View source for Category:Sitcom

{{short description|Broadcast genre; recurring cast comedy}}A '''sitcom''', a [[wikipedia:portmanteau|portmanteau]] of '''situation comedy''', or '''situational comedy''', is a [[wikipedia:genre|genre]] of [[wikipedia:comedy|comedy]] centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with [[wikipedia:sketch comedy|sketch comedy]], where a troupe may use new characters in each sketch, and [[wikipedia:stand-up comedy|stand-up comedy]], where a comedian tells jokes and stories to an audience. Sitcoms originated in radio, but today are found mostly on television as one of its dominant [[wikipedia:narrative|narrative]] forms.

A situation comedy television program may be recorded in front of a [[wikipedia:studio audience|studio audience]], depending on the program's production format. The effect of a live studio audience can be imitated or enhanced by the use of a [[wikipedia:laugh track|laugh track]].

Critics disagree over the utility of the term "sitcom" in classifying shows that have come into existence since the turn of the century.{{when|date=January 2023}} Many contemporary American sitcoms use the [[wikipedia:single-camera setup|single-camera setup]] and do not feature a laugh track, thus often resembling the [[wikipedia:dramedy|dramedy]] shows of the 1980s and 1990s rather than the traditional sitcom.<ref>[https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/evolution-sitcom-part-2/ "The Evolution Of The Sitcom: The Age of the Single Camera"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009214024/https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/evolution-sitcom-part-2/ |date=2016-10-09 }}. [[wikipedia:New York Film Academy|New York Film Academy]], September 24, 2014.</ref>

== History ==

{{Main|History of radio|Radio comedy|History of television|Television comedy}}

The terms "situation comedy" or "sitcom" were not commonly used until the 1950s.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-first=Mary M.|editor1-last= Dalton|editor2-first = Laura R. |editor2-last =Linder |title=Sitcom Reader, The: America Viewed and Skewed|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s8ARc_7-NtUC&pg=PA15|page=15|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-8263-6|date=2012}}</ref> There were prior examples on radio, but the first television sitcom is said to be ''[[wikipedia:Pinwright's Progress|Pinwright's Progress]]'', ten episodes being broadcast on the [[wikipedia:BBC|BBC]] in the United Kingdom between 1946 and 1947.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/pinwrights_progress/|title=Pinwright's Progress|work=comedy.co.uk|access-date=2010-03-08|archive-date=2010-03-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100308142542/http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/pinwrights_progress/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy|first=Mark|last=Lewisohn|publisher=BBC Worldwide Ltd|year=2003}}</ref> In the United States, director and producer [[wikipedia:William Asher|William Asher]] has been credited with being the "man who invented the sitcom",<ref name=PSLife>[http://www.palmspringslife.com/Palm-Springs-Life/December-1999/The-Man-Who-Invented-the-Sitcom/ "William Asher – The Man Who Invented the Sitcom"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409180003/http://www.palmspringslife.com/Palm-Springs-Life/December-1999/The-Man-Who-Invented-the-Sitcom/ |date=2016-04-09 }}, ''Palm Springs Life'' Dec. 1999</ref> having directed over two dozen of the leading sitcoms, including ''[[wikipedia:I Love Lucy|I Love Lucy]]'', from the 1950s through the 1970s.

== See also ==
{{Portal|Television|Radio|Comedy}}
* [[wikipedia:Black sitcom|Black sitcom]]
* [[wikipedia:List of situation comedies|List of sitcoms]]
*[[wikipedia:Animated sitcom|Animated sitcom]]
{{Clear}}

== References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== Further reading ==
* Lewisohn, Mark (2003) ''Radio Times' Guide to TV Comedy''. 2nd Ed. Revised – BBC Consumer Publishing. {{ISBN|0-563-48755-0}}, Provides details of every comedy show ever seen on British television, including imports.
* Padva, Gilad (2005) Desired Bodies and Queer Masculinities in Three Popular TV Sitcoms. In Lorek-Jezinska, Edyta and Wieckowska, Katarzyna (Eds.), ''Corporeal Inscriptions: Representations of the Body in Cultural and Homosexual Literature '' (pp.&nbsp;127–138). Torun, Poland: Nicholas Copernicus University Press. {{ISBN|83-231-1812-4}}
* ''Asplin, Richard'' (2004) ''Gagged – A Thriller With Jokes'' – Arrow books. {{ISBN|0-09-941685-9}} is a contemporary comic thriller set in London and Los Angeles that covers the financing, production, creation, ratings and marketing of a modern American network half-hour situation comedy
* {{cite book|author=Mary M. Dalton|title=Sitcom Reader, The: America Viewed and Skewed|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s8ARc_7-NtUC|date=1 February 2012|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-8263-6}}
* {{cite book|author=Antonio Savorelli|title=Beyond Sitcom: New Directions in American Television Comedy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ULavmB3bt0YC|date=13 April 2010|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-5992-6}}
* {{cite book|author=Joanne Morreale|title=Critiquing the Sitcom: A Reader|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yH1upjtj4OYC|year=2003|publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=978-0-8156-2983-2}}
* {{cite book|author=Brett Mills|title=Television Sitcom|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L8lkAAAAMAAJ|date=12 January 2006|publisher=British Film Institute|isbn=978-1-84457-087-4}}
* {{cite book|author=Brett Mills|title=The Sitcom|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7HmFmw6OBSMC|year=2009|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0-7486-3752-2}}
* Starman, Ray "The Sitcom Class Wars:20th Century". (2014) The Troy Bookmakers, Troy NY.  History and analysis of 60 classic American sitcoms.  Also includes glossary for easy access.  Photos for every program.

== External links ==
*[http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/tvcomedy.html Situation Comedy Bibliography] (via UC Berkeley)—mostly USA programs.
* [http://www.sitcomsonline.com/ Sitcoms Online]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050404031803/http://www.sitcom.co.uk/ British Comedy Guide]

[[Category:Cinematography]]