![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Carmen musings
Sep. 25th, 2015 07:04 amIt's always interesting watch season 1 of Carmen. It's such an unusual series of contrasts. On the one hand, they were experimenting and not quite sure what they wanted yet. They knew they wanted to be kind of wacky, but there was also a certain ... classiness? Season 1 episodes seem more restrained than the other seasons in some ways ... yet in other ways, season 1 pushed the envelope more than any other season. It had the highest concentration of Dying Informant sketches, which were definitely treading into black comedy territory, it had a mysterious voice that was heavily implied to be God, and it had terrible things like the Office sketch of doom that scared the heck out of me. It also had more Mrs. Pumpkin-Klanger sketches than any other season, I think. It seemed like she was popping up in nearly every episode back then!
By season 2 they seemed to clearly know what they wanted; Disturbing the Heavenly Peace debuted Carmen in a bit of a different light: the restraints were off (in some ways). Things got much sillier and wackier, in both the Office sketches and Rockapella's antics. On the other hand, the Dying Informant and Mrs. Pumpkin-Klanger didn't appear as much and the Voice was eliminated completely. And things happened like Barry beginning his appearances as a big baby. LOL. Each season gradually got sillier and stranger after that, as they grew more and more bold. But even as they grew bolder, they definitely got gun-shy about things that might be too controversial in kids' shows. I suspect that is the real reason why the Dying Informant no longer appeared (that we know of) after season 3. They wanted to go for a different kind of humor that could be weird, weird, WEIRD as heck, but not something they might get in trouble over.
Something else that intrigues me watching the show is how every now and then they threw in things about interracial romantic relationships. I think it may have been one of the first kids' shows to do that? I remember the Office sketch about the Chief's gorgeous cousin Gladys and Greg totally wanting to set up a date with her. (Actually, that was kind of mean of the Chief to bring up the possibility and then not let him contact Gladys!) And I've wondered a little bit if they were trying to hint at a romantic relationship between Greg and the Chief, or at least, that maybe they had such feelings for each other even if they didn't act on them. Occasional sketches like the one about the changing background music come to mind. The writers seemed to definitely tease and toy with the possibility even though they didn't go beyond that. I'm not sure what I think of the idea, as I love the idea of the platonic relationship between an exasperated boss and her detective. But something intrigues me just a little bit at the thought of the Chief and Greg having romantic feelings for each other.
And then there's the handful of sketches that kind of make it seem like the Chief might be an android instead of a real person. The sketch of doom supports that idea, as do the bizarre ones about the Chief's memory being full and the polarity thing. But of course, those are not meant to be taken seriously and I don't consider them part of the strict canon, as it were. (Not that the show has a "strict" canon....) All other evidence points to the Chief being a human.
I really love the thing in season 1 where she talks about her family or her personal life after the briefing. That was something they did away with after that that I wish they'd kept. She told such interesting snippets. And wow, what a big family!
I also love the music they had during the briefings in season 1. That hearkens back to the idea that season 1 wanted a classy feel. I wish they'd kept that music.
There are things to love about every season, and sometimes, depending on my mood, I prefer the unrestrained silliness of season 2 or even 3 and up, but it doesn't take too much watching of season 1 to remember why I love it a lot. It was what first enchanted me, after all.
By season 2 they seemed to clearly know what they wanted; Disturbing the Heavenly Peace debuted Carmen in a bit of a different light: the restraints were off (in some ways). Things got much sillier and wackier, in both the Office sketches and Rockapella's antics. On the other hand, the Dying Informant and Mrs. Pumpkin-Klanger didn't appear as much and the Voice was eliminated completely. And things happened like Barry beginning his appearances as a big baby. LOL. Each season gradually got sillier and stranger after that, as they grew more and more bold. But even as they grew bolder, they definitely got gun-shy about things that might be too controversial in kids' shows. I suspect that is the real reason why the Dying Informant no longer appeared (that we know of) after season 3. They wanted to go for a different kind of humor that could be weird, weird, WEIRD as heck, but not something they might get in trouble over.
Something else that intrigues me watching the show is how every now and then they threw in things about interracial romantic relationships. I think it may have been one of the first kids' shows to do that? I remember the Office sketch about the Chief's gorgeous cousin Gladys and Greg totally wanting to set up a date with her. (Actually, that was kind of mean of the Chief to bring up the possibility and then not let him contact Gladys!) And I've wondered a little bit if they were trying to hint at a romantic relationship between Greg and the Chief, or at least, that maybe they had such feelings for each other even if they didn't act on them. Occasional sketches like the one about the changing background music come to mind. The writers seemed to definitely tease and toy with the possibility even though they didn't go beyond that. I'm not sure what I think of the idea, as I love the idea of the platonic relationship between an exasperated boss and her detective. But something intrigues me just a little bit at the thought of the Chief and Greg having romantic feelings for each other.
And then there's the handful of sketches that kind of make it seem like the Chief might be an android instead of a real person. The sketch of doom supports that idea, as do the bizarre ones about the Chief's memory being full and the polarity thing. But of course, those are not meant to be taken seriously and I don't consider them part of the strict canon, as it were. (Not that the show has a "strict" canon....) All other evidence points to the Chief being a human.
I really love the thing in season 1 where she talks about her family or her personal life after the briefing. That was something they did away with after that that I wish they'd kept. She told such interesting snippets. And wow, what a big family!
I also love the music they had during the briefings in season 1. That hearkens back to the idea that season 1 wanted a classy feel. I wish they'd kept that music.
There are things to love about every season, and sometimes, depending on my mood, I prefer the unrestrained silliness of season 2 or even 3 and up, but it doesn't take too much watching of season 1 to remember why I love it a lot. It was what first enchanted me, after all.
