Sitcoms

Broadcast television established itself as a cultural stronghold in the 1950s. Many predicted television to be a temporary fad, but it soon proved to be anything but. Its rapid expansion clogged the airwaves, resulting in a temporary freeze by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Initially, broadcast television imitated programming that had already been established in radio, but television programming soon expanded to include drama anthologies, news programs, quiz shows, and the weekly, half-hour situational comedy, known as the sitcom.

As opposed to stand-up or sketch comedy, a situational comedy has a story line and often comprises a series of shows or episodes with ongoing characters. The situation is usually that of a family, workplace, or group of friends. Early sitcoms reflected the postwar cultural shift toward a white, suburban audience by featuring white, middle-age suburban couples with families. These shows idealized nuclear families and derived their humor from trivial everyday situations with problems that were easily resolved. The overriding themes of a sitcom are comedic. While some story lines might involve [Page 338]serious issues or carry a moral, laughter is always an objective. Sitcom humor tends to be character-driven and relies heavily on one-liner jokes. These shows feature broadly drawn characters who seldom have major personality changes, although they may marry, divorce, have children, change jobs, or switch romantic partners. Sitcoms are designed to encourage viewers to form long-term relationships with the characters and return to view them repeatedly. Writers use characters and situations that are immediately recognizable to a majority of viewers. With time, the definitions of domestic comedy and roles adapted by family members have changed and expanded. However, the typical sitcom formula remains constant, with a pattern of establishment, complication, confusion, and resolution.

Families portrayed on television have provided a historical record of gender roles. Though obviously fictional, these families enact examples of family interactions that may be used as indicators of changing societal attitudes about gender roles within the family. The overall message is one of familial stability and support. Sitcom story lines are believed to carry with them implicit lessons about family life. Television is credited with being the great socializer in American society. While it is generally agreed that television contributes to our notion of what is believed to be important and how we are to behave in a variety of settings, research is less conclusive with regard to sex-role stereotyping and television. The situational comedy format has particular ramifications for Albert Bandura's social learning theory. Social learning theory is often used to examine the media effects on individuals, particularly on children and adolescents. It is applied to gender roles and sitcoms with the notion that viewers may vicariously learn life lessons by viewing these types of programs and modeling the familial roles portrayed in the shows, especially if the characters receive positive rewards for their behavior.