Pop Culture Wars

Earlier this week, Salon’s Matt Zoller Seitz had an article about how kids today don’t “get” the jokes in older episodes of The Simpson’s. The author’s point was that today’s comedies have too many pop culture references, and what may be funny today, will just be confusing in 5-10 year.

That’s a fair statement, but one that I feel doesn’t matter. The fact that a show like Mike & Molly, which doesn’t have tons of pop-culture references, may be more understandable to future generations, doesn’t make Mike & Molly a better show. I’d rather watch a show that he calls out as one of the reference-o-rama’s biggest culprits, Community. I’m so glad to have that show on TV right now. I hope that Community continues to air (and hopefully becomes more successful) and make pop-culture references that are stale after a few years. Because if Community’s a success, then networks will continue to invest in shows that are 1) good (i.e., not Mike & Molly), and 2) offer immediate satisfaction, which is all anyone really wants.



[via Salon ]