Yes, that was definitely a touchy-feely episode.
d&r
By the way, Arnold’s friend was Dudley, and the molestor was played by Gordon Jump (R.I.P.) aka Mr. Carlson aka the Maytag Man
I susprised no-one’s mentioned Night Court yet. It seemed every episode had a preachy sanctimonious laugh-free third act (including characters talking to God about the events in the episode, or Dan talking about how his sex-filled life is emotionally empty or some crap like that), then they would end with one final joke and canned applause as the credits started.
It could be an entertaining show when they stuck to their “100% whacky” formula, but as soon as it got serious, it was time to go get a snack.
MASH always used to do this, especially towards the end of the series I hated it. A comedy show is no place for serious social commentary, IMO. That is what I am trying to escape by watching sitcoms – SHEESH!
I dunno. I liked the episode where Dan was courting the really awkward clumsy heiress and everyone assumed he was after her money.
Julie
I disagree. A lot of the best comedy is filled with social commentary. It’s just that they do it funnily, instead of stupidly with violin music.
** friedo** wrote…
So it was funny when we were forced to take a serious look at Hawkeye’s alcohol problem?
Remember I said * serious * social commentary.
I must say though, some times it works. I thought the episode of Roseanne where we were forced to look at teenaged pregnancy because Becky needed mom and dad’s permission to buy birth control pills was pretty damn funny.
I remember that episode. It wasn’t done in in the way most Very Special Episodes are done (sad, sad music, slow zoom-ins on the hurt children’s faces, sage lectures). Actually it was pretty much a standard ‘Roseanne’ episode - scathing sarcastic quips, social problems displayed in all their genuine awkward reality. Nick at Nite just had a week-long ‘Roseanne’ marathon, and although I didn’t see that ep., they must have shown it.
BTW, Nick DID show the episode in which Rosey, Dan & Jackie smoked pot! Now, that genuinely WAS a Very Special Episode:)
For my money, the most egregious & mawkish purveyer of Very Special Episodes was “Family Ties.” How many ep.'s did they do in which Michael Fox stepped out of character to directly speak to the camera? ugh.
I think it worked so well with Roseanne, because when you think about it, they were always in a bad situation. Becky’s not drunk, then you find Darlene’s living with David. Crystal’s not freaking out, Dan goes unemployed. DJ (and David) stops spying on the hot babysitter, you get a tornado.
Just about every plot on Roseanne would be a Very Special Episode if they were on every other show, but since Roseanne was so consistently funny, without straying from the show’s character, it worked perfectly.
NOTE: none of the above applies to the final season.
As for other shows, I give up on them based on the promos. If you’ve never seen Friends before, and you saw the commercials for it this week, there is no way in hell you’ll know its supposed to be funny. “This week: Ross finds out about Joey and Rachel- will their friendship last?” Screw that, are they gonna make me laugh?!
That’s one of the things I liked about Married With Children. They never even tried to have a “very special episode.” They new they were watched for laughs and that’s what they went for. Most shows don’t do the serious topic very well. The Simpsons and South Park are two shows I watch that can do it well.
Funny, Roseanne is the show that had the VSE that I hated most. The prejudice ep. There’s a scene where Roseanne locked the door to the diner because it was closing time, and then wouldn’t let in a last-minute customer, and she for some freaking reason believes she acted that way because she has a hidden prejudice/fear of black people and the customer was black.
I call BS on that. Roseanne would not have let any customer in after closing, and would have run to lock the door to keep out a customer she saw coming a few minutes to close, black white blue or purple, because it would have meant more work for her. And she would have admitted it guiltlessly on other other episode.
One show that actually pulled off a decent special episode was NewsRadio after Phil Hartman’s death.