The series begin great, one of the funniest series I had seen in a long while at that time, and good comedy is difficult to come by. It truly lived up to its name, providing cringe-worthy humor, and yet also seamlessly combining it with a meaningful drama that few other series have ever been able to pull off.
This continues for the first few seasons, with the typical ups and downs, some story arcs of the characters being more interesting than others, which is expected in any series with as many memorable characters.
Since the shift begin in the political climate, the series decided to shift in the same direction, and is suffering greatly because of it. What used to be apolitical, or rather distributing it evenly with good spirited humor, has turned the way of so many and simply become a new political cudgel. It takes quite obvious stances on political issues, and rams it down your throat, trying to make a message that was neither needed or asked for, and is not even in the spirit of comedy. It is simply there. Entire episodes and story arcs, that have no comedy in them whatsoever and are there simply trying to make a statement. The comedy that they do attempt with it is the nasty mean-spirited kind of "humor" that is not funny, but is simply insults without intelligence attempting to hide behind the mask of comedy.
So unfortunately the series is going down hill at a break-neck pace, and likely nothing is going to save it now, especially with the loss of the central character. Alienating half of your viewer-base with in-your-face-political-statements is not exactly a good tactic for ratings, so it will reap what it sowed.
This continues for the first few seasons, with the typical ups and downs, some story arcs of the characters being more interesting than others, which is expected in any series with as many memorable characters.
Since the shift begin in the political climate, the series decided to shift in the same direction, and is suffering greatly because of it. What used to be apolitical, or rather distributing it evenly with good spirited humor, has turned the way of so many and simply become a new political cudgel. It takes quite obvious stances on political issues, and rams it down your throat, trying to make a message that was neither needed or asked for, and is not even in the spirit of comedy. It is simply there. Entire episodes and story arcs, that have no comedy in them whatsoever and are there simply trying to make a statement. The comedy that they do attempt with it is the nasty mean-spirited kind of "humor" that is not funny, but is simply insults without intelligence attempting to hide behind the mask of comedy.
So unfortunately the series is going down hill at a break-neck pace, and likely nothing is going to save it now, especially with the loss of the central character. Alienating half of your viewer-base with in-your-face-political-statements is not exactly a good tactic for ratings, so it will reap what it sowed.