Don’t Bother Me I’m Working...
Lately I’ve been complicating an idea past the point of focus. In creating an endless means of procrastination I have been sitting back and letting this little project percolate slowly within my ether...
It all started while exploring the comedic intricacies within the fictional televised family. Afterward, I zeroed in on situational comedies set in the workplace and was certain I had something to say on the matter. Finding one’s own intellect a fabulous reason to endlessly put off a project I spent most of summer ruminating, studying and mostly just watching humor "at-work”. After carefully reviewing the genres’ common characteristics I decided that while much of workplace comedy is comprised of sheer silliness it also inevitably trends toward absurdist (even on the most mainstream of platforms). There is a playful advantage taken to the fact that everyone works with insane (and often asshole) characters. Sly comedic writers utilize this assumption as an easy pretense. They prey on such extremes. With this idea in my pocket I had all but formulated a thesis focused on the very most random of comedic moments. I gathered quotes and notes and was all but ready to get to writing (procrastinating) a blog about workplace comedies and what I had deemed to be a "dramatic aside" when I figured a little research on the aside itself might not be such a bad idea.
Lo and behold I was not even remotely accurate in my employment of this word.
A bit of an embarrassing loophole, huh? So, while I might have to write about asides one day (after 34 years and a Bachelor of Arts in Literature I can confidently use the term sans ignorance) a new feat was left for me to tackle. I now had to seek out an education in literary dramatic terminology; a rather aimless effort to pinpoint the exact word to describe the aforementioned quotes and notes for which I had so painstakingly assembled. A bit of prodding led me to the dramatic digress -- which, in part, is the point I was gunning for. However, while this idea did lead me to this lovely article from a decade ago, the term, unfortunately, did not cover my idea in its entirety.
Finding little solace in my aforementioned degree. (I blame myself, your gorgeous redwoods, sunny beaches and awesome drugs, Santa Cruz -- not your educational institution itself which I'm sure was just swell could I have been bothered.) I next turned to my friends (mostly and usually, Mother) whom had majored in the far more practical course work of drama. While they seemed to know what I meant (’a sidebar of sorts?’ Mom suggested) their actual ability to provide a thesaurus for my vague description was as vacuous as my own. All but ready to throw in the towel a muse started to whisper and I remembered eons ago when I was a child and my imagination still worked in full-force.
So, with my creative fitness presently below par, it seems there may be no better time than today to start flexing. Fuck this research bullshit -- the Internet has provided far too many time sucks-- I can mutha fucking make up my own word!
Fortunately, while I sifted through what I deemed the most noteworthy moments of workplace comedies to air last year, I was equally moved by a summer love of the same form, the second season of Trial and Error. While not quite as good as Season One (Chenoweth is great but she's just no Lithgow) I do understand the purpose behind switching up the storyline and appreciate its deep ceded commitment to satirizing the omnipresent murder anthology series in both its television and now podcast forms. Particularly fortunate for me (and this blog) is each episode's supply of very obscure historical "facts" on the backwards little (fictional) place where this show is set. The Southern town of Peck and it's residents comprised of "Peckerheads" offers endless creative inspiration. If Trial and Error writers can come up with this many arbitrary facts to ascribe an imaginary place, I can certainly come up with just one! As the East Coast Lawyer (re: token Jew), Josh so eloquently says after yet another town-history lesson from his dim witted assistant, Dwayne Reed: “And none of this makes any sense unless you live here, but..."
So let’s move in and explore these comedies together. By the end of this blog I'm sure we can all settle on a fabulous new term, tantalizing drama nerds, tv enthusiasts and the fine staff at Merriam and Webster's alike.
Workplace comedies are generally my favorite. From NewsRadio, to Better off Ted, to Parks and Rec, to Cheers, these shows stand the test of time for many reasons but foremost in my mind are hilarious recurring moments which do everything to drive characters and theme while doing absolutely nothing for the storyline itself. These plotless moments are a very accurate mirror for comedy in one's own reality. Real life comedy generally exists within confines of one’s own humor. Lacking wit-speed dialogue and perfect punch lines we have come to rely instead on the random habits of human existence for catharsis. This is why the best laughter always comes with on team member at another’s expense. In turn, frequent non-sequiturs are a requisite and relatable sprinkle of a workplace sitcom’s subplot, storyline digress, and character quirk. All of this dashed atop one's proverbial TV dinner is just so darn essential to life. These moments, varying in diversity from serialized in-house commercials featuring the hopelessness of human existence (Better off Ted) to employing Joan Didion puns as pick up lines (LA to Vegas) are just like real life. If, of course, we all had a few coked up writers sprucing up our dialogue.The point is, these are the moments you might miss both in reality and on the small screen if you aren't simultaneously paying attention and in possession of a terribly wonderful sense of humor. Without these traits you surely can function and probably even follow along but you just aren't really worth my time. I have the good fortune (and grit) to facilitate both these traits while at work and whilst basking in the glow of the "small"screen (but who are we kidding all our tv's are massive in diameter these days). So, for those of you who don't have the time (or just can't be bothered) here are some of my most favorite moments from last season's most network-y workplace comedies. For now I’ll leave my coworkers out of it.
I'm sure most of you missed all of these shows, but I'm happy to fill in as your "blue collar watcher liaison". Meanwhile you stay highbrow with your Stranger Things and Game of Thrones....
Somehow remaining relatively under the radar, Superstore came in strong for season three (Season four premiered last night). In what one might call a remarkable rarity, the show kept up a subversive punch through a full and classic 21 network season. If any show is going to do it there is little surprise that it's a comedy with Office Alum genius' behind its creation. Here's a little blog proving that Superstore is the Office's natural successor (as if I had any doubts).
Superstore does follow a few very interesting (and politically important) storylines. America Ferrera is using this platform and a new book to encourage you all to get out and vote next month -- just do it!
Beyond its willingness to tackle some of today's most emotionally fraught debates (immigration, abortion, disabilities...) with an undeniable sardonic wit, this show can be fun in just sheer randomized silliness. One of my very favorite parts of Superstore are the in-store customer interludes. While these very funny moments do nothing for the plot itself, they do outline (and underline) the sheer absurdity of human nature (and how we behave in public, where we so often feel oddly confident that no-one is watching). These moments are perfectly paired with catchy pop music from our elder millennial youth which of course inevitably plays in every single shopping chain across the nation now.
While many workplace comedies prey on the oddness of our co-workers, any sitcom featuring the service industry from Are You Being Served to Always Sunny in Philadelphia the customers are equally fair game. Superstore wonderfully follows suit. The interludes are not always customer-specific but they are frequently the highlight. I'll just mention a few...
A customer taking a bite of a scented candle while Britney's Not So Innocent plays on the loudspeakers
A sign advertising the store's new toy: "Try our 3D printer. No Dildo's Please."
During the Halloween episode the story is interrupted to show a man dressed as a baby, shopping with a baby in his hand basket, dressed as a man.
An older Asian sales associate putting up a sign on an apple display which boasts the fruit’s improvement of sexual performance (while rap from 2002 blasts). Later in the episode the same associate is shown taking that sign down only to replace it with one simply stating: "Ecoli".
A woman changing her baby's diaper (and hiding the old one behind the cheetos) while Green Day's Basket Case, plays (accurate).
An equally rude woman using the bulk food scoop to pour granola directly into her mouth.
Ladies Night playing while a mom weighs her baby on the produce scale.
An employee dusting the inside of a puppet.
During the Mother's Day episode we notice an underwear display featuring a pair of sexy undergarments reading Number One Mom.
A customer taking ice cream out of their shopping cart and leaving it on a shelf in electronics. A few scenes later we see ice cream melting all over the store's headphones....
Sure, none of these moments offer any momentum to Superstore's plot but amidst Christian abortion jokes, a black paraplegic character refusing to be profiled, deportation and a guy trying to get rich selling home-made breast milk cheese (and many other taboo topics) these are just the kind of necessary comedic breaks we all might forget to pay attention to.
AP Bio made its debut this Spring and it looks to be slated for another season. Do tune in! Glen Howerton and Patton Oswalt head up an all-star cast and there is a fantastic onslaught of comedic celebrity guest spots (including Niecy Nash who should just absolutely never be missed). The whole show is a totally heartwarming, harsh, silly and hilarious take on what it means to succeed in the world of academia and how we all measure our own self worth.
Howerton plays Jack, an Ivy League Ethics Professor whose bizarre fall from grace has led him to “teaching” AP Bio in his hometown. While his staunch refusal to teach Biology infuriates his loveably annoying nerdy High School students, it is his lessons in Ethics which drives the show.
Feeling lost? A few words of wisdom from Jack can help:
On job interviews: “If you don’t lie someone else will so It’s fine. It’s called holistic consequentialism.”
On High School relationships: "You have your whole life to worry about dating. Right now you should focus on masturbating."
But there's so much random silliness to love in this series beyond the classroom...
Patton Oswalt, playing the school’s sweet and desperate Principal Durbin, has a tendency to have animated bouts of sleep walking in which he wanders the house freeing slaves by way of the underground railroad (because doesn't everyone have a friend who has live abolitionist dreams at slumber parties?).
Jack’s complacency in living in his dead mother's floral wallpapered, handicapped equipped, china tchotchke filled home, all the while lounging in her very short rose-print robe.
Somehow his sadness is so entitled and endlessly comedic that it is not even slightly reminiscent of Psycho.
Needless to say there are plenty of "non-plot-driving" moments which deserve mention and will inevitably make you laugh but my personal favorite has got to be the gossipy gaggle of teachers.
We mostly find these women being brutally honest in their staff lounge and while they're always a hoot and a holler, with such quotables as: “Today I’m going to make kids draw flattering pictures of me and give to their dads,” what really seals the deal for me is their eating habits.
The teacher's are inconspicuously always consuming an enormous Tupperware filled with fruits and vegetables. While I've never actually worked as a teacher this just seems like such a classic attempt at "health." Food actually is a recurring topic in and of itself (the apple Jack brings to class everyday but never takes more of a bite of, the argument for sinful treats in the school vending machine to mention a few) but something about the subtlety of these epic Tupperware’s always filled with a "healthy snack," never cease to make me chuckle. Sometimes we even catch a glimpse of two teacher BFFs sharing a salad out of a Tupperware "built for three."
And if you aren’t sold by the massive portions of grapes, the writing staff found another way to appeal to all us elder millenial’s. The genius’ over there threw in an episode featuring Lisa Loeb, who in a madcap series of events (orchestrated of course by Jack and his class) assumes her boyfriend is cheating on her with Alanis Morissette. She subsequently destroys said boyfriend's house, and then end the episode in a full blown make-up scene while "Stay (I Missed You)." plays in the background.
And FYI this is scarcely the only 90's popular music reference. Viewer beware, between this and Superstore enough nostalgia may be generated to whip out all your favorite old mix tapes. In fact, all of this is just enough to make one start to feel slightly "middle aged" But rather go down that rabbit hole of despair, I'll further whet your AP BIO appetite. After all, most of my favorite network shows got cancelled last season and I'm eager to get the masses to fall in love with this one.
Here are few other priceless and only slightly sexual non-sequiters to entice:
AP Bio Student to her parents: “I’m old enough to get an hpv vaccine but not to have my own pressure cooker? I want to cook brisket and I want to cook it fast”
Principal Durbin on the school's sexual education program: "the only thing we’re allowed to say about condoms is they’re 2% ineffective and everyone stares at you when you buy them”
The last show I must mention, LA to Vegas, sadly got cancelled after it's debut season last spring. I get it. There is so much good TV out there, it's easy for silly sitcoms to fall under the radar. That being said, four months have passed since my first viewing and I am still quoting scenes and referencing moments to confused strangers. The stickiness of its humor lends hope that one day this show might make a bit of a comeback as a cult classic.
What this show did so well is consistently remind us that the best TV is always ensemble TV.
One unsurprising factor to this impeccable teamwork is Will Ferrell served as series executive producer. Generating hilarity within a group is something this man just excels at. A true comedy genius in his own right, his often very masculine performances somehow dodge ego. This is sadly noteworthy as it is generally unprecedented in the comedy world. Ferrell consistently brings joyful humor to the masses, all the while building up (and onto) his fellow cast.
The show's premise is simple. Each week we follow a flight crew and their regular commuters on their weekly trip from LA to Vegas and back. Most of the series takes place on the terrible fictional budget airline, Jackpot.
When we meet the lead flight attendant, Ronnie (played perfectly by the fabulous Kim Matula) she is hopeful a better job on Delta is about to come through. "I need to be on a real airline where people aren't just here to cheat on their wives and buttsmuggle Molly."
She of course does not get the job.
And that's really the crux of this show. The funniest parts polarize all that is terrible with this country and yet in that cuddly way that is endlessly endearing .
When we meet the Captain Dave (Dylan McDermott) he explains "My job isn't to fly the plane it's to connect with passengers."
From scenes of an entire flight having a sing along to hava nagila, to endless jokes on the classiness of Bakersfield California, the obscure punchlines here are just terribly priceless.
Here's a few standout moments (so you can write your congresswoman with a renewal request):
"I smoked my first Marlboro Red at my third birthday party... What?! My family was a little trashy, I grew up near Bakersfied."
"I can make us Bakersfield Mary's" (confused? Don't be! Ronnie explains they consist of vodka and ketchup).
When the group is rewarded NPR totes the Russian commuter describes them as: "Socialist gift bags"
The wonderfully and stereotypically gay black flight attendant, Bernard (Nathan Lee Graham) offers his laments....
On the the demise of air travel: " Look at what we've become! Judy Garland once said the best bowel movement in her life was one she had after eating a salmon mousse on a TWA flight to Paris."
Or, his gripes on passengers' behavior "tiny white women have no idea how much trouble they are."
(I like to think he was referring to me here.)
And best of all the current state of wealth in America: "I used to love meeting rich people, now they're all just nerds riding fold up bicycles." (factual)
And then there is Captain Dave's opinion on the current state of food limitations in America: "When I was a kid there were no allergies, just swollen days and unswollen days."
If you do nothing else, at least log onto Hulu and watch the episode which aired over Easter week, featuring Bernard's Jesus Christ Superstar birthday party. It is possibly the most agnostic, and satirical network holiday special I have ever had the good fortune to witness (there's a few Evangelical jabs in there too but I'll stay out of that wildfire).
At the end of the day though, unlike our real lives (thanks politics) it's the love not the hatred which drive these shows. The casts’ may all be slightly awful but deep down they are all just trying to survive. The support they offer one another as the rest of the world looks down their noses at them truly represents how we all feel about those people we accidentally end up spending our lives with.
So, a big cheers to our work families. Hate 'em or love 'em somehow we all end up getting even the craziest one's backs. Perhaps it's all those absurd, non-sequiter, routinely predictable moments which work provides that supply the endless comedic relief necessary in making "adulting" tolerable. God knows the paycheck certainly isn't enough!
And so, I'll go off-brand here and be sweet. Let's dub my term "Love Dash" because it is this necessary but frequently forgotten flavor that makes even the fictional workday worthwhile!
