Playing a story straight has become a novelty. The problem is writers dont understand making the fact that an unusual situation is played straight can be entertaining or more hilarious than an overdone quipfest.
A bit late with the reply, but i think that might be one of the key factors when it comes to anime's success in the west.
No matter how silly the trope (ex: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure), even in more comical series there's a surprising amount of them that are willing to play their story very straight and it can work surprisingly well in some cases.
Though the modern series isn't very good (and the older series was just kinda funny, else very mid), Lupin the Third is a good example of that.
There's an episode that i genuinely really liked that came out of nowhere in Part IV (episode 20 i think) that has our titular main character steal a random old couple's car and drive around in it taking a lot of risks in the hope of having them pay a ransom to get it back.
Despite being like 80% comedy, the episode actually plays the old couple's situation very straight... the wife's fucking bedridden & dying of cancer, and the old guy just really wants to get rid of the car because it reminds him too much of their past, but he also just can't let go 'cause that's the one memento he still has of their happy days. You can even see all the furniture in the house covered in sheets and stuff cause he just can't bear to look at it again.
And despite starting off very comical, the episode actually plays its end straight, with the main character eventually finding a picture in the glovebox and deciding to go there when he realises the car's a rust bucket anyway that doesn't have a long time to go and the old dude won't pay for it.
While they're chatting on the phone and the driver's on his way to the spot, the old guy starts recognising where the car's going ; he's gone through that road so many times that the sound the car makes at each point is basically inscribed in his brain. And so as the guy continues, he's with his wife like "oh he's on that bridge !" and sharing anecdotes to her about the good times they had back then.
As expected, you get anime timing and the car eventually dies right as it reaches the spot. The old guy and his wife share one last smile, and she dies too.
It's a little silly, a little simple, clumsy at times even. But damn you know what ? It actually kinda works.
I' actually felt something while watching the episode that wasn't exclusively mild boredom. I've yet to see a western animation show actually manage to reach me. And it comes from a animated show that was rebooted 569859 times and is based on an ultra-raunchy 60's manga.
