As I was writing this post, word came down that Made In Jersey has been canceled. I know people will have their reactions – disappointment, or glee, depending on how you feel about the show – but I generally try to remember that every time a show goes under, that’s somewhere between 100-150 people who are no longer employed. Now with that downer of a start to this post…
Last night a funny thing happened to me.
I throughly enjoyed a block of comedies. All in a row.
New Girl had a funny, thematically-sound episode that integrated everyone in the main cast (except for the absent Cece) well.
Ben & Kate told a smaller, very funny story that smartly focused on the principal cast, which I think is where the fun is going to come from in this show.
The Mindy Project also told what was essentially a smaller (although it was in a club and featured a number of athlete cameos) story that focused on the principal cast.
What all of last night’s episodes had that made them successful, ultimately, is that they kept it simple. Fundamentally, each episode could be explained as such: New Girl was about finding/maintaining your passion (whatever that means to you). Ben & Kate was about the siblings’ and their fears about the future (explored through a scavenger hunt that they used to do when they were kids). The Mindy Project was about the dilemma of taking care of your friends vs. your own selfish desires.
None of these topics are particularly new or original. Nor should they be. That’s what gives the audience something to grab on to, something to relate to. But once they settled on a simple idea, each show had the opportunity to explore that idea fully, and that’s where all the wild/crazy/funny bits came in.
Simple concept + good execution = entertainment. Funny, that sort of reminds me of this:
Improv when you’re first learning it.
