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ArkyBeagle t1_jdxatsv wrote

Reply to comment by Latter_Feeling2656 in What do you think the issue with modern sitcoms is? (Discussion) by Paula-Abdul-Jabbar

It was less a bolt from the blue than The Rural Purge. Was My Three Sons ever really funny? I do not recall. And yeah - the longer And Griffith ran the less funny it was.

Green Acres was pretty much brilliant the whole time. It morphed into a sort of surrealism and all the performers had incredible timing.

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Latter_Feeling2656 t1_jdxghvm wrote

The first three seasons or so of My Three Sons are silly. The kids are cynical, and there's a lot of slapstick. It slows down over time. Andy Griffith has an unusually strong break after Season 5 which is not just Don Knotts leaving and not just switching to color. The comedy brakes are clearly on.

The whole raft of fantasy shows were driven by outsized characters and slapstick. The rural shows were just last of those to go. Mr. Ed, Gilligan, early Bewitched, the Munsters were replaced by family stuff like Here's Lucy, Julia, Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Doris Day. They just weren't giving any priority to comedy.

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ArkyBeagle t1_jdxievn wrote

> They just weren't giving any priority to comedy.

Excellent point.

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