“We’re all suffering”: ‘The Bear’ Cast Feels Equally Confused About the FX Show’s Comedy Vs. Drama Status
The Bear is an American comedy-drama series, which premiered on Hulu in June 2022. It sees Jeremy Allen White in the role of Carmen Berzatto, an award-winning young chef. In the series, Carmen leaves behind his world of working in a Michelin-star restaurant to return to his home in Chicago after his older brother’s sudden demise.
The series was released to great critical acclaim and was the second-most-watched show on all platforms in the week of its debut. It was nominated for numerous accolades and won across all the comedy categories at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards. However, that question that floats to the front of the mind is: is it truly a comedy? Thankfully, the cast and crew have an answer for that.
The Bear‘s Ebon Moss-Bachrach Argued that the Show is a Comedy
Jeremy Allen White‘s Carmen deals with the pain and trauma of losing his older brother while also trying to balance the mess that the now-dead brother has left behind in the form of unresolved debts, his Italian beef sandwich shop The Beef’s rundown kitchen, and unruly staff.
Online discussions have been suggesting that the show’s overall dramatic and anxiety-inducing tone could easily make The Bear qualify as a drama even though it does have its fair share of laughs. After its clean sweep across all comedy categories at this year’s Emmys, the cast and crew were asked for their views on the whole drama vs. comedy argument.
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Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the Emmys, argued, saying (via Gold Derby):
“I feel like these ideas about comedy and drama are a little bit outdated. We’re all just trying to reflect the mess of being human, which is deeply hilarious and we’re all suffering.”
Moss-Bachrach portrayed Michael’s (Carmen’s dead older brother) best friend and the manager of the restaurant. His logic behind this whole thing seems understandable considering the lines separating genres keep getting more and more blurred in these new shows.
The Bear Executive Producer on the Show’s Status as a Comedy
The Bear won six awards at the Emmys including Outstanding Comedy Series. Yet, there is a doubt shrouding its status as a comedy series in the world of entertainment.
Giving his opinion on this argument, executive producer Josh Senior said:
“I think the show is true to life. Sometimes it’s funny, and sometimes it’s real. What we try to do is tell a real story. What we want to do is tell the truth and make people feel things. If they’re laughing or crying…we can’t control what happens after that.”
Senior then explained that The Bear‘s episodes are only about half an hour each so it does qualify as a comedy series. However, he insisted that this was not the only reason because they created the series aiming to make the viewers feel something. Now, every viewer’s feelings differ from the others and it is not in their hands to control how one feels.
The Bear is available for streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
