by Andrew on Sun Jan 03, 2010 5:13 pm
Same old story with the latest ep; the best stuff was with the original cast members, the rest was weak to terrible. It really doesn't look like they're going to redeem Cole at all, which means he'll remain a useless, grating character. It's not that every character in a show has to be likeable, but when you have a character who is fundamentally unlikeable in a comedy series you've got to do at least one of the following:
1. Redeem them somehow/show that they're not all bad
2. Make them incredibly clever/witty to the point where even though they're a jerk, they're just too damn entertaining to dislike
3. Have them lose. Ultimately, things don't go their way, they get shown up, their plans fall through, stuff comes back to bite them etc.
That's what made the antagonistic regular/recurring characters during the first eight seasons work. They had their redeeming qualities, even if they didn't come out very often, they had genuinely funny lines and they wouldn't always come out on top. That's where I feel they're going wrong with Cole, apart from the trick Dr Cox played on him in the latest episode he gets away with being a tool (and is right back to being one at the end of the episode, no doubt nothing will change). He's displayed no redeeming features in his character, he's yet to have a funny line and he escapes any real backlash for his dickery (for lack of a better term). Maybe the point is we're supposed to dislike him but I don't think that's a good approach for a main character, at least not in this show.
The characters new still feel really out of place. Even putting aside the very simple "They're not the original characters" kneejerk response, the style and humour of the show was based around the original characters and I don't think new, different ones are slotting in very well. Classic Simpsons had great characters, but they wouldn't work on Family Guy. Scrubs' original characters wouldn't work on a show like M*A*S*H and Frasier's characters wouldn't work on Friends. I know Bill Lawrence is urging people to treat it like a new show, but it's still trying to do the Scrubs formula with poorly fitting characters so new season, new show or spinoff, the results aren't pretty.
Hate to say it about one of my favourite shows, but I hope the declining ratings lead to its cancellation when Season 9 is through. The cast and crew may not deserve it, even the new cast who are probably doing the best they can with the material they're given, but it's just sad how quickly Season 9 is bombing when Season 8 was such a good turnaround for the show and could've left us with such a great finale.