My first thought when someone mentions the word comedy is a play with a happy ending. In literary circles it is the antonym of tragedy, a play concluding with a serious, sometimes sad ending.
But a more current definition of comedy is the one listed in the title of today's blog posting. And, to be honest, I suspect it is the more popular definition of the word, even though dictionaries tend to put it further down on the list of acceptable definitions.
All of this is brought to mind, of course, by the conflict between NBC-TV and comedian Conan O'Brien. In brief, NBC-TV wants to return Jay Leno to the golden hour of 11:35 p.m. and bump O'Brien to post-midnight. O'Brien has said "no" and the conflict is about to head toward legal negotiations. That's the thumbnail sketch. There is a lot more involved, but that's for another posting on somebody else's blog.
What this has done for me is to highlight the differences between my taste in humor and that of the current "younger" generations. I'm not drawn to humor for humor's sake as taste unto itself. I never lusted after Seinfeld, although what I saw of it made it clear that it was ground-breaking and incorporated very talented actors.
In a discussion with my daughter about comedy I suggested that my generation was born into families which had experience the Great Depression, World War II, and The Korean War in rapid succession. Life was serious and didn't come with easy routes. My own generation experienced Vietnam, the JFK assassination and the Nixon era at a time when TV served a different purpose. The humorous escape we found included Milton Berle, Lucille Ball, and Carol Burnett. It was situational in a world that didn't provide for total escape. The writing seemed more serious.
Even when the Late Show was emerging with Steve Allen, Jack Paar and Johnny Carson the show format seemed to be laced to a greater degree by serious interviews and less frivolous catering to Hollywood. Maybe that's revisionary, but it seems that way to me. I have the same feeling about The Today Show which seems to spend too much time (for my taste) focusing on Hollywood and the entertainment industry. It used to be a far more constant source of good news and commentary.
TV is driven by ratings and advertising. My desires and nostalgic drifting is of less concern to them than the purchasing power of people under the age of 50. Their tastes in programming differ from mine. They can't wait for the Friday programs to see rock bands in the Plaza. I just want the news at that hour.
Speaking of drifting, I've drifted from the theme of comedy. I think you get my point. I won't be staying awake at night worrying about Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien. Probably I won't be watching whatever combination of solutions NBC-TV ends up scheduling. I don't mean to be an old fart on this topic. At times I think I need to lighten up and smell the roses.
Photo: Reuters
No comments:
Post a Comment