Are Mockumentaries Saving the Sitcom?

I am not 100 percent sure if it is because I like sitcoms that are shot in the “Office-style” mockumentary fashion, but I have grown exceedingly fond of two shows in recent weeks.
One of course is “Modern Family,” which I thought was just OK when I saw the pilot. But the various characters have been fleshed out in recent episodes. For many people, including myself, it is hard to get too “involved” in any sitcom’s first couple of episodes. I even remember not being that crazy about “Seinfeld” at the beginning.
All too often sitcom characters are just trite stereotypes, who never develop any unique qualities or depth. But as I have watched “Modern Family” the past few weeks, several of the family members have evolved into truly interesting personas.
For me the first was the father, Phil Dunphy, who tries so hard to be a cool dad to his three children. His efforts are incredibly lame, yet they are infused with a touch of reality that any father of teenagers can easily relate to today. I look forward in each episode to his little “chats” with his kids, as well as his explanations to the cameras.
Then there is the gay couple, Mitchell and Cameron, who at first seemed to be the epitome of every gay character stereotype. But again in recent episodes we have learned more about them, with Cameron displaying a street-wise toughness (while dressed as Fizbo the clown) and then demonstrating an intricate knowledge of football strategy after revealing the fact that he was a starting tackle for his University of Illinois football team.
I could go on down the line, as I find myself growing increasingly fond of each and every member of the three interlocked families. And at the end of each episode I find myself strangely satisfied at how the craziness displayed in that show plays out, such as everyone jumping in the pool with their clothes on this week.
Then there is another mockumentary style show, “Parks and Recreation,” now in its second season. Produced by the same company that created “The Office,” and starring SNL alum Amy Poehler, the show debuted last year and was somewhat amusing. But this year I think the show has matured, as once again the evolving characters give the series both the warmth and humor that a sitcom requires to develop an audience.
Last season Amy’s character, Leslie Knope, was almost cartoonish in her portrayal of a buffoonish mid-level bureaucrat in a small Indiana town’s Parks Department. But this season she has borrowed some of the feminist sass that she demonstrated in many SNL skits over the years.
In this week’s episode she tells a stripper whom she dubs “Seabiscuit” (don’t ask why she was in a strip club in the first place) that the lady should seriously “reconsider her profession.” And last week, while on a testosterone-driven hunting trip, her over the top reactions to a sexist park ranger produced a sequence worthy of her absolute best SNL impressions.
As with “Modern Family,” several of the supporting characters have also developed interesting and unique personalities, such as the bored intern, April, or the blustery, somewhat macho boss, Ron Swanson, who plays off Leslie’s feminism perfectly.
The fact that my three current favorite sitcoms aired on broadcast networks all employ the same mockumentary-style technique is probably not a coincidence. The asides that all the characters make to the cameras give each of them the opportunity to flesh out their personalities and to allow the audience the chance to really get to know and appreciate them.
(Does anyone do such asides better than Dwight Schrute on “The Office?”)
Thinking back, I wonder how some of my favorite past sitcoms might have been even funnier had they employed the same mockumentary technique. Can you imagine Edith Bunker defending to a camera some of Archie’s racist rants? Or Lou Grant explaining his reasons for keeping Ted Baxter on as his news anchor?
I realize that the mockumentary cameras really make little sense, especially in a sitcom set at home, such as in “Modern Family.” But it sure beats the heck out the senseless laugh tracks that many shows still employ even today.

Which Show Was Worse...'Cougar Town' or 'Mercy?'

I tried. I really tried.
Since I write a regular dating column and occasionally write about television shows, I figured I would watch the premier episode of ABC’s “Cougar Town” on Wednesday night.
I usually don’t like scripted shows on broadcast networks, but occasionally a gem slips past the knuckleheads who produce them. After all, I love “The Office” and am passionate about “Lost.”
Well, Courtney Cox’s show is more of a lump of coal than one of those gems. The premise of a 40 year old divorcee trying to date younger men, partially because men her own age usually want to (and can get away with) dating younger women is not a bad one.
But there were so many things wrong with “Cougar Town,” I couldn’t wait until it finally ended. Yes, a half hour show seemed to drag on forever.
First of all, while the opening credits showed a woman looking in the mirror and squeezing her loose flesh, when we finally saw Courtney’s whole body (and we saw a lot of it), there didn’t appear to be a scintilla of flab anywhere.
One must wonder how many hours a day Ms. Cox worked out with a personal Tinseltown trainer to get that body. Once again Hollywood is portraying an unrealistic image of women for female viewers to try and emulate. The (dual) messages “Cougar Town” sends to men of all ages are that it’s OK to date women over 40 (a great, positive one), as long as they have the body of a 22 year old (a really, really bad one).
Moreover, the rest of the show contained the usually insipid sit-com whacky characters and silly plot lines. Enough already of Courtney’s character lusting after her teenage sons high school friends; or a middle school adolescent stealing posters that showed off Courtney’s cleavage. Frankly, after a while the show became absolutely creepy!
Overall, let’s just hope that “Cougar Town” is one of the first cancellations of the fall season!
Since I had decided to watch that show, I also caught two other premieres Wednesday evening. If ever a show demonstrates the superiority of cable network shows over broadcast network shows, it is NBC’s “Mercy," a show about nurses working together at a hospital.
Showtime’s “Nurse Jackie” which aired this summer was absolutely brilliant, with interesting plot lines and drama infused with pathos and humor. The NBC version of a show about nurses quickly dissolved into classic sit-com clichés. I think it will be a close race to see whether “Mercy” is canceled before “Cougar Town.”
I also decided to watch the highly praised “Modern Family,” on ABC. Every review I read about this season’s new shows acclaimed this show as the absolute best one to debut.
The show is about three related families, and it deals with the problems and situations that many families face today. Issues such as a gay couple adopting a Vietnamese baby and parents fighting with their teenage daughters over texting and dressing too provocatively are very “2009.” Of course they had to include a divorced father (“Married With Children’s” Ed O’Neill) wed to a much younger and extremely sexy Columbian woman.
I can easily picture the memo from the lecherous balding, pot-bellied network executives at ABC giving their okay to the show, ONLY if it would include one of their personal fantasies.
“Modern Family” may very well be the best of the broadcast network’s new fall shows, but that’s like saying that a Double A minor league outfielder with a 300 batting average belongs in the majors.
Before I come across as a cynical critic who dislikes all scripted broadcast network shows, I have to point out one fantastic debut that aired this week.
The two-hour season premiere of Fox’s “House” was absolutely one of the best episodes of television I have EVER viewed. I have always enjoyed watching Dr. House, although most episodes of this medical drama have a peculiar sameness.
Not this one!
The dramatization of House’s journey to self awareness during his stay at a mental hospital was so well done and fascinating that I have no problem stating that it compares favorably with the classic Oscar-winning movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” And that’s saying a lot!
I can’t wait for next week’s episode of “House,” to see how “Gregory’s” new self awareness translates into interactions with his colleagues when he returns to his regular position at Princeton General Hospital!
I guess the old adage that “every blind squirrel occasionally finds an acorn” fittingly applies to the first week of broadcast television’s new season.