In most shows, there is some sort of ongoing mystery that will never really be elucidated. In my opinion, there is something to understand other than just comic-effect. Let's take a quick look at different mysteries and see how they impact a sitcom.
The Simpsons never say in which US State they are. This could be unimportant, but they insure that you keep wondering with different allusions and try to maintain the mystery alive.
In The Big Bang Theory, there used to be a mystery about how the elevator stopped working but it was resolved recently. There is however the fact that Howard's mother is always heard but never seen.
In Frasier, Niles's wife, Maris, is neither shown nor heard. In a few episodes we see somebody that looks like her description, but, for comic effect, that Maris look-alike turns out to be a completely different character.
In How I Met Your Mother, Barney's job is never explained although we do see him working after a few episodes, which tones down the mystery.
In Malcolm In The Middle, the fifth child, Jamie, is defined as a boy only at the start of season five.
So five examples (there are many more) of basic mystery, some resolved, others not. Each mystery intensifies the complexity of the show and makes it more "interesting". I don't think there are many people that watch The Simpsons, for example, just to find out in which State they live according to the different clues that are given. No. The point is less important than that. It's a rallying point for frequent viewers and an added interrogation for new-comers.
In Frasier, there is also the fact that without seing Maris, we are more and more intrigued by how thin and white she is. The mystery, in this case, helps character building by permitting the audience to picture their own "Maris".
For The Simpsons, I believe there is the fact that they live in a town called Springfield and the first episodes (even the shorts on the Tracy Ullman Show) want to show and ordinary family in an ordinary town. As the seasons go by, things gets less and less ordinary, of course.
For the other examples I gave, it's more a question of adding a little depth to the show rather than accompany the characters or the premise of the show.
Give me your examples of basic Mysteries in Sitcom Shows. I'm sure there are plenty I didn't even notice !
Thank you,
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TRJ
That 70s show: we don't know where Fez comes from.
ReplyDeleteThat's right ! Nor do we know his real name !
ReplyDeleteThere's another one for TBBT. Penny's last name. :)
ReplyDelete