Even with images and themes that are often sanitized, circumscribed, and fantasized, the sitcom has provided a compelling portrait of the American landscape throughout periods of plenty, recession, and great societal upheaval. Evolving notions about sex, fashion, urban renewal, child rearing, the government, war, and the changing status of African Americans and women have all been fodder for theproducers and writers of the episodic comedy. Other programming formats have also made an impact. Made-for-television movies have sometimes provided thought-provoking portraits of contemporary issues and the historical past, while realistic police-detective dramas offer striking images of the dangers of life on the street. It is the episodic comedy, however, with its humor, weekly format, and regular characters, that has most soundly featured the taboos, preoccupations, prejudices, obsessions, fads and fixations of twentieth century American society—not only by what was shown on the small screen but also by what was sometimes omitted.
Historically, the evolution of the situation comedy on television is firmly anchored to the history of radio programming. Soon after its invention, the new medium of radio emerged from its beginnings in experimental, often amateur-produced "stunts" to organized formats.
This is a free page. This page contains 183 words. This
article contains 5,887 words (approx. 20 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Article with our Sitcom Access Pass.
