# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/21 "2016-04-17T19:41:56Z")
Z Nation ---
**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, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/22 "2016-04-17T19:50:39Z")
_Modern Family_ was doing a great job, although the writers seem to be phoning it in this season. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/23 "2016-04-17T20:34:53Z")
Most of the lighter style of dramas that I watch throw in a lot of silliness. Some that immediately come to mind include: _Royal Pains_ _Rizzoli & Isles_ _NCIS_ _The Closer_ has a lot of slapstick; its sequel \*Major Crimes \*leans a little darker. _Faking It_ is an MTV show that is primarily a farce, but also tackles a lot of serious issues. Oh, and how could I forget _Glee_, which was also a farce that dealt with serious issues. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/24 "2016-04-17T20:44:19Z")
The Steven Bochco dramas (_Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere, L.A. Law_) did an excellent job of mixing comedy with the kind of superserious storylines you see in cop/medical/lawyer shows. Bochco did prove, however, that [you can’t mix police drama with music.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cop_Rock) ---
**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, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/25 "2016-04-17T22:26:03Z")
I thought “Blue Velvet” worked, mixing black, out-of-left-field humour with the macabre and violence. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/26 "2016-04-17T23:02:25Z")
_Shaun of the Dead_ is one of my favorite movies, and I’d say it fits. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/27 "2016-04-18T03:43:43Z")
BTVS and Angel. Ally McBeal. In Plain Sight. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/28 "2016-04-18T06:41:15Z")
Roseanne (when Becky eloped, when Jackie realized her marriage was over - those were two serious moments), Desperate Housewives (amazing how you could laugh during the show and often at the end, they would twist the knife and bring you to tears), Northern Exposure (classic fish-out-of-water, dealing with the odd whimsical folk, and then there was the episode of Maurice looking for a minyan for Joel, I was crying buckets at the end of that episode). Occasionally, Mad Men would also have hilarious moments. The fist fight between Lane and Pete! Don telling Sally over the phone about the Beatles tickets! ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/29 "2016-04-18T15:39:32Z")
Scrubs did this well. ---
**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 18, 2016, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/30 "2016-04-18T15:49:40Z")
In books: _Catch-22 Slaughterhouse 5 Cat’s Cradle The Sot-Weed Factor Gravity’s Rainbow_ ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/31 "2016-04-18T15:51:47Z")
> [@Eddie The Horrible](#): > > The mixture of comedy and melodrama can make for an uneven tone, which is why “Cable Guy” didn’t do it for me. Ah, that’s a good one. Apparently I’m the only person in the world who actually really likes that movie. Someone mentioned Breaking Bad, but the current spinoff _Better Call Saul_ mixes a lot of humor with the drama. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/32 "2016-04-18T16:20:30Z")
For a goofy comedy cartoon, Futurama had some legit and effective moments of drama. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/33 "2016-04-19T20:40:37Z")
The series Scrubs is exactly silly and heavy drama at the same time. ---
**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 19, 2016, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/34 "2016-04-19T22:00:54Z")
Gosenzou-sama Ban-Banzai! …though rather obscure. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/35 "2016-04-20T00:13:45Z")
Is there any good serious drama that _doesn’t_ have a few moments of comic relief? I doubt it’s possible. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/36 "2016-04-20T00:29:22Z")
The Frighteners was scary and funny, strange combination and difficult to pull off. Rick and Morty ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/37 "2016-04-20T00:34:19Z")
I’m not sure I’d call it “farcical” comedy, but the TV show _Lucifer_ does a good job of mixing comedy with some pretty heavy dramatic stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/38 "2016-04-24T04:25:25Z")
_Bojack Horseman_ come across on its face as a wacky animated comedy about an anthropomorphic horse who is a washed up 1990s sitcom star. But the show has a pitch-black undertone and covers a _lot_ of very serious issues, including depression, failure, imposter syndrome, being denied closure, and realisng you can’t always fix the mistakes of your past. It’s well worth watching, in other words. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441/39 "2016-04-24T17:28:36Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > _Shaun of the Dead_ is one of my favorite movies, and I’d say it fits. It really did have some unexpectedly tender moments- like Bill Night’s dying words. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-silly-and-serious-drama-mix/752441.md?page=1)