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But theyre also the shows least successful and least complete legacies.
(I say pseudo-experiment because there was never any evidence that the audience votes mattered at all.)
In some ways, it was a distillation of much of what had come before.
LikeLouieorGirls, it was formally experimental; it wasnt purely a comedy.
LikeWeedsorUnited States of Tara, it was also an outgrowth of the family sitcom.
It created a precedent for prestige comedy that was multivocal, full of many moods and perspectives.
Its a schematic thatTransparenthewed to throughout its run: The family overwhelms everything else.
The idea of transition became less about one persons gender, and more of a thematic and formal obsession.
The moment is not just gorgeous.
Its a confident, avant-garde, rule-breaking way to tell a story.
But the resulting bruise still hurts.
Its a fitting sense of humor for a show about inherited trauma and the absurd social rigidity of gender.
Its a hilarious, unusual way for the show to end.
