Trafficlight.jpg

I don’t watch a ton of television shows, and when I do, I like the sitcoms, because they’re funny and over in half an hour. Problem is, most sitcoms aren’t funny. (You know the ones I’m talking about.) As of this precise moment in time, there are exactly 1.9 funny shows on television: .9 of that figure is Parks and Recreation, while the remaining 1.0 is split between the ever-dissolving remnants of 30 Rock and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

And the new sitcoms are even worse than the old, tired ones. (I’m looking at you, Mr. Sunshine! Fuck you, Mr. Sunshine!) BUT! There’s a halfway decent one, and it’s called, for apparently no reason, Traffic Light. It’s been on for five weeks and it’s kinda good. Not great, mind you, but don’t forget: It’s a sitcom. There’s a baby (as you can see from the terrible looking picture above) BUT there is also a bulldog. So it kind of evens out.

A remake of an Israeli show called Ramzor (true!), Traffic Light steals the very, very tired premise of How I Met Your Stupid Mother—three dudes and two chicks; one of the dudes is married to one of the chicks, another of the dudes sleeps with 18 bazillion people per episode. But they actually made it somewhat likable and very slightly funny.

Most of this has to do with Nelson Franklin, who plays the guy with the glasses. Franklin (Scott Pilgrim, Party Down) is gently affable, and able to deliver a starchy ol’ sitcom line without you wanting to punch the TV screen with your entire arm. There’s also a dude from The Office, who plays the big married dude. He’s good, too. Then there’s the British dude, in the Neil Patrick Harris role. He’s annoying. He’s like a cross between Joel McHale and Russell Brand. Right? ANNOYING. But he’s not in the show as much as the other two, so you can forget about him.

Last week the three amigos argued about which is the best American rock band, which is actually a conversation that I have actually had in my actual life. (It’s like my life up there!) The characters settled on the Beach Boys and, along the way, made fun of people like me who choose the Velvet Underground. Touché, Traffic Light!

Anyway, it doesn’t totally suck. You might even like it. It’s on tonight on FOX at 9:30. If you’re home, and the TV’s already on, and you feel tempted to watch it, you might as well.

Ned Lannamann is a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon. He writes about film, music, TV, books, travel, tech, food, drink, outdoors, and other things.

14 replies on “<i>Traffic Light</i> Is Not the Worst Thing on Television”

  2. I read somewhere that How I Met Your Mother had been on for like a million years. Which I totally don’t understand as I’ve never managed to see a single episode in all my plane flights. I thought it was a new show.

  9. So is Archer, so is It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, so is 30 Rock, so is Parks and Recreation…

    And those are just sitcoms still on the air!

    I just love a blog post with a flat out wrong thesis.

  10. How I Met Your Mother now manages a great joke every few episodes, and it usually has to do with Marshall, or worse, Lilly. It had few a 3-4 consistently great seasons, even with the dork that is Ted Moseby (who has, fine, taught me life lessons).

    Traffic Light’s at least funnier than Better Than You and whatever show it is that has Putty and David Spade. Maybe it’s that one. I’m not looking it up and helping its internet searches grow. I enjoy the actress that plays the British guy’s girlfriend and played Daisy on Californication and was on Undeclared years ago.

    In the realm of other new comedies, Raising Hope has its moments. Not many, but it does.

  11. Archer’s only funny if you never saw Sealab or Frisky Dingo. Because it’s just a half-assed mangling of both of those shows with Jon Benjamin’s voice.

    I watched a couple episodes and then just went back to watching Frisky Dingo on DVD.

  13. I really like 30 Rock, the Venture Bros, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Community and Cougar Town. The rest I could take or leave, mostly leave.

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