CBS is only adding two new sitcoms to 
track/live studio audience. Heaven forbid CBS let its viewers decide what to laugh at.
The preview above is for “2 Broke Girls,” which stars the delicious Kat Dennings as blue-collar girl Max, and some unremarkable blonde woman as an heiress who loses her fortune and ends up working at the same diner as Max. I love that Dennings is getting a starring roles now, but that probably won’t be enough for me to tune in.
Below is a preview for “How to Be a Gentleman,” starring David Hornsby as a frilly nancy boy magazine writer who writes a manners column. The obvious upsides are Dave Foley, Mary-Lynn Rajskun (“24″), and Rhys Darby (“Flight of the Conchords”). The massive, stinking downside is Kevin Dillon as Hornsby’s tough childhood friend, which might be believable if Dillon wasn’t 5-foot-6. But hey, I could be wrong. I’m probably just saying bad things about Dillon because he’s in “Entourage.” At least I hope I am. I wouldn’t expect anything less of myself.
[Vulture]
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Hips and nips, otherwise I’m not eatin.
Entourage sucks, but everyone knows Kevin Dillon was/is the best part. Stop talking about stuff you know nothing about…wait, no, keep doing that. Just know that Kevin Dillon is funny.
Dear jesus the jokes are terrible in the preview for that Kat Dennings show. Dennings is much funnier in interviews then the best jokes they could find from that whole show to use in the trailer.
So I’m pitching: rework the show so it is just a half hour weekly of Kat Dennings being interviewed by Conan O’brien, in a bikini.
(I mean Dennings in the Bikini obviously, Conan will be in a thong.)
I have a very interesting project that I want Kat Dennings to audition for. Auditions are being held in my van with this sock that totally doesn’t smell like chloroform.
Just know that Kevin Dillon is funny.
That’s just, like, your opinion, man.
I happen to think playing a one-note clueless dipshit on my least favorite show doesn’t make him particularly funny.
Ugh. Why are networks still making shows with laugh tracks? Its almost insulting.
In todays installment of cute girls on shitty new sitcoms, Kat Dennings.
Also, everyone knows Turtle is the best part of Entourage.
“one-note clueless dipshit”
Matt, you just described every character on Entourage.
After that How to Be A Gentlemen preview, they showed Unforgettable. Minus the cop angle, isn’t this the story of Marilou Henner and her crazy memory? They even got a redhead for the role. Sue, Marilou, sue!!
Drama actually has the most depth of anyone on that show. the episode where he has a breakdown about auditioning is great. And the episode where he asks Ari if he believes in Drama’s talent.
Yeah, he’s really playing himself as a less-talented brother to a star, but he’s great.
Hey, Rickety Cricket got his own show, that makes me happy to hear. But Kevin Dillon as a “tough childhood friend” is about as cromulent as when Jason Ritter played the “tough childhood friend” in The Education of Charlie Banks.
I love how at its core, How to Be a Gentleman’s premise is “Don’t such a fag, bro.”
Dennings looks vaguely familiar. Was she in something I should have watched? I’d imdb her, but I’ve also determined I don’t care and I’d rather waste someone else’s time. I have dick jokes to make people!
Also, after reading about the depressing wreckage that is Dave Foley’s life, I can’t see him in anything without crying. He’s doing all right for someone going through something emotional.
I meant don’t be, don’t be! Ugh, first comment jitters strike again.
@0tarin – I think Kat’s best known for 40 Year Old Virgin. She was also recently in Thor.
@ Mel: I read somewhere that Marilu Henner is involved in Unforgettable, I think as a producer. So … probably no lawsuit.
Ugh. Why are networks still making shows with laugh tracks? Its almost insulting.
It’s not a laugh track, it’s a studio audience, meaning it’s no more insulting than “The Daily Show” or a filmed stand-up act or a sketch comedy show.
There does seem to be a weird psychological effect a studio audience has on some viewers, like we can’t quite believe the laughter is real, but since live audiences improve the timing and force the writers to have more jokes per minute (only “Arrested Development” and “30 Rock” have as many jokes as a good live-audience show) it’s worth it.
Poor Ginger Balls. Remember when he was rumored for The Office? I’m not saying it’s great anymore, but it’s streets ahead of a CBS sitcom.
I remember Patty, he would have been a great replacement.
Executive producer Whitney Cummings? Ugh, kill it now and let Dennings move on to something better/funny.
Tomo,
How can you claim it improves the timing when the actors are forced to break and wait for audience laughter to diminish before continuing on with the dialogue (and sometimes, the punchline of jokes)?
It’s interesting that Marilu Henner’s supreme memory will never let her forget how many dudes she banged in bathrooms for coke.
“How can you claim it improves the timing when the actors are forced to break and wait for audience laughter to diminish before continuing on with the dialogue (and sometimes, the punchline of jokes)?”
The actors pause without audience laughter too, they just often pause in the wrong places for timing. The live-audience sitcom is like standup, or sketch, or theatre, where the audience reaction tells the person how long to pause and where the good actors actually make it funnier by how they react to the audience reaction.
UU, I agree. He’s great at the whole awkwardly sad and hilarious thing, but he’s not totally overwhelming. I’m kind of disappointed that he didn’t get it.
@MC Damn. Well then now I like that fact that she was like “Ok, let’s cast someone who looks like me 30 years ago.”
So is Drama gonna teabag Cricket, or….?
…but since live audiences improve the timing and force the writers to have more jokes per minute (only “Arrested Development” and “30 Rock” have as many jokes as a good live-audience show) it’s worth it.
Blatantly false. The Office, Community, Parks and Rec, Archer, Always Sunny, The League — all have more jokes layered on top of each other than shows that have to pause for the audience to laugh.
How is that CBS is the number 1 network yet their online video player is streets behind ABC and Fox? Every video is always stopping and pausing it to let it load never works either.
“We thought it would be really interesting to look at someone who was broke all their life and someone who just recently lost everything be thrust together”
With such original ideas it’s not shocking that CBS is America’s #1 network.
I would even add Modern Family to Matt’s list.
@FAM
It’s called Trading Places and Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd did it in 1983.
Blatantly false. The Office, Community, Parks and Rec, Archer, Always Sunny, The League — all have more jokes layered on top of each other than shows that have to pause for the audience to laugh.
“The Office?” That show is great but it’s very light on jokes – sometimes a talking head will take up a fair amount of screen time for only one punchline. Which is not a criticism. How funny a show is isn’t related to how many jokes it has per minute. (Seinfeld has a lot more jokes than Curb Your Enthusiasm but that doesn’t make one less funny than the other.) Same with Modern Family. The same writers packed many more jokes per minute when they worked on, say, Frasier.
The amount of time lost by pausing for the audience to laugh just usually isn’t very much, and the presence of the audience means there’s pressure to keep up a barrage of jokes. The creator of Arrested Development said audience sitcoms “have more jokes per page” than single-camera and that he wanted AD to be the first single-camera show with as many jokes per minute as a great multi-camera show.
Laugh track debate! No one ever wins. Seinfeld is the perfect argument for live audiences, MASH is the perfect argument against laugh tracks, Arrested Development is the perfect argument to abandon both, and that’s about all there is to say.
Tomo, you’re the one that brought up the point about the number of jokes and you’re wrong. Studies have shown that shows with laugh tracks and live audiences have fewer jokes.
They might be misguided studies, but if we’re talking about sheer number of jokes, you’re wrong.
The creator of Arrested Development said audience sitcoms “have more jokes per page” than single-camera and that he wanted AD to be the first single-camera show with as many jokes per minute as a great multi-camera show.
That show was on YEARS ago.
Tomo, you’re the one that brought up the point about the number of jokes and you’re wrong. Studies have shown that shows with laugh tracks and live audiences have fewer jokes.
The only “study” I’ve ever seen was a comparison of #$@! My Dad Says to 30 Rock, which is a bad comparison because of course a good comedy has more jokes than a terrible one.
But in the world of TV production it’s long been known that live-action shows without audiences usually have fewer jokes, with a few exceptions that really try to add as many jokes as possible. Arrested Development is one of those exceptions and this is what the creator said at the time:
—-
“”I know it’s hard to say multicamera sitcoms are funnier than single-camera sitcoms because we’re a little bit tired of the rhythm right now, but they are funnier; there are more jokes per page,” he said. ”We all come from multiple-camera, and we aren’t going to settle with the punch line of a joke being ‘Ohhh-kaaaay’ when what it calls for is a clever response. We work really hard on every joke.”
—-
Yes, in 2004.
That show was on YEARS ago.
Not that many years ago. There have been a few shows that have tried to do what it did in terms of the number of jokes, like “30 Rock.” But even now a show like “Two and a Half Men” has tons of jokes per page while something like “Always Sunny” is less jokey.
Just because a show has lots of jokes doesn’t mean the jokes are good. “Two and a Half Men” has tons of jokes per minute but I would imagine most people here don’t think they’re good. As I said, a show with fewer jokes can be much funnier.
But the idea that the audience means a show can have fewer jokes just isn’t true, because the pauses for audience laughter aren’t much longer than the pauses on no-audience shows, and the writers on an audience show are constantly throwing out lines that don’t get laughs and replacing them with lines that do (even if they’re sometimes lamer).
Again, YOU FUCKING IDIOT, that was YEARS ago — before Arrested Development ushered in a new era of single-camera comedies with MORE JOKES.
Shows with live audiences may get more PUNCHLINES, but shows like Archer can make almost every line a joke — instead of a big set-up and delivery like you get on Two and a Half Men, two or more characters can deliver a string of funny lines that, yes, ARE ALL JOKES.
Don’t comment again unless it’s to apologize for wasting my time.
I know a show can be funnier with less jokes. That’s something we all know. We’re harping on the number of jokes because you brought it up.
Think about any funny movie you saw on opening night and you came out of the theater saying “I missed half the jokes because everyone was laughing too much.” Those are pauses in a show with a laugh track or live audience.
And sorry for wasting your time Matt. And mine. Now back to these damn excel spreadsheets.
“This has been the best pilot experience I have ever had”- Adam Levine
“This has been the best assassination experience I have ever had”- Osama Bin Laden
“This has been the best boat sinking experience I have ever had”- The Titanic
“This has been the best murder experience I have ever had”- Kitty Genovese
Look, can we get this comment page back to the topic at hand, which is Kat Dennings fantastic rack?
Kat Dennings breasts will ruin the audiences’ ability to immerse in “2 Broke Girls”. How is anyone supposed to buy that tits that wonderful have ever had to struggle!?
Actually, I have a hard time believing that myself. “What’s that? You’re broke? I’m so sorry to hear that, would you like me to buy you dinner? And a car?
Agreed; Kat’s breasts (the word breast somehow does not seem adequate) could both head several multinational corporations with enough time left over to bring happyness to several charity causes.
I agree the word breasts isn’t appropriate. I suggest using the same phrase that I use for Christina Hendricks, Eva Amurii, and Diora Baird: Twin bags of Endless Sunshine and Joy.
The mountains of NIRVANA? With the Valley of Pleasure in between?
(not the band, those would be saggy)
Rickety God Damned Cricket and David Foley. I’m so fucking in.
Fans of Two and a Half Men think it has more jokes than other shows just because they don’t get the jokes on better shows.
I used to just tolerate laugh tracks until I watch Arrested Development and realized how much it clogged things up. Now they just seem kind of outmoded. The only show I watch with any sort of regularity that still has a laugh track is How I Met Your Mother, and it’s really distracting.
As for the argument that it forces writers to come up with more jokes, what passes for a joke at NBC isn’t much, and I’m pretty sure that more =/= better. Not every scene needs layers ( [www.youtube.com] ) and I wouldn’t want that coming from the ham-fisted CBS writers anyways.
That said, Kat Denning’s tig ole’ bitties.
/Stares
//Stares some more
Oh they are Tig. They are tig and beautiful.