How They Pulled Me Back In

I don't usually watch sitcoms, and my excuse has always been that I would rather invest my TV time in dramas that have a longer story arc and focus more on character development (ideally that's what a drama should do anyway). As I start to add a few sitcoms to my regular rotation however, I am re-thinking my original reasons for abandoning the 21-minute, live studio audience, cardboard backdrop format.

In essence, now that I've started watching Modern Family, 30 Rock, and The Big Bang Theory I am forced to conclude that I stopped watching sitcoms somewhere around 2002 because all of them sucked scrote. But these three gems, as with the iconic 5 families, have pulled me back in like Don Corleone.

I just finished the first season of Modern Family on DVD (through Netflix as always) and my abs are still sore from laughing hysterically. This show has the holy grail mixture: fantastic writing/dialog, and absolutely perfect casting. Eric Stonestreet as Cam and Ty Burrell as Phil are my favorites, though everyone in the cast deserves the highest praise. As a standout moment, Cam's soliloquy about Sophie's Choice during the mock interview has left an indelible giggle print on me.

30 Rock has always been in my Netflix streaming queue, and as with Modern Family I am a season behind. No matter ... it is still one of my favorites, as I've previously stated. Since my last soft-clap to 30 Rock I've grown much more fond of Tracy Morgan's performance on the show, and I'm convinced he's been robbed of the Emmy for best-supporting actor in a comedy series. Although I can't complain too much about the winner this year ... yep, it was Eric Stonestreet.

While we're on the Emmys, let's hit The Big Bang Theory. Jim Parsons, who not only portrays a native Texan ... he is a native Texan (all the best talent comes from Texas, folks ... witness Summer Glau, amen!), won the Emmy this year for best actor in a comedy and the Emmy was well-deserved. Some people don't like this show because they can't relate to the characters, but the resounding success of the series overall should give you some indication of how many uber-nerds are really out there. And, by the way advertisers, we nerds have a disproportionate slice of the disposable income in this world. This show has explosive dialog that sneaks up on you and sucker-punches your frontal lobe with its dragon style comedy-fu. If you haven't given it a shot, DVR an episode and tell me what you think.

Thanks to these three shows, I'm ready to make my grand re-entrance into the sitcom world and try a few others like Parks & Recreation and How I Met Your Mother. I'm not saying the sitcom quality drought of 20-aughts is necessarily past, but the recent drizzle of stellar comedy has me optimistic about the forecast.

P.S. -

Erica Durance, I love you.