#deranged sitcom vibes truly

[idonthaveanyurlideas]

i know ive already done this meme for fantasy high once but im doing it again because my 'buddy bails kip out of hell' AU is too funny. deranged baccarath trio meets trg on their gap year after they tried their own hell mission only to not be able to find kip and subsequently assuming she got Super Killed and was gone forever

[brandonxdylan]

Did anyone else ever watch Saved by the Bell: The College Years? I have to admit that I kind of love it, completely unironically. I realize there are lots of people who have a genuine affinity for the original series, and I do too, to an extent, but I haven't really watched that since I was a kid, whereas I get the urge to rewatch the single season of TCY every few years or so. I'm not entirely sure what it is about it that I find so appealing - it's not like it's outrageously funny, and it is occasionally very cringey. For instance, the canned laugh track is legitimately out of control. Anyone who watched the original series would probably have expected this, but considering that this was a prime time sitcom aimed at a slightly older demographic, the (presumably non-existent) studio audience is very vocal for every little thing, and it's a bit much. Also, Zack is truly a sociopath. He was in the original show too of course, probably even more egregiously so, but the fact that this series was going for a more realistic, grounded vibe makes his deranged behaviour stand out even more (although it must also be said that this version of Zack was very much a part of my sexual awakening as a young gay kid, and so I've historically been willing to overlook a lot of that).

But having said all that, I still just find the show to be a lot of fun and actually very comforting. Some of it's nostalgia, because watching stuff like this as a kid gave me a really specific idea of what young adulthood would be like. But it's definitely more than that. There's something about how contrived the whole setup is, and how the nature of it being a sitcom just makes everything feel so predictable and safe in ways that real life never is. The set is a perfect encapsulation of what any kid in the early-mid 90s would see as the perfect dorm room. I legit love the characters, I think they were honestly very well-developed and the chemistry and acting were genuinely great. Tiffani Amber Thiessen, as usual, kills it, even with material that isn't exactly Shakespeare. And I especially love Kiersten Warren. Bob Golic as well is a lot better than I think anyone expected him to be.

Not to get too deep about Saved by the Bell: The College Years (too late), but I guess I just really feel like we fucked up by letting the sitcom become an endangered species. There is nothing like this in the television landscape of the moment, which is almost impressive given how many fucking shows there are across all networks and streaming services. There's nothing this earnestly corny, nothing this stereotypically contrived, nothing this brazenly free of substance. Shows like this weren't afraid to be rose-coloured versions of real life - offering viewers a glimpse at the way they wish life could feel, where familiar struggles were dealt with, but always neatly tied up within 22 minutes. It's not realistic, but that was never the point. Even as I watched the show at 10 years old, fantasizing about how my own college years might be like the ones depicted in this show, I knew that in reality they wouldn't be. I don't think television owes us realism, and in fact I think that a bit of grounded escapism can be a lot more fulfilling and engaging than it gets credit for, and can also offer more catharsis than expected.

It feels like the only sitcoms we get now are a lot more self-aware, and are either so heightened that they forego realism altogether, or are too realistic to be breezy fun. I thought that the recent Saved by the Bell reboot was actually pretty great, but I can't deny that I missed the format of these older series, which didn't feel the need to telegraph that they knew how silly they were. We all knew it was silly. it was like an unspoken agreement between the audience and the show itself. You just don't see that anymore.

I don't know, maybe this just makes me seem old and out of touch. But I can't help that television from before I was born (or at least from before I was old enough to be watching it) just speaks to me in ways that current stuff never seems to. And it's not just because it's old - it's because it embraces a format that speaks to me, despite having long since fallen out of favour. But I can't be the only one who finds legitimate, sincere value in these old shows outside of the nostalgia factor, right?

Anyway, this post was originally about Saved by the Bell: The College Years and I fully went off the rails. Probably because I'm a touch buzzed, so you'll have to forgive my rambling. On the plus side, if this show didn't get cancelled, we probably wouldn't have been graced with TAT on 90210, since she went on to do that show right after TCY was cancelled. When God closes a door, he opens a window. Or something.

[stag-bi]

just had a chat w my gf about WWDITs and Always Sunny, since she said she actually prefers WWDITS, and i was surprised cause nothing will ever top Always Sunny to me. she said theres a vibe, a certain grounded reality to the fantastical elements in WWDITS that she rly loves, whereas Always Sunny is always absurd.

i thought abt it and tbh, it makes sense cause while Always Sunny is set in "our reality" with nothing magical going on, you quickly realize theyre stuck in a powerful narrative that they cannot escape no matter what. they always lose. everyone they come in contact with becomes deranged by their influence. occasionally, one of them becomes aware of the narrative, saying "what the hell are we doing? why are we so fucking weird? whats wrong with us? why cant we be normal?!" but in the end they must become complicit in the narrative to survive. all paths take them to the same end anyway, one of absurdity and failure and invalidation of personal growth. and not just in the regular 22-minute sitcom way where the RULE is that things must go back to square 1 in time for the next episode, but in a way that truly feels like an existential curse on the characters. its addressed several times in the show

meanwhile theres no overwhelming narrative trap in WWDITS. anything can happen. there are no rules set in stone that they must revert to every time. yes theyre vampires in a fantastical universe with all kinds of supernatural beings, but theyre FREE. so weirdly enough, WWDITS may feel more "down to earth" than Always Sunny does

[kathikon]

Unpopular Opinion: Bomb in the Garden is objectively the funniest episode of Generation Kill

Evidence: -Ray writing USA in the dirt with his piss. -When they roll up into the Cigarette factory and Wright is dancing around and Trombley is yelling at him while standing on top of a Humvee, all the while it is raining rolling papers like some deranged version of American Beauty. -Manimal, Chaffin, Leon, and Q-Tip doing their mini “Mission Impossible” thing. It’s like a bad parkour youtube video, and then Q-Tip just carries off a painting at the end, and you never find out what happens with said painting. Like what are you going to do with it? Hang it up in the back of the truck? Absolute madlad. -Chaffin in glasses. -”Valium? I’ve got uppers, if you wanna party all night-” -Garza’s whole “I’m not gay” thing, then him looking to Walt for backup, and Walt absolutely not delivering. “Just smile like it’s all good” then shrugging. Walt Hasser said gay rights, I don’t know what to tell you. -Serpentine -Wright looking like he’s on the verge of tears the whole time he’s in the mosque. -Statues of George Bush. -The sitcom zoom in when Nate tells Brad to get out of the hole with the bomb. The indignity on his face, the ever so slight shaky cam. The fly in the background. Cinematic artistry at its finest, truly.  -Just seeing Rudy vibing in the background. He’s thriving, mans be out here doing Yoga in the middle of Baghdad. -Team 2 singing “Come Sail Away” as they leave the city. -”See Sergeant, we do shoot dogs in Iraq”. The Confidence, the Poise. The mildly unsettling sexual tension. The way he eats the charms. What is going through his head, I don’t even want to know. -Walt, Trombley, and Brad’s faces when Wright says he’s leaving. They all look so dorky. -Patterson just going Apeshit. Absolutely feral, and Trombley’s little smile as Patterson tries his best to bash in Encino Man’s face.  -”Go to your little quiet place and chant, motherfucker” -Every time we see Sgt. Major Sixta. He’s just comedy gold, all the time. He knows exactly what he’s doing.