Wait, wait, wait! According to Wikipedia, FX’s The Bear is a psychological comedy-drama. But is it really a comedy? Well, Eugene Levy may have saved himself from “making a joke” on the acclaimed Christopher Storer creation, but he certainly roasted the hell out of the show at the recently concluded 76th Primetime Emmy Awards.
This year’s Emmys belonged to FX, with Shogun (25) and The Bear (23) leading the nominations. The latter set a new record for the most Emmy nominations for a comedy series in a single year, surpassing 30 Rock, which held the previous record with 22 nominations in 2009. Despite this achievement, The Bear became notorious for the controversy surrounding its genre, prompting Levy to address it during the opening segment of the 76th annual Emmys.
“Now, I love the show, and I know some of you will be expecting us to make a joke about whether ‘The Bear’ is really a comedy — but in the true spirit of ‘The Bear,’ we will not be making any jokes.”
Many people are unable to digest the fact that The Bear was acknowledged as a comedy at this year’s Emmys. Since its debut, there’s been a continued debate among viewers and critics over whether or not the series is truly a comedy. Some people strongly believe that the show is more of a drama as it has plenty of stress-brimmed plots. While others acknowledge it as a balanced mixture of comedy and drama.
The Bear constantly blurs the line between drama and comedy (or should we say, very subtle comedy?). If you haven’t watched the show, don’t expect any LOL or ROFL moments. Yes, there are some subtle instances of humour, but there’s no way the Jeremy Allen White starrer can be classified purely as a comedy.
You guys will get a deeper understanding of this scenario after reading the rules of the Emmys. The most relevant among them to this scenario is this one: “COMEDY AND DRAMA SERIES are defined as programs with multiple episodes (minimum of six), where the majority of the running time of at least six episodes are primarily comedic for comedy series entries, or primarily dramatic for dramatic series entries.”
Now ask yourself this: does The Bear Season 3 follow the above-mentioned rule? There is no way anyone could argue that six out of the 10 episodes in the third season were “primarily comedic.” Forget Season 3—try proving this for the last two seasons. Instead, what we get from The Bear is a show filled with adrenaline-inducing scenes that are often traumatic, stressful, depressing, rough, and hard-hitting. Also, don’t expect any humour to pop out of the characters’ individual plotlines either.
So, where does The Bear gets its humour? The show’s comedic strength lies in its satire. It balances its serious moments with humorous situations and unexpected remarks. Which is why it is safe to say that The Bear is a series with funny moments, but it’s far from being called a comedy.
Many actors have tried to defend the show’s genre with all their hearts, including the MCU’s The Thing (The Fantastic Four: First Steps), Ebon Moss-Bachrach. The actor was asked if the series was a comedy at the last year’s Emmy Awards. “I feel like these ideas about comedy and drama are a bit outdated. We’re all just trying to reflect the mess of being human, which is deeply hilarious, and we’re all suffering,” he replied.
Seriously Ebon? Okay, folks, it’s time for a quick nap. The writer of this piece is clearly out of steam. We will certainly talk about The Bear more in the future as Season 4 may come out in 2025. Stay tuned for more updates.