User blog comment:Mattalamode/Improvable: "The Test" and Going Deep/@comment-26215750-20180825203255

Long time no, um... article, huh?

When I think of "The Test," I see an episode that manages to play off of the classic comedy tropes that have become, for better or worse, a staple in the genre. Having an episode like this in a show like TAWoG, which does not revel in most, if any of these said tropes (that you have mentioned in the article,) yet is still identified as a comedy show, is quite important when it comes to highlighting the creators of the show's divergences from the field of comedy writing (or moreso implying those divergences and making a satire out of the norm.) Of course, animation is most likely the biggest reason for that due to its ability to create even the wackiest and craziest of scenarios in each episode. Couple that with well-written humour intertwined with great and memorable characters and you have yourself a nice and original animated comedy series.

Truth be told, creating a show with a sense of originality and care involved is no easy task and often proves risky. A lot of cartoons centered around comedy didn't generally have themes of "meta humour" or anything of the sort even in their later seasons (take Ed, Edd and Eddy, for example, which more often than not stuck with slapstick and wittiness,) so for the show to really go out of its way and create its own appealing and well-executed style is not only commendable, but instrumental to its overall longevity.

But I digress. My point is that although the episode succeeded in poking fun at the various tricks used by mostly bland and mainstream sitcoms from before the twenty-first century, upon closer inspection, it feels rather odd that an animated show with an already established style would go after other shows in what many fans and casual watchers would probably define as a whole other medium. That doesn't make the episode any less enjoyable or drag it down, but it does feel rather strange when you think about it for a while. Of course, you could just disprove this by saying "Who cares?" and you'd most likely be right - the creators may have a bone to pick with these, in their eyes, inferior shows in terms of comedy due to their overeliance on cheap tricks to woo the mainstream audience. Whatever the case may be, I find this episode alright as it is, yet your version does have the possibility of being a lot better than it as well, though there's always the risk of the satirical jabs becoming too overbearing - see "The Worst" - but you can always just use them in a balanced way to make the "sitcom world" more unbelievable and segue into the, funnily enough, believable dream sequitur.

Overall, the episode is nice and manages to sustain itself without falling flat on its face out of a plethora of possible pitfalls (which is commendable in this day and age) and it also makes for an interesting inclusion of Sarah without her being too annoying, as well as a sound integration of those aforementioned comedy tropes into decent and some great scenes (GWORP.) Since it's kind of late, I can't really think of things I'd change, but I probably might think of something when (and if) you reply to my comment!

Take care and great article, as usual!