This is what I'm thinking. The 4 broadcast networks were the ones who put out the great sit-coms, which were watched by a lot of younger people. But the young folks have moved to Netflix and Tiktok so the networks decided to go after the retiree market by airing reality shows, game shows, and medical/police/fire drama series. Wished Netflix and HBO would develop more of these.
Is the sit-com dead?
- Thread starter Sean Miller Fan
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This is what I'm thinking. The 4 broadcast networks were the ones who put out the great sit-coms, which were watched by a lot of younger people. But the young folks have moved to Netflix and Tiktok so the networks decided to go after the retiree market by airing reality shows, game shows, and medical/police/fire drama series. Wished Netflix and HBO would develop more of these.
A while back, work sign on required a password of at least 16 characters with no special characters needed...that was mine.
News Radio was great while it lasted. Arrested Development died too soon as well.
Yeah, TGIF always had four shows. Some ones that I recall cycling through were:
Family Matters
Full House
Step by Step
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Hangin' With Mr. Cooper
I think Dinosaurs was on there at one point
Boy Meets World
I'm sure there were quite a few more I'm forgetting
Edit: just Googled it, and there were like 29 shows that were on there at some point. So I was just a bit off.
Man, there have been SO many sitcoms.
I saw the girl from Boy Meets World on tv the other day and she looks fantastic. I wonder why she never really hit it big in the industry.
Ain't that the truth. I've never watched a single episode of a reality show (I remember when Survivor was all the talk). But I have been over my parents' house when my mom was watching some of those reality music shows. Every... single... episode is the same thing. They show the contestant and give some sob story about him/her that leads to them crying in front of the camera. Americans love to be sad, and they love to be presented a 30-second story and somehow think they know everything about a person and his/her triumphs. Drama, drama, drama.
Yeah, good question. I'm probably as out of the loop as anyone when it comes to pop culture, so I always just assume they're in a bunch of things I don't know about.
I remember Boy Meets World starting to suck as the kids got older and they tried addressing more serious topics. Same thing that happened to Full House. Although I've seen some Full House episodes later in life and wanted to fight myself for ever having liked that show... cheeseball city. I doubt many family-friendly shows have aged well, though.
They did a reboot called Girl Meets World where Topanga and Cory were married and had a teenage girl.
I grew up on Threes Company. Absolutely love that show.
All in the Family, while I didn’t like as a kid, holds up incredibly well, as as the Jefferson’s do. Soooo hilarious.
But the most ROFL/belly laugh inducing show of the golden age of the sitcom was Soap. My lord Burt Campbell as an alien was comic gold. And so was Benson tooling the Major every chance he could get.
All in the Family, while I didn’t like as a kid, holds up incredibly well, as as the Jefferson’s do. Soooo hilarious.
But the most ROFL/belly laugh inducing show of the golden age of the sitcom was Soap. My lord Burt Campbell as an alien was comic gold. And so was Benson tooling the Major every chance he could get.
Oh really? That had to be a must-see television event. I know they did a Fuller House (not sure which original characters were in it), and I'm sure it was as bad as I'd guess it to have been.
Now that I know what kind of absolute scumbag predator men Hollywood producers were back in the day, I always look at actresses and wonder why one hit it big while others did not.
I loved sitcoms growing up in the 80's and early 90's. But I can't remember the last sitcom I've watched, maybe Family Matters?
I loved Growing Pains, Who's the Boss, Webster, Diff'rent Strokes, Facts of Life, Family Ties, Small Wonder, Cosby Show, Silver Spoons, Valerie(Hogans Family), Alf, Mr. Belvedere...
Ghosts is very good most of the time. But honestly, that's about it currently. Comedy with the dumb laugh tracks they use is annoying, with laughter at stuff that isn't even funny.
There are a lot of bad comedies now, but I think the worst is Poppa's House. What the hell is that??? I watched parts of it twice and couldn't stand it any longer. Never again.
One of my favorites back a little while ago was Scrubs. I really enjoyed that one. They just don't make them like that any more.
I think Girl Meets World was on the Disney Channel so it was geared towards that 10 to 15 year old demographic. I watched one episode since I used to watch Boy Meets World and it was just too kiddish. I thought Fuller House was good. Pretty similar to Full House.
A few years ago, I watched a few Golden Girls episodes and found them to be surprisingly witty. I wouldn't seek them out, but if they're on I'll watch them and be entertained. That's one good thing about sitcoms, as opposed to the shows that gained steam on HBO, etc. - you didn't have to "know what was going on" or watch them all chronologically to find them amusing.
I seem to recall watching a werewolf show back in the day that was on after My Two Dads. Anybody remember that? Then I think there was a vampire show that was on NBC or one of those similar networks on Saturday nights. Heck, I also remember there being a weekly Nightmare on Elm Street show.
I seem to recall watching a werewolf show back in the day that was on after My Two Dads. Anybody remember that? Then I think there was a vampire show that was on NBC or one of those similar networks on Saturday nights. Heck, I also remember there being a weekly Nightmare on Elm Street show.
true, used to be limited to just daytime game shows. The two worst offenders are still on, Price is Right & Let's Make a Deal. They humiliate people for money. The funny thing is, especially Price is Right, prizes aren't necessarily that great. I mean, if you live in an apartment, what are you going to do with a home gym and sauna? But the contestants still make fools of themselves to try and win. The other thing is if you win, they immediately whisk you off to a backstage office and give you the tax bill for the prize you won. You can either choose to pay the bill and accept the prize, or walk away with nothing.
But back to the new reality. It all started with MTV's the Real World. I liked the first season, but the havoc it created with television is undeniable. Survivor is in it's 25th year or something like that? There is nothing original that happens on that show. And reality TV even spawned a president of the USA. Seems kind of appropriate in this day and age.
There are some sit coms if you look hard enough. The genre truly dead are variety shows.
For good reason
Skit shows replaced them .
I Think You Should leave is hysterical.
Yes the sitcom has declined as a percentage of all TV and among the most popular shows according to ratings.
- Fragmented audiences via streaming
- Growth of binge watching style viewing instead of weekly water cooler TV
- Reduced, segmented advertising budget; networks turn to cheaper production alternatives like non-union reality TV
- There is still comedy on TV, but some of it overlaps with "Prestige TV" model and blurs the line between drama and comedy more than traditional sitcoms (Atlanta, The Bear, etc. Even Abbott Elementary to an extent though it's a bit more traditional.)
- How do you define a sitcom anyway? Does What We Do in the Shadows count? Because it's funny imho! But definitely not a Network TV show and quite R rated
- Fragmented audiences via streaming
- Growth of binge watching style viewing instead of weekly water cooler TV
- Reduced, segmented advertising budget; networks turn to cheaper production alternatives like non-union reality TV
- There is still comedy on TV, but some of it overlaps with "Prestige TV" model and blurs the line between drama and comedy more than traditional sitcoms (Atlanta, The Bear, etc. Even Abbott Elementary to an extent though it's a bit more traditional.)
- How do you define a sitcom anyway? Does What We Do in the Shadows count? Because it's funny imho! But definitely not a Network TV show and quite R rated
I was flipping through the channels a few weeks ago and saw the Golden Girls were on. I was about to keep flipping and I saw Bernie from Weekend at Bernies was in the episode so I watched it. I love Weekend at Bernies so I had to see Bernie a few years younger on that show.
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Season 2 they should have never kicked David out of the house. That Tammy was awful. And season 3 when Puck put his finger in the peanut butter? I was 18 and so grossed out. He was must see tv though but so mean to Pedro.
Curb your enthusiasm is still the best thing going in comedy television. Sure it’s filled with left wing agenda/politics, but not enough that it should bother anyone because it’s done in a funny way. Like the time Larry realized the benefits of wearing a MAGA hat in LA. Larry David is brilliant and after 11+ seasons the show is as funny as it ever it has been.
lol Dude - gotta call you out on this one! It ran from 85-89 so you were probably 10-11 years old when it stated!
It’s considered to be one of the worst sitcoms of all time. How did it last 4 years?
Oh I guess I was 10 or 11. It was on WPGH FOX 53 I believe at 6:30pm every Saturday night. Maybe 7:30pm.
I mean I don't know why I liked it I just liked it lol. But I hated that neighbor Harriet, she annoyed me lol.
Gawd awful stuff right there. How about that other train wreck of a show with Belky? Which one was that?
If we want to talk about really bad television, I went down the Hanna Barbera and Sid and Marty Krofft live action show rabbit hole the other day, looking at YouTube clips of the Banana Splits, HR Puffnstuf, the Bugaloos, Land of the Lost, Far Out Space Nuts (Bob Denver), etc.
so bad…and yet seemed so good at the time.
Yes -- It was a syndication thing. I may have watched 3 or 4 episodes because nothing else was on at that time. I couldn't believe a product such as this made it to TV. The girl who played the robot was so bad.
Her monotone repeating everything that was said to her kind of got on my nerves at the end.
You didn’t like Perfect Strangers???! Without that show we never get Family Matters and Urkel.
I didn’t like it. Did you like Head of the Class?
Anyone remember that short lived show Sidekicks with Ernie Reyes Jr? Karate show in the mid 80's.
