If the story is trivial, viewers will complain it goes nowhere. Episodic "comic strip" stories often fall into this category, since characters end up in the same place after each episode. But it's even worse to do the opposite - to make the characters or plot too serious, because this goes against the expectation for comedy.
Mob Psycho 100 highlights the difficulty for many comedy authors when it comes to advancing the story while maintaining a light-hearted tone. Across the two seasons, we transition from a Slice of Life that relies on gags to an Adventure Shonen. I found this to be a shame because the story was much more enjoyable when the focus was the relationship of Mob and Reigen, the oblivious student and the teacher keeping up appearances.
(Review for both Seasons)
