"… and come to think of it, an odious little Belgian has just been wandering around the parking lot all day."

I bet he doesn't. This premise seems like a tailor-made opportunity to critique "schlubby manchild gets hot lady" movies. But even money says it's more of a "Loser Discovers His True Self, and Begins a Tentative Romance with the Female Lead's Sister" kind of thing.

Another unmentioned, pioneering example of this genre: The John Larroquette Show. It was ceaselessly tinkered with, but it was at first a noble attempt to base a sitcom around a recovering alcoholic and a group of other 'dead-enders' trying to get their lives back on track. It was dark and grimly amusing if not…

Canadian whiskey is the perfect mixing whiskey. And our icewine is pretty great too, if that's your thing.

It was fine, and frequently funny. Its biggest flaw was its villain. Neil Casey is great, but his role seemed destined to be a henchman to a Big Bad that never arrived.

The tandem of Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham would eat this premise alive.

Kathryn Hahn could make it work. Jane Lynch in mischievous slacker mode would be perfect. Ilana Glazer or Claudia O'Doherty would be unhinged.

Even better! Maria Thayer totally has the comic chops to carry it.

Unless it's a "Pier Pressure" style flashback set-up, the winning solution to this is to make Michael's wife the main character. Any other strategy is doomed to failure.

Also more than a little surprised that Leonard Cohen's "Democracy" hasn't been referenced more often lately:

A long, long, time ago,
I can still remember how
Politics used to make me smirk.

I fully expect the White House to be indistinguishable from the Overlook Hotel within a year.

Trump doesn't even believe in the Bible. He seems to only follow the bastardized tenets of the Church of the Invisible Hand:

9 is the most underrated installment in the franchise. It's a lot of fun, and the world is rich. I suspect the undervaluing comes from the quality of its villain, which is … not great.

Obama squandered his brief window of potential effectiveness trying to play Lincoln for his first 2 years, when he should have been ramming through progressive policies. Then the Democrats lost control in 2010 and the refrain of "Republican obstructionism!" began. And we bought it for the most part.

Maybe everyone reaches this point at different times, but 2016 has started to seep backwards in time and ruin the past, too. I recently watched the old Colbert Christmas special, and the once-cutting faux conservatism now feels prophetic instead of silly. All other bullshit aside, the stupid debate over the new…

In 2016, Art died peacefully in its sleep after a long battle with Commerce. Always respected but never truly popular, Art had an immense impact on modern culture yet was in visible distress during the last years of its life. Art is survived by Content, Fandom, and Politics.

We're pretty much talking about the same thing then. My mention of international markets was about the industry's dependence on them, and so more don't get made for the reasons you listed.

I think comedy is the wrong genre to apply this to. A lot of things are killing movie comedy—dependence on international markets, comedy's general resistance to franchising, talented up-and-coming writers and comics focusing on tv, and the insufferable need for a third act redemption. That last one might be what you…

Corn syrup, Bear Stearns;
Same 2 parties taking turns,
One percent, student debt;
Climate change, no progress yet!