The Sitcom - Brett Mills

"The Sitcom"

Brett Mills

• I chose this extract from the Brett Mills book The Sitcom as I find it very interesting and I plan to use it in my essay about the evolution of the sitcom genre.
• The book is about the sitcom genre as a whole and aspects of the genre. He gives examples of sitcoms, new and old, to back up the points that he makes about the genre.

'many sitcoms ignore the rule of the closed-off storylines.'

• I agree with this as tv sitcoms such as Friends (1994-2004) have continuous storylines that can last for a few episodes or even throughout a whole season. As well as this, some storylines can continue through seasons such as Ross and Rachel's "we were on a break" storyline, Monica and Chandlers engagement night which was shown at the end of season 6 and continued into the first episode of season 7, and Ross and Emily's wedding which ended on a cliffhanger at the end of season 4.

'American sitcom characters commonly have a degree of self-awareness about their own predicaments and are able to comically reflect on their own drawbacks.'

• I also agree with this point as in American tv shows, such as Friends, the characters are always aware of their situation. For example, Chandler Bing always uses comedy and the sarcastic personality of his character when he is in a predicament. One example of this is when Chandlers kisses Joeys girlfriend and Joey says he will forgive him if he stays in a large box for the day. Here Chandler uses comedy to make his predicament easier.

Quotes:

• 'The primary aim of sitcom is one centered on its humour and, on the whole, everything within a sitcom is geared towards that goal.'
• 'The most important feature of sitcom structure is the cyclical nature of the normalcy of the premise undergoing stress or threat of change and becoming restored'
• 'Yet while sitcoms do often offer pleasure in a complex narrative, it is true that parts of their narratives (and these are likely to be the comic parts) will be non-casual.'
• 'There's clearly a view that sitcom is more limited by its generic status than many other forms.'
• 'sitcoms development is a result of the constant attempt by writers and producers to create situations and comedy which, like Hancock's Half-Hour, tap into the ways in which their audiences live their lives.'

Overall...
I think that this book accurately shows the different aspects of the sitcom genre. I agree with the points Brett Mills makes about the characters using comedy to show self-awareness of their predicaments and the idea that sitcoms rarely use closed-off storylines and instead continue stories throughout episodes or even seasons.