Television Genres

The form is so elemental, so basic, that we have difficulty imagining a time before it existed: a single set, fixed cameras, canned laughter, zany sidekicks, quirky family antics. Obsessively watched and critically ignored, sitcoms were a distraction, a gentle lullaby of a kinder, gentler America--until suddenly the artificial boundary between the world and television entertainment collapsed. ...

An updated version of an engaging overview of the television situation comedy.

Offers a variety of perspectives on the sitcom genre and its influence on American culture.

Despite its global reach, longstanding popularity, and immense profitability, the sitcom has been repeatedly neglected in theoretical work on television and media. This book demonstrates that this lack needs to be sorely addressed, by dragging analysis of sitcom up to date, with a wealth of contemporary examples, a range of new approaches to the genre, and examination of the roles sitcom and comedy play within society. The book takes as its starting point the variety of ways in which sitcom has traditionally been explored. ...

Providing new insight into key debates over race and representation in the media, this ethnographic study explores the ways in which African Americans have been depicted in Black situation comedies-from 1950's Beulah to contemporary series like Martin and Living Single.

Archie Bunker. Jed. Laverne and Shirley. Cliff Huxtable. Throughout the entire history of American prime-time television only four sitcoms have been true blockbusters, with Nielsen ratings far above the second- and third-rated programs. Weekly, millions of Americans of every age were making a special effort to turn on the set to see what Archie, Jed, Laverne, and Cliff were doing that week. The wild popularity of these shows--All in the Family, The Beverly Hillbillies, Laverne & Shirley (and its partner Happy Days), and The Cosby Show--left commentators bewildered by the tastes and preferences of the American public. How do we account for the huge appeal of these sitcoms, and how does it figure into the history of network prime-time television? Janet Staiger answers these questions by detailing the myriad factors that go into the construction of mass audiences. ...

This is the first anthology that examines the TV sitcom in terms of its treatment of gender, family, class, race, and ethnic issues. The selections range from early shows such as I Remember Mama (George Lipsitz's "Why Remember Mama? The Changing Face of a Woman's Narrative") to the more recent Roseanne (Kathleen Rowe Karlyn's "Roseanne: Unruly Woman as a Domestic Goddess"). The volume also looks unflinchingly at major controversies; for example, the NAACP boycott of the stereotypical yet wildly popular Amos 'n' Andy and the queer reading of Laverne and Shirley. ...

Comedy is crucial to how the English see themselves. This book considers that proposition through a series of case studies of popular English comedies and comedians in the twentieth century, ranging from the Carry On films to the work of Mike Leigh and contemporary sitcoms such as The Royle Family, and from George Formby to Alan Bennett and Roy 'Chubby' Brown. Relating comic traditions to questions of class, gender, sexuality and geography, A National Joke looks at how comedy is a cultural thermometer, taking the temperature of its times. ...

Use this index to find articles about this TV genre.

The online version of 3 separate ISI indexes: Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index and, Social Sciences Citation Index.

A lot of girls move to New York City to 'make it'. Max and Caroline are just trying to make their rent. Two girls from very different background, Max, poor from birth, and Caroline, born wealthy but down on her luck, wind up as waitresses in the same colorful Brooklyn diner and strike up an unlikely friendship that could lead to a successful business venture. All they need to do is come up with $250,000 in start-up expenses.

This collection includes episodes from television comedies that originally aired in the 1950s.

Chronicles the comic adventures of Amos Jones and Andrew H. Brown, two Harlem black men trying to make it in Harlem. Their lives are complicated by the schemes of the Kingfish.

Widower Sheriff Andy and his young son Opie live with Andy's Aunt Bea in Mayberry, NC. Since Mayberry has virtually no crimes to solve, most of Andy's time is spent chatting with the locals and calming down his cousin Deputy Barney.

The complete first season (in black & white) of the classic television show about a housewife with magical powers.

Based on the comic strip, Huey and Riley move away from the city and out to the suburbs with their grandfather. Biting socio-political commentary ensues.

One hundred episodes from the Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet television show from 1952-1966.

Two New Zealander friends experience life, love, friendship, all the usual stuff, while trying to make their lives as a rock band. Unfortunately, they're a rock band that can only schedule a performance at the local aquarium, and they have only one fan.

Whether it's underage drinking, homophobia or smokers' rights, no subject is off limits for the hilariously warped gang at Paddy's Pub. The staff of this neighborhood bar takes dysfunction and political incorrectness to wickedly hilarious extremes. Knock one back with Mac, Charlie, Dennis, his sister Dee, and their nihilistic father Frank, as their twisted and self-obsessed worldviews lead to awkward and outrageous misadventures, from sleeping with each other's moms to smuggling heroin into prison-- the hard way.

An animated series featuring four foul-mouthed 3rd graders, Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman. The show is set in the Colorado town of South Park where weird things keep happening.

Ann Marie is a struggling actress living in New York City. In between trying to find acting and modeling jobs, she shares time with her boyfriend, Donald Hollinger, and tries to convince her dad, Lou Marie, that she can make it on her own.

Will and Grace live together in an apartment in New York. Will is a gay lawyer, Grace is a straight interior designer, and every day is full of laughs.