Yesterday The Bear made Emmys history after receiving 23 nominations, an all-time record for a comedy series. And yet the reception to this news has been decidedly muted, partly because – and this won’t exactly be news for anyone who has seen the show – The Bear isn’t a comedy.
The Bear is a lot of things. It’s stressful. It’s gripping. It’s beautiful. It’s wildly indulgent. But a comedy? Obviously not. It’s a television programme about an ambitious chef whose role models are either horrifically abusive or dead by suicide. One recent episode took the form of an extended trauma montage set to a downbeat Trent Reznor soundtrack. In other words, it isn’t exactly the sort of thing you watch if you fancy jollying yourself up a bit.
