Are sitcoms a dead artform?
 

What says the VE forum?

With shows like "30 Rock", "Big Bang Theory", "New Girl", "Community" and "Family Guy" still thriving, I'd have to say "no", they're not dead quite yet.

Well, I'm stuck in the past :D

I don't think the new sitcoms are anywhere near as good as the shows from the 70's or 80's.
Shows like steptoe and son, only fools and horses or open all hours were just head and shoulders above anything that's around today.

IronMan, As the thread starter, fancy sharing your own views with us? ;)

They're a waste of time.

I think sitcoms are dead as a doornail. I don't find the comedy in 99% of sitcoms to be anything but a snoozefest, relying on current events surrounding pop culture as fodder for their failed attempts at getting a laugh. I liked Family Guy before they brought it back, as like the Simpsons it has become stale. South Park's spoof on Family Guy was spot on. Interchangeable jokes that have nothing to do with the plot for the most part. I don't consider viewer loyalty and low standards that keep these shows going as a sign that they aren't anything but stale turds masquerading as cutting edge pop culture.

TV is one of the biggest wastes of money out there, next to cell phone data plans. Why pay for it when you can buy the Blu-Ray or DVD versions of your favorite shows for less than a month's subscription costs? Or rent them for less than that. And if you get tired of them you can sell them to someone else online and get half your money back.

The majority of UK and US sitcoms leave me cold these days. Perhaps getting older means that your sense of humour rapidly diminishes?

I do think there is still potential for something new to appear. What I really find a huge bore are the shows that feature stand-up comics who are actually not very funny at all.

I sincerely hope so.

While theres TV there will always be sitcoms

As to todays versus yesteryear all I will say is watching the same shows over and over from yesteryear is as mind numbing as watching a new show using an old premise.

Cue Cop / Medical / Detective / CGI show number?


Having watched TV for 40 years I think its the same as its always been
The occasional gem that you love surrounded by a sea of tripe you wish you'd never been exposed to

The main difference today is volume

From a handful of channels in the 70s to todays hundreds
Quality was always going to suffer

That those making the stuff are trying to make as much money as possible also detracts
from the end product


When channels like HBO decide to make a show like a Game of Thrones
which costs a small fortune it stands out like a beacon next to its reality TV fodder which many have admitted they watch but only because theres nothing else on.

As long as there is nothing like Terry & June or The Good Life(although that was a lot better than T & J) but as Vyvyan observes in 'The Young Ones' which incidentally broke all the rules of the conventional sitcom, "...they were so bloody NICE!" Later ones like 'Only Fools & Horses' were popular because as David Jason once said "Everyone knows someone like a Del Boy, Trigger or has a Granddad or Uncle Albert" and more importantly John Sullivan based it on people and situations that happened to him or his family and friends. Sitcoms are still a staple, but now you get them written by comedians who aspire to see their work on screen - recent ones like 'Not Going Out' was acclaimed for being different and written by Lee Mack & also starred another stand up, the brilliant Tim Vine. The old style sitcom is dead, long live the newer style. Incidentally, some of the worst ones were on ITV ('Trippers/Sluggers Day', 'Chance in a Million' and 'Spooner's Patch') and I absolutely hated On the Buses!! Cleverest ones I think were 'Desmonds' and an obscure one about four Liverpool lads called 'HELP!' starring two of the McGann Brothers. 'Red Dwarf' was also incredibly popular because that also bucked the sitcom trend and set it in space(not a new idea if you remember the dreadful Come Back Mrs Noah) but the characters were just brilliantly written and more importantly they weren't all so BLOODY NICE! :D

Over time, sitcoms have come and gone......they also tended to be current for their era. Right now, in our time there is nothing really relevant to make a good sitcom......hang on, yes there is, we live in a classless and tacky time IMO, so we do have Reality TV, which is a sick form of comedy ;)