The Five: Comedy Television

Since I have total writer's block currently, I figured I would do something that makes it extremely easy to write and start putting lists out there. Good writers can come up with ten things to comment on, so I decided to do five since I figure I'm halfway decent at putting my thoughts on my computer screen. I decided to tackle the world of comedy television, as a friend and I debated what was the better comedy between Parks & Recreation and Community. That debate ended up deciding which show would make the list and which wouldn't, so without further ado, here are the top five:

5. Eastbound & Down - I decided to judge this on episode to episode quality of the most recent season. Since I am only looking at the most recent season, shows like The Office and 30 Rock suffer since the quality of episodes have gone very far downhill from their heyday. Eastbound & Down has only had six episodes, but they were six great episodes. It goes over a baseball player's life after he loses his fastball and says extremely offensive things to the media (aka the John Rocker story). Kenny Powers is one of the greatest TV characters going right now, as he was awesome in each and every episode. This show could completely fall off the map, or it could rise up the list. Kenny is going to Mexico this season, so that's a pretty good start.

4. Parks & Recreation - This show went from struggling through its first season to taking over the Thursday night lineup in Season Two. The first season focused a ton on Amy Poehler's character and it got tired pretty quick. This season, they have spread out the focus to their different characters and it has turned it into a can't miss show each and every week. I really thought that Tom Haverford (played by Aziz Ansari) would be my favorite character on the show after watching the first few episodes of this season, but Ron Swanson (played by Nick Offerman) has completely taken over. There is not a scene where I am not happy to see Ron Swanson, and there is not a situation that Ron Swanson couldn't help in real life. Plus the man loves Strip Club breakfast buffets.


3. Archer - Archer had a fantastic first season. It was consistently funny and is just another reason that FX is quickly becoming arguably the best network for new television out there right now. It's a fantastic show to quote that is always hilarious, because not every Tom, Dick, and Sally know about the show, so they can't make it unwatchable like they did with Borat.

2. South Park - South Park was really a slow-developing show as the first four or five seasons were solid, but unspectacular. Then they really started to jump into social commentary and it has taken off since then. They still have goofy episodes like Butter's Bottom Bitch that are absolutely brilliant. But they aren't afraid to attack any group of people, whether it be famous rappers that are in denial about being gay fish, bikers who are fags, and the entire Muslim religion. Plus they taught us the valuable lesson that being part ginger is a pretty shitty thing, but being part Denver Bronco is pretty cool.

1. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia - If you're making time to watch any show on television, this should be that show. There are never bad episodes, and there are rarely episodes that could be classified as just good. I remember watching the first season and thinking that it was fantastic, but there was really no place to go, because they attacked all the major social issues. I have never been more happy to be wrong than I was with this show. The D.E.N.N.I.S. System from this most recent season may be the best episode of anything ever made. And now that I've Inspired hope, it's time for me to Separate entirely.

-Joe

P.S. What is the deal with people from Iowa making shitty music videos? This might be worse than the douchebags from Cedar Rapids who made a Hawkeye video.