The Slow Death of The Sitcom

Young Sheldon may have represented the last true hit network sitcom around...so where does that leave us now? In this video, I talk Seinfeld, Ted Lasso, 30 Rock and more. Let's talk about the state of the sitcom.

[captainmidnight]

Do you have a favorite sitcom on right now?

[bort]

I think a huge reason why the sitcom is dying is because a good sitcom builds relationships over time, but we increasingly consume media at arms length. Any good sitcom has jokes that a first time viewer can enjoy, but every "legendary" episode of a sitcom is built on multiple seasons of audiences learning characters to the point where some of the best jokes are inside jokes. We may watch sitcoms to be "light" entertainment, but to really enjoy one we, the audience, need to be present. You can't really appreciate a sitcom as a "second screen" show.

[samy]

What's paradoxal is that old sitcoms are always on top of the charts. The problem is they're cancelling new sitcoms way too early. Sitcoms like The Office and Parks and Rec weren't well recieved on their first seasons. If they aired today they wouldn't live past 1 season. Shows like space force or how i met your father were very promising but they were cancelled.

[GetSmartish]

Modern sitcoms have become basically Nickelodeon and Disney Channel kid shows that are instead cast with adults, making kid jokes with adult themes. It's weird.

[ADKCardDen]

Sitcoms today look like Disney TV shows in the 90s and 2000s.

[Hugh_Mungus]

When you talk about set design in sitcoms, especially in regards to places that feel lived in, the first thing that came to mind is Malcom in the Middle. That house was as messy and chaotic as the rest of the family. Even as a child watching it off the back of other sitcoms, this element is what stuck out to me the most.

[LeonardoKlotz]

The problem with the streaming involves two paradoxes:

* The more something is available, the less you'll want it
* The more options you have, the less satisfied you'll be with each one

Sitcoms would never be able to survive this streaming era

[treborschafer]

I am very glad you pointed out the HD thing.
Most shows have looked odd ever since they started using it.
Everything is so sharp, bold and in your face.

[mathesonstep]

Watching the original Frasier makes me wish we had more sitcoms in the modern era, I honestly couldn't contain my laughter it was awesome

[claytonrios]

Well any attempt to bring back sitcoms usually comes from total hacks who fail to recognize why certain classics were funny or charming in the past. Just look at The New Norm!

[firehaps]

I think part of this is that the younger generation doesn't take comedy seriously, as ironic as that sounds. With all of newer standups I've seen, it's a lot of admittedly funny crowd work but no actual tight sets. People don't appreciate that comedic writing is a genuine craft that takes years to hone no different than drama.

[musicalnotextr]

Old sitcoms feel like short stage plays compared to now and it makes me wonder if that was because many of the people who wrote them were trained in stage writing as opposed to today in which many TV writers studied TV writing as its own discipline which generally incorporates more from cinema than stage.

[georgeprchal]

It's like that episode where Bojack wins a Golden Globe for his book in the Best Comedy/Musical category and he himself points out, "My book was neither a comedy nor a musical it was also infact a book. Do you people even know what you're nominating or voting for?"

[kathrynstemler]

Those tik toks with the one person doing all the characters are more like a modern version of news paper comic strips.

[katieg.]

What's interesting to me, is how much my kids, ages 16, 19, 20, &23, love watching the old sitcom. They love the original Frasier. As young kids They watched Full House and Family Matters. They've enjoyed Cheers, Wings, the original Night Court. But they don't like many new shows.

[benray]

The absolute peak of television was when NBC Thursday was 30 Rock, Parks and Rec, The Office, and Community. That's how good we used to have it.

[Legendofzellybelly]

I love sitcoms so much, past and present. It makes me sad they are less popular right now. We have gotten some of the best sitcoms in recent history. Abbot Elementary, Ghosts, The Good Place, What we do in the Shadows, Superstore.... Just to name a few....

I hate when people treat sitcoms like a monolith, oh its a funny sitcom so its just boring, trash tv. Nooo, sitcoms can be everything from brilliant, well written and amazing TV to fun, fluff tv. You can have an amazing shows like Superstore that has foreshadowing, tackles important issues and is hilarious or you can have fun, silly, fluff shows like Friends.

Sitcoms need more respect, they are just as important and valuable as dramas!

[MLGProSwag]

If you’re watching this and you haven’t given FX’s The English Teacher a shot yet, you should definitely do so. One of the funniest first seasons of a sitcom I’ve personally seen IMO.

[Bravid_.]

I feel part of the reason sitcoms don't get watched as much is because of the nature of streaming. We're no longer just turning on the TV and letting whatever happens to be on just play. We have to navigate selecting an app. Navigate that apps menu design. And hitting the play button. There's so much more intention to what we watch. And we want to be rewarded for our effort with something impressive or surprising. Not just a few jokes that might make me chuckle a little. I miss sitcoms but I'm not sure I would waste a lot of time looking for them buried in a streaming app menu.

[JoeBlu]

The prime example for that is Frasier the original (one of all time favourite sitcoms) and it's predecessor Cheers and it's remake. Where once it felt like a living space where you couldn't wait to see the lives of more or less real people you came to adore, now it feels like caricatures of people wheeled out to deliver setups and punchlines in a dollhouse. That magic is lost to some sterile formulaic practice. Shame, but we'll always have the originals.