Watching Sitcoms for the First Time Ever

The Cleanse

So what’s part of this cleanse? Unfortunately, I decided I should watch stuff that’ll lift my spirits instead of hmm I don’t know watching characters die, complicated murder plots, depressing end of the world type stuff. Sigh. I decided to cut out watching or reading any movie, TV show, or book that contains extreme violence or murder or death for two weeks and replace it with sitcoms or anything non-thriller related. So here’s my short review of all the sitcoms I’ve been trying out *without The Office of course*

You know what, I’m not even going to apologize for what I’m about to say. So there, ha. No disclaimers y’all. These are all my opinions. There’s also no spoilers pretty much except for the show Fleabag.

The Sitcoms

Let’s start with the classic, Friends. I tried the second episode in the first season. Everytime I heard the laugh track, I slowly started to get more and more angry. It was okay. I definitely couldn’t watch more. I also only watched one episode but that’s as far as I could go really.

I actually watched a lot of HIMYM on and off when I was younger whether it was on at a friend’s house or the only thing playing at a hotel. I tried watching an episode and once again, I don’t think I could watch it just because I knew the ending (and was not satisfied).

I started Schitt’s Creek and it’s somehow the only show so far that I’ve tried that I could actually watch continuously. Maybe it’s because all the main characters are miserable and I find joy in that – who knows. I’m on season 2 now and I feel like this show isn’t super ridiculous and I really like the character David, I find the writing especially the jokes to be quite witty and smart.

So last December, I basically had a month off of school because all my exams were essays or take-homes. So at first it was fun you know. I slept in, ate a lot, didn’t cry. But then I became so bored. So uh, I somehow finished all seasons of Brooklyn 99. I actually liked the characters and certain aspects of the show; however, I’d like to point out there is murder in this show and maybe that’s why I liked it…my bad.

Arrested Development: So I just watched the first episode and I must say, it holds my attention. It’s dramatic, witty, similar vibes to Schitt’s Creek. I think I like it. It doesn’t make me laugh aloud aloud but you know, there’s potential. But some of the characters annoy me, a lot. Okay, never mind watching the second episode and all the characters are bothering me except the main character.

A recent show that I’ve actually enjoyed is The Good Place. You have to admit the idea of mixing a philosophical debate with humour is a pretty good creation. I also have no idea if this show counts as a sitcom. I like how the entire world of The Good Place is created and it seems pretty believable and you have to admit the line “There’s this chicken sandwich that, if you eat it, it means you hate gay people. And it’s delicious!” is incredibly witty and accurate to the political climate surrounding Chic-Fil-A.

I started Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and it’s an interesting premise. The main character, I already know will make me so angry beyond belief because she’s really naive although it’s because she was in a cult and doesn’t know any better. Okay, so I watched like half of the first episode but was cut off because real life happened but I never went back to the first episode and have no inclination to do so…this rating isn’t fair but I guess that shows how uninterested I am in the show.

You know I thought that I haven’t given enough sitcoms a try so I decided to also check out Community, so I watched a random episode in season 4 I think and I just couldn’t get into it. I understood that certain characters have particular lines that accommodate to specific types of humour but I was just unfazed. Sorry Donald Glover, I still like you and your music though.

The Verdict

The Best Show	The Worst Show
Schitt’s Creek	Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

The Struggle is Real

• Guys it’s like Day 5 of this no murder-psychological-thrillers diet and sigh it’s getting hard now. I really want to finish Peaky Blinders or read this detective murder mystery book I have but I can’t. On the bright side, actually no there isn’t really anything yet. I’m watching this drama/comedy show, Atypical but I’ve ended up just crying so there’s that. I usually don’t cry when I watch some murder go down. If you want me to do a psych evaluation I’d be down although I think I’m too emotional and self-aware to be a psychopath, sorry to disappoint?
• So on Day 6, I accidentally watched season 4 of the Good Place and someone got murdered…my bad, I didn’t know this would happen. I’m sorry. I also was listening to a podcast on the LOTR trilogy and I completely forgot that entire trilogy contains a lot of death. I’m sorry. I’ll do better.
• It’s officially been a full week, Day 7 now and I realized I can’t even re-watch Harry Potter or Home Alone. Sigh.
• It’s Day 13 and it’s gotten really busy with December plans and Christmas preparations so I’ve kind of forgotten about trying to avoid violent shows. I started watching The Crown which is like a historical drama (no violence).

One Dimensional Characters are Meh

I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t like sitcoms because I don’t like one-dimensional characters or lazy writing. When you have characters that will always make the same joke over and over in each season or even each episode, it becomes repetitive, boring, and too familiar. However, I think what people enjoy is familiarity, which is why so many people can re-watch sitcoms multiple times. It feels good to know what will happen next and there’s never any bad endings or horrible cliff hangers in sitcoms.

I loved watching Fleabag because we see the main character really struggle through her best friend’s death, her incessant need to be liked, and how her business is failing. Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character is just like any of the audience members. We have similar struggles in life to her character. Whereas, I really don’t think anyone I’ve ever met is exactly like a sitcom character. Likewise, none of my friends are one-dimensional. Nobody I’ve ever met is always the same. And I like that, I like seeing growth and change; I like talking with complex people. I enjoy watching and reading content that focuses on how complicated life is.
I also don’t like passively watching or reading movies/shows/books because well actually, this channel, Better Ideas summed it up pretty well on YouTube. Essentially, he goes through healthy ways to rest, recharge, and the importance of being actively engaged in work, your social life, and even your rest time. I know a lot of people like re-watching sitcoms because it’s nice to listen or see in the background while eating or studying or scrolling through social media but I honestly would recommend watching the YouTube video and just seeing how being more intentional in what you do can change your habits.

My Concluding Thoughts

It’s like Day 19 or so (I’m not really sure but this is Future Gloria editing the post), and oddly enough I don’t really want to watch any psychological thrillers or crime shows. I do want to finish Peaky Blinders but I’m mainly gravitating towards holiday movies and sci-fi movies. I don’t know what this means but I’m glad for the results I suppose? I also feel more sensitive to violence portrayed in entertainment now which is interesting. So if you ever want to wean yourself off of something, do a 14 day cleanse, it’ll drive you absolutely crazy for the first few days but then you realize you can do other things in life. I also got busier as the cleanse went on so maybe that had something to do with it too??Unfortunately, I think drowning myself in sitcoms the past two weeks or so has made me dislike sitcoms even more…which is the opposite of what I wanted. I’ve been enjoying Schitt’s Creek so far but I’ll check out some others soon.

You know it’s really frustrating that I can’t get into sitcoms. I’d be able to have a lot more in common with random people if I liked shows like Friends or The Office. I have to say this though, if your entire personality and sense of humour comes from a TV show alone, I’m sorry but you need to please re-evaluate yourself. Also, if you aren’t friends with someone just because they don’t like a show you’re obsessed with…please grow up (yes, this actually happens I know). I don’t necessarily think my lack of sitcom-content in my life has led me to be boring or not funny at all lol like if there’s one thing I know about myself, it’s that I’m pretty confident in being funny ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The most ironic part is that multiple people have told me that I have the life of a sitcom character even though I dislike sitcoms. I’ll probably write about embarrassing things that have happened to me in a future blog post. Until then, please recommend what sitcoms or shows I should watch!

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