TV Guided: The Golden Age of Sitcoms?

 

 Redartz: It wasn't too long ago that some folks claimed the sitcom to be dead. Turns out they were wrong; there are quite a few comedies on network tv worth the viewing in 2021. But as this is "Back in the Bronze Age" and not "Here in the Netflix Age", we're looking at some earlier programming (so as not to give the impression that I'm totally lost in the past, I think one could make a good argument that we are currently in a Golden Age of television drama, but that's another tale for another day).

Back to the sitcoms (or Situation Comedies, for those sticklers among us). Our title above mentions a Golden age; to what does that refer? Well, in my  humble opinion, to the 1970's. Granted, every decade has had it's share of enjoyable, popular, even classic comedies. You might well choose to argue that my claim for the 70's misses the mark. Well, that is the crux for our topic this week. But I'm getting ahead of myself. 

Consider the decade that opened with "The Brady Bunch", "The Partridge Family", and "The Odd Couple". 

 

 Basically played for laughs, and those were found in abundance. But as the decade progressed, the comedies got more...socially conscious. More introspective. More biting. Think of "All in the Family" and "Maude". 

 

 And the comedies got more diverse; with "The Jeffersons" and "Chico and the Man". 

 

But the world of 70's sitcoms also had it's lighter fare. Nostalgia was a big draw, with "Happy Days" and "Laverne & Shirley". 

 

 So were 'urban comedies' such as "Taxi" and "Barney Miller". 

 

 And of course the decade ended with the sheer wackiness of Robin Williams in "Mork and Mindy".  Obviously the decade offered a wide choice of comic material...

 

As further evidence, I bring your attention to the CBS schedule for Saturday nights in the 1973 season. "All in the Family", "M*A*S*H", "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", "The Bob Newhart Show", and "The Carol Burnett Show" . Even granting that that last program was technically a variety show, that still must qualify as the greatest single night of televised comedy in broadcast history. Whatta lineup...

Anyway, the sheer abundance of strong comedies (and I have only scratched the surface here) in the 70's pretty much settles my case. Golden Age of Sitcoms? I'm going with the decade of Hawkeye Pierce, Rhoda Morganstern and the Fonz. 

You still disagree? Excellent; that's where our topic gets juicy. What decade, or era, would you say qualifies as a 'Golden Age' of comedy? If you agree with me, fine; why? And if you've other thoughts, then by all means convince us otherwise! 

And for our UK contingent: certainly don't intend to leave you out. Your BBC and ITV certainly offered some comic viewing, what were the best schedules? The best shows? Was there a particular era that stood out for you, programming-wise? The table is wide open to discuss the Greatest Eras of Comedy...

TV Guided / Rank and File: High Concept TV Sitcoms!

Martinex1:  Well there's a first time for everything - so today our topic has a double-billed header!    This topic straddles both categories: TV Guided and Rank and Filed!  What a high concept!  And what a coincidence that today's focus is on high concept television situation comedies!

So what is a high concept?  I define it this way (and keep in mind there are many definitions that can apply) - it is a program with a simply stated premise that tends to blend an oddity or an imaginary element into a normally functioning world for the purpose of humor.  The comedy and story rely less on character development than they do on the juxtaposition of the prepositioned conceit.

The pitch for the television program's vision can be whittled down to a general statement or question.  Examples of a possible pitch or show explanation and the resulting program may include:

What if a normal guy married a witch?         Bewitched
What if an alien lived in a suburban home?  Mork & Mindy or Alf or My Favorite Martian
What if a monster family lived next door?     The Munsters and The Addams Family
 
I think you get the idea. 

When we were growing up, these types of shows graced the airwaves and tended to capture my imagination.  They were a lot of fun - full of crazy misunderstandings, pratfalls, puns, and comfortable silliness.

Today's entertainment has shifted, and I struggle to think of any current sitcoms that take this approach despite all of the classic success.  The high concept approach has seemed to have migrated to dramas and film instead, particularly with the semi-serious success of superhero movies and Harry Potter.

I particularly liked Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie; they seemed to run on almost continuous afternoon loops on syndicated stations when I was growing up. I always found the frustration and curiosity of Mr. Tate and Dr. Bellows to be quite entertaining despite the distinct similarities of the shows.   So they are definitely in my top three along with Mork & Mindy.  I can remember the schoolyard discussions around the hilarity of Robin Williams when the show was first spun-off from Happy Days.  But I have to also say that I liked the Munsters - and much more so than the The Addams Family.  My wife and her family watched Alf together and have fond memories of that show.

My least favorite was a short-lived 90's sitcom Meego starring Bronson Pinchot as the title alien who is taken in and protected by three children and their single father.  It had a fairly decent cast, including Ed Begley Jr., Michelle Trachtenberg, and Jonathan Lipnicki, but the comedy was cloying and horribly redundant as Meego always tried to pass himself off as Canadian.  The laugh track was desperately needed as the jokes fell horribly flat.  The shows from the late 60s and early 70s made that goofiness seem so effortless.

So what were your favorite television shows of this type?   How would you rank them?  What were your top choices?  And what was the flop?   Are our kids missing out on some classics and should the genre be reignited or has it run its course?