While my Funny Bone Gently Weeps

So, I've got to say that the not-quite cancellation of Arrested Development has seriously bummed me out. No more thinking-man's humor, just more drudgery from the likes of Charlie Sheen and Michael Rapaport. I will admit that, oddly enough, when I watch Charlie Sheen's show, I don't feel dirty afterward, just dumber. I cannot say the same for Mr. Rapaport's shitfest, The War at Home. The show is just trash. Subjects covered in it thus far have included the parents' occasional marijuana use, oral sex, and the fifteen-year-old daughter wanting breast implants. It is The Jerry Springer Show in sitcom form. Well, maybe there are less fights, I don't know.
So, last night, I was at Wal-Mart at about 1:30 AM and tried to find something, anything really, good out on DVD. All the movies were crap. Most of the TV box sets were too expensive. Then I found Frasier's 7th season for $30. I already have season 1 and 2 and really enjoyed them, so I didn't even look to see what the main arc of season 7 was. I just bought it and went home. It turns out it's the season where Daphne and Niles finally get together in the end, after she ducks out of her wedding and runs off with Niles. Thinking back, it's probably the best season of the show. I'm really glad I got it.
As I was watching it, though, it struck me just how funny the show was to me on an intellectual level. It wasn't sight gags or low-brow humor, but it was really smart at times. Jokes that I didn't get 5 years ago now make perfect sense because of how much I've learned over those years. The show is damn funny. Sure, it has a laugh-track, which is currently the bane of my existence, but I can get past that. There was a joke that cracked me up just a few minutes ago (yes, I'm watching this at work). Frasier, Niles, and Martin, the dad, are in the Winnebago and Niles wants to drive. Martin says, "Son, you don't handle big cars very well. I remember when I tried to teach you to drive my Le Sabre, you kept pulling the emergency brake." Niles deftly responds, "Well, that's because those mailboxes weren't slowing my down at all." God. The final season of the show may have been a bit much, but I still think that Frasier was one of the better shows that has graced the television screen.