A Tale Of Two Sitcoms

This week I watched the season premieres of The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family, the two most successful sitcoms of the past decade.  I've been a fan of both, but their age is showing.

This is the last season of The Big Bang Theory (they are leaving voluntarily), and not a moment too soon.  What started as a fairly fresh show about four young, single nerds and the hot babe across the hall has turned into a tired domestic sitcom, where almost all the characters are married--some with kids--and easing into middle age.

Not that they couldn't still be funny in a new situation. It's just that we've seen these characters do about everything they can do.  It feels like they're going through the motions.  And I feel like I'm going through the motions when I watch.

Modern Family is a bit different. From the start it's had superior joke writing, and it continues to come up with good lines.  But once again, after a decade of this stuff, there's not much to surprise us, no exciting new wrinkles to discover in the characters.  (And the kids were probably better before they became adults, while the new kids they've brought on to the show aren't great.)

Of course, every show seems this way to fans.  I remember people telling me MF was going downhill in its second season.  But even if the show is maintaining its level of quality (which I doubt), we've already got over 200 episodes in reruns to fulfill our needs.  With nothing new to discover, there's not much point in continuing. (Artistically, I mean--if I were getting a paycheck, that'd be different.)

At present, I'm much more excited to watch a relatively new (and good) show, such as The Good Place. In fact, it's up against The Big Bang Theory (as was a previous favorite, Community).  I know what I'll be watching Thursday nights.