Season 4

Now we're getting somewhere.
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By Gabriel, 10 Aug 23, 0

Describe one sitcom dad and you’ve largely described all of them. They’re snowmen, crafted to be observably humanoid by people who either lack the time, talent, or audience to manage…

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By Gabriel, 01 Nov 22, 1

Part of what makes sitcoms a form of comfort food is that they fly in the face of standard narrative wisdom. There’s no journey that leaves its characters changed here,…

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By Gabriel, 30 May 22, 0

Nobody is proud of being an underachiever. People require a positive sense of self to live, and this sense is maintained via socially acknowledged markers. Most of these markers relate…

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By Gabriel, 21 Dec 21, 5

There is a fundamental connection between horror and comedy, and for proof we need look no further than the clown. It doesn’t even need to be a horror clown, with…

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By Gabriel, 27 Sep 21, 4

There’s some old advice on narrative writing from Arthur Quiller-Couch about murdering your darlings, by which he meant ornamental prose. The phrase has since evolved to “kill your darlings” and…

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By Gabriel, 22 Aug 21, 5

My Recollection. I remember this one having some solid lines. Reverend Lovejoy’s incredibly patronising, “Aw, that’s just super” regarding the Hindu faith became one of those borrowed lines you’d use…

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By Gabriel, 14 Jul 21, 3

My Recollection. I remember having some of the references to the episode’s namesake explained to me, but even as a child, images of Stanley crying for Stella were common sights…

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By Gabriel, 24 May 21, 6

My Recollection. “Mr Black”. “Mmm, strawberries”. Barney as Krunchie the Klown. My memory of this episode puts it in the same blur of season three. The commentary track mentions that…