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A situation comedy, usually referred to as a '''sitcom''', is a Genre of Comedy programs which originated in Radio . Today, sitcoms are found almost exclusively on Television , as one of its dominant Narrative forms. Sitcoms usually consist of recurring characters in a common environment such as a home or workplace. CHARACTERISTICS The essence of the situation comedy is that the characters remain in the same situation from episode to episode. The situation is usually that of a family, workplace, or a group of friends. The term was adopted to distinguish the sitcom from other comedy formats: sketch comedy, which generally featured new characters and situations each outing, or the humorous monologue or dialogue, which did not feature characters. Often these other formats were presented within a variety format mixed with musical performances, as in Vaudeville . The emerging mass medium of radio allowed audiences to return to programs over and over, which allowed programs to return to the same characters and situations each episode and expect audiences to be familiar with them. Thus, while the humor in sitcoms varies, it is usually character-driven, which may result in Running Gag s during the series. Due to the need to retain the same situation over many episodes, in many sitcoms characters remained largely static. Events of individual episodes typically resolve themselves by the end, and are rarely mentioned in subsequent episodes. This episodic nature is mirrored in many dramas as well, but there are also many sitcoms that feature story arcs across many episodes, where the characters and situations slowly change over the course of their run. HISTORY Radio The situation comedy format was born on January 12 1926 with the initial broadcast of '' Sam 'n' Henry '' on WGN in Chicago . The 15-minute daily program was revamped in 1928, moved to another station, and renamed '' Amos 'n' Andy '', which became one of the most successful sitcoms from this period. It was also one of the earliest examples of radio syndication. Like many radio programs of the time, the two programs continued the American entertainment traditions of Vaudeville and the Minstrel Show , and, due to the latter, are somewhat controversial today. '' Fibber McGee And Molly '' was one of the most successful sitcoms of all time, airing on radio from 1935 to 1959 . The show starred vaudevillians James "Jim" and Marian Driscoll Jordan and also had its roots in Chicago. In 1947 , '' Beulah '' became the first radio sitcom featuring an African-American in the lead role. Television In the late 1940s, the sitcom was among the first formats adapted for the new medium of television. Most sitcoms were a half-hour in length and aired weekly. Many of the earliest sitcoms were direct adaptations of existing radio shows, such as ''Amos 'n' Andy'', or vehicles for existing radio stars such as Burns And Allen ('' The Burns And Allen Show '') and film stars such as Abbott And Costello ('' The Abbott And Costello Show ''). Early sitcoms were broadcast live and recorded on Kinescope s or not recorded at all. The television adaptation of ''Beulah'' in 1950 became the first TV sitcom with an African-American lead. An early innovator in the history of sitcoms is Desi Arnaz who is credited with the first successful use of the Multiple-camera Setup , where three cameras shoot the action on stage simultaneously and the best shots from each of the cameras are later edited together. '' I Love Lucy '', the extremely popular show that Arnaz and his wife Lucille Ball created and starred in together, was also among the first to record all episodes on film, and he is thus also credited with foreseeing the viability of the Rerun . Eventually, sitcoms began to divide themselves into two distinct groups: the domestic comedy, which focused on a family or a married couple in their home, and the workplace comedy, which focused on the employees at a workplace. The earliest domestic comedies include '' The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet '', '' The Honeymooners '', and '' Make Room For Daddy ''. The earliest workplace comedies include '' Our Miss Brooks '', set in a high school, and '' The Phil Silvers Show '', which was set on a US Army post. A few shows managed to feature both situations equally, such as the early 1960s '' The Dick Van Dyke Show ''. The animated sitcom was born during this period with Hanna-Barbera 's '' The Flintstones '' and '' The Jetsons ''. The latter show was the first example of the Science Fiction Sitcom subgenre. By the mid-1960s, sitcom creators began adding more fantastical elements to live action sitcoms. Monsters and ghouls were featured as regular characters in '' The Munsters '' and '' The Addams Family '' created from a series of cartoon comics. Genies and witches featured in '' I Dream Of Jeannie '' and '' Bewitched '', respectively. Sherwood Schwartz created the somewhat implausible '' Gilligan's Island ''. Also popular were the spy and superhero parodies '' Get Smart '' and '' Batman ''. Many of these shows returned to the practice of the Single Camera filming style, which was more practical given the visual effects used in these shows. Overall, the late 1960s was a period of greater production values for sitcoms. This allowed for the careful creation of special effects and sharp editing, features which were not possible with the same finesse in a multi-camera production. Many of these programs were not filmed before live audiences, yet featured a Laugh Track . Another trend beginning in the 1960's was the expansion of the domestic comedy beyond the nuclear family or married couple. '' The Andy Griffith Show '' and '' My Three Sons '' featured widowers and their children. '' The Partridge Family '' concerned a widow and her children. One notable sitcom from this period is Sherwood Schwartz's '' The Brady Bunch '', which centered on a Blended Family , perhaps the best-known domestic comedy in US television history. ''The Andy Griffith Show'' is also notable for being the first TV sitcom Spinoff , from an episode of '' The Danny Thomas Show ''. The musical sitcom become an important and popular sub-genre of sitcoms in the mid 1960s through early 1970s with '' The Monkees '', which played off of the success of The Beatles , and with ''The Partridge Family''. In the early 1970s, sitcoms began to address controversial issues in a serious way, and largely returned to the three-camera shoot before live audiences. Many programs began to be recorded to video, as opposed to film, during this time as well. In the US Norman Lear is largely credited with the social issues development through his sitcoms '' All In The Family '', based on Johnny Speight's '' Till Death Us Do Part '' in the United Kingdom , and its spin-offs '' Maude '', '' The Jeffersons '', and '' Good Times '', all in the U.S. Also in Britain was Ray Galton And Alan Simpson's '' Steptoe And Son '', which also had a US remake in '' Sanford And Son ''. Women's liberation was the backdrop in a series of female-led sitcoms produced by '', and it's spin-offs '' Rhoda '' and '' Phyllis ''.
Also during this time, Bob Newhart adapted his deadpan club act for television in sitcom format, which was at once a throwback to the early vaudevillian origins of sitcoms and a harbinger of the 1980s - 1990s stand-up comedian sitcom trend. In the mid-1970s, Garry Marshall had several huge hits in the US with his trio of sitcoms '' Happy Days '', '' Laverne And Shirley '', and '' Mork And Mindy ''. Sex and titillation became a theme in the late 1970s with the UK sitcom '' Man About The House '' and its US remake '' Three's Company ''. Two Soap Opera parodies, '' Soap '' and '' Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman '', are also notable shows from this period which pushed the envelope of what was acceptable in television sitcoms. The 1980s saw the creation of a hybrid single camera half-hour drama / sitcom called a " Dramedy ". Examples include '' United States '' and '' The Days And Nights Of Molly Dodd ''. These were largely unsuccessful, but hour-long comedy dramas would become popular in the 1990s. Also successful was the use of crude humor by shows like Married With Children Also in the 1980s, stand-up comic Bill Cosby starred in the tremendously successful sitcom '' The Cosby Show '', which was the earliest of the current trend of successful sitcoms built around a stand-up comic's stage persona. Comedienne Roseanne Barr continued the trend in the late 1980s with her Eponymous Sitcom , as did Garry Shandling ('' It's Garry Shandling's Show '' and '' Larry Sanders ''). More recently, Jerry Seinfeld ('' Seinfeld '') and Ray Romano ('' Everybody Loves Raymond '') have also made the transition from the brick wall to the small screen with self-starring sitcoms. The early 1990s saw the rebirth of the animated sitcom, a trend which continues to this day. Most notable is '' The Simpsons '', the longest-running sitcom in US history. Other successful sitcoms in this subgenre include '' South Park '', '' Futurama '', '' Family Guy '', and '' King Of The Hill ''. In the mid-1990s several sitcoms have reintroduced the ongoing story line. '' Friends '', the most popular U.S. sitcom of the 1990s-2000s, had an overall Story Arc similar to that of soap operas, in the tradition of earlier sitcoms such as '' The Beverly Hillbillies '' and '' One Day At A Time ''. '' Friends '' also used other soap opera elements, such as regularly employing the device of an end-of-season Cliffhanger and gradually developing the relationships of the characters over the course of the series. '' Roseanne '' and '' Seinfeld '' are also noted for their long-term story arcs. In the late 1990s, hour long comedies, usually shot with a single camera, became popular. Typically these are heavily serialized. Examples include '' Ally McBeal '', '' Desperate Housewives ''. The early 2000s saw a rebirth of the Single Camera shooting style for half-hour sitcoms, with shows such as '' My Name Is Earl '', '' The Office '', '' Curb Your Enthusiasm '', and '' Scrubs ''. Unlike earlier single camera shows, these sitcoms do not use laugh tracks. The British sitcom '' Green Wing '', often scenes were shot using a single Steadycam , and later were sped up or slowed down for comic effect. Online In 2007, '' Where Are The Joneses '' became the first sitcom to be created specifically for online release. PREMISES Sitcoms are based on such premises as the "fish out of water", the foil, the family sitcom, the young protagonist’s point of view, misunderstandings, and the parody of serious versions of their characters or genres. "Fish out of water" Many sitcoms are based on the premise of a character being out of his or her element, in an environment they do not understand and in which they cannot function well. Foils Other sitcoms are based on foils. In fiction, a foil is a minor character whose traits are the opposite to those of the main character. '' I Love Lucy '' is an early example, in which a straightforward, down-to-earth, rational husband marries a flighty, zany, emotional woman given to hatching complex absurd schemes that invariably cause problems for their impatient but long suffering husbands. The family sitcom Having existed from the invention of the sitcom and having prominence in the 1980s, this premise involves the lives and situations of a family, usually taking place inside their house or residence. The standard formula for an episode of a family sitcom is:
Since the popularity of '' The Simpsons '', in which the father of the household is the one who creates most conflict, many family sitcoms have trended toward the father being the "troublemaker" of the house. A common aspect of family sitcoms is that, at some point in their run, a baby or adopted child is introduced into the family. The addition of a new baby to a sitcom family provides new story situations for the series as the family adjusts to a new member. However, there are practical problems with working with a baby on-set. Thus, most sitcom kids are Aged to four or five within two years of their birth, allowing the characters a wider range of story lines. In recent years however, family sitcoms have become rare and what is left tends to steer away from the traditional "lesson learned" format. The general exception to this is when the creators are mocking the format or paying an homage. Youthful protagonist's point of view A fourth premise for sitcoms is that of telling the story from the youthful protagonist’s point of view, usually making them an unreliable narrator. In these shows, the main characters are teens or pre-teens whose view of the world is often exasperating and endearing simultaneously. Trying to understand their world through inexperienced and naïve eyes, these characters often misunderstand the implications of incidents and actions. Often, they make a bad situation worse before their parents or another wise, understanding, and loving adult bails them out of their trouble. As a result, they become somewhat older and wiser. Parody Television sitcoms such as '' Batman '' and '' Get Smart '' are based on Parodying other more serious versions of their Characters or Genres . ''Batman'', starring Adam West , poked fun at the Campy elements implicit in costumed crime fighters and over-the-top Villains whose Comic Book punches are accompanied by Onomatopoetic graphics (e.g., "pow", "bang") in dynamic and dazzling fonts. However, the parody was done so unobtrusively that the show could be watched as a straight action series if the viewer were so inclined. Likewise, ''Get Smart'' made fun of the action-adventure plots of secret agents like James Bond . The "urban" comedy Highly popular in the 1970s and again circa 1990, when newer networks such as UPN, Fox and the WB were still trying to establish themselves; this style is geared toward the African American viewer. The "urban" comedy usually has a cast composed almost entirely of African Americans, and deals with issues of their interest. Many of the same formulas are used as in any of the other styles, but there is usually a high Sketch Comedy influence and a lot of times involve many absurd gags not normally seen in modern American television. Another thing that sets "urban" comedies apart from most other shows is their use of stars not only from a Stand-up Comedy background, but also from the world of music. ENSEMBLE CAST STRUCTURE Many sitcoms reuse a common mixture of character Archetype s to achieve reliable comedic situations from week to week. The naïf The most common archetype appearing in sitcoms is the naïf or fool. Typically, this character accepts events and statements at face value and often misunderstands situations in ways that create Conflict in the Plot . In some series, the entire cast may take on this trait at one time or another. The social rebel Not commonly seen on US television before the appearance of The Bundys from " Married... With Children ", this character was fairly common on British comedies from the '60s onward; these characters at times have traits of "The naive fool", and "The antagonist". They have (at least limited) awareness that his or her actions are in some way socially unacceptable, rude or just plain dumb. At times, this character plays pranks, makes inappropriate comments and generally makes life more difficult for the other characters. This character isn't quite an antagonist, however. They are usually accepted (and even loved) by the other characters despite their flaws. In some cases. they are the ones who end up saving the day with just the right advice or sacrifice. This type was popularized in the US by the series " Seinfeld ", in which all of the characters are selfish and rude and don't care about how society views them, yet they are the protagonists of the show. An earlier antecedent was the Maynard G. Krebs beatnik character from " The Many Loves Of Dobie Gillis ". The sage This character usually has either an elevated intellect, advanced age, or "outsider" experience. The sage frequently comments wryly on the situation into which the other characters have placed themselves and often suggests solutions to resolve the major plot conflict. The comic relief The comic relief character usually exhibits eccentric personality traits and unusual reactions to commonplace situations and sometimes serves as the protagonist of the situation comedy series. This character's strange attitudes and reactions to events provide opportunities for absurd or unexpected humour. The straight man Sometimes the spouse of the lead character, the straight man's main purpose is to react to the comic lead's shenanigans with an often sarcastic or deadpan response, often acting as a foil to the naif, the wacky neighbor, or the comic relief. Many times the straight man functions as the main character of the show, driving the plot by being the only seemingly sane person admist the chaos of the show. The Wacky Neighbor This character, who will often embody qualities of the Naive Fool or Comic Relief, lives next door, across the hall, or in similar close proximity to the protagonist. This allows the character to pop into the plot whenever necessary and inject a slice of levity and/or oddness to the proceedings. A popular example of this is shown in Seinfeld, where the character, Kramer (played by Michael Richards ), lives in a neighboring apartment to Jerry Seinfeld (the main character of the sitcom). Kramer has a "wacky" personality, and very often enters into Jerry's apartment, often expectantly. Eventually an applause was added with his entry. An offbeat example of the Wacky Neighbor is Ernest P. Worrell , originally from '' Hey Vern It's Ernest ''. In this show, the viewer assumes the first person perspective of the eponymous Vern, so that the protagonist is never seen and the wacky neighbor becomes the default focus of the show. The antagonist This archetypal character functions as a primary rival, competitor, or enemy of the series' principal character, the protagonist. The ladies' man / "the man eater" The ladies' man and the man eater are aggressively sexual characters whose primary humor derives from their sexual exploits. Depending upon the tenor of the series, and depending on if it's airing earlier or later on the schedule, the character's attitude can range from harmless flirtation to borderline hypersexuality. The ethnic or regional stereotype Some sitcoms feature characters from other countries or specific regions of a country whose accents, speech patterns, mannerisms, and attitudes provide opportunities for conflict or comic relief. Other common characters Other recurring archetypal characters that appear in sitcoms include:
PLOT FORMULAS The plot and situations for many sitcom episodes arise out of a character's lying to or otherwise deceiving the other characters. The most common comedic situations based on deception include:
The majority of sitcom episodes revolve around some form of the lying/deception premises listed above. Lesser-used sitcom plot formulas include:
The " Very Special Episode " One type of plot of particular note is the " Very Special Episode ". This episode of a comedy series goes outside of their standard comedy format and involves a controversial issue or either a birth, a death or an otherwise traumatic experience for one of the major characters. Examples include any episode of " Family Ties " involving the alcoholic Uncle Ned (played by Tom Hanks ) and the episode of " Happy Days " where Richie almost dies after crashing Fonzie's bike. This is many times a sign of the series " Jumping The Shark ". Two other shows that had frequent issues that were serious were " Roseanne " and " Maude ". Maude had an abortion and was a feminist of the '70s. Roseanne had children getting married at young ages and deaths in the family. In one episode, Roseanne's father died and even though it was a serious situation, it was regarded by some to be one of the funniest moments on TV. LIFE CYCLE Landmarks in the life cycle of a typical sitcom include:
SPECIFIC COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN Most American sitcoms are half-hour shows in which the story is written to run a total of 22 minutes in length, leaving 8 minutes for commercials. Sitcoms made outside the US may run somewhat longer. American sitcoms (like other American television series) typically have long season runs of 20 or more episodes, whereas the British sitcom is traditionally made in series of six episodes. American sitcoms often have large teams of young script writers from top universities firing gags into the script and round-table sessions, while most British sitcoms are written by one or two people. Australia Australia has not had a significant number of long running sitcoms. Most successful sitcoms on Australian TV are British or American. Many of the shows described under the British and U.S. sections of this article are or have been extremely popular in Australia. British sitcoms, many from the BBC, are a staple on the government broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation , and traditionally many have also been shown by the Seven Network . American sitcoms dominate the comedy line-up of the three commercial networks. While there has been a significant number of Australian sitcoms throughout the history of Australian television, they have most commonly run for just a single season - usually 13 half-hour episodes. Many successful Australian sitcoms have been somewhat similar in style to UK comedies, and several closely followed the premise of earlier UK programs. An early successful situation comedy was '' My Name's McGooley, What's Yours? '' (1967) about a working-class Sydney family. Other popular sitcoms of this general period included '' The Group '', and '' Our Man In Canberra ''. In the first half of the 1970s it was the popular soap operas '' Number 96 '' and '' The Box '' that provided the main forum for Australian-grown sitcom style comedy. These shows combined melodrama and sex with large amounts of comedy. In 1976 the Australian Broadcasting Corporation produced a sex-comedy television sitcom '' Alvin Purple '', based on the hit feature film of the same name. Like the films that preceded it, the series of Alvin Purple featured Graeme Blundell in the title role. By the late 1970s Australian versions of popular UK comedies were produced using key personnel from the original series working in Australia. These productions retained the title and key cast members of the original programs and operated within the same story world of the original even down to explaining how the characters came to leave their original UK locale and be temporarily resident of Australia. These comedies, '' Are You Being Served '', '' Doctor In The House '' (as ''Doctor Down Under'') and '' Father, Dear Father '' (as '''Father, Dear Father in Australia''), transplanted key original cast members to Australia to situations markedly similar to those of the original series. During this same general period, one of the UK producers of these shows also launched '' The Tea Ladies '' in Australia. Also during the late 1970s Crawford Productions , best known for their successful police drama series, also created situation comedy series. These include '' The Bluestone Boys '' (1976) on Network Ten , and '' Bobby Dazzler '' (1977) on the Seven Network. The late-1970s sketch comedy series '' The Naked Vicar Show '' spawned successful a sitcom spin off, '' Kingswood Country '', in 1980. This series was immensely popular, running four years. Its situation was somewhat similar to the British comedy '' Til Death Us Do Part '' and its American cousin '' All In The Family ''. In the early 1980s there were few Australian sitcoms, with soap operas being the more common genre produced in Australia. During this period however the Australian Broadcasting Corporation produced '' Mother And Son '', which emerged as an enduring audience favourite. In the late 1980s and early 1990s several new Australian sitcoms achieved significant success including '' Frontline '', '' Hey Dad...! '', '' Acropolis Now '', '' All Together Now '' which all had relatively long runs. '' The Adventures Of Lano And Woodley '' ran for two seasons, in 1997 and 1999, on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Other programs such as '' Hampton Court '' and '' My Two Wives '' were only moderate successes, lasting just one season. This period also saw many short-lived failures such as '' Late For School '' and '' Bingles ''. In 2002 the successful sitcom '' Kath And Kim '' began its hit run. Canada ''See also: Canadian Humour Canadian sitcoms have generally fared poorly with both critics and audiences. One notorious example is '' The Trouble With Tracy '', regarded by many Canadians as one of the worst TV shows ever made. Other Canadian sitcoms have included '' Snow Job '', '' Check It Out! '', '' Mosquito Lake '' and '' Not My Department '' all of which were mocked as being particularly unfunny. There have rarely been more than one or two Canadian sitcoms airing at any given time, although this has changed in recent years with the growth of original programming on Cable Television . The few successful Canadian sitcoms have included: '' La Famille Plouffe '' and its English version, ''The Plouffe Family''; '' King Of Kensington '', '' Hangin' In '', '' Puppets Who Kill '', '' Made In Canada '', '' Trailer Park Boys '', and '' Corner Gas ''. Canadian TV networks have had much more success with '') occasionally use sitcom-like subplots for Comic Relief . One of Canada's most enduring comedic television series, '' The Red Green Show '', was essentially a cross between a sitcom and a sketch series. Each episode unfolded through short comedic sketches rather than a conventional sitcom plot, but unlike a true sketch series the sketches always drew from a single set of characters and always fit within the shows main premise, and no actor played more than one role. Notable Quebec sitcoms in recent years have included '' La Petite Vie '', '' Catherine '' and '' Les Bougon ''. Russia ''See also: , Russian Humour Sitcoms have appeared in Russia beginning in the second half of the 1990s , for example, ''My Beautiful Nanny'' (adaptation of American sitcom The Nanny ). New Zealand New Zealand began producing television programs later than many other developed countries. Due to New Zealand's small population, the two main New Zealand networks will rarely fund more than one or two sitcoms each year. This low output means there is less chance of a successful sitcom being produced to offset the failures. Early sitcoms included ''Joe & Koro'' and ''Buck House''. Later there was ''The Billy T James Show'' subsequently rerun in early 2004 as part of the first year's offering on Maori Television . The team of David McPhail and Jon Gadsby produced and/or starred in quite a number of sitcoms such as ''Letter to Blanchy'' with help from writer A K Grant. The most popular and successful New Zealand produced sitcom to date has been Roger Hall 's '' Gliding On '', based on his hit stage play Glide Time . Another Hall play, '' Conjugal Rites '' was also made into a sitcom but by Granada in Britain. In 1994, '' Melody Rules '' was produced and screened. Critically and commercially unsuccessful, it has become part of the lexicon within the television industry to describe an unsuccessful sitcom, for example, ''that show will be the next "Melody Rules"''. Another sitcom to have its roots in a stage play was '' Serial Killers '' (2003), about the scriptwriters of a medical Soap Opera . Many British and American sitcoms are and have been popular in New Zealand, including many of those aforementioned in this article. United Kingdom See Also: British sitcom The United Kingdom has produced a wealth of sitcoms, many of which have been exported to other nations or adapted for other countries. Classic British sitcoms include
More recent successes have included '' My Family '', '' Father Ted '' (set in Ireland ), '' The Vicar Of Dibley '', '' Green Wing '', '' The Royle Family '', '' Spaced ,'' '' Absolutely Fabulous '', '' The Office '' and '' Keeping Up Appearances ''. The British sitcom tends to rely less on quick-fire jokes and quirky characters, and focuses more on plots, the analysis of the British individual, and exaggerated Caricature s of everyday Stereotype s. There is also a tendency towards black humour; '' Porridge '', for example, is set in a prison, and '' The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin '' involves a man who twice fakes Suicide to escape his humdrum life. '' Steptoe And Son '' can be heart-breaking as the ambitions of Harold are quashed by his needy, manipulative father. Three of the four series of '' Blackadder '' end with the deaths of most of the characters. '' One Foot In The Grave '' also regularly featured dark humour hidden beneath its seemingly innocent suburban exterior. A frequent theme in British sitcoms is that of people trapped in an unpleasant situation or, more often, in a dysfunctional relationship. Shows such as '' Steptoe And Son '' (son unable to escape controlling father), '' Sorry '' (son unable to escape controlling mother), '' Gimme Gimme Gimme '' (two flatmates unable to escape each other) and '' Fawlty Towers '' (man unable to escape his emasculating wife) play on this. Where a sitcom of this type definitely ends, it is with an act of escape (Timothy literally flies away in ''Sorry'', and Tom gets his dream job in ''Gimme Gimme Gimme''). The sitcom format has been hugely successful for the BBC with ITV having less success. Almost all successful classic British sitcoms first aired on BBC One ; ITV have not had many successful sitcoms since the 1980s. BBC Two , BBC Three , BBC Four and Channel 4 have begun to have more success with comedy in recent years with BBC One having less success. American sitcoms in the UK tend to be aired on Channel 4 , Five , BBC Two , Sky One and the American network ABC 's channel ABC1 airing sitcoms shown on ABC in the United States. Many British sitcoms are re-made for American audiences. For example, '' Till Death Us Do Part '' became '' All In The Family ''; '' Man About The House '' became '' Three's Company ''; and, the immensely popular ''Steptoe and Son'' became '' Sanford And Son ''. '' The Office '' was also remade for an American audience using The Same Title . Political sitcom '' The Thick Of It '' is currently going an American adaption, also under the Same Name . However, most British sitcoms usually fare better in their original forms. Re-makes of '' Red Dwarf '', '' Men Behaving Badly '', '' Coupling '', and '' One Foot In The Grave '' ('' Cosby '') fell victim to adaptations that largely removed the essence of the comedy and did not stand the test of time. Possibly the best example of this was '' Fawlty Towers '', in which there were three attempts to Americanize the show. The first attempt was a proposed series titled ''Chateau Snavely'' in 1978 but a pilot was never produced. The second attempt at Americanising ''Fawlty Towers'' was ''Amanda's'', where the character of Basil became a woman played by Beatrice Arthur . This eliminated the roles of the hen-pecked lead and the dragon-like wife. ''Amanda's'' was picked up by ABC in 1983 but never attracted an audience and was cancelled soon after. The final attempt to remake Fawlty Towers was ''Payne'', in which John Larroquette played the title role. It was seen on CBS in 1999, but like ''Amanda's'' it was soon dropped by the network. The UK is home to the world's longest running sitcom, '' Last Of The Summer Wine .'' The show's pilot was broadcast in early 1973 with the first series starting that autumn. The series continues to this day with the show's 28th series, coming soon in Spring 2007 . United States
In 2005, and Shoe Schuster 's '' The Sperm Donor '' and '' Stephen's Life '', with the latter ultimately winning the reality series. ''THE ULTIMATE SITCOM'' POLL British television station 2007 . # '' Frasier '' (US 1993 - 2004 ) # '' Fawlty Towers '' (UK 1975 & 1979 ) # '' Seinfeld '' (US 1989 - 1998 ) # '' Porridge '' (UK 1974 - 1977 ) # '' The Larry Sanders Show '' (US 1992 - 1998 ) # '' The Phil Silvers Show '' (US 1955 - 1959 ) # '' Dad's Army '' (UK 1968 - 1977 ) # '' Blackadder '' (UK 1983 - 1989 ) # '' Spaced '' (UK 1999 - 2001 ) # '' The Office (UK TV Series) '' (UK 2001 - 2003 ) # '' Father Ted '' (UK 1995 - 1998 ) # '' Cheers '' (US 1982 - 1993 ) # '' I'm Alan Partridge '' (UK 1997 - 2002 ) # '' Yes Minister / Yes, Prime Minister '' (UK 1980 - 1988 ) # '' Curb Your Enthusiasm '' (US 2000 -Present) # '' The Good Life '' (UK 1975 - 1978 ) # '' The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin '' (UK 1976 - 1979 ) # '' Hancock's Half Hour '' (UK 1954 - 1959 on radio, 1956 - 1961 on television) # '' Rising Damp '' (UK 1974 - 1978 ) # '' The Young Ones '' (UK 1982 - 1984 ) MODERN SITCOMS/THE FUTURE As with previous generations, there are many changes that are being made to the style and content of the modern sitcom, these are a few examples. The "Friends clone" Following the success of '' Friends '', many situation comedies have started using a similar formula; a group of young urbanites and their relationships with each other, almost always with a continuing Story Arc usually involving on and off again romances between the lead characters. The humor would always be deadpan or goofy at times in shows like How I Met Your Mother . Friends itself, however, was one of the many '' Seinfeld '' clones and co-creator Larry David has expressed irritation in the past that Friends was seen as the original of this format. The single camera, no laugh track style Another popular modern style of sitcom is filmed without a live studio audience or Laugh Track , using multiple locations and a Single Camera Setup . The idea is to avoid the limitations that a stage and the tight shooting schedule of a standard sitcom provide and to make a more theatrical or realistic style. In addition, producers and writers of such shows believe that eliminating the laugh track allows more time for dialogue (and subsequently, jokes) and more movements for the characters instead of standing or sitting, while simultaneously refusing to "dumb down" the audience by cueing them on when to laugh. Critics of this style believe that the unsteady single-camera style of filming is off-putting and can nauseate the viewer. The children's sitcom There have been a large number of situation comedies in recent years geared toward a children's and pre-teenage audience. These shows evolved from early shows on Nickelodeon , and highly successful series on Disney Channel have been seen as a reflection of the modern buying power of this group. The style of these shows usually has a lower budget than the usual big network series and the usual plot involves teen issues such as " Sibling Rivalry ", school issues and dating. In Disney Channel sitcoms, issues are rarely discussed and focuses on one-liners and physical comedy than most of the plot. Also, the characters have more movement than staying still to show their body language. Children's sitcoms are similar to the traditional "family sitcom", but the lead is always a child who is usually strong and independent, or a group or children or teens. The most common type of characters in order would be lucky, helpful and dim-witted. SEE ALSO REFERENCES BIBLIOGRAPHY
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