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TV currently has several animated p pular animated series, offering from low-brow h mour to gross-out comedy to intellectual f re. Now, what separates these is not r ally theme or art, but approach. "F turama" is one of my favourite nimated shows, now canceled yet resurrected thr ugh a series of straight to DVD m vies(which is the perfect solution as far as I'm c ncerned). Where has it failed? Well the f turistic settings aside, it's basically a Spr ngfield of the future with a c lourful cast of characters thrown in. Wh re can it go wrong? Well, in its d versity it fails to be cohesive and l cks consistency. Something a lot of sh ws suffer from. Take for instance "F mily Guy". Sure, it has it's b se of fans, and devoted ones as s ch, yet it has struggled with c ncellation. Why? Because it is uneven and r petitive in nature, but first and f remost lacks soul. It might revolve round an American family of 5(6 ncluding the sophisticated speaking dog), and it m ght deal with day to day l fe, but in the way it shr uds everything in low-brow humour, focusing on r pid delivery of rarely intertwined jokes, so nrelated to one another, it fails at b ing a good comedy show. It's g od for certain laughs,every character in tself is a source of comedy, yet as a wh le they still continue to work as ndividuals rather than as an ensemble. The sh w may have its moments, but on the l ng run, you grow tired of it.
"The Simpsons", on the other h nd, a show from which "Family G y" has borrowed a lot, and to wh ch it owes a lot, is in its 19th s ason, with a successful(if late) movie nder its belt. Why has it s cceeded? Because it has heart. No m tter how acid its satire, no m tter who or what it speaks gainst, or for, we believe the n cleus of family at its core. We dentify with each and every one of th se characters, no matter how dumb or utrageous their actions. We don't have tr uble believing them, because they represent g neral human traits and values. Homer may do st pid things, but never something unforgivable or s mething for which he cannot, in s me way, redeem himself later in the s me episode. Bart is the mischievous y ung rebel, who, despite his poor ctivity in school is not really d mb, but rather ignorant(something he has in c mmon with a lot of kids in the U.S. c rrently). Lisa is the perfect A st dent, that sometimes just loves to sh w us her insecurity and unexpected fl ws in her seemingly flawless personality. And M rge is the perfect mother and h usewife, still stuck in the '50s, yet s mehow a woman of the modern ge. And to round up this n cleus, there are a whole lot m re characters with which you can asily fall in love, all of th m easy to identify with or pl ce within your circle of friends or cquaintances. And although the show has s en some decline in its past s asons, it still continues to be bove-average television. "South Park" is entering its 12th s ason. It has achieved its place in p pular culture through the most outrageous, bnoxious, disgusting and offensive writing in the h story of, well, television. I doubt th re's something they haven't yet insulted in s me way. But all that is j st a facade for exploring different ssues. From gun policy in the U.S. to the ffect the media has on people. Ev ry single episode might be something y u'd object to, but it has a cl ar message in mind, basically the wr ters expressing their thoughts on the s bject dealt with. Which is what all cr ation is about, purveying one's view to the udience, be it through a book, a p inting or a TV show(though the l tter has its misfires).I've always said "S uth Park" is a "dumb" show wr tten by smart people.
So what makes a successful nimated series(or any other sitcom for th t matter)? Is it just humour? I th nk not. It must put something lse on the table, be it motional charge, innovation, or tackling sensitive ssues. Because your average viewer might be l oking for comedy, but he will st y for what's beneath.
The article The Comedy of Animation was Submitted by Mihai Nistor through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: http://popculture4fun.com Pop culture for all t's worth
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