Hey everyone, hope you all are having a great weekend. This week’s blog post is about characteristics of the TV sitcom. I’m going to discuss how it functions within the sitcom genre, and I am also going to apply that characteristic of the genre to one of my all time favorite sitcoms: “That 70’s Show”. This episodic sitcom no longer runs new episodes, but it still runs on TV today. This is no doubt a great comedy sitcom that we as college students can look at and relate to, no matter which character it is that we are relating to.
The television situation comedy, TV sitcom for short, is a genre of comedy that possesses several unique characteristics. A situation comedy is based on a storyline that usually consists of a family, a group of friends and/or acquaintances, or even a place of work with ongoing characters that consistently hold a place on the show almost every episode, if not every. The situations in the sitcoms can change show after show, and they also have the ability to play out across several simultaneous episodes where the characters and situations begin to change and evolve. Sitcom episodic characteristics include modified three act structure, series as cumulative and seasonal text, mini resolutions, cycles and repeated patterns, and character growth. With cycles and repeated patterns, the audience becomes familiar with the same characters and situations that each episode presents. Similar comedic situations, environments, and phrases are used episode after episode to act somewhat as a trademark of that certain TV sitcom for viewers to relate to. Another characteristic is character growth. During the time span of the episodes of a TV sitcom, characters usually grow in certain aspects such as age, adolescence, intelligence, responsibilities, growth in friendships and relationships, and etc. The characters’ growth and certain occurring situations during the TV sitcoms episodes combine comedy with seriousness, but making sure that comedy is the most important, utilized aspect, and is used throughout the sitcom.
One of my all time favorite TV sitcoms is “That 70’s Show”. This show is based on the life of Eric Forman, his family, and his close-knit group of five friends: Donna, Hyde, Kelso, Fez, and Jackie. Based in Point Place, Wisconsin in the 1970’s, this situation comedy covered issues such as sexuality, drug use, feminism, the recession, and mistrust of the American government, all strategically acted out and combined in such a way to make each and every one of them comical in their own special way. “That 70’s Show” features the characteristic of cycles and repeated patterns. Similar characters, such as Eric Forman and friends (Donna, Hyde, Kelso, Fez, Jackie), Eric and Donna’s parents (Kitty and Red Forman, Midge and Bob Pinciotti), and a local hippie named Leo. These familiar characters consistently appear in a couple of main locations where the comedy takes place. These environments include: Eric Forman’s house (inside and outside), Eric Forman’s basement, the Vista Cruiser (Eric Forman’s car), and The Hub (a local eating joint where the gang hangs out at). The whole gang over time begins to develop phrases that stick with them throughout the episodes that the viewers become very familiarized with. Some of these phrases include: Fez’s “You son of a b***h”, Eric Forman’s “What the hell”, Kelso’s “Burn”, and probably the most well known is Red Forman’s “Dumbass”. All of these cycles and repeated patterns in the comedy of the characters, phrases, and environments are what made the TV sitcom “That 70’s Show” what it was. Another characteristic of the TV sitcom “That 70’s Show” is the strategy that the creators of the show used to comically present the growth of all of the main characters throughout the episodes. In this show from the beginning episode to the ending episodes the characters grow in age, adolescence, responsibilities, friendships and relationships. For example, in the beginning episodes Eric Forman and Donna Pinciotti were just friends that had a crush on each other, but over the course of the episodes they started to date each other. When later episodes were made Donna and Eric got engaged, but near the end of the episodes they split up and were no longer a couple. The gang’s friendship grew stronger and closer throughout the episodes, grew older in age, and went through adolescence and matured over the years together.
The TV sitcom “That 70’s Show” exhibits characters, phrases, and environments that show repeated patterns, and show the growth of the characters over time all combined with comedy. There are many TV sitcoms that each possess different and also some of the same characteristics that function within the sitcom genre. If you have not seen "That 70's Show" I HIGHLY recommend seeing it at least once in your lifetime. But I warn you: once you see it once, you'll be hooked! I hope you all enjoyed my blog entry for this week. Here is a link to a video of the opening credits of the first season of “That 70’s Show”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_3ECxWjPyc
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