For decades, the TV business operated under the mistaken belief that audiences wouldn't watch shows about unlikable characters. What the last 20-odd years of television has proved, however, is that viewers are just fine with unlikable characters — provided the shows understand that they're unlikable. Many of the best comedies of this period — from Seinfeld to Veep, Curb Your Enthusiasm to It's Always in Philadelphia, Arrested Development to BoJack Horseman — understand from the jump that they're about fundamentally terrible individuals. Even if the audience doesn't catch on at first, the people making the shows understand and embrace the nastiness and stupidity of it all, and that only makes the comedy more effective. On the flip side, some of the lamest and most insufferable comedies of recent vintage — say, Mixology or Happyish — don't seem to recognize how irritating their main characters are, which only doubles down on other creative problems. It's bad...
- 10/6/2016
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Hitfix
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