Situational comedies used to be all about putting a family in compromising situations 
(hence the name), often comedically, and helping them find their way to a satisfactory ending in less than 30 minutes. This was perfect in the ’50s and ’60s with shows like The Honeymooners and Leave it to Beaver. Then the genre expanded to be about people who for whatever reason hung out, maybe for work, or for other reasons. The sitcom soon began to include friends and others as well. Now the format has somewhat returned to its roots.
Sometimes a sitcom is funny in a witty way. Those are the ones I enjoy best. The tongue in cheek humor just makes me laugh out loud. Also, when a sitcom has inside jokes that can only be followed by long time fans, it makes me feel special. “Hey, I stuck around through the lean times, so now I’m getting compensation with the in-jokes.” I have a dry sense of humor too, so shows that cater to that also have a soft spot in my heart.
I remember in the ’80s there were good family shows (The Cosby Show), bad family shows (The Hogans), and ugly family shows (Roseanne). One thing all of those family shows had in common was the celebration of the nuclear family. We all know that divorce wasn’t held up by the general media as an option in sitcoms of that time period. We also had group shows that showed people at work, or in their leisure time. The biggest of those shows was Cheers. What isn’t funny about people from all walks of life frequenting the same bar all the time and somehow not being painted as alcoholics?
Then Seinfeld arrived, took the dynamic, and turned it dysfunctional. For the first time, not only were we laughing at the people who were in unfortunate situations. We were also laughing because others were taking joy in their pain onscreen. The characters in Seinfeld epitomized the belligerent bullies with their neuroses, idiosyncrasies, and judgmental attitudes. And we laughed. That’s why I love the controversial finale so much. We finally see the characters for who they’ve always been, and it’s not funny. It’s an ironic commentary on our society. Hence the controversy. Then we weren’t laughing, but it was fitting.
The ’90s took the friends aspect of the sitcom to the next level with a show accurately 
titled Friends. What was revolutionary about Friends was its ability to showcase each character while alternately setting up situation arcs that spanned episodes without using the infamous “to be continued” tag. Friends is the model by which the modern sitcom is judged, as it should be. Then the ’00s brought us the rise of the cable sitcom. Shows like Weeds, and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia brought out more of the seamy side of life that had to be avoided on network TV. And so network TV had to catch up. With shows like The Office and How I Met Your Mother, they definitely learned how the game needed to be played in the new millennium.
What I love most about the sitcom today is its ability to be flexible, to be inventive, and to be surprising. I never tire of characters who remind me of myself, either in deeds or in looks (Urkel, anyone?), or of the people I know. And that’s the defining characteristic of the sitcom, how it makes us think of ourselves and the situations we have been in. It may be overdramatized at times, but that’s okay, because caricature is so much funnier. Wow, this post started out as one of my Top 5’s, and it turned into this instead. Oh well. Stay tuned for my Friday Top 5, which, amazingly enough, has to do with sitcoms.
Til then,
Sam
Sam's Online Journal 