Lately, a lot of TV shows have tackled the subject. But the way this one does is special.
There's a perennial argument that comes up during awards season about the distinction in television between comedies and dramas. Perhaps no show exemplifies this debate better than "The Bear," the FX series that streams on Hulu and returned for its second season last week. |
The premise of the show — a fancy chef from a top-ranked New York restaurant is lured back home to Chicago to run his family's blue-collar beef-sandwich shop — sounds like the premise of a classic three-camera, fish-out-of-water sitcom. The show's expert ensemble, led by Jeremy Allen White (who won a Critic's Choice Award for best actor in a comedy) and Ayo Edebiri (who was nominated for the same award as best supporting actress in a comedy), is full of skilled comedic actors who deliver many funny moments. The first season, which aired in 2022, earned several nominations and awards, all of them under the categories of "Comedy" or "Comedy or Musical." |
But when you watch "The Bear," you realize it isn't at all like a sitcom of yore. At times, it's a gripping meditation on grief and mourning that's unlike anything else on television. Yes, you may laugh — but you may also cry, and you will likely feel anxious, and you just might have something like a panic attack. No wonder the show has proved so hard to categorize. |
The cultural critic Chris Vognar has written widely about television and other arts, for The Times and elsewhere. He also knows a lot — too much — about grief. He lost his life partner years ago to a terminal brain illness. What he experienced — and what he describes in a guest essay published this weekend — didn't feel at all like the grief he'd seen depicted most places on TV. Then he watched "The Bear." |
The show, he realized, wasn't just expertly capturing something about his personal experience. This so-called comedy was dealing with the experience of grief in a way that felt essential and revelatory. It taught him something about his own grief, and helped him see a way forward. So far, there's no awards category for that, but if there were, "The Bear" would clean up. |
Here's what we're focusing on today: |
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