Last night, I did something atypical: I watched television. I probably watched more TV last night than I had all year, not counting sporting events. There wasn’t anything that I particularly wanted to see, but when I saw that they were running a marathon of the Tyler Perry shows, I wanted to take a look, just to see what the fuss was about.
I should say going in that I was fairly biased. I knew from the get-go, and had been warned by a couple of my friends, that the humor was going to be a little lowbrow for me. Course, that’s kinda funny to me, because in real life, I’m probably the lowbrow guy out the bunch. Then too, all the shows I like most have some lowbrow elements, if they’re not entirely lowbrow themselves, so that wasn’t a real deterrent. So I watched.
Neither show really impressed me too much. I didn’t think House of Payne was any worse than most sitcoms that I can sit through without a whole lotta laughing. I think one of the episodes I watched may have gotten a decent “HA!” outta me, but that was about it. Otherwise, I was not terribly impressed, but not terribly disappointed. For the most part, I didn’t necessarily find it funny, but I didn’t think it was coonery at all.
Meet The Browns, though, was emphatically not my speed. Let’s just say it like that. If this is the show’s first season, I guess I won’t say too much because it does take some shows a minute to really catch their stride. In Sanford and Son, for instance, it probably wasn’t until the 2nd or 3rd season that the interaction between Fred and Lamont actually felt right. Season one had its moments (especially the episode when Lamont almost got married), but it was a little shaky. By Season 2, the characters had developed a little nuance and the show got a lot better. Knowing this, I try to give Meet The Browns a little leeway. But the basics of the show, being about this dude who wears outrageously loud clothes and mispronounces about 1/3 of his words…that’s just not funny to me.
A couple of things I liked about the shows was that they tried to address some fairly serious issues, and they showed a range of body types. Really, the body type thing is a fairly major plus for the shows. Not like I watch a lot, but you don’t really see a lot of heavyweights on TV in roles that don’t use their weight as a source of comedy. I give them kudos for that.
All in all, I’m not gonna start watching TV habitually, and if I was, I probably wouldn’t be watching the Tyler Perry shows. I don’t find either one particularly funny, but I don’t think House of Payne is all that bad. Meet The Browns, on the other hand…suffice it to say that it’s provided me another disincentive to watch television.
June 5th, 2009 at 1:53 am
I Met The Browns…
Avery Tooley, a black moderate-conservative blogger, writes: “Last night, I did something atypical: I watched television. I probably watched more TV last night than I had all year, not counting sporting events. There wasn?t anything that I particular…
June 5th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Eh. I could not make it all the way through “House of Payne.” And I’m not sure I’m going to even bother with “Meet The Browns.” I mean, I’m glad some actors are getting a steady paycheck. But I can’t be convinced to give it a chance.
However, you make a good point about the inclusion of different body types. I’d never thought about it in that way before.
And, dude … I save up most of my TV time for football season. It’s better to veg out when it’s something you actually want to watch.
June 5th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Very well written post however, I would recommend that you turn the No Follow off in your comment section.
Keep up the good work.
June 8th, 2009 at 10:47 am
I haven’t watched “Meet The Browns”. The previews make me cringe. I couldn’t stand the “House of Payne” when it first hit the air. I have since learned to tolerate it, but like you the show only manages a “Ha” out of me every now and then.
I hadn’t thought about the inclusion of different body types either. That’s a very good point. Almost makes me want to watch to support the All-Inclusion Movement. There you go – finding the good out of a bad situation huh?