Word: abc
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...seven and five years old, respectively. New comedy hits--Will & Grace, Malcolm in the Middle--have been rare. Last fall's one debatable success, CBS's Yes, Dear, was scheduled between established hits. Familiar names (Michael Richards, John Goodman) landed in familiar situations and met familiar ends. Says ABC president Stu Bloomberg: "It's not that all sitcoms are crappy, but after 40 years of this form, audiences are looking for an additional type of storytelling...
...sitcom producers are resorting to a desperation move, somewhere between getting Vince McMahon to start a new football league and formally declaring bankruptcy: innovation. Rejecting the conventional pacing and look of sitcoms, trusting viewers to laugh without an elbow in the ribs, a small set of new shows--including ABC's dark police sitcom The Job and Showtime's behind-the-music comedy The Chris Isaak Show--are attempting to redefine funny...
...trite on a plain-old drama, such as the shaky, handheld camera. But here they're starkly funny and McNeil an arresting (sorry) puzzle. He's also the sort of character who makes network execs pop Mylanta as he pops pills. So Leary and Tolan were surprised when ABC actively recruited them. "We said, 'You'll never buy it,'" recalls Leary. "'We're not going to change the language. We're not going to change the behavior.' And they said, 'Don't worry about it.'" Indeed, Bloomberg boasts, "No character in prime time has ever been so flawed...
...what point can you say that gays have gone mainstream? When Will & Grace hits the top 20? When Ally kisses a girl? When ABC airs a Judy Garland mini-series? For our money, it's when a network airs a gay-straight odd-couple sitcom that's not just bad, but boringly so. Batting for the gays, Jason Bateman is adequate as a poor man's Eric McCormack, but Danny Nucci plays a straight Italian stereotype who's like Joey from Friends' dumber brother. Add predictable storylines (I think my roomie has a crush...
...which has reportedly attracted bipartisan support, is more expensive than the President's and demands greater faith in public school administrators and teachers. And, perhaps most notably, the plan contains no mention of vouchers (or whatever word is used to describe them). According to Senator Lieberman, who appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" to discuss education reform, the plan calls for government to "pour more money into poorer schools, give the teachers and principals more flexibility on how they are going to use that money. If they are not working, close the schools down and radically restructure them, give...