Emmy Round Table: Comedy: TV’s content explosion means there’s good stuff for everyone
Anna Faris (“Mom”), Jeffrey Tambor (“Transparent”) and others discuss shifting social attitudes toward women, people of color and the transgender community in TV.
The arrival of streaming services and an ever-expanding number of cable channels means there has been an explosion of content for television viewers to consume.
As a result, said Jeffrey Tambor (“Transparent”) at The Envelope’s annual Emmy Comedy Roundtable discussion, “I think one thing that has happened that’s tremendous is there are more opportunities for young actors and young creative people than there’s ever been.”
But not just young people. Many programmers have moved on from the high jinks of singletons to the comic concerns of multigenerational families, complete with older actors, noted Times television critic Mary McNamara as she guided the conversation.
Along with Tambor, Anthony Anderson (“black-ish”), Anna Faris (“Mom”), Billy Crystal (“The Comedians”) and Danny DeVito (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) noticed, too, that women now often can be found at the center of shows — a rare pleasure for an actress, Faris added.
The increased content also gives the audience more power over what they are watching.
“The laugh track is over, and the people have been underestimated enough,” Tambor said. “I think finally the audience is there.”
See what else they had to say in the video above, and come back for other Emmy conversations.
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