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March 28, 2024, 08:29:01 PM

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Comedy storylines mentioning the pandemic (or not)

Started by ASFTSN, December 10, 2021, 09:09:29 AM

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ASFTSN

Thought this should probably go in Comedy Chat but didn't want anyone to be annoyed by out-of-place covid chat so here we go.

I've been interested to see how contemporary sitcom narratives and the like have either awkwardly crowbarred in mentions to the pandemic or actually tried to incorporate it. Mostly it seems like they don't, either due to 'not wanting to do politickzzz' or more charitably because production schedules make it difficult to react to the never ending rollercoaster ride of shit. Some I can think of:

This Way Up - Weird voiceover added to an establishing exterior building shot by one of the characters "What, they're gonna lock us down again?", then never mentioned again. Also I think a CGI mask added to a character in the background at one point.

King Gary - Christmas special had a brief mention of Gary's wife Terri having a minor TikTok hit during lockdown.

Curb Your Enthusiasm - Hand sanitiser hoarder storyline, first episode of the new series apparently written just before the pandemic is over for good in other eps.

Brian and Roger - Mentioned in the thread, but a whole episode about PPE with pornographic imagery emblazoned on it, and Matt Hancock having a Lynch-esque breakdown. Well done guys.

Any other notable/weird examples? I'm sure South Park has done loads but I've gone right off it.

chveik

Always Sunny - first ep of the new season is about the gang taking PPE loans and somehow influencing what happened during the US election. it's not great.

Dayraven

QuoteMostly it seems like they don't, either due to 'not wanting to do politickzzz' or more charitably because production schedules make it difficult to react to the never ending rollercoaster ride of shit.
Maybe also because the pandemic is so familiar to everyone that it doesn't make for escapist viewing?

ASFTSN

Quote from: Dayraven on December 11, 2021, 12:23:11 PMMaybe also because the pandemic is so familiar to everyone that it doesn't make for escapist viewing?

Sure - I just can't shake the feeling entertainment these days is more likely than it used to be to go for the easy option and not mention it. I suppose it's the old "there's no good satire any more" CaB standard. But also I find it interesting/amusing when programmes lip service it like in some of the above examples.

paruses

Working Moms - Canadian comedy drama - had either the first or second episode covering lockdown in a massively broad brush stroke. It stood out as a hastily filmed piece to be slipped in so as not to jar the timeline. After that the already filmed series got underway with no mention of a global pandemic (at least none that stuck in my mind).

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

Quote from: ASFTSN on December 10, 2021, 09:09:29 AMMostly it seems like they don't, either due to 'not wanting to do politickzzz' or more charitably because production schedules make it difficult to react to the never ending rollercoaster ride of shit.
Quote from: Dayraven on December 11, 2021, 12:23:11 PMMaybe also because the pandemic is so familiar to everyone that it doesn't make for escapist viewing?
Perhaps also to avoid making the episode seem dated, when (if) the pandemic ends.

paruses

I have just started watching the last season of Superstore. I have to check the timeline to see if they just re-wrote the whole thing but it's simply set during the pandemic. There's a small scene setter in the first ep and then it jumps to a few months in. Lots and lots of Covid sub-plots and themes and it's not detrimental. To be honest I felt the thing had run it's course so maybe Covid has been, ahem, a shot in the arm for it*. I think the show has some reasonable satire / social commentary in it as it is so will be interesting to see if it deals with any of the anti-vax / mask madness. Feels a bit like it's dropped that already, though.

What is interesting is seeing all of it filmed wearing masks, in the main. Usually things have a token random standing in the background in a mask or inexplicably widely set-apart tables in under-populated cafes and the like. It's also quite nice how the attitude to distancing and mask wearing varies according to circumstances - but that might just be a coincidental effect.


* Like a vaccine you would have for Covid!