Episode 221 — The 2 Broke Girls Writers' Room

[JulyDiaz 2797]

On today’s episode, Patrick Walsh & Andrew have a very interesting conversation about the writing process of 2 Broke Girls. Be sure to keep leaving us messages at (323) 389-RACE.

[Cabbage 3]

I'm going to dispense with the usual criticism of Andrew (i.e. he's too nice on the podcast in comparison to his blog) and just say that there were a few assumptions made by Patrick Walsh that are highly questionable. He said at one point that, about the show about call centres, the audience were essentially to blame for any stereotyping because they were racist - I don't buy that, it's a convenient way to get the writers, the producers and essentially the company off the hook by blaming people who can't argue back. By the same token, Walsh was very careful to counter any criticism of 2 Broke Girls by arguing that he's either constrained by the nature of the institution he works for or that he works with all these people of colour who seem to agree with all the creative decisions the show's making so that if Andrew says anything about it he's just being unfair.

[AndyPacheco-Fores 437]

Colour????? YOU REDCOAT GTFO

[wo 265]

So, in summation: TV sitcoms are SUPER racist; no one likes to be called racist.

[mabobon 12]

Much like watching any episode of 2 Broke Girls, I had to stop listening to this episode of the podcast after all of the "justifications" for racist acting, writing, marketing, etc.

 

It's Always Sunny isn't perceived as "less racist" when they use racism in their jokes/guest characters because "it's cool"- it Is perceived as racist, And they make funnier (to me) jokes.

 

It doesn't matter how many non-whites you have on a writing staff, or in the ensemble- if the shit is racist, it's still racist. Make better jokes/a better show (I don't know how, or what that would necessarily be), and it would go down a lot easier.

[mall 29]

hey fellas just left the 2 broke girls writers room. very racist in there

[JamesCrackCorn 33]

Much like watching any episode of 2 Broke Girls, I had to stop listening to this episode of the podcast after all of the "justifications" for racist acting, writing, marketing, etc.

 

It's Always Sunny isn't perceived as "less racist" when they use racism in their jokes/guest characters because "it's cool"- it Is perceived as racist, And they make funnier (to me) jokes.

 

It doesn't matter how many non-whites you have on a writing staff, or in the ensemble- if the shit is racist, it's still racist. Make better jokes/a better show (I don't know how, or what that would necessarily be), and it would go down a lot easier.

 

I think that in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, there is an element of satire that isn't present in 2 Broke Girls. When a character is being racist in Sunny, I think the joke is the racism rather than the character's intended target.

 

In 2 Broke Girls, when a character says, "You can't tell an asian he's made a mistake, he'll go in the back and throw himself on a sword," (

) the joke is on the Asian character and, by extension, Asians in general. I have only seen two episodes of 2 Broke Girls, but restaurant owner seems to exist solely as a place mark for Asian stereotypes.

[Joshie 125]

.

[Podus 108]

Damn you fuckers have no sense of humor.

[AndyPacheco-Fores 437]

typical andrew ti internet tough guy routine. call something out at full force when you don't know the people involved, then refuse to actually call shit out when its right in front of you.

 

this is just like calling out the cops on an earlier episode, if you are working a job where you aren't racist but find yourself trapped by the system into perpetuating racism, you need to quit. no weak excuses, its always sunny does terrible racist jokes, 2 broke girls does terrible racist jokes. if you have the choice of doing subtle jokes to appeal to comedy writers or racist jokes to appeal broadly to america, its not even a question. patrick walsh is actively complicit in racism and andrew ti is a hypocrite, if you're gonna call out cops for doing racist shit thanks to institutional inertia even if they're not individually hateful, you gotta call out sitcom writers like this guy

If there was ever a time to go against this podcast's tradition of not doing any research, it'd be this. When you haven't seen the show, especially recently, you can't credibly counter anything he says about how it's grown and changed and gotten better about racism and whatever.

[mabobon 12]

 

I think that in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, there is an element of satire that isn't present in 2 Broke Girls. When a character is being racist in Sunny, I think the joke is the racism rather than the character's intended target.

 

In 2 Broke Girls, when a character says, "You can't tell an asian he's made a mistake, he'll go in the back and throw himself on a sword," (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yQULP-P5q8) the joke is on the Asian character and, by extension, Asians in general. I have only seen two episodes of 2 Broke Girls, but restaurant owner seems to exist solely as a place mark for Asian stereotypes.

 

I totally agree- I just think that (and I think this might have been covered on this podcast at some point), while the satirical bent on that show is really enjoyable/interesting if it's accepted as such, it could also just be seen as repeating/reinforcing stereotypes, despite the intent, to people either "not getting it", or it maybe not being as effective as a satire as we might think.

 

Guess I was pulling an Andrew Ti and trying to give this racist producer's racist body of racism a leg to stand on ("a hot asian guy's! That'll make it okay!").

[JamesCrackCorn 33]

 

I totally agree- I just think that (and I think this might have been covered on this podcast at some point), while the satirical bent on that show is really enjoyable/interesting if it's accepted as such, it could also just be seen as repeating/reinforcing stereotypes, despite the intent, to people either "not getting it", or it maybe not being as effective as a satire as we might think.

 

Guess I was pulling an Andrew Ti and trying to give this racist producer's racist body of racism a leg to stand on ("a hot asian guy's! That'll make it okay!").

 

I think that is an interesting point on whether satire should be viewed as harmful based on its perception rather than its intention. I'm sure there are people who see Sunny as a sincere declaration of belief.