What Sitcoms Should Include More Of

Have you ever watched a recent sitcom and asked yourself that you could have wrote something better and funnier? Well, for some current shows, I have asked myself the same thing! I am going through college right now and want to become a sitcom writer. Sitcoms flat out fascinate me! Life would be a whole hell of a lot easier if every sticky situation we get ourselves are happily resolved in a half an hour. But, unfortunately, life doesn’t work so cyclical. However, I think, sitcoms are one of the best genres out there to tackle the big “elephant in the room” issues. Be it social, political or economical, sitcoms have always been inherently set up to discuss some of the big current issues of our time through the clever disguise of comedy. Sitcoms are able to take worldly issues and spin them in a way that sends our favorite characters through confrontations and dilemmas. Comedy helps people to better understand issues usually in a non-threatening and non-offensive way. We have seen this over numerous TV sitcoms, especially classic sitcoms. Remember the contentious rhetoric between Mike and Archie on All in the Family or the episode where someone attempts to attack Edith? Some more recent examples are from one of my favorite sitcoms, Roseanne. One particular episode dealt with the issue of domestic abuse with Jackie. It was a provocative example that really helped to put a face to the issue and make it relatable to what real people might be going through. These examples are what good television, especially sitcoms, should be made of and when done right, they leave their mark on television history.
Bringing you back to my point, many of today’s sitcoms are underrated, others are those provocative examples I discussed and the rest are just plan bad! But, I think, all sitcoms have the inner-workings or the machine to make it edgy and envelope-pushing. What this means is that some sitcoms premises are just built to avoid big issues. They have the right mix of characters, just not the right plots. A lot of the major changes to these shows would have to be in the character’s lively hood, or adding more diverse characters (any kind of diversity).
Long story short, I want to be one of those writers that become known for changing the course of sitcoms today. I want to bring back shows like Roseanne and All in the Family. Some of my favorite sitcoms right now are Two and a Half Men, The Office and Scrubs. Some underrated sitcoms that I also enjoy are: ’Til Death, How I Met Your Mother and Worst Week.