Sitcoms in Crisis: Do We Expect Too Much of Them?

Still, how many of these comedies are actually funny enough to make you laugh out loud on a consistent basis, if ever? From where I sit there is only one show in the bunch that hits levels of hilarity associated with the medium’s comedy greats, and that show is Curb Your Enthusiasm. Further, there are only two other series on television guaranteed to make me howl from time to time, or at least audibly chuckle: Comedy Central’s South Park and ABC’s Boston Legal. Technically, the latter is not even a comedy series, but William Shatner as horn dog attorney Denny Crane makes me laugh every time he hits on a woman, flirts with fellow attorneys Shirley Schmidt and Alan Shore, frets about mad cow disease, enrages a judge, or professes his lust for blow-up doll Shirley Schmidt-Ho.

In hindsight, I realize that most of my comedy favorites thru the years didn’t always crack me up. Green Acres made me laugh whenever Arnold the pig entered a room. (It still does.) All in the Family made me laugh whenever Archie Bunker bastardized the English language. (Ditto.) Kramer, Elaine and George, and George’s mother, always killed me on Seinfeld. (Still do.) But as I think about it, most of the best sitcoms (including I Love Lucy and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, my two all-time favorites) never reduced me to hysterical laughter.

Why, then, did I enjoy them (and so many others) as much as I did? There are several reasons. They engaged and amused me and made me feel good. The dialogue was fun to listen to. The characters were fully developed. The comic timing of the writing, direction, and performances was perfect. Perhaps most importantly, they weren’t filled with standard sitcom setups and forced, predictable punch lines. The comedy in these shows was clever and organic, and it grew completely out of characters I enjoyed watching.

How can the genre jump-start itself? First off, network and studio executives should emphasize the importance of making comedies that are fun to watch, even if they don’t produce gales of laughter. Put the emphasis on amusing stories, three-dimensional characters, and funny situations rather than forced, unreal, hyper-quipped dialogue. (It always helps if characters talk like real people rather than the over-stimulated Ivy League graduates found in many writers’ rooms.) And don’t write cute. Write smart. Tell stories!