1. TELEVISION HUMOR: Sit Coms & Late Night TV
by Don L. F. Nilsen
and Alleen Pace Nilsen 54

2. TV Critic 54

3. Ten Top Sit Coms of All Time
1. Seinfeld
2. Friends
3. Scrubs
4. My Hero
5. The Vicar of Dibley
6. The Simpsons
7. Frasier
8. The Fresh Prince of Bel Air
9. The King of Queens
10. Everybody Loves Raymond
(Thelen ENG 414 PowerPoint) 54

4. How Sophisticated is Seinfeld?
IN ONE EPISODE THERE ARE FOUR PRIMARY STORY ARCS:
Jerry and his toys
George and his animals
Elaine and the sidler
Kramer and the Merv Griffin Set (Note that the Merve Griffen set was found in a dumpster. Note also that this episode is scripted for Kramer (like the original Merv Griffin), but unscripted for everyone else)
Seinfeld: Kramer and the Merv Griffin Set: 54

5. Drew Carey 54

6. Family Guy 54

7. Friends 54

8. Kelsey Grammer as Frasier54

9. The Office 54

10. Ray Ramono 54

11. Scrubs 54

12. Jerry Seinfeld 54

13. The Simpsons 54

14. Southpark 54

15. Sit Coms: An Overview
“Take a few stereotyped characters whose views/interests/inclinations are discordant; place them in a context of interaction from which they cannot escape; set in motion a course of events which leads them to formulate interpretations which clash, but without serious consequences; vary the action from one episode to another, but maintain the setting and the underlying patterns of conduct; provide clear and repeated signals of humorous intent; and arrange each episode in the form of a prolonged joke sequence with an ‘unexpected’ semantic reversal at the end.”
(Mulkay ).
(Morrison PowerPoint [2009]: 5) 54

16. Types of Sit Coms Anne Spangler classes sit coms by
Setting: workplace, home…
Main Characters: single, women, black…
Tone: “warmedy,” “dramedy,” “surreal”…
Leo Charney classes sit coms as:
Family Sitcoms: The Goldbergs, Everybody Loves Raymond, Roseanne…
Friends-as-Family Sitcoms: Seinfeld, Friends, Three’s Company, Cheers, Golden Girls…
Workplace Sitcoms: Cheers, M*A*S*H, Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Office…
(Morrison PowerPoint [2009]: 10) 54

17. Rick Mitz’s Categories
“Careercoms” Cheers, Dick Van Dyke Show
“Corncoms” The Beverly Hillbillies, Andy Griffith
“Couplecoms” I Love Lucy
“Domcoms”: Father Knows Best
“Ethnicoms” The Goldbergs, Sanford and Son
“Kidcoms”: Leave lt To Beaver
“Scificoms” Alf, Morc
“Servicecoms”: M*A*S*H, N.C.I.S.
(Morrison PowerPoint [2009]: 11) 54

18. Static vs. Dynamic Sit Coms
“Seinfeld and Friends demonstrate the two poles of the sitcom’s development: the show on which no one changes versus the show on which everyone changes.”
(Charney )
(Morrison PowerPoint [2009]: 7) 54

19. Static Sit Coms
The static sitcom, sticks to its expected characters and themes.
On Seinfeld, Jerry, Elaine, George, Kramer, and above all, Jerry’s nemesis Newman have a great deal in common with such never-changing cartoon icons as Bugs Bunny and Road Runner, constantly bringing the same traits to the same situations.
(Charney )
(Morrison PowerPoint [2009]: 7) 54

20. Dynamic Sitcoms
Friends, Sex and the City, and Mad About You are dynamic sitcoms, “with their long arcs of character evolution and carefully worked-out resolutions.”
They are a hybrid between the sitcom and the soap opera. The characters age, change, and grow as they would in real life.
(Charney )
(Morrison PowerPoint [2009]: 7) 54

21. Sitcoms: Some Analogies
There are military sitcoms, school based sitcoms, comedies that feature aliens from abroad as far as Mars and Ork, ethnic shows, urban and rural shows, and work-place comedies.
“All the familiar character types of American humor from the wise fools of the colonial and early national literature to the ‘little men’ of comic strips, silent film, and journalism, to con men and tricksters are featured in sitcoms.”
(Mintz in Raskin [2008] 295) 54

22. Pre-TV: Radio Sit Coms
Amos ’n Andy first aired in 1928, and was adapted for TV in 1951.
Amos ’n Andy came out of the minstrelsy tradition, and came to television as “blackface comedy.”
It was cancelled after two seasons.
(Morrison PowerPoint [2009]: 9) 54

23. Amos ‘n Andy (1930s Radio) (1951-1952 TV)54

24. 54

25. Molly Goldberg
Molly Goldberg first aired on radio in 1929 and was adapted for TV in 1949.
After five years on TV, it was cancelled.
It represented a middle-class Jewish family living in an apartment in the Bronx.
(Morrison PowerPoint [2009]: 9) 54

26. The Goldbergs (1930s Radio) (1949-1953 TV)54

27. 54

28. Sit Com Zeitgeists 1950s: Traditional Families Nuclear family
White, Suburban, Patriarchal
Conventional Stereotypes: businessman dad, stay-at-home mom, good-hearted and law-abiding children
Examples: Father Knows Best, Leave it to Beaver
(Morrison PowerPoint [2009]: 12) 54

29. Mayberry RFD (1950s TV) 54

30. The Addams Family: Lurch (1950s TV)54

31. 1960s: Beginnings of Diversity
Nuclear Families (Dick Van Dyke Show)
Fantastic Families: The Munsters, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie
Single Parents: My Three Sons, The Andy Griffith Show
Single Working Women: That Girl, Julia, Hazel
(Morrison PowerPoint [2009]: 12) 54

32. The Munsters (1960s TV) 54

33. Beverly Hillbillies (1960s TV)54

34. 1970s: Controversial with Social Awareness
Wholesome Families: Happy Days, The Waltons, Little House on the Prairie
Crass, Bigoted, Racist Families: All in the Family, Maude, The Jeffersons
Feminist Sit Coms: Mary Tyler Moore Show
Sex-Liberation: Three’s Company
Blended Families: Brady Bunch, Diff’rent Strokes
Taboo subjects like abortion, rape, interfaith marriage, poverty, antiwar sentiment are treated (Brooks 87)
(Morrison PowerPoint [2009]: 13) 54

35. Alf (1970s TV) 54

36. All in the Family (1970s TV) 54

37. The Brady Bunch (1970s TV) 54

38. 1980s: Realism & Variation
Wholesome Sitcoms, some with Dual Career Marriages: The Cosby Show
Animated Sitcoms: The Simpsons
Rude, Crass, & Blue-Collar Sitcoms: Married…with Children, Roseanne
Children tend to be independent; there are different types of families in terms of fathers, mothers, race, etc.
(Morrison PowerPoint [2009]: 14) 54

39. The Cosby Show (1980s TV) 54

40. The Simpsons (1980s TV) 54

41. 54

42. Golden Girls (1980s TV) 54

43. Roseanne (1980s TV) 54

44. 1990s & 2000s: Few Taboos & Total Diversity
Family: Home Improvement
Animated: Beavis & Butt-head, Southpark, King of the Hill
Teen Audience: Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Dawson’s Creek, Malcolm in the Middle
Single, Working Women: Will & Grace, Sex and the City
Character Development & Growth: Seinfeld
Sixty-Minute Format: Ally McBeal
(Morrison PowerPoint [2009]: 16) 54

45. Family Guy (1990s TV) 54

46. Friends (2000s TV) 54

47. Home Improvement (1990s TV)54

48. Seinfeld (1990s TV) 54

49. 54

50. Ally McBeal (2000s TV) 54

51. SITCOM WEB SITES 30 ROCK: http://www.nbc.com/30_Rock/ AMERICAN DAD:
BETTER OFF TED:
THE BIG BANG THEORY:
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES: 54

52. DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES: http://abc.bo.com/primetime/desperate/
CHEERS:
COMMUNITY:
THE COSBY SHOW:
CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM:
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES:
EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND: 54

53. THE FAIRLY ODD PARENTS:
FAMILY GUY:
FRASIER:
THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR:
FRIENDS:
FULL HOUSE: 54

54. IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA:
FUTURAMA:
THE GOLDEN GIRLS:
GROWING PAINS:
HOME IMPROVEMENT:
IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA:
THE JEFFERSONS: 54

55. MARRIED WITH CHILDREN:
THE KING OF QUEENS:
MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE:
MARRIED WITH CHILDREN:
MAUDE:
MY HERO:
MY NAME IS EARL: 54

56. THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE:
THE ODD COUPLE:
THE OFFICE:
SCRUBS:
SEINFELD:
SEX AND THE CITY: 54

57. SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS:
THE SIMPSONS:
SISTER, SISTER:
SOUTH PARK:
SPIN CITY:
SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS:
STEVE HARVEY: 54

58. TYLER PERRY’S HOUSE OF PAYNE: http://www.tbs.com/shows/houseofpayne/
STILL STANDING:
THAT 70S SHOW:
TWO AND A HALF MEN:
TYLER PERRY’S HOUSE OF PAYNE:
THE VICAR OF DIBLEY:
WAR AT HOME:
THE WINNER: 54

59. !!Late Night Television Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert54

60. !!!Greg Beato writes in “Amusing us to Depth”
“Multiple Surveys by the Pew Research Center and the Annenberg Public Policy Center have found that viewers of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are among America’s most informed citizens.”
(390) 54

61. !!!TALK SHOW WEB SITES ADAM CAROLLA:
STEPHEN COLBERT: “THE COLBERT REPORT”:
JIMMY FALLON:
CRAIG FERGUSON: 54

62. CHELSEA LATELY (CHELSEA HANDLER):
DAVID LETTERMAN:
JIMMY KIMMELL:
JAY LENO: 54

63. SARAH SILVERMAN PROGRAM: http://sarahblog.comedycentral.com/
DEMETRI MARTIN:
CONAN O’BRIEN:
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE:
SARAH SILVERMAN PROGRAM:
JON STEWART: “THE DAILY SHOW”: 54

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