Comedy Analysis: American sitcoms

The cast of Married... with Children

A staple of contemporary comedy, American sitcoms are gaining numbers and popularity around the world. The American sitcom has been around since 1926, when Sam 'n' Henry was first broadcast on WGN radio in Chicago. The first televised sitcom was Mary Kay and Johnny which premiered on 18 November 1947, on DuMont Television Network. Later is was moved to CBS and later to NBC. It was also the first show to show a couple in bed and the first show to feature a pregnancy. This was because Mary Kay became pregnant and as the attempts at cover-up were unsuccessful, the writers decided to write it into the show. The show was also broadcast live at first, but was later recorded and aired after production. As the show's sponsor wanted to know if it was worth investing money into, but there were no viewing statistics yet, they devised a simple way to test the waters: during one of the commercial breaks a spot was aired offering a free pocket mirror to the first 200 viewers who wrote in. As a precaution the company bought 400 mirrors, in case the audience was larger than expected. After airing only the one spot, the company received nearly 9000 requests for mirrors. Therefore the sitcom was regarded to be a success in viewer figures.

Later sitcoms follow largely the same format focusing on a family and their daily antics. Some sitcoms follow a miserable family, or a miserable family member (Such as Married... with children), whereas other sitcoms follow more of a funny or comedic family (such as The Simpsons or Family Guy). Especially animated sitcoms often feature more absurd humour or over-the-top hilarious situations.

American sitcoms also often incorporate slapstick and sarcasm into the series. Not every sitcom these

The cast of Community

days focuses on a family, although the classic roles of family members are often filled in by other characters. For instance Community follows a study group on Greendale Community College. Increasingly the 'old-fashioned' one-camera sitcoms are returning. The one-camera technique involves a single camera filming the entire series, rather than 3 or more cameras filming with the best scenes then edited together. Some modern single-camera shows include Scrubs, It's always sunny in Philadelphia and Arrested Development. Also the mockumentary sitcom is on the rise. These include series such as The Office and Modern Family, which are made to look like a documentary, but with a comedic effect.

The American sitcom is still undeniably among the most popular forms of comedy around. Many are broadcast around the world and repeated often. Some of the most legendary gems of comedy are sitcoms, such as The Cosby Show, Seinfeld, The Simpsons and  I Love Lucy. This is a genre in comedy worth preserving.