ELR getting too scripted?

[urhashmaster]

Okay, here it this week's season 8 editorial from your friendly neighborhood hashman.

Is it me or is ELR getting a bit too scripted this season? By scripted I mean there is a lack of naturalness in the delivery of the lines. It almost seems plainly obvious that one character's dialogue is setting up the response.

For example in Ally's Dress:

Robert: "The Jewish people have what is called a Bar, or Bat Mitzvah!"
Ray: "Why don't we treat this as your shuddupzitvah?"

That was paraphrased, I'd rather not watch that episode again.

But I thought that was an example of where you could almost see the gears turning in Ray's head as he runs through the line he's about to recite. The camera even pauses on him as he takes a breath and makes his quip.

I found the early seasons (1-6) seem more spontaneous with a more natural flow.

It might be because I've watched the show for awhile, but in all honesty when I see the old reruns on syndication I still like them a heckuva lot better than the new ones.

I mean, a line like this is still gold today:

"Only three people make it into Marie Barone's pantheon of affection... the Pope, Placido Domingo, and Raaaaaaymond. You just gotta let it go Debra, YOU JUST GOTTA LET IT GO!!!"

Oh well. You know what they say, consistency sometimes leads to complacency, and I think a lot of the new eps are just going through the motions. Frankly I would rather not see the cast play their roles in autopilot but be given some more challenging scripts to REALLY deliver some good laughs, a la Bad Moon Rising or The Canister.

That is all.

[davej]

Well, I like this season on balnce, so far.

Maybe you are more insightful than I am. Maybe what you re ssing is the reason they hesitated to do another season.

I have no problems for the most part, with the scripting. I have always though some of the dialogue was contrived but that is a 30 minute sitcom. They try to clean everything up in a 30 minute show.

Can't be done always in real life, so some of the dialogue comes out lame. but o well, I still love the show.

I thought the Party dress was one of the better shows this season. I thought The Nice Talk, was one of the worst.

I think tonite's rerun will be great. I loved it the first time and I will like it again. Not only is the plot real and believeable but they DO NOT end it in 30 minutes.

It is left unresolved. More like real life! GO ELR

Love you PH!

[Maximus]

Guest-urhashmaster said:

"Only three people make it into Marie Barone's pantheon of affection... the Pope, Placido Domingo, and Raaaaaaymond. You just gotta let it go Debra, YOU JUST GOTTA LET IT GO!!!"
.

Hey, you forgot to mention Marie's affection for the "Chairman of the Board."

I think we can all agree that ELR has somewhat lost its Midas touch that defined its comedic brilliance from S1-7. The ELR machine was firing in all cylinders and could do no wrong. Even now, the great majority of pre-S7 episodes are hands down more enjoyable to watch than majority of post -S7 ones. The writings, the plots, the atmosphere… just about every aspect of the show was consistently outstanding. After watching six years of some of the best comedies in sitcom history, we have naturally come to expect a lot from the show. We've been spoiled. I think we can agree that it's awfully difficult to maintain that level of excellence week after week. Last season was just horrible, save for a couple of episodes. I think they’re in the right track this season with some very good episodes, but they're too few and far between. However, as mediocre as post S6 episodes have been, had I known this back in 2002, I still would’ve wanted the show to continue and I’m very happy that it’s returning for one more season.

I also think the show has gotten a little darker. By that I mean the tone of the show has become more confrontational and the characters have become grumpy. Besides being spontaneous, the older episodes were much kinder and gentler. Even their arguments had a sweet, innocent aura to them. Now, they’re more like screaming matches to see who can yell the loudest.

Finally, we've become so intimately familiar with every facet of the show and its characters that it seems we can almost always anticipate what they're going to say next or how a situation is going to unfold. I think this predictability is an unavoidable consequence when you've a show that has been running for seven plus year. So, I think it's only natural for us to feel that the characters and dialogs have gotten routine and predictable.

[davej]

I do seem to remember reading somewhere that Phil Rosenthal wanted to "amp up" the friction between Ray and Debra. I know I did.

What happened to that? Has that been abadoned? I thought the Leave Debra Behind episode was gonna take us in that direction, but it has not.

Have they abandoned that idea? Why is everyone talking about a happy ending now?