The Appeal of Sitcoms Men Behaving Badly and Friends
The sitcom genre is very popular worldwide. This could be because the
sitcoms have long-standing characters, with different problems, all
begun and solved in the same episode. The fact that the characters are
long-standing makes them very well known to their audiences, almost if
the audiences are actually part of the problems. Some storylines may
be ongoing. This makes the audiences want to watch more, to see what
the characters would have done in their predicament, a bit like a
soap. Episodic storylines give the audience a sense of satisfaction
because they've seen the beginning, middle and end of an episode,
which is resolved happily. All of the above points mean that for an
episode the audience can escape from the harsh realty and enter into a
fantasy dreamland.
Men behaving badly and Friends are two notorious sitcoms. They both
display humour in many different forms such as exaggeration,
situational humour and toilet humour.
Men behaving badly is a sitcom about two couples living in a house
together with common problems occurring each episode. They are not
rich and the sitcom shows the two couples living a hard life from a
comical point of view. The introduction makes the audiences feel much
more homely and increasingly bonded with the characters, as the home
video camera impression and the jazzy music reveal down to earth
characters.
Friends is a sitcom about the glamorous lifestyles of very close
friends living opposite each other. Friends focus on the main issues
of the men and women. Situational humour and exaggeration are a
widespread occurrence in an attempt to resolve the characters issues
in a light-hearted way. The fact that they have found a solution makes
the audience fell content and feel that that everything has been
finalised.
Friends and M.B.B are both intended at separate audiences. Not all
audiences have the same tastes. Americans may like the glamour and
happy times shown on Friends whilst the British may be able to look at
Roseanne was a hit sitcom that debuted in the late 80s and continued into the late 90s. It was one of the most watched shows of its time despite the controversy that surrounded it. The series still airs on popular television networks today but, because it functionally paved the way, it is not considered questionable in today’s society. Although the show had its share of controversial issues and what was then thought to be “inappropriate” dialogue, the America population continued to tune-in to Roseanne and empathized with the weekly problems the Conner’s would face. The show depicted life much like people actually experienced it (and still do) and therefore captured the hearts of America, which translated to a better acceptance of the material folks found inappropriate or unacceptable. Over time, as people were more often exposed to the matters that Roseanne felt were pertinent, the disputes became fewer and the issues surrounding them became irrelevant. Dealing with issues such as sex, homosexuality, and a not so functional family, Roseanne proved to be very functional to society as a whole.
Klumas, Amy L., and Thomas Marchant. “Images of Men in Popular Sitcoms”. Journal of Men’s Studies 2.3 (1994): 269. ProQuest. Web. 27 Jan. 2014.
American Dad! Season 3: Episode 12 – at the beginning of the episode (1:04-1:11), Roger, a character on the show, responds to Coffee pal’s recent incentive – the new Pumpkin Amaretto Cream! He eagerly embraces the exciting new flavor, and adds it to his coffee.
Younger generations and the more vulnerable in society can be influenced in avoiding peer pressure, but for the individuals filled with wisdom, the shows can reflect based on American modern society. Everybody Loves Raymond and Full House are great shows who faces similar life obstacles a typical person living in the US has today. As a result, most modern family comedy sit-coms are reflecting our society’s generations and the more vulnerable. Based on the success of early family sit coms, American’s adapted to a fast pace lifestyle with the help of modern
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 to the audience with each show. In earlier comedy, such as The Brady Bunch, Director Jack Arnold tried have a lesson learned in each episode while still maintaining a sense of humor, minus the foul language and sexual content. Although the show is not extremely funny to most people it is still a classic show that deserves to be remembered.
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 black casts and characters have always been controversial. However, their significance upon our American culture cannot be disregarded.
Television is the pinnacle of human creation. A box the size of an animal that could produce pictures that move and was created thousands of miles away in a studio by other humans whose job it was to entertain the public, but does the need to entertain remove from the possible knowledge to attain. Shows like Family Guy, Futurama, and South Park are some of the many shows that people decree as pointless, a joke, a waste of time, or idiotic. To the unknowing eye theses shows are indeed nothing more than a joke or entertain, but if one were to take a closer look into the shows it is possible to see that jokes, storylines, and characters represent a bigger picture. Family Guy, Futurama, and South Park are some of those shows that use satire to
...eir behavior or attitudes should in no way be emulated. While the characters’ ultimate fate could be seen as a reinforcement of social expectations, the lifestyle the characters live is portrayed in a positive context (after all, the callousness isn’t a function of their singleness), and that is what is important in a society where alternative lifestyles aren’t (or at least were not at the time) given equal time in entertainment and the media. The downside of Seinfeld is that its legacy has created an opposite, though equally negative situation in entertainment to that which it alleviated a decade ago: now the airwaves are dominated by shows about single people. Family sitcoms have fallen by the wayside. Perhaps one day there will be show that is equally appealing to all demographics. In the meantime, I suppose I can survive with reruns of a show about nothing.
For a large part of the history of TV sitcoms women have been portrayed as mothers or as having to fulfill the woman's role in the private sphere. Family based sitcoms were one of the forms of sitcom that keep women in these roles, but what is interesting is that even in other forms of sitcoms women do not truly escape these roles. Sitcoms, like Sex and the City and Murphy Brown showcase women whom have seemingly escaped these roles, by showing liberated women, but that does not mean that both do not fall into the gender role showcased in family sitcoms. It draws the similarities between ensemble sitcoms and family sitcoms when it comes down to the role of women. The starring women in both Sex and the City and Murphy Brown, and even the Mary
Different Strokes a comedy sitcom, first aired in 1978, and lasted until 1986. This sitcom consisted of a widowed Manhattan millionaire, Phillip Drummond , who adopted two orphaned brothers. Arnold who was 8 years old and Willis who was 12. The boys' mother was Drummonds housekeeper who became very ill, so Drummond made a promise to her that he would take care of her two sons after she passed away. Drummond treated the two boys like his own. He also lived with his daughter, Kimberly, who was 13 years old, and his current housekeeper. This sitcom showed typical life lessons in growing up, and social problems that were occurring during that time. Some of the aspects of this show were both positive and negative.
...d what they consider entertaining or even humorous in a sitcom. Overall, modern sitcoms rely on sex, violence, and the most ridiculous situations that you could ever find yourself in to create entertainment, and although Mary Tyler Moore does have some of this, such as the “Chuckles Bites the Dust” episode, for the most part the show relies on the contemporary ideas of the time. The ideas that they explored was the feminist movement of course. This is why the show Mary Tyler Moore holds up as a historic show rather than a comedy. The audience has simply changed what they find as funny over time.
Modern Family promotes a male-dominant family ideology since it portrays stereotypes for comedic purposes. The Dunphy’s are a traditional family, that is patriarchally constructed, consisting of a stay-at-home wife and breadwinner husband. This stereotype can portray women as less than men, since Phil makes all of the money and Claire looks after the children. Their daughter Haley represents the stereotype that attractive women are not intelligent. In contrast, her clever sister, Alex, enforces feminist, Dorothy Smith’s ideas of feminism and the fight for equal education rights. Lastly, their brother Luke represents the stereotypical young boy who loves gore and is sporty and competitive. The dominant ideology that men are superior is also
This essay will examine my thoughts and those of David Sterrit on the critically acclaimed television show The Honeymooners. First, I will talk about the Honeymooners and it’s setting in postwar America. Secondly, the social and cultural issues the series portrayed. Next, would be the psychological perspective and the aesthetics of the show. Finally, the essay would conclude with my thoughts on how the Honeymooners were impacted by these aspects, but also how the show managed to leave a legacy in television today.
A person who is posssesed with greed can be identified by asking yourself these few qusetions. Have you ever met a person that would do anything to become wealthy? What about to obtain a certain status? Or even some power? Well, these are the kind of people who are degrading their moral equity just for that so call status or power. The mainstream media outlet's like Vh1 and Bravo have effectively brainwashed our society of young adults into accepting a false, even potentially dangerous definition of success. Today's media want us to believe that having lots of money, living in a big house, and owning all of the latest cars, fashions, and technology is the key to happiness, which ultimately defines greed. The mainstream media, televison to be specific has been very influential in everybodys life; networks like Vh1 and Bravo through reality television repersenting life styles that are not nessarry realistic.
Friends and Full House are true examples of a sitcom; a viewer can be sure to laugh during any episode at any point of the time. Both shows have characters that are just funnier than the rest, such as phoebe and Joey on Friends and Joey and Michelle on Full House. Phoebe and Joey are considered the out casts of their group, during the TV series Friends in a couple episodes Joey and Phoebe can be found struggling with financial care while the other have