"It's No Laughing Matter"

"It's No Laughing Matter"

Jonathan Nunns

• I chose this article about the significance of the sitcom genre as I am familiar with the genre and the examples that were used.
• The article uses the sitcoms Friends (1994-2004), The Inbetweeners (2008-2010) and Mrs Browns Boys (2011-present) to show the ongoing significance of the genre and to show more 'traditional' sitcoms in comparison to the 'anti-sitcom' and the 'post-modern sitcom.'

Friends:

'Friends was, in many ways, as traditional a sitcom as you could want. Most early sitcoms had been based around a family unit'

• I agree with this as, although Friends was not based around an actual family, the characters had a close bond and seemed as much as a family as those seen on other sitcoms. Some of the characters such as Monica and Ross where family members and then characters like Rachel had been friends with them for so long that they were like family to the characters. This is conventional of most sitcoms therefore makes it traditional and meets the expectations of the audience.

'All of the characters, stereotypical as they might first appear, were given depth and a history which enabled storylines to go well beyond the humorous and goofy into areas of emotional depth and pathos.'

• This is something that is seen all the time in sitcoms, most 'traditional' sitcoms give the characters depth which allows the audience to create an emotional attachment to.

The Inbetweeners:

'This show may in some ways seem not to be a sitcom at all.'

• The Inbetweeners is different to sitcoms such as Friends therefore I partially agree with this quotation however, despite it being different, it can still fall into the sitcom genre as it has many of the conventions that have been seen in sitcoms before such as the school setting and group of friends.

Mrs Browns Boys:

'The show takes the genre back to the studio, live audience and laughter track.'

• I agree with this as the show does have conventions that a typical of more traditional sitcoms however with the use of including mistakes deliberately makes the sitcom different to others that are more traditional of the genre.

Overall I think that this article shows how sitcoms have evolved and also shows how many different styles can fit in the sitcom genre. The article shows the different types of sitcoms and what audiences expect from a traditional sitcom but it also shows how audiences also enjoy texts that change the genre in one way or another. I agree with the article in the ways it explains the different types of sitcoms as 'traditional', 'anti-sitcom' and 'post-modern.'