Comedy vs. Drama in Television

Originally, I wanted to make this post about Nurse Jackie and how it is a very different kind of comedy. A darker kind of comedy. But I've trashed that blog post and I'm starting over. Instead, I'd like to take a moment to reflect on what television classifies comedy and drama, and the fine line between them.

In the 2010 Emmys award show, Edie Falco, who plays Jackie Peyton in Showtime's Nurse Jackie, said in her acceptance speech for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series, "Oh, this is just the most ridiculous thing that has ever, ever happened in the history of this lovely awards show. Thank you so much. I'm not funny." And quite frankly, she is correct. Her character is dead serious at all times. So why is the show considered a comedy? Let's take a moment to reflect some other shows.

Weeds and Breaking Bad are, on paper, extremely similar shows. Beg to differ? Pop quiz. Which show featured a child committing murder with the weapon of a baseball bat? Answer: Weeds. The show certainly does not lack the dramatic situations found in Breaking Bad. So what makes one a comedy and the other a drama? In reality, the only thing differentiating the two is a lighter tone obtained almost single-handedly through dialogue.

However, it goes both ways. Dramas can often be comedic. With every drama, you need the supporting characters that provide comedic relief. That's what makes Nurse Jackie on such a fine line. Jackie is dead serious at all times. She has no funny side. Meanwhile, plenty supporting characters like Zoey and Cooper deliver the comedic side. Even in shows with an extremely dark main character, like Dexter, the audience is still drawn to him. We are able to see past his behavior as a result of his moral ambiguity, and humor plays an important role in that conflict. His inner dialogue is often a satirical statement on human emotion. Even so, nobody would call Dexter a comedy.

I don't want to be misunderstood. Comedies with a serious touch, like Nurse Jackie and Weeds, aren't trivializing the main characters and their situations. In fact, these television shows are written with far more depth and complexity than the average comedy. Still, there seems to be a lot of gray area when it comes to categorizing the genre of shows. Maybe, just possibly, there really is no difference between comedy and drama. Or, maybe, I'm wrong.

My Big Issue With Women in Television

In the past few months, I've been told by dozens of people that I am overly critical of female characters in television shows. Maybe this is true. But there's a reason that none of them live up to my expectations. I am a sucker for the antihero. There is nothing I find more fascinating than rooting for the bad guy, or watching a character blur the lines of good and evil. Unfortunately, female characters are crippled by the limitations of those writing them. I acknowledge that there are some television writers that have tried to break free from the woman stereotype, but all have failed again and again to create a successful antihero.

No antiheroine has ever clung to viewers the way Dexter Morgan or Walter White have. A major flaw with attempts to create this role is that writers are afraid of going to the extreme. Their hesitance bleeds into the character, preventing the birth of a strong, captivating woman that the audience wants to watch. Of course it's unsettling to think about a female serial killer or meth manufacturer, but it's those kind of extremities that a female character needs in order to prove herself to the viewers. What if Dexter was called Debra? A show about a female cop with deep urges to kill, who's brother is a blood spatter analyst and always on her tail without realizing it. Now that's a show I would watch. What if Breaking Bad's leading character was Skyler White? A show about a woman who's the breadwinner, which is not saying much, but diagnosed with cancer. The doctor's best guess is that she only has a few more months left, and the pilot ends with her finding out she's pregnant. Maybe she runs the show, forcing her high school chemistry teacher husband to cook meth to support her family when she's gone, and turns into a monster. I can't even imagine what those writers could do with a premise like that. But television has nothing remotely close to a female as dangerous and edgy as either of those examples.

There are a few female roles that somewhat satisfy my antiheroine needs as a viewer. Alicia Florrick, also known as The Good Wife, takes her life back after having to stand beside her political husband as he makes a public apology for a sex scandal. I thoroughly enjoyed watching her go from a suppressed stay at home mom to a very successful lawyer who has taken back control over her own life. Still, I wouldn't consider that antiheroic, as much as I would call her a strong, independent self-heroic woman. I have seen a hint of antiheroism in Nurse Jackie's leading lady. Jackie Peyton is an unfaithful, rule breaking drug addicted nurse that any woman could relate to. She constantly goes around the system to do what she believes should be done, no matter how immoral her means are to make it happen. Even with all of that, she lacks the edge that I'm looking for.

I have searched far and wide with no luck in finding a female character that can rank among Dexter Morgan and Walter White. At the end of the day, I've decided that there is only one way I'm ever going to find the antiheroine I am searching for. Time to write her myself.