What Is A Sitcom

Welcome !

Let's get straight to business : What is a Sitcom ?

This will be my definition, you are absolutely free to post any comment to contradict me. But for the sake of this blog, I will stick to a simple and clear meaning of sitcom.

The most defining characteristic is that a sitcom is a TV show that exposes any given situation that undergoes rapidly a change which is resolved to return to the original situation.

Simply :

BEGINNING = ENDING

The second most defining characteristic is that it must be funny. Yet, humour is a complicated human capacity that varies to much from person to person. Therefore, it is not the main characteristic although it may be the main objective.

Sitcoms also (most of the time) follow simple rules that are inherited from old theater theories which are known as the Rules of UNITY. There are three :

1. Unit of TIME : The story happens in a very short time lapse. Originally, it was believed that, in order to maintain the audience's belief in the story, scene-time and real-time should coincide. In today's sitcoms, the story begins and ends within (average) three days.
2. Unit of ACTION : There should only be one main story. Sitcoms usually have two main stories or one main and one secondary but rarely more.
3. Unit of LOCATION : The story must take place in a single place. Sitcoms usually try to keep three or four main places that the audience has already seen.

These rules were set for theater and therefore have been altered to fit television format, but they are still applicable.

These main characteristics allow us to identify sitcoms easily.

There is one more thing I must add when talking about sitcoms. The word "SITCOM" is not degrading. It does not convey any lack of quality nor does it define a lesser work of entertainment. The fact is that some shows are sitcoms and some shows aren't. Don't take it personally.

The goal is to understand how they work and how they are perceived. It is obvious to me that sitcoms reflect our society while, at the same time, giving us guidelines to how to live our lives. These guidelines are often very simple and, in my opinion, are completely off. I can't imagine trying to apply what the characters do in my everyday life. Family values, Judeo-Christian morals,... are very well but are not usable in the way they are portrayed in sitcoms.

Sitcoms give the illusion of being close to the people that are watching and the times they try to represent.

This was an introductory post and I urge you to comment, share and subscribe. Your views and opinion are truly valued. I will try to answer as many comments as possible.

Thank you,

TRJ