As he championed "the new journalism" in the late sixties, Tom Wolfe suggested no one ever would write anything truly compelling"”fact or fiction"”about the suburbs; he asserted, "There is no life there." During the New Depression, however, the suburbs have gone ghetto, suddenly teeming with life and depravity; and television writers are producing all kinds of compelling stuff about what they have discovered beyond the white picket fences. Witness Showtime's smash-hit "Weeds," the life and times of a "proper" suburban widow keeping-up appearances while she deals more dope than a six-pack of Mexican cartels. As in "The Office," the basic premise for "Weeds" is an import from Great Britain, adapted from the British film Saving Grace which showed a widow and her gardener conspiring to maintain the widow's lifestyle by supplying the locals with their favorite herbal refreshment. Critics frequently compare "Weeds" with American Beauty for its exploitation of the idea "Normal is the face we wear to cover how f***ed-up we are." By contrast with "Desperate Housewives," Nancy Botwin, our entrepreneurial heroine, has far more good reason for desperation than her difficulty achieving orgasm; she has a house, a mortgage, two sons, and a reputation. Since Bonfire of the Vanities tanked and "Weeds" flourished, Tom Wolfe may have to consider the distinct possibility that there is no life in Manhattan.

Somebody Somewhere is a TV series that premiered on HBO in January 2022. The show is a comedy drama that follows Sam, a woman in her 40s who is dealing with a midlife crisis after the death of her sister. The series is set in Manhattan, Kansas and stars Bridget Everett as Sam, Jeff Hiller as her co-worker and friend Joel, and Mary Catherine Garrison as Tricia Miller, Sam's sister who runs a store called Tender Moments.

Fresh Off the Boat is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from 2015 to 2020. The show is loosely based on the life of Eddie Huang, a Taiwanese-American chef and writer, and his book of the same name. The series follows the story of a Taiwanese-American family who move from Washington, D.C. to Orlando, Florida in the 1990s, where they open a steakhouse.

Three uniquely Perfect Couples make for delightful entertainment"¦ The humor in this sit-com is to be found in satire and often bizarre behavior on the part of six individuals who just happen to consider themselves perfect in a world filled with imperfections. If Amy and Vance are not fighting they are making love with little common ground in the middle. Leigh and her husband Rex see themselves as the perfect pair who are also experts when it comes to relationships. The pair that are closest to normal may be Julia and Dave and the others seem to be able to relate best to them. While we may each feel we know a great deal about some subjects, these three couples know they represent the perfect couple, and that may be their biggest flaw. Episodes include subject like food poisoning, dead opossums, and bickering among themselves that no one actually takes seriously. A talented cast with familiar faces will help make this comedy a hit and the excellent writing should keep it running for years. There is a chemistry between each character that shines and captures the audience.

With much humor derived from some cast members of Saturday Night Live and with approval from Lorne Michaels himself, Portlandia was born. The name Portlandia refers to a sculpture with that title found over the entrance doors of the Portland Building which is situated in downtown Portland on Fifth Avenue. The show has the fast paced comedy touch that SNL is well noted for and cast members Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein help keep it moving along. With Lorne Michaels as executive producer and creative writing from Fred Armisen, Jonathan Krisel, and Carrie Brownstein the show appears to have a bright future. We see how popular restaurants along the famous Hawthorne District in Portland handle irate dinner guests when they leave rather nasty reviews on a website titled Yelp! Another episode finds how badly a one man performance can actually be at the Hollywood Theatre, a local historic building in northeast Portland. If it happens in or around Portland it might end up on the show in some fashion, most likely comedic in tone. Portlandia currently runs on the IFC (Independent Film Channel).

Miracle Workers is a television series that premiered in 2019 on TBS. The show is based on the novel "What in God's Name" by Simon Rich and stars Daniel Radcliffe and Steve Buscemi. It is a comedy series that takes a lighthearted look at heaven and the bureaucracy that runs it.