Essay on Sitcoms
Today TV offers us a very wide variety of assorted television shows. It is for sure that each and every person may find something interesting for him/her on TV. Each of us can educate him/herself trough watching educational and history channels, we may practice our erudition watching intellect shows, or we can entertain ourselves through watching documentaries. However, what is surprising, is that even though, there are so many advantageous shows out there on TV, we all find ourselves watching shows like situational comedies (sitcoms) instead.
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From one point such a fact seems to be surprising, since the sitcoms appear to be silly and inane at times. Nonetheless, no matter how foolish the sitcoms are they will always be popular within us. This is so simply due to the reason that when watching sitcoms we recognize ourselves in the characters on the screen. In my short essay I would like to reflect on the article by Richard Butsch titled “Five Decades and Three Hundred Sitcoms about Class and Gender” that gives a detailed description of the last five decades of sitcoms.
According to Mr. Butsch, in the core of good situational comedy lays in any case an element of recognition, something that reminds you of challenges you face in your own life, and makes you laugh as a result (p. 112). People have always liked to laugh at themselves, though indirectly. Consequently, the genre of sitcoms enjoyed wide popularity from the time it was first created. The author of the text presents five-decade history timeline of the sitcoms. As can be seen from this timeline, Americans have a long-lasting love affair with situational comedy shows, as well as those adorable characters that make everyone chuckle.
The first decade of sitcoms described in the text lasted from 1950 till 1960s and was mainly built on the working and middle class stereotypes. In 1970-80s the situational comedies continued to dwell upon the topics concerning the lives of the middle and working class people. In 1980-1990s, in addition to the constant middle-working class topics, such topic as a representation of subordinate groups prevailed (Butsch, 128). The new millennium sitcoms presented us with new types of characters. The series were again based on the black/white middle and working class, though only two of the ten black families appeared to be working class, the rest were successful entrepreneurs (Butsch, 131).
Having read the text by Mr. Butsch and having examined the conclusions he presented at the end of his study, we could realize that, even though, the genre of sitcoms has changed over years the principal concepts stayed exactly the same (Butsch, 133). What is also peculiar that the format and style of sitcoms has not evolved harshly over the last five decades. Today, as in 1950’s sitcoms’ characters do not learn or develop across episodes. Also, these characters tend to go astray and then learn the value of the close family, neighborhood, or social bonds. What is also remarkable is that the fact that we watch sitcoms has not changed either. Probably it is because we take wicked pleasure in watching the sitcoms’ characters go through hardships even while we secretly understand that we are really watching ourselves.
__________________________________________________________According to Mr. Butsch, in the core of good situational comedy lays in any case an element of recognition, something that reminds you of challenges you face in your own life, and makes you laugh as a result (p. 112). People have always liked to laugh at themselves, though indirectly. Consequently, the genre of sitcoms enjoyed wide popularity from the time it was first created. The author of the text presents five-decade history timeline of the sitcoms. As can be seen from this timeline, Americans have a long-lasting love affair with situational comedy shows, as well as those adorable characters that make everyone chuckle.
The first decade of sitcoms described in the text lasted from 1950 till 1960s and was mainly built on the working and middle class stereotypes. In 1970-80s the situational comedies continued to dwell upon the topics concerning the lives of the middle and working class people. In 1980-1990s, in addition to the constant middle-working class topics, such topic as a representation of subordinate groups prevailed (Butsch, 128). The new millennium sitcoms presented us with new types of characters. The series were again based on the black/white middle and working class, though only two of the ten black families appeared to be working class, the rest were successful entrepreneurs (Butsch, 131).
Having read the text by Mr. Butsch and having examined the conclusions he presented at the end of his study, we could realize that, even though, the genre of sitcoms has changed over years the principal concepts stayed exactly the same (Butsch, 133). What is also peculiar that the format and style of sitcoms has not evolved harshly over the last five decades. Today, as in 1950’s sitcoms’ characters do not learn or develop across episodes. Also, these characters tend to go astray and then learn the value of the close family, neighborhood, or social bonds. What is also remarkable is that the fact that we watch sitcoms has not changed either. Probably it is because we take wicked pleasure in watching the sitcoms’ characters go through hardships even while we secretly understand that we are really watching ourselves.
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If you need a custom essay, dissertation, thesis, term paper or research paper on your topic, EffectivePapers.com will write your papers from scratch. We work with experienced PhD and Master's freelance writers to help you with writing any academic papers in any subject! We guarantee each customer great quality and no plagiarism!
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