>One thing that was said by Boomer and various reviewers of MITM is that it
>is "exaggerated". When watching, do we really believe that things happen
in
>the hypothetical Wilkerson house to the degree that they do? Probably
not.
>They don't burden themselves with operating on a real time continuum -
they
>just take you in each week and show you how off the charts they can make
the
>characters. IOW, looking at it over time it seems impossible to sustain
-
>but in each episode where something gets broken, the kids get grounded,
they
>go into debt, they yell at each other, etc., they take the individual
part
>and run with it.
That is the key I think. Most everything that happens on the show, if
taken completely in isolation, is very believeable. I remember doing
insane crazy things as a kid that I look back at now and can't believe
how stupid I was. The real exaggeration the show does is in piling it
on and weaving it together so that the total insanity is greater than
the sum of its parts. For me that is where it really becomes funny.
>
>Another thing I remember hearing when MITM first started was that it was
the
>:live action version of the Simpsons". That is, it's a cartoon performed
on
>a set with real actors. Take the animation constraint out and that's
what
>you have with MITM - a live action cartoon where anything is possible.
>
>Just like Wile E. Coyote can blow himself up with TNT time after time and
>bounce back like nothing happened...
>
True, but while they do play it that way a lot, they have also managed
to transcend it. Characters do develop. Francis over seasons 3 and 4
being the best example of that. Dewey has really started to develop
over season 4. Even Lois, almost on speaking terms with Piama by the
end of season 4. The Simpsons prides itself on NOT doing that, the
characters never learn.
I would say I couldn't name many shows where they manage to balance
that cartoon style absolution of consequence from one episode to the
next, yet manage to ****tray characters who learn and develop in a
meaningful and believable way over time.
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