Evolution of the Sit-Com Genre

Other than Soap Opera, television's most enduring slice of comfort viewing is the Situation Comedy or Sit-Com. For years our screens and those across the Atlantic have been treated to memorable characters, catchphrases and moments that will be remembered forever and quite a few that have been long since forgotten.

Despite its longevity and widespread appeal the Sit-Com is rarely taken seriously by critics and is seldom written about in academic work and if it is this is usually constricted to an analysis of form. Yet there must be something to say about a Genre which leaves such a lasting impact on our collective psyche as a nation and also informs us of so much about what we understand the USA to be like.

If we start from the premise that it's widespread popularity must indicate some significance then the demands to study its evolution don't seem too ridiculous at all! Luverly Jubberly!

RESEARCH INVESTIGATION

Your essay will not be a historical biography of the TV Sit-Com. Finding research on different histories of variously influential programmes is not the point of this essay. Your essay will be closely linked to various theories of Genre studies. Generally this can be discussed in terms of the Descriptive Approach or the Functional Approach to studying Genre. In other words an analysis from the perspective of the aesthetics (the look, the sound the way it is made) and the Ideologies of the Genre (how does it hold a mirror up to our society?). 

A decent knowledge of cultural context is important and this leads on to the next biggest decision that you'll make - British or American?

It is best to choose just one and then decide on a few case studies to explore - despite our Nations' 'Special Relationship' our Sit-Coms are just too different from each other to really make any meaningful comparisons!

Think old and modern - and also Postmodern! The classic era of the 1970s sitcom (think The Good Life, Fawlty Towers, Dad's Army etc) has got more in common with Miranda and Mrs Browns Boys - and yet amongst the most popular examples of the genre of this century have been the realism heavy sitcoms like The Office, Outnumbered and The Royle Family. Even if we can reconcile the differences between those two groups then where the hell do you put The Mighty Boosh and The League of Gentlemen?!

Please note that you cannot study the Sit-Com Gavin & Stacey for this project.

Label any research with your name and: Evolution of the Sit-Com

MEDIA PRODUCT

You have two choices or you may wish to do a combination of the two. Either:

1. Write, direct and edit a sequence for a Sit-Com (this can be done individually or in a group)
2. Create a teaser campaign for a new Sit-Com and a review of it for a TV listings magazine.

Option 1.

This will need to be planned meticulously - one thing about Sit-Coms that you will have found in your research is that there are distinctly different styles depending on the era they were made in as well as the country they are broadcast in. Your aim is to create something that includes the conventions that you have explored in your essay. This doesn't just include a visual style but also the themes and functions of the genre.

Therefore you will have to write a script and storyboard your sequence - you must have actors that you can trust and who understand the vision of what you want your film to look like and the style of humour you are trying to demonstrate to the audience. All the time you must remember that just because something is funny to you and your mates doesn't make it funny to everyone else. Therefore there should be no 'in jokes' and no laughing on camera. Even if the most ridiculous thing is happening on screen, the other characters in a sitcom will rarely find it funny.

This is a very difficult project - making people laugh is much more difficult to making them sad or anxious, you will have to understand the genre inside out and plan every last detail.

If you don't plan it may look like an incoherent shambles.

Option 2

You will need to decide on the narrative, themes, actors, director, visual style and setting of a Sit-Com  that will never get made!

Once you have decided on all of these factors and you know your (non)show inside-out, you will create the teaser poster for it - this should make clear the different characters, the setting and tone of the show - think of a Friends DVD case.

You must also create a two page magazine review or interview with the stars of this fake series which must explore the ideas that you have found in your essay which relate to the Sit-Com but also looks and reads exactly like a TV listings magazine such as TV Choice magazine.

This is a slightly complex project which requires you to know exactly what the Sit-Coms style and messages would be so that you can prove to the examiner that you have learned from your essay. But also show that you have the technical and creative skills to reproduce the style and content of a TV listings magazine.

The Sitcom Evolution - Brian Smith

"The Sitcom Evolution"

Brian Smith

http://alumni.marist.edu/writingcenter/pdfs/escriptor6.pdf#page=30

(pages 30-43)

• I chose this article by Brian Smith as it is related to the research project that I plan to carry out and it is based on a subject that I am interested in.
• The article is about how sitcoms have changed and how changes in society and problems that have occurred in the world have contributed to these changes.

'Since the 1950s, the typical sitcom father’s role has changed dramatically, and the progression of his role through the years has altered the type of humor found in most shows.'

• I agree with this point made as I feel that the father figure shown in sitcoms today is different than the one that was shown in early sitcoms.

For example...

Full House (1987-1995) shows a different type of father figure than shows such as The Cosby Show (1984-1992) as, although it still shows the father as being the head of the household, it shows a father that takes on the roles of both the mother and the father. 

'Changes to the roles of women in American society, especially in the 1970s, also contributed to these humor shifts.'

• I think that as the role of women in society changes, the way in which they are represented in sitcoms changes also. As well as this, I feel that women have become less stereotypical and traditional and are now shown in sitcoms to be more independent. They are now shown to have jobs instead of being a housewife.

Quotes:

• 'However, recent sitcoms have witnessed a return to family values seen in earlier shows, but rather than focusing on life inside the home, they concentrate on the workplace.'
• 'Throughout its history, television sitcoms have spanned a changing array of topics, but one thing they all have in common is making their audiences laugh and feel good.'
• 'sitcoms can be said to reflect the values in society during a particular time period.'

Overall...

I think that this article shows how sitcoms have evolved overtime and shows what changes in society have contributed to this change in sitcom. I agree with this article that changes in gender roles have influenced sitcoms and how things going on in the world can have an impact on the issues that are dealt with in sitcoms.

Sitcom Research

*Possible Research Point- How sit-coms have evolved with the change in the dynamic of traditional families*

'Sitcoms also portray more admirable characters we would prefer to identify with, who still suffer from their own less drastic limits.' - Page 2 of Situation Comedies and the Power of Liberation by Ken Sanes. 

Suggests why there is such a range of character arcs in each sitcom, to force identification with a wider audience. In relation to research into traditional family representations, it assigns a typical family member role onto each viewer, creates reliability to the family dynamic and situations.

  'There are the addicts, avoiders, self-sabotagers, airheads, overgrown adolescents, macho men, seductresses, persecutors, troublemakers, matchmakers, nagging parents, braggarts, et al.' - Page 3 of Situation Comedies and the Power of Liberation by Ken Sanes. 

This describes the most common stereotypes that the general audience love to see as they are familiar characters. Shows us the typical family members that we are used to seeing in past television programmes. 

 'Sitcoms thus give us permission to move beyond the idealised images of ourselves and the world; they give us permission to be imperfect, freeing us up to accept what Swift, in a different context, referred to as our Yahoo nature.'- Page 6 of Situation Comedies and the Power of Liberation by Ken Sanes. 

Although built on a very overgeneralised representation, the narrative often has a moral of accepting imperfections. 

 
 'There are the obvious cues to this in many 'normal' sitcom texts; unrealistic sets, 'canned' audience laughter and the use of non-diegetic music are only the most obvious breaks in 'reality'.' - Just like on TV: Community, the Ultimate Postmodern Sitcom by Phil Dyas. 

Abolishes the sense of realism in some sitcoms, the laughter removes any sense of reality. This may be why we don't take all behaviours of our 'favourite characters' as we know that their situations and behaviours are not real, they are only for entertainment purposes. 

  'There's a family. A mom. A dad. Two, maybe three, kids of varying ages. They live in a suburban house together. Dad works. Sometimes, mom does too. Their lives revolve around school and work, but they take place mostly in the shared domestic spaces of the house: the disproportionately large living room, the roomy kitchen.' - Family Sitcoms in 2015 Don't Reflect the American Family- And They Haven't For Years by Manuel Betancourt. 

This shows the very basic, stereotypical make-up and context of family life that most sit-coms are based around.

'Even now, calls for diversity in TV continue to feel both necessary and, sadly, futile. Yet it bears repeating: While television is not required to accurately represent the viewers it hopes to court, audiences themselves have the right to call out when certain genres — even those that depend on their very repetitive nature — continue to merely present the same kind of show again and again.' - Family Sitcoms in 2015 Don't Reflect the American Family- And They Haven't For Years by Manuel Betancourt. 

Although shows appear to be providing the audience with a very original and cutting edge narrative, really they have stemmed from the same basic principles. 

*Possible Research Point- How national tragedies (e.g. 9/11) effected American Sitcoms* 

  Most New York based sitcoms relocated to a different City, following the events of 9/11. The shows that stayed did not acknowledge the event at all and shortly after, those shows came to an end. Sitcoms such as How I Met Your Mother (2005-2011) were established in New York and stayed there, however again never acknowledged the tragedy. 

This suggests that after the event, rather than addressing and expressing the feeling of loss and tragedy that the whole world was feeling, they instead decided to ignore the event all together. 

'Many others are portrayed as also suffering from their own limitations, whether from their own narcissism and personal neuroses or other sources, so that they get only half a loaf out of life. But their craziness takes less away from them and seems less over the edge than in the first group. And, typically, they struggle against, and learn lessons about, their limitations and manifest some insight into themselves'- Situation Comedies and the Power of Sadism by Ken Sanes.

This reinforces the suggestion that sit-com characters have a very linear narrative of their own self-discovery and development of their character arc. Therefore, the wider context of the setting is not taken into consideration unless it effects them personally. 

'Sitcoms thus give us permission to move beyond the idealised images of ourselves and the world; they give us permission to be imperfect, freeing us up to accept what Swift, in a different context, referred to as our Yahoo nature. They encourage us to be more flexible and less rigid; more open and less defensive; and to invent people as villains less and see our common humanity more'- Situation Comedies and the Power of Sadism by Ken Sanes.

If all sit-coms aim for an idealised image of both society and humanity then maybe it is understandable that they would not acknowledge such a tragedy. The context of 9/11 was quite a cynical and discriminative time that did not reflect the ideal picture of an american society. It was a time of rigid beliefs, extremely high defence of the country and a very loose sense of humanity. 

'Under the power of humour, even death, nuclear destruction and Adolph Hitler can be (symbolically) turned into pathetic little mice and scared away'- Situation Comedies and the Power of Sadism by Ken Sanes.

This quote doesn't support the reality, that following the events of 9/11, the majority of 'New York based sitcoms' re-located from New York to other major cities. 

'Sitcoms also satisfy another desire, for consolation. They give us happy endings, loving relationships, and commiseration between characters, that tells us things aren't really so bad and life does have its compensations. They help reconcile us to the unfairness and incompleteness of life, and with all the limitations imposed from without and within'- Situation Comedies and the Power of Sadism by Ken Sanes.
This suggests that maybe it is not within the purpose of this genre to identify tragedies, they provide the public with a form of escapism. They provide a sense of reality that is less harsh than reality itself. 

'Under the power of humour, even death, nuclear destruction and Adolph Hitler can be (symbolically) turned into pathetic little mice and scared away'- Situation Comedies and the Power of Sadism by Ken Sanes.
 This causes a conflict as past historic tragedies have been since represented as a twisted humour, however, this was never done with 9/11.

'Could Friends have worked if it had been set in Leeds, or Manchester, or even Walford? How much of its appeal is about its shiny, smart New York setting, those cutaways to a twinkly NY skyline, name-drops of fashion houses, and glimpses of posh offices and trendy diners?'-The one where they all bugger off for good Saying goodbye to Friends by Jenny Grahame
This quote suggests that the optimistic New York setting is what attracted the audience to the show. By ruining the squeaky clean image of New York that the show represents, it would take from the shows appeals. The devastating events and aftermath that 9/11 left would certainly taint the image that friends has upheld for so long.

'Is part of its attraction that our all-white, mainly middle-class Friends are just far away enough from the tedium of everyday life to provide something we can aspire to'-The one where they all bugger off for good Saying goodbye to Friends by Jenny Grahame
Maybe the reason that 9/11 was never acknowledged was due to the racial backlash that was given to the muslim community following the events. 

'Family sitcoms emphasised the performative quality of middle-class family life in a self-reflexive way'- Representing The Family by Deborah Chambers (Mick Eaton Quote)
Modern Family follows this generic representation of an upper-middle/middle class family. 

'The humour in family sitcoms relied precisely on breaking the codes of the idealised family'- Representing The Family by Deborah Chambers (Mick Eaton Quote)
This suggests that the humour of family sitcoms comes from the family making mistakes and braking the ideals of a functional family. 

*MODERN FAMILY MARKETING- INTRODUCTION*

NON ACADEMIC RESEARCH 

'Its appeal spans generations and, of course, is linked to the very truth that the Rockwellian portraits of American family life are a thing of the past. Increasingly, our families have non-traditional compositions.'- The Marketing Genius of "Modern Family" by Pat Sullivan  
Supports the diverse representation of a modern day family that defies tradition. 

 'Shifting back to “Modern Family,” which mine is not, there is even more nuance: Gloria is Latina while Jay is a boomer; Cameron and Mitchell are gay; Lily, who they adopted, is Asian; Claire and Phil are Gen Xers with two daughters and a son'- The Marketing Genius of "Modern Family" by Pat Sullivan  
The programme uses more than one stereotype, this can be argued to be a use for marketing and publicity or an expression of the shows values and beliefs.

 *MODERN FAMILY- PART ONE* 

 'When not an outright comedy, the Mockumentary almost always involves some kind of disaster'- Mockumentary by TV Tropes 
Each episode seems to have a disruption in the narrative, the aim is to restore the balance.

 *Genre Conventions of a sitcom* 

(In reference to realism in sitcoms)- 'Thus the laugh track is removed, the  audience is not positioned as a fourth wall and film is used instead of video'- Brett Mills Sitcom by Brett Mills 

This is relevant as this genre convention is used in the production of modern family and is typically quite unconventional of the sitcom genre.

'By attempting to create links between sitcom content and serious forms, such series belie the assumption that the sitcom form is in itself severely limited, and that comedy should be used for some purpose other than mere funniness'- Brett Mills Sitcom by Brett Mills

The aim of modern family is to promote the acceptance of a modern and diverse family, which is helped by the use of humour. 

'Dramatic action leads to the resolution. But not every genre leads us to the same kind of resolution'- Genre and Genre Conventions by Daniel Derksen

This tells us that each sitcom aims to achieve a different goal, some aim for an aspect of humour and entertainment whereas others aim to send out a message. 

'The structure of the sitcom is pretty much the same as when it first evolved, and many of its influences go back much further than that'- Brett Mills Sitcom by Brett Mills
Provides evidence that many sitcoms can be said to be traditional in comparison to Modern Family.

There are the obvious cues to this in many 'normal' sitcom texts; unrealistic sets, 'canned' audience laughter and the use of non-diegetic music are only the most obvious breaks in 'reality'-Just like on TV: Community, the Ultimate Postmodern Sitcom by Phil Dyas

These generic elements of a sitcom are very rarely found in Modern Family, suggesting that they are providing a modern experience of a sitcom. 

'Because sitcom is the dominant genre on American television, spotting trends within its content is not only a recurring occupation of academics and journalists but also a vital part of the industry's creative process'-Brett Mills Sitcom by Brett Mills
This may suggest that the whole show is based on the trends in American society, that the reason for the use of many stereotyped characters is because of the increasing diversity in American society.

Research

It is vital to remember that with this research topic you are expected to know as much as possible about the study of Genre as possible - not just the texts or the specific genre you are studying.

Therefore you need to find some academics that know a thing or two about it! This extract from Daniel Chandler on www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/intgenre is an excellent introduction and should be used to discover more about exactly how to study this academic area...

Samantha Lay's book is obviously a key piece of research as is Screen Online's brief history and assessment of the functions of the genre.

This book should also be of some substantial use...

British social realism from sssfcmedia