WHAT MAKES A GOOD SITCOM?

It's amazing how many crappy sitcoms are out there, I mean 99% of them are worthless. What is it about works of art like Seinfeld, Mash, Cheers, All in the Family etc.. that distinguishes themselves from the rest?

I have come up with to two possibilities, Character developement, and intended viewership. Who the character is, and who is selected to play it is crucial. Can anyone think of replacements for Sam Malone, Al Bundy, Peggy Bundy, Edith or Archie?

As far as viewership is concerned, I think the shows that are works of art try to appeal to everyone, by being of high-quality rather than targetive.

I am afraid Hollywood is mainly after the buck, when it realizes that crap can sometimes succeed eg. Home improvment, Freinds, (these are my opinion and I agree that it can get much worse.

Another observation is the decreasing quality of Afro-American citcoms. In the 70's, we had a work of art called Sanford and Son, and a couple of other half decent shows such as Good Times. In the last 5 years there has been this rush to get black sitcoms on the air, and the primary focus of these programs was to have Black actors, and thus any artisitc quality has been thrown out the window. Eg. Family Matters, Living Single, Martin, George, and about 20 others I can't remember.

Have we gotten this shallow? I realize I am bitching, but if we can debunk literature, we can debunk TV too. Tom

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Tom.. Don't forget to add Taxi and Barny Miller to the list of great sitcoms. I always thought that one of the keys was providing a variety of interesting characters, any one of whom's story line could pretty much carry an episode. The writers developed these characters so fully that viewers felt that they knew them, and I think that more of the credit should go to the team of writers than they typically receive.

Regarding some of the African American shows, I agree that the new ones are largely time-filler silliness. The great Sanford and Son is timeless, the original Cosby classic, but I nominate the late Frank's Place as the greatest series of broadcast theater of all.

Major, You made an great point in suggesting a variety of characters that are so fully developed that the viewers know them.

However, what was it about the Cosby show that got your attention? I thought the only character was Bill himself, the kids just kept talking about going to college. Tom

On 18 Dec 1996, Major wrote: