TheBrunette77

Looking back at these particular Buffy episodes, they definitely are good cases for how vital a component sound is and the kind of effect it can have. You’ve touched on this and expressed this very well.
I think, for me, The Body, is the greatest example of this effectiveness.
No music and minimal sounds set up a dramatic, melancholy and heart breaking parallel to the other examples. It’s almost as if its showcasing how powerless one can become in the face of something we all will have experienced, or will experience, at least once in our lives. It’s distressing to see our steel heroine so stripped of her armour. This would not be so achingly affective were sound (music and noise) were used in the episode.

I think Friends stands so well now because of the comedy without a doubt. But what I’m now starting to appreciate, watching now I’m far older than my first viewing age, is the little nuances. The dramatic/adult/even sometimes sad, relatable subplots. Like the sadness and heart tugging challenge faced by Monica and Chandler when they discovered theu couldn’t have children? Or when Phoebe realised that she was in the first serious relationship of her life, only to find Mike never wanted to remarry? (Thankfully he changed his mind, their wedding was my favourite) It’s these little things that helped to put flesh to the bones of a beloved comedic sitcom, giving it heart at the core of where it already had laughter as its central theme.

This is very well written. I think like any artist there are works Sandler can do well; ranging from comedic romance (The Wedding Singer, 50 First Dates), the immature but no less entertaining (Little Nicky, Billy Madison), the potentially offensive (You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, The Ridiculous Six) and the dramatic with elements of seriousness (Reign Over Me, Punch Drunk Love) to the unpopular, for lack of a better word, bombs (Jack and Jill and Pixels). His multiple duality is perhaps commendable, as is his perseverance but who can say if he will reclaim his, to some, acclaimed status or not?