SITUATION COMEDY

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SITUATION COMEDY

• The Changing Face of the Sitcom Family

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What is a Sitcom?

• Sitcoms are series. A series is a set of
  television programs in which episodes share the
  same situations and characters but are separate
  from the others in the series in terms of their
  plotlines.

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TRADITIONAL 50S

• The 50s television family consisted of familiar
  faces such as the Nelsons, the Andersons, and
  the Cleavers.
• They were traditional families consisting of a
  mother, father, and children.
• Father was the dominant figure.
• Mother was the home maker.
• The point of view of the show was generally
  through the eyes of the parents.

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• Sitcoms of the 50s contained moral messages such
  asobey your parentstell the truthdevelop
  self-esteemhave pride in your familyhelp
  othersaccept responsibility for your actions

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• Many of the shows included real life family
  members.
• All of the cast members were white.
• The programs emphasized strong family values.
• The programs did not contain any vulgarity.
• Theme songs introduced the shows.
• Most sitcoms relied on a laugh track.
• A teen culture began to develop.

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YOUTHFUL 60S

• The 60s sitcoms focused on young families.
• Many of these families were apartment dwellers.
• The focus was on work and family.
• I Love Lucy continued as a staple of the 60s
  sitcom genre.
• I Love Lucy introduced the 3 camera technique and
  recorded before a live audience.

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Independent 70

• In the 70s, comedy began to revolve more around
  the characters than the situations.
• The 70s saw the rise of womens rights, working
  women and civil rights movements.
• Television programs pushed the boundary on
  topics, including sex, race, abortion and rape.
• Racial diversity could be seen in television
  programs.
• The 70s sitcom emphasized serious topics rather
  than exaggerated situation comedy.
• Mary Tyler Moore, Taxi, and All in the Family
  were prime time staples.

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Realistic 80s

• The 80s witnessed a burst of realism.
• Families, although traditional in form, were also
  shown as dysfunctional.
• Roseanne, Married with Children, and The Cosby
  Show were prime examples.

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FREE 90S

• The 90s sitcoms examined a variety of topics
  including gay and lesbian relationships.
• The family no longer consisted of the traditional
  family. Many shows featured the nuclear family
  a group of friends, single parent families, mixed
  racial families, and singles.
• Lives were not fanciful.
• Friends, Seinfeld, Krammer and Drew Carey are a
  few examples.

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The New Millennium

• What can be said of sitcoms in the new
  millennium?
• Prepare a case study on a new sitcom in the
  2000s.

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Sitcom Genres

• A variety of sub-genres exist.
• Domestic sitcoms focus on the problems involved
  with raising children.
• Fiction sitcoms (magcoms) feature supernatural
  characters in domestic settings. Bewitched, Mork
  and Mindy, I Dream of Jennie and Third Rock are
  examples.
• In military sitcoms, the focus is removed from
  the domestic. Sgt. Bilko and Mash are such
  sitcoms.

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SITCOM FORMULA

• Length Half an hour
• Setting indoors, intimate, safe, personal, warm
  and cozy space
• Characters Same people each week who form a
  loving family whether it be biological, with
  mom, dad, and the kids, or surrogate, as in the
  friendship or peer groupings on Friends and
  Seinfeld. The characters are usually good
  looking and financially comfortable.

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• Plot The family is threatened by confusion, or
  change, but there is a return to normalcy that
  happily places them right back where they
  started.
• Humor Stock characters or stereotypes mistaken
  identities misunderstandings breaking the
  rules jealousy extreme points of view
• Values Societys pro-social values are
  reinforced, including respect for the traditions
  of the nuclear family.

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CODES AND CONVENTIONS

• Sitcoms use an exaggerated and distorted form of
  reality to great effect.
• In sitcoms, the context comes first.
• Characters are often stereotypical.
• They have familiar and predictable problems.
• The characters themselves, their reactions, and
  their approaches to resolution of conflict are
  exaggerated, over-simplified, and frequently
  irrational.
• Despite this, we recognize, we identify, and we
  laugh.

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