octothorpe
Wednesday 20th April 2022 1:49pm [Edited]
49 posts
Others will disagree here, but I wasn't as keen on last night's episode (in fact at one point I found myself having idly picked up my phone and fiddling about on that). Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of laughs, but this series unfortunately seems to have fallen down the trap a lot of continuing sitcoms have done in the past year or so (e.g. Two Doors Down, Not Going Out), of becoming a quasi-comedy-drama.
Note the fact the light levels and tones have been manipulated to create a more 'realistic', and somewhat claustrophobic, atmosphere (greater use of shadows, and variation in light levels, throughout a setting, something I haven't observed watching series 1 or 2 again recently), together with characters engaging more in serious moments that strain the comedy and also becoming rather more inclined to express negative emotions as before. (You could equally argue, though, that the writer can use this approach somewhat more liberally now, given it's an established series with established characters and the final series needs to have some form of closure about it, given the show has embedded itself in culture somewhat, become significant, and it requires rounding off well.)
Maybe it's something that isn't as blunted if you're going to be watching these shows in a non-linear way (as in, not as they're broadcast, as I can imagine people watching sitcoms of the '90s will have observed differences in writing, direction, pacing etc. to a greater extent as they watch it through the years rather than someone like me watching them in a less organised order some years after the fact), but it's a little jarring for those seeing them as they go out. It's not something others appear to have picked up on in reviews of various modern-day sitcoms either, so it may just be me!
