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Every single group should complaim about how they are portrayed on television. Especially "white" people. Sitcoms make white people look really, really dorky and lame. How can anyone stand to watch any of these shows? And why do I torture myself this way?!
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Now, that said, I do watch other stuff. There are sticoms that I like, and I always look forward to Star Trek shows. I rent a lot of movies and TV shows as well.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Gilmore Girls!!! One black man - and Michel is not stereotypical at all. Rather, he is, but not as black. He's French. As far as I can tell, no one in town has yet noticed he's the only black man in the entire town. It so completely not mentioned that I'm starting to doubt that he is. (Black, I mean. My friend's television gets fuzzy reception.)
Anyway, except for the hyperreligious Koreans in town, everyone's white and nobody's stupid except the tall, blond wife of the ex-boyfriend.
Watch Gilmore Girls and all your wildest dreams will come true.
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I really hate that too. Men should also be insulted. In a lot of shows they are bumbling, they can't change a diaper or feed a baby with a bottle and they do things like try to go on golf trips and the wife says, no, you have to stay home with me and the kids. Or that episode of Everybody Loves Raymond when she says, You get to hang out at the office and eat pizza, why don't you work at home where you get to be surrounded by loud children and make a mess, then I'll get sick of you and make you go back to the office? Why do they MAKE these shows?
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The only ones I remember seeing of that was the airport episode, and the one where Peggy buys the "most intelligent Texans" seminar/book.
I thought it portrays a different bias, that women have to be better to be the equal of a mediocre guy. Or maybe that smart women don't care as much about looks. Well, the Simpson's is the only show I'm really familiar with, though I've seen ads for "Jim". Don't know why... I guess sometimes I'll watch the ABC Friday night movie or Disney if it's a theatrical cartoon.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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King of the Hill definitely has Hank as the weary rational one and Peggy as the barely-connected-to-Earth wife. It's not free from all stereotypes, but it does not follow the pattern of AngelWife and StupidDad of the other sitcoms you mentioned.
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I used to like King of the Hill... now it annoys me. Hank is too conservative and Peggy too arrogant and irratating. But, the episode with Johnny Depp in it was amusing.
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You can show a guy outside of the new Minivan trying to figure out how to fold up a Baby Carriage/Stroller while his wife smartly folds down the seats, etc. Then when she's done you can show her come to her husband and just put the unfolded stroller into the back of the Van.
Now,
You can't show a woman fiddling with a car tire trying and pushing to get the lugnuts off. Then show a man come up and easily take the wheel off and change the tire and send her on her way.
Now....why is one permissible and the other an outrage?
Posts: 1533 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:King of the Hill definitely has Hank as the weary rational one and Peggy as the barely-connected-to-Earth wife. It's not free from all stereotypes, but it does not follow the pattern of AngelWife and StupidDad of the other sitcoms you mentioned.
I'll disagree in that I think BOTH are portrayed as conservative "straights men/women" but Hank is the one who goes out and stands on the street and chugs beer and says "yep" while Peggy works and slaves around the home and teaches some form of "Espanol".
In fact, all 4 male leads in that show are portrayed as idiots.
Hank. Dale. Boomhauer. Bill.
Although the females aren't bereft of being made fun of (after all the show is a comedy) You have Luann, and Dale's cheating wife.
And not to mention how it pokes fun at Asian Stereotypes as well.
I think it still portrays Peggy as the smart Boggle Champion or Arlen, and Hank as the dumber vendor of propane and propane accessories.
It's not as conventional as the sitcoms before it, but it plays on ALL stereotypes.
Posts: 1533 | Registered: Sep 2004
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You would think it would be that simple. But I am an idiot with no life. Which should be the name of a band and a song.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote:Name one "family" sitcom where the father isn't portrayed as the "Homer Simpson" and the mother isn't the "rational thinker".
Full House. Fresh Prince. Most of Cosby's shows. Of course, those are all off the air now, so I see what you're saying.
quote:I am perfectly capable of wasting an entire day without a television, thankyouverymuch.
Yes, but you can waste it so much faster if you watch a couple episodes of TV.
Anyway, I agree that most sitcoms are chock full of stereotypes. That's one reason I like South Park and The Simpsons. They go the extra mile to use stereotypes - all stereotypes - as the basis for their episodes, hence making one who uses such a stereotype in the real world an idiot. This is opposed to most sitcoms that use them so that the public feels more comfortable.
Posts: 2292 | Registered: Aug 2003
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One of my favorite KOTH episode was the one where Bobby wanted to be a plus size fashion model.
Hank tried to talk Bobby out of it, and Bobby gave a great speech about how Hank was just worried about his own image and gave no consideration for Bobby's individuality. In a lesser show, the story would've ended with Bobby having a successful modelig run and Hank learning a "special" lesson about accepting Bobby for who he is.
But no. Peggy may be more sensitive to Bobby's needs, but Hank knows how cruel kids could be. That is a rather thoughtful and realistic take on the subject of individualism.
Posts: 1592 | Registered: May 2000
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Do you remember when Peggy declared she was superwoman? The tired sighs from Hank as he watches his family twist off the wind?
The fact that Peggy IS a Boggle Champion is part of her being "daffy."
Hank isn't chatty, but quiet does NOT equal dumb. His friends are, but he's the one that ends up talking them off the tower/saving them.
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I've always suspected that I'd like Gilmore Girls if I watched it much. The few episodes I've seen have been fun, well written, and well acted. Somehow I've never gotten into the show, but I expect that there's a fairly nearby alternate reality in which I'm a big fan.
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Noemon, you'd love it. Clever, fast, the characters are not idiots, and the relationships feel very real. It covers three generations, and you can see how their situation developed. It's the only thing I watch on television these days, because I have to go out of my way to get to it. It's worth it.
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quote: Anyway, I agree that most sitcoms are chock full of stereotypes.
This is like saying the sky is blue. The idea of the Situation Comedy was that the characters never changed--You have your dumb jock, plucky housewife, etc etc ad nauseum that stay the same, but the *situations* change, creating humor.
I just finished reading up on Roman Comedy, and you know what? It's exactly like the modern sitcom. Cool, huh?
Posts: 4089 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Hmmm...wonder if any of it's early seasons are available on DVD. How long has it been around kat?
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Season One came out in May 2004. Season Two comes out in...late November, I think. Maybe December. Gilmore Girls is currently in its fifth season.
I'll rent season 1 in the next couple of weeks, assuming that my local Blockbuster carries it, and let you know what I think.
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I can't bring myself to jump on the undefeated season/BCS/Fiesta Bowl bandwagon, but I sure do enjoy watching my Utes and their success.
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When I was in Green Bay, my grandma and I were the guests of my second cousin to a Packers game. She and her husband have had the same season tickets for 38 years. I really had no idea people spent that kind of money to watch football.
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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quote:For Packers fans, those tickets are a birthright. You don't get them unless somebody dies.
And in Chicago, the waiting list for "PSL" season tickets, which are now the only type transferrable to another person, is said to be several generations long. People are signing up so that there's a chance that their great-grandchildren (or maybe their grandchildren if they're lucky or young) can get season tickets. And of course those who do have PSL level tickets are not likely to ever give them up except as part of their estates as the PSL alone is exorbitantly expensive and doesn't even include the actual tickets.
Course, I don't really have a problem with the rich guys hogging the PSL's.... it's their money that ensures that I can sit in my living room or my dad's office and scream at the TV in privacy. If a home game isn't sold out, it's not televised. And every once in a while my boss (whose grandfather got their season tickets almost 60 years ago and handed them down through his estate) gives me his tickets when he can't make a game... heaven!
And yeah, if anyone asks: Gilmore Girls. Although I have no TV and can't watch it, but I've seen all the episodes of the first four series except two and they are goooooood!
Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
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They talk too fast on that show. As for football, it is eye crossingly boring. I wish they had channels they'd squeeze sports on so they don't cut into SHOWS I ACTUALLY WANT TO SEE! Furthermore, I miss the days before I had a tee vee. Bakc in college I hardly watched anything except for xfiles and things on the school network.
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