The return of the sitcom.

Recently it's come to my attention that classic sitcoms have been getting revivals and they haven't been terrible... But they also haven't been very good either.

I need to provide my context as a sitcom watcher. Growing up in the early 2000's, I was just about exposed to reruns of classics like Friends, Seinfeld, and (for some reason) Everybody Loves Raymond. Just kidding, I never watched Everybody Loves Raymond. I could never relate to him nor did I find it funny to any degree. Modern (at the time) classics would start to sprout which I also watched. My favourites of the 2000's were Everybody Hates Chris, Malcolm in the Middle, and Scrubs.

Admittedly, it probably isn't the best idea for a developing adolescent human to be watching sitcoms like that. But then again, two generations were raised on the Simpsons. Can't act like Bart was a great role model.

Anyway. My three favourites. They have all had revivals drop recently. Everybody Hates Chris got an animated continuation from its cliffhanger ending called Everybody Still Hates Chris. Malcolm in the Middle got a 4 episode miniseries called Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair. And Scrubs got a full season revival called... Scrubs. Yep Scrubs. Not very creative. Not even a My Scrubs.

I've seen the first couple episodes of these revivals and, well, do they work?

Kinda.

Most of the actors of the original series have returned - the key cast are present in all three shows. In most cases, the main people behind the scenes are also around. In that sense, the spirit of these characters is there. The actors spent several seasons with these characters, so it's kind of nostalgic seeing them together.

But nostalgia wears off really quick. Especially in my case. I "grew up" with these sitcoms as much as "I caught whatever episodes were playing at whatever time I was watching TV". I didn't really watch these shows properly until lockdown era. Scrubs was devoured very quickly. Everybody Hates Chris was an absolute classic. Malcolm in the Middle taught me that kids should really not watch this show lol. That said, nostalgia doesn't really work when your context is more recent.

The Scrubs revival worked very well for me in the first episode. It felt like everything was set up adequately for an interesting sitcom starring classic characters. A few episodes in, the optimism blurs under the bright colours of the show. There's something too polished with the show. The visuals are distracting. Seeing the "what if" of our favourite characters in the future in those bright lights is kinda weird.

That brings me onto the new cast. They're fine. The bulk a new class of doctors and surgeons with "modern" characterisation and problems. It sometimes feels like they're written in a very out of touch way, like a bunch of millennials were estimating what a Gen-Z person sounds like while writing. It lacked the novelness of what the original shows had. They're trying to push the original characters forward while still focusing on the main "teaching school" aspect of the original.

Basically, what I'm trying to say about Scrubs is that this show feels like a significantly less polished version of the original. The passion behind the camera is present, for sure, it's just not as free. It feels like they're recycling old concepts while trying to cater to an audience instead of giving us whatever creative awesomeness they can come up with. I dare say, this revival might just be the most unnecessary one. It feels like an incredibly formulaic lesson of the week show that has a few laughs here and there. Unlike the original show, which was that but was also pretty dang funny.

Everybody Still Hates Chris was disappointing. It felt clunky and... just not very good. The animation was somehow less animated than the live action animation from the original show. The original show still had plenty of unfinished business, but at the same time it kinda is what it is. Right? I got more to say about this later.

Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair was fine, I guess. It had a few laughs here and there but its bright lights were too much. Similar to Scrubs, this show is a Hulu production. For some reason they really like bright lights. Almost the whole cast returned for this one. This revival feels the most different from the original. That's not a good thing or bad thing. It's just different. It has a few laughs here and there, but in general fails to match the highs of the original series.

That's one thing that I find to be a commonality between all three of these revivals. They all feel a little unnecessary and fail to capture the magic the original series had. It's not the lack of passion or care. That's present in all of these, evident by the returning cast. These shows fails to reach the highs of their original counterparts. A simple reason is the jokes don't bang. But it's more complicated than that.

As an audience, we're coming in with expectations that these characters reached a conclusive end. They're not dead, but they aren't living either. Revivals are like watching zombies going through the same torturous routine they went through for years. They're filled with nostalgia bait that the writers themselves desperately want to get away from. What replaces it is cringey "modern" archetypes that are often far off.

I just remembered another sitcom spinoff/revival while I was writing this; "How I met Your Father". I haven't seen it and don't know much about it other than the fact that it got cancelled after 2 seasons.

Revivals desperately try to recapture lightning that had long been released and earthed years prior. They just don't bang.

There are several modern comedies and romcoms that have wonderful original ideas and modern (notice how I didn't use quotes here) characters that are funny. I always look at Rye Lane (2023 film) as the perfect example of a modern romcom. The creators had an idea and married it perfectly with a cast and director that just understood. They were creating, not cloning. Even Glen Powell and Michael Waldron's Chad Powers was a decent contribution to the modern comedy scene. We need more good jokes.

Stop giving us what you think we want. Give us what we need.

This is why certain comedies are TIMELESS. Preoccupying yourself with thoughts of "what do they want" is depriving audiences. Donald Glover's Atlanta is a great example of this. His show is a snapshot of pure creativity. It's so layered and yet hilarious. The Vince Staples Show is another one. Its similarities were pointed out to Atlanta, but I believe it stands on its own two feet. These shows have unique voices. Ay, even Bad Monkey (created by Bill Lawrence aka creator of Scrubs) was great at having something to contribute in the space.

These shows will last. They're not just "content". They're much more.

Not everything is a lesson

"Okay, now how the heck are you supposed to tie this into the title of this post," you might be thinking. Have faith. I've got a point here. It's long winded but whatever.

NOT EVERYTHING IS A LESSON. But sometimes they are. Sitcoms teach the same lessons over and over again with slight variations in the contexts and tones. Ultimately, IT'S ALWAYS THE SAME. But, PLEASE SITCOM CREATORS, LETS RECOGNISE NOT EVERYTHING IS A LESSON. I love Community's (tv series) evolution with this. They either had solid lessons, ignored lessons, or just straight up said there's nothing to learn here. At a point in time Jeff, the lead, would point out "I guess the lesson here is... whatever".

Its fine for something to have no point. And that's because NO ONE'S LISTENING. No one cares for lessons. I don't think someone's going to leave watching an episode of modern Scrubs thinking, "dang I should, like, consider people's feelings and stuff". No shade, that's just too basic a lesson. Plus, NO ONE'S LISTENING.

Now this isn't even about. Sometimes you can't learn from a yap or seeing someone do something. Sometimes you gotta learn by experience........ Stop telling us how to feel or how to be..... let the audience figure that out.............. is that the lesson here?

...

Yeah okay, fine! You got me! I just wanted to talk about sitcom revivals. But also fr, I do think modern comedies could be so much more.

One last thing about sitcoms

I might be super critical, but, listen, I love this genre of television. I can't imagine working in the sitcom space. It must be incredibly difficult. I'm sure there's oversight preventing trivial things from happening. Still, I think it's awesome that these shows have the power and relevance to revive themselves. I will watch them and give them their fair shot.

P.S.

P.S. I do have a point I can't quite simplify into a blog post. It has something to do with these things: "want vs need", scroll mindset, content, art, social media influence, reality, lessons, forgetting, losing yourself to information. No one is listening, so be yourself. (Or maybe they are, so be yourself.)