(Pronunciation Key: s,i,t-k,o,m ) Sit-com (Informal noun, abbreviation) A situation comedy Synonyms (Comedy): takeoff, witticism, send-up, slapstick, hoopla, facetiousness, play on, drollness. Encyclopaedic Definition: British Sitcom A British sitcom is a situation comedy (sitcom) produced in the United Kingdom. The genre can be difficult to classify as it covers a wide range of styles and situations. A common factor is the exploration of social mores, often with a healthy dollop
Seinfeld Seinfeld ranks among the best situational comedies of all time. It has been compared to I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners, both of whom received praise for there pioneering works in comedy. But I believe that Seinfeld takes the term sitcom to another level. This is accomplished by exhibiting the many attributes of the show. Seinfeld contains many characteristics of a great situational comedy. The reason why Seinfeld is a unique show is because of its coherence. This show has a variety of
established order; a profound aesthetic conservatism bundled with an ingrained desire to shock. Every sitcom possess not just a routine that it perpetually seeks to overturn but also a particular style of fomenting that chaos.” -Saul Austerlitz The situation comedy, or sitcom, is a television programming genre that incorporates a narrative of humor within the context of a perception of domestic routine. In some cases the humor is associated with the dynamics of a relationship between a husband and wife
middle-class family in Chicago, should not be regarded as a wholehearted endorsement of black assimilation into "white society. " Instead, the play offers a rather realistic view of the complexity of struggles that involves this issue. The Cosby Show, a comedy series about a successful upper-middle-class black family in New York, must also not be viewed as an endorsement of black assimilation into "white society." Instead, the sitcom dealt with universal family issues and posited traditional family values
in many comedies is becoming more controversial day by day. Popular T.V shows such as Family Guy, The Simpsons, and South Park are regularly showing that jokes concentrating on risqué topics such as abortion, religion, drug abuse, racism and even the topic of incapacities are more entertaining. Thus, despite the fact some watchers view these shows in fright, many of them are becoming comfortable and accepting them socially. Comedy isn’t what it used to be in the past; in fact, today comedy is a way
THE BRADY BUNCH The word sitcom is short for Situation Comedy. A good sitcom story idea places the star (or supporting character) into a situation in need of a resolution, which will cause the character to respond in unexpected, exaggerated, and hugely sidesplitting ways (Rannow, pg. 13). A comedy now days are different from how they were in the 1960's and 1970's though. Today directors use sexual content and foul language to make people laugh and do not usually have a purpose or point to get across
Good Times Originally aired on CBS in 1974 as a spinoff of the sitcom Maude, Good Times was a Black situation comedy based on the everyday lives of a Black Chicago family during the height of the civil rights movement (Deane, 2004). The cast starred Esther Rolles as the mother Florida Evans who first appeared as the maid in the television show Maude, John Amos as the father James Evans who starred in the hit miniseries Roots, comedian Jimmie Walker who played the oldest son James Evans Jr. (JJ)
The History of Sitcoms The word 'Sitcom' derives from the words Situational Comedy. Sitcoms are a series of programs shown on television that usually involve a family or a close group of characters. Sitcoms seem to have been around ever since television was introduced to the family home, and are continuing to change along with television itself. Traditionally, sitcoms were generally centred around men, usually having only one or two female characters. Examples of this are, 'Yes Prime
challenging these social preconceptions of what an adult should be. Seinfeld’s catch was that it was “a show about nothing.” But the only real truth in that statement was that it was a show about nothing in particular; it was a situation comedy without a specific situation. What made the show unique and revolutionary was that it focused on the lives of four adults who were anything but what television and society itself had taught us to expect adults to be. Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer resembled
The rise and fall of Good Times, how did it begin and how did it end? How did the show get it season? What ever happened to John Amos? How did African Americans portray the show and did other cultures also watch it? According to IMBD Good Times was a spin-off from the sitcom Maude (1972), there were no actual references to that show or its characters. In that series, Florida was employed as Maude Findlay's housekeeper in suburban New York and her husband Henry was employed as a firefighter. So on
Effects of Television on Our Society INTRODUCTION Plato once, prophetically, posed a question that hints at the very core of this project. In philosophizing on the issue of entertainment and its various, sometimes questionable, sources he asked his fellow citizens to consider the following “Shall we just carelessly allow our children to hear casual tales which may be devised by casual persons, and to receive into their minds ideas for the most part the very opposite of those which we should
society, which are exposed as a "shallow mask of manners" (1655). Aided by clever wordplay, frantic misunderstanding, and dissonance of knowledge between the characters and the audience, devices that are now staples of contemporary theater and situation comedy, "Earnest" suggests that, especially in "civilized" society, we all lead double lives that force upon us a variety of postures, an idea with which the closeted (until his public charge for sodomy) homosexual Wilde was understandably obsessed
The Impact of African-American Sitcoms on America's Culture Since its start, the television industry has been criticized for perpetuating myths and stereotypes about African-Americans through characterizations, story lines, and plots. The situation comedy has been the area that has seemed to draw the most criticism, analysis, and disapproval for stereotyping. From Sanford and Son and The Jefferson’s in the 1970s to The Cosby Show (1984) and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the 1990s, sitcoms featuring
The average America watches more than 150 hours of television every month, or about five hours each day (“Americans,” 2009). Of the 25 top-rated shows for the week of February 8-14, 2010, six were sitcoms, averaging 5.84 million live viewers each (Seidman, 2010), to say nothing for the millions more who watched later on the Internet or their Digital Video Recorders. The modern sitcom is an undeniable force in America, and its influence extends beyond giving viewers new jokes to repeat at the water
American Dream to potential residents. Good Times illustrates that living in the ghetto is tolerable by “black folks”, they are simply better suited for the hardship; while The Cosby Show is an example of an exceptional black family with family situations similar to those of white families.
Portrayal of African Americans on television is frequently a controversial topic. Throughout its rather brief history, television, in its programming, has skewed predominantly white, (Pringozy, 2007). This was clearer in the 1950s and early 1960s, and it even remained true throughout the 1970s, when television shows with mainly all African American casts became hits, (Strausbaugh, 2006). The success of The Cosby Show in the 1980s helped to improve race relations somewhat, or at least on television
One of Oliver Stones masterpieces, Natural Born Killers, caused severe controversy due to the graphic, but sincere portrayal of how the media devilishly feeds on violence and how the people of the country respond to these glamorized acts of wrong doing. Although the nation has condemned the movie for its shockingly violent scenes, critics like Roger Ebert and devoted Stone fans like Jason O’Brien have a different perspective on the message that this movie is trying to portray. That is, the simple
How many people today watch family sitcoms to imitate or compare values with their own? Probably not as many as there were in the 1950s. In Stephanie Coontz's "What We Really Miss about the 1950s", she discusses why people feel more nostalgic towards growing up in the 1950s, and how she disagrees that 1950s wasn't the decade that we really should like or remember best. Apart from economic stability, family values played an important part then. Through television sitcoms, such as "Leave it to Beaver"
Jay and Gloria’s obvious age difference and Mitchell and Cameron’s relationship. The gender roles within the families have somewhat stayed the same as in past ideal families, aside from Phil and Claire’s swap of power. Gloria’s race is a constant situation causer, whether it’s her thick accent or the stereotypical characteristics and actions. Class, on the other hand, is rarely brought up throughout the show. Modern Family shows just how much the idea of family is changing in present day America.
“Every family is dysfunctional, whether you want to admit it or not”(Shailene Woodley). Every family faces adversity in its daily lives, it is how they deal with it which demonstrates their character. Although the TV sitcoms “Family Ties” and “Modern Family” are from two opposite time periods, they both portray the traditional family of their culture. “Mom! Dad!...Luke just shot me!”(“Pilot”). The modern relationship between children is filled with stirring up trouble for their siblings, and