Over the summer and early fall, two
different shows decided to focus on the goings-on in a single hotel room: HBO’s “Room 104” and TBS’s “The Guest Book.”
The
Guest Room (TBS, new Summer 2017.
Single-camera sitcom.)
Room 104 (HBO, new Summer 2017. Half-hour drama anthology.)
Watched: Most
of each
Premise: Aside
from the one similarity, the shows have little in common: Room 104 is an anthology, depicting entirely unconnected,
often surreal or experimental stories—effectively, a series of one-act plays, many about characters' struggles with self-discovery, constrained
only by a shared set. The Guest Book is
a sitcom about the locals who run a rental cottage and the visitors who stay
there, with stories that trend toward farce.
Promise: I'm reviewing these two together because I'm fascinated by the comparison between their respective approaches to human connection and
interaction. Room 104’s episodes vary
widely from each other, so it’s hard to say they have a coherent message, but
in general they trend toward a vision of humanity plagued by imperfect communication. Characters mostly enter the room in a state
of despair or ennui, and often leave it the same way, but having had one brief,
shining moment of compassion, connection, or self-discovery. In contrast, The Guest Book’s characters enter
the room with hope and anticipation, only to discover mismatched expectations
or misfortunes await them. The Guest Book's background arc, a whirl of blackmail and relationship strife, is all about how characters’
selfish deceptions can create problems for themselves and others.
And yet, somehow, The Guest Book
seems more hopeful than its HBO counterpart.
Its characters strive for redemption and connection in a consciously
imperfect world. They end up
understanding each other more than they had feared; or finding a sort of awkward
happiness that will persist. Whereas the
HBO characters will wander back out into a lonely world in which they do not
belong.
Verdict: There’s no question that the HBO way is artistic,
sometimes inspiringly so. But I find
myself caring more about the silly TBS comedy.
