Rating: 
Summary: "different" -- not for every taste...
Review: When it first aired, 'Get a Life' was a major break from what was considered an 'acceptable' format for TV comedy. The principal character -- Chris Peterson, a 30-year-old newsboy who lives with his parents -- was weirdly asocial, perhaps even psychotic -- with no redeeming qualities. He looked 'good' only in comparison with his antagonists, who were usually even more obnoxious than he.How do you write comedy when the protagonist is so cut-off from the conventions of normal thought and behavior that the other characters' reactions are little more than exasperated confusion? The answer is, 'with great difficulty.' It's like trying to assemble a wooden structure without nails. It's hard to get laughs through character interaction when the main character doesn't interact in any 'normal' way with the other characters. About all you can do is mine Chris Elliot's innate weirdness. So not only is 'Get a Life' weird -- it's weird merely for the sake of being weird. The writers aren't worried whether the stories make sense, either practically or psychologically, because Chris Peterson neither worries nor makes sense. What other sitcom has ever shown a dummy of the main character being repeatedly run over by cars? Clearly, 'Get a Life' is a show about style, not content. In trying to be different from other sitcoms, the producers painted themselves into a corner that's hard to maneuver in. The reaction of some reviewers -- that 'Get a Life' isn't as funny as they remembered ' isn't surprising. The shock and novelty of a pointless show about someone incapable of mundane social interactions has worn off. Nevertheless, 'Get a Life' is generally funny, and has a few really good episodes. 'Neptune 2000' remains my favorite, if only because it gives Bob Eliot the most on-screen time and the largest number of put-downs. It's a model of how this sort of humor should be done, and is arguably a classic of TV comedy. For me, the show's greatest pleasure is Bob Eliot's deadpan-sarcastic putdowns. I grew up listening to Bob & Ray, two of the great comic geniuses of the last century, who virtually invented 'pointless' humor. Amazon wants reviewers to focus on the content, but I can't resist taking a pot shot at Rhino. Is there any other record company that delivers so little for the consumer's hard-earned buck? There are only four episodes on each disk, where 'Red Green' delivers eight. And 'Get a Life' has a sufficiently large cult following that a multi-disk set with all the episodes would have made sense.
Rating:
Summary: "different" -- not for every taste...
Review: When it first aired, �Get a Life� was a major break from what was considered an �acceptable� format for TV comedy. The principal character -- Chris Peterson, a 30-year-old newsboy who lives with his parents -- was weirdly asocial, perhaps even psychotic -- with no redeeming qualities. He looked �good� only in comparison with his antagonists, who were usually even more obnoxious than he. How do you write comedy when the protagonist is so cut-off from the conventions of normal thought and behavior that the other characters� reactions are little more than exasperated confusion? The answer is, �with great difficulty.� It�s like trying to assemble a wooden structure without nails. It�s hard to get laughs through character interaction when the main character doesn�t interact in any �normal� way with the other characters. About all you can do is mine Chris Elliot�s innate weirdness. So not only is �Get a Life� weird -- it's weird merely for the sake of being weird. The writers aren�t worried whether the stories make sense, either practically or psychologically, because Chris Peterson neither worries nor makes sense. What other sitcom has ever shown a dummy of the main character being repeatedly run over by cars? Clearly, �Get a Life� is a show about style, not content. In trying to be different from other sitcoms, the producers painted themselves into a corner that�s hard to maneuver in. The reaction of some reviewers -- that �Get a Life� isn�t as funny as they remembered � isn�t surprising. The shock and novelty of a pointless show about someone incapable of mundane social interactions has worn off. Nevertheless, �Get a Life� is generally funny, and has a few really good episodes. �Neptune 2000� remains my favorite, if only because it gives Bob Eliot the most on-screen time and the largest number of put-downs. It�s a model of how this sort of humor should be done, and is arguably a classic of TV comedy. For me, the show�s greatest pleasure is Bob Eliot�s deadpan-sarcastic putdowns. I grew up listening to Bob & Ray, two of the great comic geniuses of the last century, who virtually invented �pointless� humor. Amazon wants reviewers to focus on the content, but I can�t resist taking a pot shot at Rhino. Is there any other record company that delivers so little for the consumer�s hard-earned buck? There are only four episodes on each disk, where �Red Green� delivers eight. And �Get a Life� has a sufficiently large cult following that a multi-disk set with all the episodes would have made sense.
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