a lot of stock into their line of comedies and continues to do so with Angie Tribeca. The police procedural from the minds of Steve and Nancy Carell has entered its third season of solving crimes with lots of gags all around an episode. For people to still be interested in it says a lot. Then again, there's not too many parody shows these days. However, it draws similarities to the cult favorite, Police Squad, a show that some considered shouldn't have been cancelled very quickly.

Police Squad is from Jim Abrahams and the Zucker Brothers, David and Jerry. Their first big project was the movie The Kentucky Fried Movie. It was not a huge hit in 1977, but they built their reputation beginning with Airplane! three years later. The humor to their approach on disaster films catapulted the film to major success that summer in 1980. Almost two years later was Police Squad in March of 1982. It was built on competent cops solving cases while dealing with all sorts of visual gags, word gags, and a few other things that suited their style throughout the 80s and early 90s. With Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin, how did it wind up getting cancelled after four episodes with two airing in the summer?

The show aired on ABC, and the head of the network, Tony Thomopoulos thought people really needed to watch it to give it any appreciation. I'll interpret that he thought nobody would understand the fast pacing of the jokes and gags. I do think it's a pretty bad reason to cancel a show, but you gotta think about it for a second. Back then, the Zuckers and Abrahams were kind of new to the world of Hollywood. Not long after was a few more movies together such as Top Secret! in 1984 and reworking Police Squad into the The Naked Gun films from 88 to 94. Your biggest sitcoms were shows like M*A*S*H and Happy Days. Nobody was doing the style of comedy they were doing back then. 

This is probably a big hypothetical, but how long could the show have lasted if it didn't get cancelled so quickly? Personally, I don't think it would lasted a long time. I'd say two to three, maybe four years, tops. It's hard to know if people would have kept on watching it after it's initial start. Television is a different animal compared to the movies. Eventually, some of the stuff you liked a few seasons prior may not garner the same reception in a current season. Police Squad was so elaborate in its comedy, it would have had the issue of being a little stale if it continued for a good length of time. Even getting to the last few episodes of the show a few years ago, it felt a little repetitive.

If Police Squad aired today, it would have a run similar to Tribeca. How many episodes, though, I'm not sure. No doubt, it is a victim of the era it was in, but it worked much better with The Naked Gun films. I think what has helped Tribeca is that it is thorough in its parody. It isn't a cheap thing done by the Friedburg and Seltzer duo. There is care put into it, and it's nice to see something similar to Police Squad. Abrahams and the Zuckers were amazing together with their movies. Let's not forget the importance of their only TV show and why they were a force to be reckoned with in the 80s.