Is anybody watching Traffic Light?

It’s been a little over a month since FOX’s Traffic Light premiered. I was looking forward to the show, especially since I thought I’d be able to relate to the married couple with a baby who are trying to balance romance and companionship, as well as the really mundane and annoying stuff that people don’t often talk about. I also appreciate a good “transitional relationship” storyline … however, I can take or leave the “perpetually single guy” aspect of these sitcoms.

After the pilot I thought the show had promise, but was looking for more laughs. The second episode was just ridiculous to me — do grown men still accompany their friends to retrieve missing carnival dogs? Why is there even a carnival dog in the first place? The third was better, but still felt like a ripoff of other shows, such as How I Met Your Mother. After the fourth episode I gave up reviewing it. I just didn’t find myself rooting for any of the characters.

Now I will admit something: I still kinda watch the snow. But this is only because my husband still watches it. (Of course, I have to tell you that for my husband, “watching” is a loose term; it basically describes what he’s glancing at in between working, surfing the web, and updating on Twitter. But still, he wanted me to keep it on the DVR.) I’m not exactly sure if he thinks it’s good, or whether he feels he’s now somewhat invested in these characters — the male ones, that is — but he doesn’t want to give up yet. And every time I ask, he can never really give me a straight answer. All he does is mumble something about how “it’s better than Mr. Sunshine.”

But aside from him I don’t know one person who is still watching, and if so, why. The women I’ve spoken to claim the show is misogynistic, and that the cast consists of caricatures rather than characters. I personally can’t get over how each week the guys are trying to somehow fool or trick their significant others, as if the women are really that dense, or as if the men are super-smooth and somehow able to be discreet about anything. Can Adam get through one week without inadvertently insulting Callie about her careless behavior or her irresponsibility with money? Can Mike try treating Lisa as an equal, and not just the nagging mom he has to sit in his car to get away from?

CliqueClack‘s An prefers shows like Cougar Town and Mike and Molly to Traffic Light. When I mentioned that I thought TL might be geared more towards men than women, here’s what she had to say:

“I always saw TL as leaning towards women with its focus on the family (the lead character, his wife, and his kid), lack of overt slapstick, and the underlying ideology that adheres to “the woman is typically right” (when contrasted with the zany, immature men).

“I didn’t pick up on the misogyny. But, when you point it out, I can see it. The men are the leads and slightly more fleshed out. However, I didn’t hate it. In fact, I started watching it because I liked the lead characters who formerly showed up in NCIS, Love Actually, and Drop Dead Diva. Also, I noticed that Hollywood in the past five years started to trend toward the eternally single, eternally good-looking 30/40-somethings. For contrast, I liked Cougar Town and the recent shows like Mike & Molly and Perfect Couples for starting to focus on non-singles. However, I disliked Traffic Light/Perfect Couples for the lack of character development. They both seem to want to focus on reality with the grainy shots, the focus on people in their cars, and the mundane aspects of every day life, but the happenings are so trivial I find it hard to believe. Cougar Town, with its over-the-top craziness, still manages to find a root in reality.”

Kona defends TL a bit: “I actually don’t mind it. It’s no Parks and Rec or Community, but it’s better than Mr. Sunshine, which is just so boring it hurts. It could definitely use more character development, but I’m not really invested in it enough to care that much. It’s a lot like Perfect Couples for me in that way.”

But will people actually watch it if they don’t care about these underdeveloped characters? Is not really being invested in the show better than hating it? It’s not like hating a show like South Park, which is unabashedly un-PC yet riles some people up enough to keep tuning in and talking about it. (For the record, I love South Park.) If people hate TL, will it still survive? I’m thinking not.

Are you still watching Traffic Light? If so, tell us why! And if not … tell us that, too.

Clacked by Rachel Blum-Jose
on Mar 18, 2011 @ 16:00 EST5EDT