Situation comedy

A sitcom or situation comedy is a genre of comedy performance originally devised for radio but today typically found on television. Sitcoms usually consist of recurring characters in a format in which there are one or more humorous story lines centred on a common environment, such as a family home or workplace.

History

The situation comedy format originated on radio in the 1920s. The first situation comedy is often said to be Sam and Henry which debuted on the Chicago, Illinois clear-channel station WGN in 1926, and was partially inspired by the notion of bringing the mix of humor and continuity found in comic strips to the young medium of radio. The first network situation comedy was Amos & Andy which debuted on CBS in 1928, and was one of the most popular sitcoms through the 1930s.

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According to the 11th edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, the term sitcom was coined in 1951, making I Love Lucy the first sitcom to be called a sitcom.

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Situation comedies have been a part of the landscape of broadcast television since its early days. The first was probably Mary Kay and Johnny, a fifteen minute sitcom which debuted on the DuMont Television Network in November of 1947.

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This type of entertainment seemed to originate in the United States, which continues to be a leading producer of the genre, but soon spread to other nations.

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Genre: A genre is a division of a particular form of art according to criteria particular to that form. In all art forms, genres are vague categories with no fixed boundaries. Genres are formed by sets of conventions, and many works cross into multiple genres by way of borrowing and recombining these conve...

Comedy: Comedy is the use of humor in the performing arts. It also means a performance that relies heavily on humor. The term originally comes from theater, where it simply referred to a play with a happy ending, in contrast to a tragedy. The humor, once an incidental device used to entertain, is now an ess...

Radio: Radio is the wireless transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of light....

Situation comedy related Images and Photos (experimental)

Comedy Routine	Human Comedy, The (DVD, Remastered)	Dream Situation: The Dream of Flying	Comedy of Errors c.1879
Romantic Comedy Collection (DVD)	Holiday Comedy Collection (3-Pack) (DVD)	Christmas Comedy Collection (DVD)	Blue Collar Comedy (DVD)
Classic Comedy Teams Collection (DVD)	Comedy Pack Quadruple Feature DVD (Widescreen)	Here's the Situation Book	Comedy 1000 Piece Puzzle