7 Reasons Amazon’s Transparent is the best comedy on TV
By Bryce Olin
Transparent is the perfect mix of comedy and drama
In a comedy, especially one like Transparent, there’s a delicate balance of comedy and drama.
Too much of either can tip the scales in a negative direction and change the tone of the series altogether. Of course, every show needs drama to survive, but the good ones know how to set the table, so to speak, for the comic relief and laugh-out-loud jokes.
While it can be painful and hard to watch at times, given the subject matter, there’s almost always a layer of comedy under all of the drama, or at least something funny right around the corner.
While I’m a fan of comedy in general, I find that the jokes hit harder when they’re set up by high stakes, tragedy, unfortunate circumstances, and uncomfortable situations. I don’t know why exactly that is, but Transparent has mastered the timing of their jokes to hit even harder when paired with something unfortunate or uncomfortable.
It’s important to keep that balance between drama and comedy in a TV show, especially a comedy. We can’t experience the joy without knowing sadness. We need to feel the lows so the highs will be that much better.
Right now, Transparent does that better than any other show on TV.
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