And it should be pointed out that "Superior Donuts" is based on a play by Tracy Letts, the Chicago-based author and actor that some of you may know from "Heartland" and from writing the Pulitzer Prize-winning "August: Osage County" and the un-CBS play "Killer Joe" (both made into films). "Donuts" started at Letts' home base in Chicago, Steppenwolf Theatre, before an unsuccessful New York run, but is more beloved in Chicago from its subsequent production by a now-defunct storefront company that emphasized the neighborhood grittiness (Chicago's Uptown neighborhood) that a CBS multi-cam sitcom can't emphasize. No matter what the quality of the series, there is a part of me that hopes that Letts (whose only connection with the series is cashing the residual checks) sees a show that's a big hit, runs 100 episodes, goes into syndication and makes him filthy rich in a manner only equaled in his Steppenwolf ensemble comrades by John Malkovich and William Petersen and to a lesser extent by Laurie Metcalf and Rondi Reed by being lucky enough to be in the casts of "Roseanne" and "Mike and Molly," respectively.
Mark Jeffries Saints Spotlight Editor [email protected] On Mon, Feb 6, 2017 at 12:37 AM, Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote: > > > On Sun, Feb 5, 2017 at 2:02 AM, 'Dave Sikula' via TVorNotTV < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> I was in the play a few years ago (playing the Russian who owns the DVD >> store next door [a role updated as Jobrani's Iranian]), and, at the time, >> we thought what great potential it had to be a sitcom. >> >> I thought the final version was inexcusably bad, with lazy, one-note >> writing and an overall amateurish feel. I don't know what it is about CBS >> and sitcoms (maybe the geriatric demo?), but this, that horrid thing with >> poor Joel McHale, and "The Big Bang Theory" are almost anti-comedies, >> relentless in their attempts to give every outward appearance of being >> funny (including the "Ozzie and Harriet"-level laugh tracks) without ever >> coming close. I felt especially bad for Hirsch, Jobrani, and Koechner, who >> were stuck with trying to make substandard writing palatable. >> >> In a word, awful. >> > > Dave I totally hear you; there is a bar for CBS live-to-tape sitcoms that > is somewhat lower than what I would consider a nominal standard. They go > for the easy punchline. They resort to ethnic and gender stereotypes. But > there is something to be said about a show (or at least a pilot episode) > that manages to work well within those narrow constraints. > > Back at the turn of the century, I grew so sick of police procedurals that > I was ready to write off the genre entirely. All the CSI "flavors" and Law > & Order clones, each one more bland and formulaic than the last. Then along > came "Numb3rs" which turned everything on its ear, which allowed NCIS to > become more character driven. > > "Superior Donuts" ain't "Numb3rs," but I like sitcoms done in front of a > live audience -- there's an energy to them that even shows like "Arrested > Development" (which I adore) will never be able to capture, and the pilot > episode of this sitcom made me laugh at the end of a week where I found > very little to laugh about. Of course it could be better, but so could > almost everything on TV today. But I'm willing to give it a try, even > though it will probably disappoint. Or worse, it will get really good and > be cancelled. > > > >> >> -- Dave Sikula >> >> -- >> -- >> TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "TV or Not TV" group. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected] >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > > > -- > Kevin M. (RPCV) > > -- > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
