# Can silly and serious drama mix? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 17, 2016, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441 "2016-04-17T04:15:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/1 "2016-04-17T04:15:08Z")
I just saw the movie “My Name is Doris” today. It was just an average movie, and one thing that really hurt it IMHO was it tried to mix slapstick comedy with some serious dramatic elements (the title character has toxic family isssues and is a hoarder). Do you know of any movies or TV shows that mix serious drama and farcial comedy well, or is it just not possible? ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/2 "2016-04-17T04:17:12Z")
“Soap” ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/3 "2016-04-17T04:19:57Z")
The TV series _MASH_ did it very well, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/4 "2016-04-17T08:49:55Z")
The Sopranos ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/5 "2016-04-17T09:17:00Z")
Excel Saga ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/6 "2016-04-17T10:07:25Z")
In my opinion (and I realize this is an opinion many are going to disagree with) _Doctor Who_ is an example of a show that failed because of this. They would do several episodes in a row that were supposed to raise the serious dramatic tension and then they’d throw in an episode of pure silliness. And for me, it ruined the show. The silliness destroyed any chance that I was going to take the serious stuff seriously. ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/7 "2016-04-17T10:45:55Z")
My favourite comedy of recent years has been medical based show **Scrubs**. Amid the frequent silliness they regularly added emotional and dramatic points. I felt it worked well. On the other hand I felt **Breaking Bad** , certainly in the first couple of seasons, dropped in some heavy handed, near slapstick humour which I found grating. Later seasons were able to add occassional humour amid the serious drama more successfully. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/8 "2016-04-17T11:44:37Z")
Shakespeare. Dumas. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/9 "2016-04-17T12:52:58Z")
One of the best things ever to be on television, the miniseries [The Singing Detective](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Singing_Detective) (ignore the unfortunate theatrical film of the same title), is dark, gripping, and surrealistic, and also chock-full of zany comedy–notably, characters abruptly breaking into '40s song and dance numbers. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/10 "2016-04-17T13:40:37Z")
This recent season of _X-Files_ attempted it. I don’t think they succeeded, though strangely because the silly episodes were the most popular. They’re not farcical as such, but I love the balance of humour-to-drama on the Canadian show _Murdoch Mysteries_. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/11 "2016-04-17T14:09:33Z")
\*Annie Hall Oh! What a Lovely War King of Hearts \* ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/12 "2016-04-17T14:15:20Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Shakespeare. Dumas. Of course Shakespeare, but you don’t have to be mean about it. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/13 "2016-04-17T14:19:11Z")
The Silent Hill videogames produced by the original Team Silent used moments of silliness very effectively amidst all the drama and horror.It was a smart move on their part, as deliberately breaking the tension when they meant to do it avoided people laughing for release at something they meant to be taken seriously. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/14 "2016-04-17T14:25:31Z")
Xena: Warrior Princess. The running thread through the who series was drama bordering on melodrama, but each episode could be anything. Sometimes it was slapstick and farce, sometimes it was straight comedy, sometimes it was drama with heavy symbolism. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/15 "2016-04-17T15:34:07Z")
The mixture of comedy and melodrama can make for an uneven tone, which is why “Cable Guy” didn’t do it for me. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/16 "2016-04-17T15:49:40Z")
It’s a difficult balance. The dramatic masks, Comedy and Tragedy were discussed in another thread. I don’t think it work well in the movie business where ambiguity is discouraged, you want your audience to walk away laughing or crying, but not confused. Still it gets done in some ways, Indiana Jones mixed melodrama and comedy in a successful mix, a story with a fantastical quality like that has a better chance of success. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/17 "2016-04-17T16:25:55Z")
_Life Is Beautiful_ ? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/18 "2016-04-17T16:38:03Z")
[The African Queen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_African_Queen_(film)) ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/19 "2016-04-17T17:22:52Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > _Life Is Beautiful_ ? Yeah, definitely. ---
**Author:** ![Premislaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f0a364/32.png) [@Premislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Premislaus)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/20 "2016-04-17T17:41:03Z")
This might sounds weird but I think Adam Sandler’s _Click_ did this decently well. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441.md?page=2)