Fall TV (so far): The Good, the Bad and…

Now that I have a TiVo that can record four shows at once (thank you RCN for also being $66 cheaper a month than Time Warner) I figured it was time to sample several of the new shows that are debuting starting this month.  Among the pleasant surprises so far have been Fox’s Sleepy Hollow (which feels like a wittier and better Grimm, an NBC show that I am a fan of) and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.  Having called Andy Samberg “the less talented Adam Sandler” (and having called Adam Sandler the worst movie maker not named Tyler Perry) allow me to eat a healthy plate of crow (I assume crow is paleo diet allowed).  Samberg is funny and the rest of the cast is excellent, with Andre Braugher showing great range as the primary source of deadpan humor on the show.  Now there are several shows still to come (and I am not watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – why would I watch a spinoff of an overrated movie focusing on the non-super heroes? Nor will I watch The Goldbergs, which I believe was secretly financed and produced by Hezbollah to make people hate, or reinforce prejudices against, Jews), but I think, as is the tradition of the Righteous Prick, I should focus on a few of the abortions that somehow survived to become fully viable shows on television.

(at this point I would also like to point out that Breaking Bad is poised squarely ahead of The Wire and behind Six Feet Under as the greatest drama of all time in the RP’s opinion.  This Sunday’s finale may be the show to finally bump 6FU from my all time greatest perch.  But seriously, if you don’t believe me – watch 6FU all the way through and then tell me if any finale has ever left as big a hole in your soul as that (unless Breaking Bad delivers, which it may).

So, the two shows so far that have me concerned are Dads on Fox and Mom on CBS.  Dads is not really worth discussing, except in the context of wondering whether Seth MacFarlane got lucky with Family Guy.  Admittedly the film Ted was fun (thought I don’t think brilliant), but as far as television hasn’t MacFarlane been behind American Dad and The Cleveland Show (Adam Carolla once said of his friend MacFarlane that MacFarlane was almost on one of the 9/11 planes, which would have deprived the world of Family Guy, but silver lining, no Cleveland Show)?  And now add Dads to the pile of excrement.  People were complaining and protesting about it being offensive, but the only thing offensive was that it was trying to pass itself off as a comedy.  I expect the show to be an early casualty, but then again we live in a country where Jeff Dunham makes $15 million a year.

But Dads is merely the undercard on this month’s Octagon match aimed at putting good comedy in a chokehold.  Mom, on CBS received better reviews than Dads (though mostly in comparison), but it is horrific.  It has Anna Faris and Allison Janney, so my expectations were high, even if it did come from the mind that made Two and a Half Men a monster hit.  Both women are experienced and talented, but the show is poop.  Faris plays a single mom of two (she was a teen mom, begat from a teen mom, played now by Allison Janney), but yet she lives in a nice house on a waitress salary.  The show is a great whitewash of working class life and bad choices.  The fact that a struggling waitress, single mom can live in a cozy three bedroom house (assuming at least three bedrooms since each of her children has their own room) is absurd.  This is sort of the tradition now of America – showcase working class people on sitcoms or reality shows presenting their lives as whimsical adventures, while denying the increasing difficulty of actual working class people.

The worst part of Mom, was that at the end of the episode it is revealed that Faris’ teen daughter is pregnant.  So three generations of teen moms is now hilarious?   I remember vaguely the Dan Quayle complaints about Murphy Brown, celebrating the single mother lifestyle.  Although my left leaning politics sees the absurdity of Quayle’s complaint it seems, like with a lot of things, the liberal pendulum may have swung too far.  My real question is where are the Republicans denouncing the show Mom?  This is what happens when Republican politicians are too busy trying to argue against everything a black President does.  Being against a black president always trumps lecturing women, real or fictional, on their lives, even when a valid complaint might actually be made.  So allow me to denounce Mom on comedic grounds and hopefully Ted Cruz will speak out against the moral absurdity of Mom soon.

For more opinions, comedy and bridge burning check out the Righteous Prick Podcast on Podomatic, iTunes and NOW on STICHER. New Every Tuesday!