Dead spooks & living firefighters
From ashes to extinguishers.
We’re back to regular programming with two recs this week (and last week’s special mention was worth it, the finale was perfect).
Today, we’re talking sitcoms and no, they are not dead yet, despite what you may have heard. Critics have been opining the death of sitcoms for decades (that link’s from 2000 btw) but I think we’re in a resurgence. Sure, there are some misses still by those clinging to the old formula (Can we please get rid of the laugh tracks already? Bad jokes aren’t made funnier by non-diegetic laughter). But the hits are spectacular.
These two aren’t perfect but they are still unique and keeping the 30-minute-and-under comedy genre alive.
Ghosts (2021- )
Before I talk about this show, I have a confession to make. This is an American remake based on a British show of the same name. I’ve only seen the pilot of the original and… I like this one more (is it mean to say it’s mostly because of the actors?). Sometimes American remakes can be good. The premise of the show is simple - you have a woman who inherits a big mansion from a dead relative she knew nothing about and moves in there with her boyfriend, except they’re not alone. It’s haunted. And then, she hits her head and can see them.
I love this crew of misfit ghosts and the two Livings. While some of the ghosts are the same as the British version, some have been swapped for a more suitable American one, what with them being people who have died in the mansion over the centuries. The casting is impeccable and every character has a strong screen presence. The jokes are punchy, the episodes are short, and the first season just ended.
If you do end up loving the premise, you can always watch the British version which has three seasons. I might end up doing that too if I don’t find a new comedy soon.
Tacoma FD (2019- )
I didn’t go in expecting greatness with a TruTV show. I didn’t even know they had anything worth watching outside of Impractical Jokers. Tacoma FD is a workplace comedy about firefighters and surprisingly enough, it isn’t sanitized. By that I mean they act like adults - well, for the most part - and swear occasionally. Network sitcoms have found ways to get around the no-swearing restrictions and I had honestly become so used to the lack of them that it surprised me to hear them in what’s otherwise a mostly traditional sitcom. And a good one too.
It might remind you a little of Brooklyn Nine-Nine but it’s not quite that. It’s mostly about their hijinks which in the latest season have ranged from having a quiet birthday party hiding from the chief, being overtaken by a smart system they were beta-testing, and having a chilli cook-off. You know, the everyday things you do at a fire station.
Just like Ghosts, it has a great cast of characters who are characters. They’re not aiming for any high levels of humor but they will make you chuckle and get progressively funnier as the episodes go along.
P.S. Expect a much, much longer list next week as I do a year-end special that’s not just a boring old Best Shows of 2021 roundup. You can Google that and get seven billion of those, literally.
Until next time,
V