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.

Specific countries of origin

Most US sitcoms are half-hour shows in which the story is written to run a total of 22 minutes in length, leaving about 8 minutes of commercial time, although ones made outside the US may run somewhat longer. US sitcoms are often characterised by long series runs of 20 or more episodes, whereas the British sitcom is traditionally comprised of distinct series of six episodes each. US sitcoms often have large teams of script writers firing gags into the script and round-table sessions, whereas the British sitcom is usually written by two co-writers or is the work of one person.

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Canada

See also: Canadian humour

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Despite Canada's wealth of comedic talent, Canadian TV's conventional sitcoms have generally fared poorly with both critics and audiences. One particularly notorious example is The Trouble with Tracy, regarded by many Canadians as one of the worst TV shows ever made. Other Canadian sitcoms have included Snow Job, Check it Out!, Mosquito Lake and Not My Department, all of which were mocked in their time as being particularly unfunny.

Related Topics:
Canada - The Trouble with Tracy - Snow Job - Check it Out! - Mosquito Lake - Not My Department

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The few successful Canadian sitcoms have included: La famille Plouffe and its English version, The Plouffe Family, King of Kensington, Hangin' In and Corner Gas.

Related Topics:
La famille Plouffe - King of Kensington - Hangin' In - Corner Gas

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Canadian TV networks have had much more success with sketch comedy shows such as The Kids in the Hall, CODCO, SCTV, This Hour has 22 Minutes, You Can't Do That On Television, and Royal Canadian Air Farce, and quirky dramedies such as Twitch City, The Newsroom, Made in Canada, Trailer Park Boys, The Beachcombers, Naked Josh and Seeing Things.

Related Topics:
Sketch comedy - The Kids in the Hall - CODCO - SCTV - This Hour has 22 Minutes - You Can't Do That On Television - Royal Canadian Air Farce - Dramedies - Twitch City - The Newsroom - Made in Canada - Trailer Park Boys - The Beachcombers - Naked Josh - Seeing Things

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One of Canada's most enduring comedic television series airing today, The Red Green Show, is essentially a cross between a sitcom and a sketch series. Each episode unfolds through short comedic sketches rather than a conventional sitcom plot, but unlike a true sketch series, the sketches always draw from a single set of characters and no actor plays more than one role.

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A notable Quebec sitcom in recent years was La Petite Vie; one episode of that show holds the world record for the highest market share ever achieved by a television program. A popular current Quebec sitcom is Les Bougon.

Related Topics:
Quebec - La Petite Vie - World record - Market share - Les Bougon

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Russia

See also: Russian humour

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Sitcoms have appeared in Russia in second half 1990s, for example, My beautiful nurse on channel STS.

Related Topics:
Russia - 1990s - My beautiful nurse

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New Zealand

New Zealand began producing television programmes later than many other developed countries. Due to New Zealand's small population the two main New Zealand networks will rarely fund more than one or two sitcoms per year each. This low output means there is less chance of a successful sitcom being produced to offset the failures.

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Early sitcoms included Joe & Koro and Buck House. Later there was The Billy T James Show (subsequently rerun in early 2004 as part of the first year's offering on Maori Television). The team of David McPhail and Jon Gadsby produced and/or starred in quite a number (such as Letter to Blanchy), with help from writer A K Grant.

Related Topics:
Billy T James - 2004 - Maori Television - David McPhail - Jon Gadsby

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The most popular and successful New Zealand produced sitcom to date has been Roger Hall's Gliding On, based on his hit stage play Glide Time. Another Hall play, Conjugal Rites was also made into a sitcom, but by Granada in Britain.

Related Topics:
Roger Hall - Gliding On - Glide Time - Conjugal Rites

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In 1994, Melody Rules was produced and screened. Critically and commercially unsuccessful, it has become part of the lexicon within the television industry to describe an unsuccessful sitcom. (e.g. that show will be the next "Melody Rules" )

Related Topics:
1994 - Melody Rules

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Another sitcom to have its roots in a stage play was Serial Killers (2003), about the scriptwriters of a medical soap opera.

Related Topics:
Serial Killers - Soap opera

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Many British and US sitcoms are and have been popular in New Zealand, including many of those aforementioned in this article.

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United Kingdom

Main article: British sitcom

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The United Kingdom has produced a wealth of sitcoms, many of which have been exported to other nations or redone in adaptation. Classic British sitcoms include Only Fools and Horses, Porridge, Fawlty Towers, Dad's Army, Blackadder, Open All Hours, and The Young Ones. More recent successes have included Father Ted (set in Ireland), The Vicar of Dibley, The Royle Family, Spaced and The Office.

Related Topics:
United Kingdom - Only Fools and Horses - Porridge - Fawlty Towers - Dad's Army - Blackadder - Open All Hours - The Young Ones - Father Ted - Ireland - The Vicar of Dibley - The Royle Family - Spaced - The Office

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The British sitcom tends to rely less on quick-fire jokes and quirky characters than plots, the analysis of the British individual and exaggerated caricatures of everyday stereotypes. There are, of course, some exceptions. Bottom gained popularity through its exaggerated comical violence and childish humour mixed with adult situations, Red Dwarf was a parody of the sci-fi genre, and The League of Gentlemen revolves around the macabre. There is also a tendency towards black humour—Porridge, for example, is set in a prison, The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin involves a man who is suicidal, Steptoe and Son can be heart-breaking as the ambitions of Harry are quashed by his needy, manipulative father, and the end of each series of Blackadder involved the ritual slaughter of the cast. Additionally, British sitcoms tend to be set in unusual situations—World War II, prison, the far future—than the more everyday situations preferred elsewhere.

Related Topics:
Caricature - Stereotype - Bottom - Red Dwarf - Sci-fi - The League of Gentlemen - The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin - Suicidal - Steptoe and Son - World War II

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Many British sitcoms are re-made for American audiences. For example, Till Death Us Do Part became All in the Family, Man About the House became Three's Company, and the hugely popular Steptoe and Son became Sanford and Son. However, most British sitcoms usually fare better in their original forms. Re-makes of Red Dwarf, Men Behaving Badly, Coupling, and One Foot in the Grave fell victim to adaptations that largely removed the essence of the comedy and did not stand the test of time. Possibly the best example of this was Fawlty Towers, where the character of Basil became a woman. This eliminated the roles of the hen-pecked lead and the dragon-like wife.

Related Topics:
Till Death Us Do Part - All in the Family - Man About the House - Three's Company - Sanford and Son - Men Behaving Badly - Coupling - One Foot in the Grave - Fawlty Towers

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United States

Mary Kay and Johnny was followed by The Goldbergs which first aired on January 17, 1949. Probably the most well-known and successful early television sitcom was I Love Lucy, starring Lucille Ball, which is well known because the producer took the step, unusual for its time, of shooting the episodes on film, thereby inventing reruns. The Simpson's is another very successful sitcom.

Related Topics:
The Goldbergs - January 17 - 1949 - Lucille Ball - Rerun - The Simpson's

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In 2005, Bravo aired a reality show, called "Situation: Comedy" produced by Sean Hayes ("Will & Grace"). Out of 10,000 scripts, NBC President, Kevin Reilly, chose two pilots, Mark Treitel & Shoe Schuster's "The Sperm_donor" (starring Maggie Wheeler ("Janice" from "Friends" and David_DeLuise "Third Rock From The Sun" and Dom Deluise's son) and Andrew Leeds & David Lampson's "Stephen's Life" (starring Josh Flitter). "Stephen's Life" ultimately won on the reality series.

Related Topics:
2005 - Bravo - Reality show - Sean Hayes - Will & Grace - NBC - Mark Treitel - Shoe Schuster - Sperm_donor - Maggie Wheeler - Friends - David_DeLuise - Third Rock From The Sun - Dom Deluise

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