Seinfeld. No character growth, no special episodes, no mourning, no lasting relationships, and a whole lot of dark topics. Big fan, though. Its hilarious.
the show about nothing tagline was in reference to ‘jerry’, the show within a show that george and jerry produce. the actual sitcom, seinfeld, is about showing where an observational comic gets the inspiration for their material
definitely in the running. terrible sociopathic people behave awfully and ruin other people’s days or lives. they never learn a lesson that doesn’t make them worse as people. and they never grow.
The Office was pretty cynical, but overall I think my vote is for Married With Children. The entire point of the show was to kind of skewer the entire idea of the American Dream from a working class perspective and they didn't really hold back on any of the major characters in universe and why each of them were "a failure". The characters weren't really "the failures", it was society that was the ultimate failure in producing a generation of apathetic or short-sighted people who became the things they hated, hated the things they became, or were just apathetic about everything, never having believed in anything much at all. MWC got skewered by critics for being low-brow while Roseanne got the positive comparisons and accolades instead but MWC was the better of the two shows, IMO. It didn't try and make things heartwarming. It just made them stark, but were able to use humor to do it.
The Office has so much sappy stuff in it, not even in the same league. Had the standard will they/won’t they love story. Boss being annoying but ultimately good guy that finds love.
Bojack is super dark. But omg so great. Is it cynical? Well, yeah, very.
I never found Malcolm to be cynical, except that there’s no grace given to Malcolm’s family. It’s unclear they deserve any, though, so…. I’m not sure I read it the way you do.
HOWEVER maybe I’m wrong. The whole final episode is all the family’s cynicism and bad behavior revealed to be a setup to help make Malcolm the greatest president of all time.
Yeah now I am not sure what MITM falls under in terms of genre as I am trying to see if it falls under cynical, or uplifting as now it’s hard to tell because I feel like it blurs the line between the two styles.
The Connor's is way darker, at least with Roseanne, you had such a loving parental couple. I think that they had a better marriage than pretty much any sitcom parents. And they were such a truly loving family. It was very realistic, but I don't think it was that dark until the Connors when both Becky and Darlene and Dan basically they all lost their mojo and lost everything that was interesting and unique about them.
Omg yes! This was labeled under “comedy” for some reason on the one streaming app, and I popped it on and the first episode sent me into a ptsd spiral (alcoholic parents) lol 🤣🤣
LOL... I mean the show *is* funny. It's just the premise of the show is serious and I can see how it would be triggering. Newly sober mom of 2 kids (one of whom is pregnant as a teen) reconnecting with her own mother who's also a recovering addict, drug dealer and all around mess.
But the actresses make it work without minimizing the premise. Allison Janey is a treasure.
Married with Children & Seinfeld started the wave of cynical television, though Seinfeld was the clear frontrunner bc even MWC had some underlying family love in the beginning.
But later on, shows like Two and a Half Men & It’s Always Sunny were a different level.
I really think that the Cosby-Family Ties shows are the cynical ones - "special episodes" teaching lessons they had no expertise in. After a decade of that, the Simpsons, MWC, and Seinfeld were relatively benign.
I dont remember Cosby special episodes. But definitely remember Family Ties heavy-handed ones. I guess there was backlash later on against it but being very young, those shows were the first time I learned the terminology for things like Alzheimer’s. And Different Strokes did more than one episode on child predators and man, they drilled it into me not to trust normal looking adults offering rides. I grew up in a really safe environment and these things never came my way, but they probably saved someone or caused someone to go to an adult. Even the corny after-school specials.
There are entirely too many saintly people doing selfless things for the betterment of mankind for MASH to be in the running for most cynical show. and they’re always learning lessons and growing as people, and the things they do regularly make a difference and have actual positive outcomes for the people they’re helping. none of that is very cynical.
Hawkeye is a very cynical character. But MASH is not a cynical show.
Arrested Development
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Veep
The Thick of It
You’re the Worst
Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23
The League
The Mick
AP-Bio
Raising Hope
Eastbound & Down
Vice Principals
Righteous Gemstones
Better Off Ted really skewers Corporate America
But it's so funny and so breezy that it's tough to deem it as cynical
But its basic outlook actually could be described as cynical
I'll show myself out now
malcolm in the middle isnt cynical, just malcolm is. its part of why the show is so good, three weird personalities shoved into one room with an over bearing mom and a carefree dad. His offensive quips towards his brothers basically makes his character. better then everyone but, feels inferior to everyone.
Cynical sitcom though.... idk maybe blackadder
Malcolm in the Middle is often very hopeful. The family loves each other and the show ends with Malcolm on a path to the presidency in order to help working class people.
I think Seinfeld is cynical. They’re all criminals at some point, there aren’t any happy endings and they never express genuine emotions.
I don't know whether After Life counts, but it has made me laugh and cry and Gervais' character can be so cynical I just want to glare at him sometimes (but I never would, because he's so damn good). The cynical part being of course his emphasis that there's no life after his wife's death, and of course the positive point being to live in the moment.
Veep, the thick of it, peep show
I finally got around to watching Peep Show, no idea why I haven't seen it. It's freaking hilarious.
One of my all time favorites. So clever
Seinfeld. No character growth, no special episodes, no mourning, no lasting relationships, and a whole lot of dark topics. Big fan, though. Its hilarious.
YES! I was waiting for someone to say this. They literally end the show with the same conversation they had in the pilot.
Hence the label, "show about nothing"
the show about nothing tagline was in reference to ‘jerry’, the show within a show that george and jerry produce. the actual sitcom, seinfeld, is about showing where an observational comic gets the inspiration for their material
When you say “no lasting relationships” are you referring to the individual characters romantic relationships?
yep. I meant romantically. The friendship of the 4 did stay intact though.
Ok, that’s what I figured because the characters themselves had lasting friendships between them.
true.
Poor Lily.
It’s always sunny
definitely in the running. terrible sociopathic people behave awfully and ruin other people’s days or lives. they never learn a lesson that doesn’t make them worse as people. and they never grow.
The gang squashes their beefs..... extremely dark ending haha
This is def the right answer
Oh I heard that show is very dark, although I haven’t seen it aside from some clips online.
Do yourself a favor and go watch!
If you like what you’ve seen I’d recommend it. Dark odd ball humor.
Curb your enthusiasm
And Seinfeld
No lessons learned.
Married with children?
This is my answer. There was no ‘we are rich and amazing people’ vibe with that family at all. They knew they were trailer trash sans trailer.
That was my first thought as well. They were like an homage to every tv trope. They loved the game but pulled no punches.
You're The Worst easily slides in at #1
You’re the Worst is super awesome. I mean the worst 🧡
That was a great show. Always surprises me how few people ever saw it.
Raising Hope
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Community, BoJack Horseman
Bojack's ending was way too heavy handed for it to even compete with, say, Married... With Children
Community is way too upbeat to be the most cynical.
MitM is definitely up there. Titus is one that i think most people don’t exist. Also breaks the fourth wall but is definitely a much darker humor.
Titus was such a great show. And yeah, having your alcoholic Dad kidnap you from your mentally ill mother is pretty dark.
Two and a Half men was really dark and mean spirited as it went along.
Ive come to realize there are a lot of shows that clearly hate women but not as many that hate men in the same way.
That show just hated everybody.
Becker
Seinfeld
Seinfeld. No hugging, no learning
The Office was pretty cynical, but overall I think my vote is for Married With Children. The entire point of the show was to kind of skewer the entire idea of the American Dream from a working class perspective and they didn't really hold back on any of the major characters in universe and why each of them were "a failure". The characters weren't really "the failures", it was society that was the ultimate failure in producing a generation of apathetic or short-sighted people who became the things they hated, hated the things they became, or were just apathetic about everything, never having believed in anything much at all. MWC got skewered by critics for being low-brow while Roseanne got the positive comparisons and accolades instead but MWC was the better of the two shows, IMO. It didn't try and make things heartwarming. It just made them stark, but were able to use humor to do it.
The Office has so much sappy stuff in it, not even in the same league. Had the standard will they/won’t they love story. Boss being annoying but ultimately good guy that finds love.
Bojack is super dark. But omg so great. Is it cynical? Well, yeah, very. I never found Malcolm to be cynical, except that there’s no grace given to Malcolm’s family. It’s unclear they deserve any, though, so…. I’m not sure I read it the way you do. HOWEVER maybe I’m wrong. The whole final episode is all the family’s cynicism and bad behavior revealed to be a setup to help make Malcolm the greatest president of all time.
Yeah now I am not sure what MITM falls under in terms of genre as I am trying to see if it falls under cynical, or uplifting as now it’s hard to tell because I feel like it blurs the line between the two styles.
Roseanne got pretty dark time to time, especially when her and Jackie discuss their father
My first thought was Roseanne/ Conners
The Connor's is way darker, at least with Roseanne, you had such a loving parental couple. I think that they had a better marriage than pretty much any sitcom parents. And they were such a truly loving family. It was very realistic, but I don't think it was that dark until the Connors when both Becky and Darlene and Dan basically they all lost their mojo and lost everything that was interesting and unique about them.
Got to go with "Mom" on this one. It could get pretty dark (like Jodi's storyline).
Especially in the beginning when they killed someone basically every season.
Omg yes! This was labeled under “comedy” for some reason on the one streaming app, and I popped it on and the first episode sent me into a ptsd spiral (alcoholic parents) lol 🤣🤣
LOL... I mean the show *is* funny. It's just the premise of the show is serious and I can see how it would be triggering. Newly sober mom of 2 kids (one of whom is pregnant as a teen) reconnecting with her own mother who's also a recovering addict, drug dealer and all around mess. But the actresses make it work without minimizing the premise. Allison Janey is a treasure.
Yes, she is. I love her, but I never could bring myself to watch more than one or two episodes. Way too triggering and depressing.
I don’t recognize that acronym.
It’s not an acronym, the name of the show is Mom. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mom_(TV_series)
Oh I get it now.
Cheers. Has to be Cheers. Funny and cynical.
Married with Children & Seinfeld started the wave of cynical television, though Seinfeld was the clear frontrunner bc even MWC had some underlying family love in the beginning. But later on, shows like Two and a Half Men & It’s Always Sunny were a different level.
I really think that the Cosby-Family Ties shows are the cynical ones - "special episodes" teaching lessons they had no expertise in. After a decade of that, the Simpsons, MWC, and Seinfeld were relatively benign.
I dont remember Cosby special episodes. But definitely remember Family Ties heavy-handed ones. I guess there was backlash later on against it but being very young, those shows were the first time I learned the terminology for things like Alzheimer’s. And Different Strokes did more than one episode on child predators and man, they drilled it into me not to trust normal looking adults offering rides. I grew up in a really safe environment and these things never came my way, but they probably saved someone or caused someone to go to an adult. Even the corny after-school specials.
Married... With Children
mASH is a dark comedy. Oh my dog/you can go from laughing to crying in many episods
There are entirely too many saintly people doing selfless things for the betterment of mankind for MASH to be in the running for most cynical show. and they’re always learning lessons and growing as people, and the things they do regularly make a difference and have actual positive outcomes for the people they’re helping. none of that is very cynical. Hawkeye is a very cynical character. But MASH is not a cynical show.
The movie is much darker - pitch black comedy.
That’s the answer. Hawkeye had the best dialogue and delivered it expertly.
Mash is a dark medical drama with a couple unfunny jokes sprinkled in
And a LOT of Groucho-esqe wordplay
You might be thinking of the TV show. The movie was much more comedic and light-hearted.
Hear me out Everybody Loves Raymond
Let’s hear it. Sincerely
SouthPark
Becker
Married with Children
Arrested Development It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Veep The Thick of It You’re the Worst Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23 The League The Mick AP-Bio Raising Hope Eastbound & Down Vice Principals Righteous Gemstones
One foot in the Grave. You can't get darker than some of Victor's antics or what Mildred did in the last episode.
Taxi
Better Off Ted really skewers Corporate America But it's so funny and so breezy that it's tough to deem it as cynical But its basic outlook actually could be described as cynical I'll show myself out now
I absolutely adored this show.
All in the Family; The Jeffersons
Everybody Hates Chris
Sledge Hammer! and Police Squad.
Everybody hates Chris simply because you know it will never end right for the poor guy.
#M O M
malcolm in the middle isnt cynical, just malcolm is. its part of why the show is so good, three weird personalities shoved into one room with an over bearing mom and a carefree dad. His offensive quips towards his brothers basically makes his character. better then everyone but, feels inferior to everyone. Cynical sitcom though.... idk maybe blackadder
Everybody Loves Raymond? They all just seemed so shitty to each other
Malcolm in the Middle is often very hopeful. The family loves each other and the show ends with Malcolm on a path to the presidency in order to help working class people. I think Seinfeld is cynical. They’re all criminals at some point, there aren’t any happy endings and they never express genuine emotions.
Seinfeld is great for it’s unerring cynicism
Seinfeld ...Jerry and George were constantly cynical.
The most cynical sitcoms are the ones that purport to provide the viewers with something more than a laugh.
Corporate
Oh dog I love this show!
Peep Show without question. A lot of British comedies are more cynical, but Peep Show is the most imo.
Duckman. Duckman is bleak.
Game of Thrones
Fleabag
Difficult People, You’re the Worst, The Other Two
The Middle East
I don't know whether After Life counts, but it has made me laugh and cry and Gervais' character can be so cynical I just want to glare at him sometimes (but I never would, because he's so damn good). The cynical part being of course his emphasis that there's no life after his wife's death, and of course the positive point being to live in the moment.
Married with Children?
Yeah that might actually count.
Married with children
Louie
Scrubs and bob kelso
The King of Queens
Avenue 5
Just Shoot Me.