Movies •Books •Music •Food •Tv Shows •Technology •Politics •Video Games •Parenting •Fashion •Green Living •more >

Lunch » People » Ianmat » Lists » Bottom of the barrel or top of the trash heap (The best new-ish raunchy TV shows)

Bottom of the barrel or top of the trash heap (The best new-ish raunchy TV shows)

Jan 28, 2012

by Ianmat

(Wow I haven't been on in a really long time, time to jump in head first) About two months ago I was at school, smoking during my lunch break, when one of my friends was going off about how TV shows these days are either bland and tasteless or just simply disgusting. When I asked him about it he just simply compared Glee to High school Musical (a point that I completely agree with but we'll save that for another day) and It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia to a large pile of compost (I cleaned up the language to make this more accessible) While I argued with him about how his points were so superficial and short sided I found out that he, as well as several others, had only seen one episode of IASIP (Sunny) and just completely wrote it off as trash. This got me thinking as I am one to do, maybe the shows aren't exactly bad they just need to grow one you a bit. This also made me see that several shows are victim to the same thing; audiences write them off before even giving them an actual fighting chance. So being me, I decided that maybe people just need a little push to get into, what I believe to be, very funny TV shows. Now before you go through the list a couple of things I should address: -While funny, I wouldn't recommend these shows to a younger audience as they are quite adult in nature, even if most come off in a juvinille fashion -These are shows that I have in fact seen, so there will be of course several that have been left off that I hope to one day see (EX: Shameless, I have heard good things though) -These shows have to have at least two seasons and have come out reletively in the last five years -These are in no particular order

Louie

How can I not include anything Louie C.K. in a raunchy list? Arguably one of my favorite comedians, Louie C.K. is a very realistic guy who also happens to have almost no shame. He talks about racial topics, how the world is just messed up in completely weird ways, how much he hate his kids but loves them at the same time, duck vaginas...you heard me right and so on. So what's the show about, well I pretty much already told you with that intro. Louie is a no holds bar show loosely based on the comedians life. It's gross, it's awkward, uncomfortable and completely hilarious. The best aspect about this show though is the complete lack of what's going on. Seinfeld may have advertized they were a show about nothing, but Louie actually is a show about nothings it's just simply his weird, weird life that sometimes we could all relate to. There's even an entire episode about taking his kids trick or treating, the only punchline being that he dressed his daughter as Harriot Tubman...because he always wanted to as a kid. Realistic humor that also can be completely uncomfortable? And topics that most shows are completely afraid to address? I'm sold

Workaholics

Let me put you in a scenario: You're at work, just got there after the weekend was hard and you just simply want to sleep. All of the sudden you notice just across from your desk three of your stoner co-workers (Yes I do believe that ever job has at least one) have come in late...again. They seem to be bored the entire time and already making plans for the next weekend while they nurse a hangover. The only thing you can think is, "Man those guys simply do not want to grow up." Ladies and gentlemen this...is Workaholics. Originally an experiment by three guys trying to sell a show to a network, Workaholics has quickly become one of Comedy Central's best new TV shows. I could best describe the humor around either stoner or frat boy comedy with all of the jokes centering around the three guys talking about having sex, having a party and sometimes getting laid. In a strange way this works without being too contrived. The humor is played out as if this is really the protagonist's lives rather than reaching an audience. Sure, they may come across as completely idiotic but they feel like real friends, even down to sayings that no normal sane person would say. The episodes aren't all gems but when they are it's simply comedy gold such as the case of "To Friend a Predator." The three guys try to catch an internet predator scooping out a Justin Beiber fan site when they discover the guy is actually really cool. Ok, so the show isn't Oscar worthy but it's still a ton of fun. I would really recommend it.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

With all my talking about it, you knew it was going to be here. This show is just the perfect example of complete bathroom humor. It's gross, it's immoral, it's stupid/brilliant at the same time, the characters are all awful people...and I love every minute of it. Every episode is insane, from finding a dumpster baby, to flip flopping sides on abortion, to scamming the government out of welfare checks by getting addicted to crack. The humor is always on point though, while you absolutely hate these characters you somehow want to see them succeed. I suppose the biggest strength of the show is actually the very subtle underlying messages within the episode that can somehow make you really examine your life. What would I do if I found a dumpster baby? Can I be somewhat stalker-ish to someone who clearly finds me repugnant? It just works so well without ever actually saying a message. There are only two drawbacks in my opinion. 1. The humor can sometimes get way to far ranging from "Oh man really?" to "Jeez, I can't believe they actually did that!" and 2. Danny DeVito is obscenely disgusting. I don't even think he's acting I think it's actually him just being him which both works and makes you cringe. All of that aside it's amazing but it does have to grow on you quite a bit, I would actually suggest the episode, "The Gang Starts a band" for the newcomers to really see what it is they're getting into.

Trailer Park Boys: The Movie

Haven't heard of this one? Well that's because almost all of it's audience came from Canada. But what an audience it found, spanning over seven seasons, two movies and even a spin off. Trailer Park Boys is simply the story of two Ex-Cons who just got out of Prison and starting their lives back over, every season ending with them going back to prison because of their stupid actions. While every character in Sunny is despicable Trailer Park Boys has an entire cast of just plain weird characters which actually in a weird way works in their benefit. The show has a foul mouth and a deeply strange mind but a good heart. Most of the time the audience just witnesses their get rich quick schemes fall apart for laughs but often forget why they do it. The schemes are almost never for them, it's usually to benefit the park or someone they care about which is refreshing and pretty nice. It's a long one but it works out for the best, it's a strong, very funny show that after watching you will not forget even moments in season one, no matter how much you try.

American Dad

I know I know, just hear me out. While it's no secret I'm no fan of Seth Macfarlane, sometimes he can make a show work very, very well. When this show came out in 2005, I will admit I was not impressed by a blatent hit at Republicans and right wing views from a left wing extremist, keep in mind I am independent when it comes to my politics so the whole political angle wasn't the problem I just found it lazy. In time though it developed into a deeply funny TV show, while Family Guy just seemed to be lacking. It's crude, it's loud, it's Macfarlane but it's charming in it's own right with some deeply memorable episodes. Again, it's Macfarlane humor so it's usually hit or miss but out of all of his little trio this seems to show the most amount of effort that I just simply love.

What did you think of this list?

Helpful

Thought-Provoking

Fun to Read

Well-Organized

Post a Comment

BaronSamedi3 February 05, 2012

Nice list. I'm a Sunny fan myself, and I'm not averse to American Dad either.

Ianmat February 26, 2012

Thank you

show text editor

reply to this comment

Follow this review

djevoke January 29, 2012

Great list! I haven't seen #2 or #4 but, they sound worthy of checking out, thanks for sharing.

Ianmat February 26, 2012

I would recommend starting with Trailer Park Boys, it's a bit more clever than Workaholics and can get you into the right mindset for Workaholics

djevoke February 27, 2012

I will def do that! Thanks for the suggestion!

show text editor

reply to this comment

Follow this review

or create a list from this list

About the list creator

Ian (Ianmat)
Ranked #420

My name is Ian, and interesting would not really be a word to describe me. I'm an aspiring writer with a huge passion for movies and video games, some of which consume much of my time. Sadly that's … more

Recent reviews by Ianmat