Sitcoms and Death and Me

Let's see, how did this start ...

Oh. I was reading a 2008 Metromix interview with Justin Timberlake wherein he mentioned his stepfather. Interesting, I thought. It reminded me of Justin Bieber, who's dad left his mom when he was little and went and started a family with another woman. AND NOW JUSTIN'S A SUPER STAR! This is clearly why all you dads out there should stay with your families, because you never know who's going to be a big moneymaker.

Okay, so then I'm reading about Justin Timberlake on Wikpedia and it says that there was an NSNYC album in 2000 named "No Strings Attached"!!!

Get it?! Because that's the name of the movie that came out last year that's just like the movie that Justin's in that's coming out this year.

Okay, maybe that's not interesting but it's ... well, what's a word for less than interesting?

THEN I was reading the plot for No String Attached, because let's be serious, I'm not going to see that film. Then I noticed it was directed by Ivan Reitman (sad times). Then I was looking at Ivan Reitman's films, and I checked out "Father's Day" and was like was this just a movie version of My Two Dads? It turns out it was not. BUT...

That finally leads us to the real purpose of the post, wherein I started thinking about sitcoms and death.

My Two Dads starts because the mom dies, then says "hey, dudes, one you is the dad, raise my daughter".

Full House starts because ... Tony? What's his name? Bob Sagat's character ... Danny! Ha! I remembered it before the Wikipedia page loaded. Danny's wife dies, and so to help take care of the kids the wife's brother, Jesse, and Joey, their wacky friend, move in. The wife died because of a drunk driver. I'm not sure when they explained that for the first time, but it came up when DJ drank once. I think. I could be making that up.

Then there's the show The Hogan Family (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UumiZKltAPQ). I started watching the show after Valerie Harper had left, so I was under the impression that the show's impetus had been the mother's death. As it turns out, no. My idea that the mom had died in a fire was also incorrect-it was a car accident. (I'm not sure when I watched this show ... probably in syndication. I watched a lot of stuff in syndication) (Also, one of the only episodes I remember of this show, probably why I remember it at all, was that someone got some birth control, and the aunt found it. It was in a paper bag, and I was totally embarrassed but entirely curious WHAT THE HELL IS IN THAT PAPER BAG THAT MEANS YOU HAVE SEX?!) (Lastly, the theme song uses the words 'step by step' ... hmm).

Then there's John Ritter's death, which was extra complicated, because it meant two characters died. First his character on 8 Simple Rules and also his character as JD's dad on Scrubs. But this is a case where someone actually died and then they had to deal with it, not a character dying for plot or because of a dispute over money. But you can see the connection.

When I was little I used to watch Three's Company. As I recall, I liked it because Jack took prat falls, Chrissy was dumber than me (at the age of 6 or 8 or so) and Janetwas sarcastic. My mom forbid me from watching it because it had quite a few sexual innuendos. I told her I wouldn't watch it, but eventually I found it being run in a different time slot, and I figured that that was a loophole and so continued watching it. But what's really funny about all this is that I had NO IDEA that the gag on the show was that Jack was supposed to be gay, that's how he could live in the apartment. I didn't find it at all odd that Jack lived in an apartment with two women he didn't have a relationship with. Plus, it had the best opening sequence.

I also enjoy the Coach opening sequence, because I just like it when cameras scroll over items to tell you who the characters are. I'm sure there are other shows that did this. Sometimes, I would gather my most important things and arrange them on my desk and then stare at them and hum to myself.

Ah, the life of an only child.

Also strange, the show Aliens in the Family. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliens_in_the_Family For this reason: "Baby Bobut could talk, had a genius-level IQ, and was perpetually plotting a grisly fate for those around him". Family Guy anyone?

The other interesting thing is how all these shows got around certain societal ideals. Like, My Two Dads these days could, obviously, be gay. And both Full House and The Hogan Family, they could have just been divorced dads. I was under the impression that with Step by Step, the parents were just divorced, but its seems at least Suzanne Sommers was widowed ... they don't mention what Patrick Duffy's deal was. And on The Brady Bunch: "Producer Schwartz wanted Carol to have been a divorcée but the network objected to this. A compromise was reached whereby no mention was made of the circumstances in which Carol's first marriage ended."

Also, on Step by Step this happened: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_Opera_Rapid_Aging_Syndrome which I find only slightly more hilarious than the "kid who goes up the stairs never to come down again". Boy Meets World broke the 4th wall with this: "She [Morgan, the younger sister of Cory] disappears without mention in the middle of the 3rd season. When she returns, Cory responds "Long time no see!" to which she answers "that was the longest time out I've ever had!" " I know this happened elsewhere, but I can't think of where.

I also really loved Mama's Family when I was kid. And Saved by the Bell and Out of this World and Punky Brewster. That's apropos of nothing.

Hrm, that's probably enough sitcom discussion for one afternoon.

Or, maybe I have one more thing. When TGIF was on and it was Perfect Strangers, Balky was on an add thing for the programming and he called it "Two Goats in Fresno" which I found utterly hilarious and amazing, as I lived not far from Fresno.