Sitcom
A situation comedy, or sitcom, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy where a troop may use new characters in each sketch, and 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 narrative forms. This form can also include mockumentaries.
A situation comedy television program may be recorded in front of a 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 laugh track.
History
The terms "situational comedy" or "sitcom" weren't commonly used until the 1950s.[1]The first television sitcom is said to be Pinwright's Progress, ten episodes being broadcast on the BBC in the United Kingdom between 1946 and 1947.[2][3] In the United States, director and producer William Asher has been credited with being the "man who invented the sitcom",[4] having directed over two dozen of the leading sitcoms, including I Love Lucy, from the 1950s through the 1970s.
By country
Australia
There have been few long-running Australian-made sitcoms, but many U.S. and UK sitcoms have been successful there. UK sitcoms are a staple of government broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC); in the 1970s and 1980s many UK sitcoms also screened on the Seven Network. By 1986, UK comedies Bless This House and Are You Being Served? had been repeated by ABC Television several times, and were then acquired and screened by the Seven Network, in prime time.[5]
In 1981, Daily at Dawn was the first Australian comedy series to feature a regular gay character (Terry Bader as journalist Leslie).[6]
In 1987, Mother and Son was winner of the Television Drama Award presented by the Australian Human Rights Commission.[7][8]
In 2007, Kath & Kim The first episode of series four attracted an Australian audience of 2.521 million nationally,[9] the highest rating ever for a first episode in the history of Australian television,[9] until the series premiere of Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities in 2009 with 2.58m viewers.[10]
In 2013, Please Like Me was praised by the critics,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17] receiving an invitation to screen at the Series Mania Television Festival in Paris.[18] and has garnered three awards and numerous nominations.[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] Also in 2013, At Home With Julia was criticised by several social commentators as inappropriately disrespectful to the office of Prime Minister,[27] the show nevertheless proved very popular both with television audiences — becoming the most watched Australian scripted comedy series of 2011[28] — and with television critics.[29] Nominated to the 2012 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards for Best Television Comedy Series.[30]
Canada
The popular show King of Kensington, aired from 1975 to 1980, prior to the start of the fourth season drew 1.5 to 1.8 million viewers weekly.[31]
Corner Gas, which ran for six seasons from 2004 to 2009, became an instant hit, averaging a million viewers per episode.[32] 1.5 million viewers in its first episode on January 22, 2004. And has been the recipient of six Gemini Awards, and has been nominated almost 70 times for various awards.[33]
Between 2007 and 2012, the Little Mosque on the Prairie premiere drew an audience of 2.1 million,[34] but declined in its fourth season drawing 420,000 viewers a week, or twenty percent of its original audience.[35]
India
Sitcoms started appearing on Indian television in the 1980s, with serials like Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi (1984) and Wagle Ki Duniya (1988) on the state-run Doordarshan channel. Gradually, as private channels were allowed, many more sitcoms followed in the 1990s, such as Zabaan Sambhalke (1993), Shrimaan Shrimati (1995), Office Office (2001), Khichdi (2002), Sarabhai vs Sarabhai (2005) to F.I.R. (2006- 2015) ,Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, (2008–present) & "Uppum Mulakum" (2015- Present).[36][37]
Mexico
El Chavo del Ocho, which ran from 1971 to 1980, was the most watched show in the Mexican television and had a Latin American audience of 350 million viewers per episode at its peak of popularity during the mid-1970s.[38] The show continues to be popular in Hispanic America as well as in Brazil, Spain, United States and other countries, with syndicated episodes averaging 91 million daily viewers in all of the markets where it is distributed in the Americas.[39][40] Since it ceased production in 1992, the show has earned an estimated billion in syndication fees alone for Televisa.[40]
New Zealand
Gliding On, a popular sit-com in New Zealand in the early 1980s, won multiple awards over the course of its run, including Best Comedy, Best Drama and Best Direction at the Feltex Awards.[41]
Russia
The first Russian sitcom series was "Strawberry" (resembled "Duty Pharmacy" in Spanish format), which was aired in 1996-1997 on the RTR channel. However, the "boom" of Russian sitcoms began only in the 2000s - when in 2004 the STS started very successful sitcom "My Fair Nanny" (an adaptation of the American sitcom "The Nanny"). Since that time sitcoms in Russia were produced by the two largest entertainment channels of the country - STS and TNT. In 2007 the STS released the first original domestic sitcom - "Daddy's Daughters" (there were only adaptation before), and in 2010 TNT released "Interns (sitcom)" - the first sitcom, filmed as a comedy (unlike dominated "conveyor" sitcoms).
United Kingdom
In 2004, Are You Being Served? was ranked 20th in the countdown of Britain's Best Sitcom.[42]
United States
Most American sitcoms generally include episodes of 20 to 30 minutes in length, where the story is written to run a total of 22 minutes in length, leaving eight minutes for commercials.[43]
Some popular British shows have been successfully adapted for the U.S.[44]
Sitcoms on U.S. radio
The sitcom format was born in January 1926 with the initial broadcast of Sam 'n' Henry on WGN radio in Chicago, Illinois.[45] The 15-minute daily program was revamped in 1928, moved to another station, renamed Amos 'n' Andy, and became one of the most successful sitcoms of the period. It was also one of the earliest examples of radio syndication. Like many radio programs of the time, the two programs continued the American entertainment traditions of vaudeville and the minstrel show.
The Jack Benny Program, a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades, is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th-century American comedy.[46]
Sitcoms on U.S. television
1940s–1950s
Mary Kay and Johnny, aired from 1947 to 1950, was the first sitcom broadcast on a network television in the United States and was the first program to show a couple sharing a bed, and the first series to show a woman's pregnancy on television.[47][48]
I Love Lucy, which originally ran from 1951 to 1957 on CBS, was the most watched show in the United States in four of its six seasons, and was the first to end its run at the top of the Nielsen ratings (an accomplishment later matched only by The Andy Griffith Show in 1968 and Seinfeld in 1998) . The show is still syndicated in dozens of languages across the world, and remains popular, with an American audience of 40 million each year.[49] A colorized version of its Christmas episode attracted more than eight million viewers when CBS aired it in prime time in 2013 – 62 years after the show premiered.[50] A second colorized special, featuring the "L.A. At Last!" and "Lucy and Superman" episodes, aired on May 17, 2015, attracting 6.4 million viewers.[51] It is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential sitcoms in history. In 2012, it was voted the 'Best TV Show of All Time' in a survey conducted by ABC News and People Magazine.[52]
The Honeymooners debuted as a half-hour series on 1955 and was originally aired on the DuMont network's Cavalcade of Stars and subsequently on the CBS network's The Jackie Gleason Show,[53] which was filmed in front of a live audience. Although initially a ratings success—becoming the #2 show in the United States during its first season—it faced stiff competition from The Perry Como Show,[54][55] and eventually dropped to #19,[55][56] ending its production after only 39 episodes (now referred to as the "Classic 39"). The final episode of The Honeymooners aired on September 22, 1956. Creator/producer Jackie Gleason revived The Honeymooners sporadically until 1978. The Honeymooners was one of the first U.S. television shows to portray working-class married couples in a gritty, non-idyllic manner (the show is set mostly in the Kramdens' kitchen, in a neglected Brooklyn apartment building).[57] Steven Sheehan explains the popularity of The Honeymooners as the embodiment of working-class masculinity in the character of Ralph Kramden, and postwar ideals in American society regarding work, housing, consumerism, and consumer satisfaction. The series demonstrated visually the burdens of material obligations and participation in consumer culture, as well as the common use of threats of domestic violence in working class households.[58] Art Carney won five Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Ed Norton — two for the original Jackie Gleason Show, one for The Honeymooners, and two for the final version of The Jackie Gleason Show. He was nominated for another two (1957, 1966) but lost. Gleason and Audrey Meadows were both nominated in 1956 for their work on The Honeymooners. Meadows was also nominated for Emmys for her portrayal of Alice Kramden in 1954 and 1957.[59][60] In 1997, the episodes "The $99,000 Answer" and "TV or Not TV" were respectively ranked #6 and #26 on "TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time"[61] and in 1999, TV Guide published a list titled "TV's 100 Greatest Characters Ever!" Ed Norton was #20, and Ralph Kramden was #2.[62] In 2002, The Honeymooners was listed at #3 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time and #13 on their list of the "60 Greatest Shows of All Time" in 2013.[63]
1960s
The Andy Griffith Show, first televised on CBS between 1960 and 1968, was consistently placed in the top ten during its run.[64] The show is one of only three shows to have its final season be the number one ranked show on television, the other two being I Love Lucy and Seinfeld. In 1998, more than 5 million people a day watched the show's re-runs on 120 stations.[65]
The Dick Van Dyke Show, initially aired on CBS from 1961 to 1966, won 15 Emmy Awards. In 1997, the episodes "Coast-to-Coast Big Mouth" and "It May Look Like a Walnut" were ranked at 8 and 15 respectively on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.[66] In 2002, it was ranked at 13 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time[67] and in 2013, it was ranked at 20 on their list of the 60 Best Series.[68]
1970s
The series M*A*S*H, aired in the U.S. from 1972 to 1983, was honored with a Peabody Award in 1976 and was ranked number 25 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time in 2002.[69][70] In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked it as the fifth-best written TV series ever[71] and TV Guide ranked it as the eighth-greatest show of all time.[72] The episodes "Abyssinia, Henry" and "The Interview" were ranked number 20 and number 80, respectively, on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time in 1997.[73] And the finale, "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen", became the most-watched and highest-rated single television episode in the U.S. television history at the time, with a record-breaking of 125 million viewers (60.2 rating and 77 share),[74] according to The New York Times.[75]
Sanford and Son, who ran from 1972 to 1977, was included on the Time magazine's list of the "100 Best TV Shows of All Time" in 2007.[76]
1980s
Seinfeld, which originally ran for nine seasons on NBC from 1989 to 1998, led the Nielsen ratings in seasons six and nine, and finished among the top two (with NBC's ER) every year from 1994 to 1998.[77] A In 2002, TV Guide named Seinfeld the greatest television program of all time.[78] In 1997, the episodes "The Boyfriend" and "The Parking Garage" were respectively ranked numbers 4 and 33 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time,[79] and in 2009, "The Contest" was ranked #1 on the same magazine's list of TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time.[80] E! named it the "number 1 reason the '90s ruled."[81] In 2013, the Writers Guild of America named Seinfeld the No. 2 Best Written TV Series of All Time (second to The Sopranos).[82] That same year, Entertainment Weekly named it the No. 3 best TV series of all time[83] and TV Guide ranked it at No. 2.[84]
1990s
The Nanny, aired on CBS from 1993 to 1999, earned a Rose d'Or and one Emmy Award, out of a total of twelve nominations.[85][86] The sitcom was the first new show delivered to CBS for the 1993 season and the highest-tested pilot at the network in years.[87] The series was also hugely successful internationally, especially in Australia.[88]
Friends, which originally aired on NBC from 1994 to 2004, received acclaim throughout its run, becoming one of the most popular television shows of all time.[89] The series was nominated for 62 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning the Outstanding Comedy Series award in 2002 for its eighth season. The show ranked no. 21 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time and no. 7 on Empire magazine's The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.[90][91][92] In 1997, the episode "The One with the Prom Video" was ranked no. 100 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time.[93] In 2013, Friends ranked no. 24 on the Writers Guild of America's 101 Best Written TV Series of All Time and no. 28 on TV Guide's 60 Best TV Series of All Time.[82][94] In 2014, the series was ranked by Mundo Estranho the Best TV Series of All Time.[95]
With five wins in its first five seasons, Frasier set the record for most consecutive Emmy awards for Outstanding Comedy Series, a record that has since been matched by Modern Family. The series holds the record for most total Emmy wins, 37, shattering the record of 29 which had been set by The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Frasier is considered the most successful spin-off series in television history, beginning its run one the season after Cheers went off the air, where the character of Frasier Crane had been appearing for nine years. Frasier ran from 1993-2004.
2000s and 2010s
How I Met Your Mother was a sitcom which aired from 2005 to 2014 on CBS, lasting 9 seasons. The show won 9 Emmy awards and 18 awards in general, while being nominated for 72 awards. It became successful in many places across the world. It focuses on Ted Mosby, a character who is struggling to find "the one" and his group of friends in Manhattan and him re-telling the story of he met their mother to his children in the year 2030.
The Big Bang Theory is a sitcom named after the scientific theory. It began airing in 2007 on CBS and is currently on season 10. The show is set in Pasadena, California and focuses on five main characters (later on others get promoted to starring roles), Leonard Hofstadter (experimental physicist) and Sheldon Cooper (theoretical physicist) who live across the hall from aspiring actress Penny. Leonard and Sheldon are friends with Howard Wolowitz (aerospace engineer) and Rajesh "Raj" Koothrappali (astrophysicist). Later additions include Bernadette Rostenkowski (microbiologist), Amy Farrah Fowler (neurobiologist), Stuart Bloom (comic-book store owner) and Emily Sweeney (dermatologist). Season 7 had 19.96 million viewers, the highest rated and watched season to date.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a police sitcom set in the fictional 99th precinct in Brooklyn which premiered in 2013 on Fox. It is on season 4 as of September 2016 and the show and its cast has altogether won 8 awards. The show follows Jake Peralta, a childish yet talented detective and his new strict captain, Captain Ray Holt. Others in the precinct include Amy Santiago, smart, by-the-book detective, Charles Boyle, Jake's quirky and hard-working best friend who is also a detective, Rosa Diaz, strong, mysterious and intimidating detective, Terry Jeffords, muscular family man who was originally scared of going back on the streets after a near-death experience who is a detective sergeant and Gina Linetti, sarcastic and narcissistic civilian administrator and dancer.
Definition of Sitcom in the 21st century
Modern critics have disagreed over the utility of the term "sitcom" in classifying shows that have come into existence since the turn of the century, including whether or not cartoons can be sitcoms.[96]
See also
References
- ↑ Mary M. Dalton. Sitcom Reader, The: America Viewed and Skewed. SUNY Press. p. 15date=1 February 2012. ISBN 978-0-7914-8263-6.
- ↑ "Pinwright's Progress". comedy.co.uk.
- ↑ Lewisohn, Mark (2003). "Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy". BBC Worldwide Ltd.
- ↑ "William Asher - The Man Who Invented the Sitcom", Palm Springs Life Dec. 1999
- ↑ Collier, Shayne. Again and again and again. The Sydney Morning Herald - The Guide: 2 June 1986, p.1, 6.
- ↑ Howes, Keith. (1998, February). "Gays of Our Lives". Outrage, Number 177, 38-49.
- ↑ "1987 Television Drama Award". Human Rights Medal and Awards. Australian Human Rights Commission. 1987. Archived from the original on July 6, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-11.
- ↑ Tynan, Jacinta (2008-09-13). "Weird how my rello won his fame". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
- 1 2 Seven Network (20 August 2007). "Seven – Daily Ratings Report". ebroadcast.com.au. Archived from the original on 20 May 2009. Retrieved 20 August 2007.
- ↑ "2.58m: Underbelly sets new record". TV Tonight.
- ↑ Langford, Anthony D. (6 March 2013). "Langford on Soaps: Is It The End For Christian And Ollie on "Forbidden Love?"". AfterElton.com. (Logo TV). Retrieved 31 March 2013.
- ↑ Langford, Anthony D. (27 March 2013). "Langford on Soaps: Brendan Goes Out With A Bang and A Whimper on "Hollyaoks"". AfterElton.com. (Logo TV). Retrieved 31 March 2013.
- ↑ Mast, Andrew (6 March 2013). "The TV Set: It's Hard To Like Josh Thomas". Music.com.au. (Street Press Australia Pty). Retrieved 31 March 2013.
- ↑ Knox, David (25 February 2013). "Please Like Me". TV Tonight. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
- ↑ Vickery, Colin; Devlyn, Darren (27 February 2013). "Is Josh Thomas's show too gay for ABC1?". News.com.au. (News Limited). Retrieved 31 March 2013.
- ↑ Hardie, Giles; Ellis, Scott (21 February 2013). "Please Like Me". The Age. (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ↑ Mathieson, Craig (21 February 2013). "Thomas the frank engine". The Age. (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ↑ Knox, David (22 February 2013). "Please Like Me, Puberty Blues selected for French TV festival". TV Tonight. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
- ↑ Knox, David (30 January 2014). "AACTA Awards 2014: winners". TV Tonight. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
- ↑ "Please Like Me". GLAAD. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
- ↑ "Please Like Me". Australian Directors Guild. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
- ↑ Visentin, Lisa (18 June 2014). "Josh Thomas' show Please Like Me nominated for Rose d'Or". The Sydney Morning Herald. (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 12 July 2014.
- ↑ "Please Like Me". TV Tonight. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
- ↑ "Please Like Me". Australian Writers' Guild. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
- ↑ Bodey, Michael (14 October 2014). "ABC2 comedy Please Like Me nominated for Emmy". The Australian. News Corp Australia (News Corp). Retrieved 3 November 2014.
- ↑ "Australian Editors Guild awards 2014: nominees".
- ↑ Craven, Peter (8 Sep 2011). "At Home With Julia: inane drivel of the most idiotic kind". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
- ↑ http://www.encoremagazine.com.au/packed-to-the-rafters-and-underbelly-are-2011s-top-local-dramas-11731
- ↑ Knox, David (Dec 1, 2011). "Critics' Choice: The Best of 2011". TV Tonight. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
- ↑ "Inaugural Samsung AACTA Awards Nominees" (PDF). Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts.
- ↑ "King to be bachelor". Ottawa Citizen. 1978-01-25. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
- ↑ "Strong numbers mean replay of Corner Gas debut" (Press release). CTV Inc. 2004-01-23. Retrieved 2007-01-08.
- ↑ "'Corner Gas' gives thanks with premiere on Monday, Oct. 13". CTV Globemedia. 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
- ↑ "A whopping two million viewers tune into 'Little Mosque'". Toronto: The Globe and Mail. 2007-01-10. Retrieved 2007-01-10.
- ↑ Brioux, Bill " "Being Erica Means Being on the Bubble", 2009-12-10. Retrieved on 2009-12-15.
- ↑ "The Sitcom diaries". New Indian Evpress. 5 May 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
- ↑ Patel, Nidhin (2011-10-13). "'Taarak Mehta' completes 700 episodes". Times of India.
- ↑ "Adiós al Chavo del 8: murió Roberto Gómez Bolaños". Forbes Mexico. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
- ↑ "El Chavo del 8 – Historia". Chespirito (in Spanish). Retrieved January 31, 2011.
- 1 2 "Meet El Chavo, The World's Most Famous (And Richest) Orphan". Forbes. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
- ↑ "Roger Hall Piece about Gliding On". NZ On Screen. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
- ↑ "Britain's Best Sitcom – Top 11 to 100". BBC. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
- ↑ How Sitcoms Work, page 3.
- ↑ When British TV flies across the pond. CNN.com, April 6, 2012. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
- ↑ Jim Cox (2007). The Great Radio Sitcoms. McFarlane. ISBN 9780786431465.
- ↑ Dunning, John. On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press, 1998.
- ↑ Joanne Morreale (2003). Critiquing the Sitcom: A Reader. Syracuse University Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-8156-2983-2.
- ↑ snopes.com/radiotv Snopes.com: "Early to Bed"
- ↑ "I Love Lucy Goes Live! – Today's News: Our Take". TVGuide.com. September 14, 2011. Retrieved November 22, 2012.
- ↑ Kozinn, Allan (Dec 23, 2013). "Viewers Found Much to Love in 'Lucy' Christmas Show". NYTimes.com. Retrieved Dec 23, 2013.
- ↑ Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Simpsons' & 'Billboard Music Awards' Adjusted Up
- ↑ "I Love Lucy Voted the Best TV Show of All Time". ABC News. September 18, 2012. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
- ↑ Kaplan, Peter W. (January 26, 1985). "75 'Honeymooners' Episodes Found". The New York Times. Retrieved November 26, 2006.
- ↑ Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (1999). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows (7th ed.). Ballantine Books. p. 464. ISBN 0345429230.
- 1 2 Jones, Gerard (1993). "Sweet Subversion". Honey I'm Home!: Sitcoms – Selling the American Dream. MacMillan. p. 112. ISBN 0-312-08810-8.
- ↑ Brooks; Marsh, "Top-Rated Programs by Season", p.1245
- ↑ Conner (2010), Sitcoms Often Reinforce Racial Ethnic Stereotypes Archived October 5, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Steven T. Sheehan, "'Pow! Right in the Kisser': Ralph Kramden, Jackie Gleason, and the Emergence of the Frustrated Working-Class Man, Journal of Popular Culture, June 2010, Vol. 43#3 pgs. 564-82
- ↑ "1956 Emmy Awards". Retrieved December 7, 2006.
- ↑ "Art Carney at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences". Archived from the original on September 29, 2006. Retrieved December 8, 2006.
- ↑ "Special Collector's Issue: 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time". TV Guide (June 28 - July 4). 1997.
- ↑ Gehring, Wes (November 2001). "'The honeymooners' turns 50: a half-century after they first arrived on TV screens, Ralph and Alice Kramden and Ed Norton continue to delight audiences on countless late-night reruns". USA Today. Retrieved December 6, 2006.
- ↑ Fretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt. "The Greatest Shows on Earth". TV Guide Magazine. 61 (3194-3195): 16–19.
- ↑ "Classic TV Hits: TV Ratings".
- ↑ Ted Rueter (January 22, 1998). "What Andy, Opie, and Barney Fife Mean to Americans". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
- ↑ "Special Collector's Issue: 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time". TV Guide (June 28-July 4). 1997.
- ↑ "TV Guide Names Top 50 Shows". CBS News. April 26, 2002. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
- ↑ Fretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt. "The Greatest Shows on Earth". TV Guide Magazine. 61 (3194-3195): 16–19.
- ↑ "The Peabody Awards | An International Competition for Electronic Media, honoring achievement in Television, Radio, Cable and the Web | Administered by University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication". Peabody.uga.edu. Retrieved 2011-05-17.
- ↑ TV Guide Names Top 50 Shows
- ↑ 101 Best Written TV Series List
- ↑ Fretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt. "The Greatest Shows on Earth". TV Guide Magazine. 61 (3194-3195): 16–19.
- ↑ "Special Collector's Issue: 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time". TV Guide (June 28-July 4, 1997).
- ↑ Hyatt, Wesley (2012). Television's Top 100. US: McFarland. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-7864-4891-3.
- ↑ "Finale Of M*A*S*H Draws Record Number Of Viewers". The New York Times. March 3, 1983.
- ↑ "The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME". time.com. September 6, 2007. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
- ↑ Seinfeld Seasons 1 & 2: Notes about Nothing - "The Seinfeld Chronicles" (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2004-11-23.
- ↑ Cosgrove-Mather, Bootie (2002-04-26). "TV Guide Names Top 50 Shows". CBS News. Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- ↑ "Special Collector's Issue: 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time". TV Guide (June 28-July 4). 1997.
- ↑ "TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time and over 6.5 billion different people have watched an episode" TV Guide; June 15, 2009; Pages 34-49
- ↑ "Reasons the '90s Ruled 101 – 81", TV.com
- 1 2 "101 Best Written TV Series List".
- ↑ "TV: 10 All-Time Greatest". Entertainment Weekly. June 27, 2013.
- ↑ Fretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt. "The Greatest Shows on Earth". TV Guide Magazine. 61 (3194-3195): 16–19.
- ↑ "Rose d'Or: winners". The Guardian. May 2, 2006. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
- ↑ "The Nanny". Emmy Awards. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
- ↑ "Enter Winning". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 16, 2007.
- ↑ Abbott, Denise (May 21, 1997). "Enter Winning". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
- ↑ "The 100 Best Tv Shows Of All-Time". Time. September 6, 2007.
- ↑ "TV Guide Names Top 50 Shows". CBS News. April 26, 2002.
- ↑ "Empire Magazine's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time list". Listal.com. December 23, 2008. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
- ↑ "The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time". empireonline.com. December 23, 2008. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
- ↑ "Special Collector's Issue: 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time". TV Guide (June 28 – July 4). 1997.
- ↑ Fretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt. "The Greatest Shows on Earth". TV Guide Magazine. 61 (3194-3195): 16–19.
- ↑ "As 100 Melhores Séries da História, segundo jornalistas brasileiros!" (in Portuguese). Ligado em Série. October 28, 2014. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
- ↑ "The Sitcom Reader: America Viewed and Skewed". tandfonline.com.
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. 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
- Mary M. Dalton (1 February 2012). Sitcom Reader, The: America Viewed and Skewed. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-8263-6.
- Antonio Savorelli (13 April 2010). Beyond Sitcom: New Directions in American Television Comedy. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5992-6.
- Joanne Morreale (2003). Critiquing the Sitcom: A Reader. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-2983-2.
- Brett Mills (12 January 2006). Television Sitcom. British Film Institute. ISBN 978-1-84457-087-4.
- Brett Mills (2009). The Sitcom. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-3752-2.
External links
- Situation Comedy Bibliography (via UC Berkeley) — mostly USA programs.
- Sitcoms Online
- British Comedy Guide