Sitcoms Analyzed

Sitcom Essay

Comedy programs such as sitcoms which focus on issues and current events in our society have become seemingly popular in today’s day and age. This maybe due to the four elements found in the programs. The four elements being: plots, characters, settings and the techniques in which humour is applied. These elements ease the program into achieving two possible purposes; firstly, to entertain its viewers; and secondly, to provide moral guidance to its viewers. A prime example of a sitcom that clearly displays these four elements is the American produced sitcom: Friends. Friends, roughly summed up, is a twenty-two minute sitcom which focuses on the day-to-day lives of a group of six friends.

When observing sitcoms there are two types of plots in mind, the type of plots use in a program is dependent upon the previous and following episodes. Generally, situation comedies are long-running, as they possess the ability to be endlessly reproduced. This is due to the fact that what ever happens in each episode, all complications are resolved by the end and the characters and overall situation is not changed. Also another similarity shared between plots is that they are simple, therefore simple to understand. The simplicity is a factor that contributes to the sitcom’s ability to endlessly be reproduced. An example of what has been discussed in this paragraph can be found in the episode of Friends titled �The One with All the Cheesecakes’. In this episode the three complications were: Chandler (played by Matthew Perry) and Rachel’s (played by Jennifer Anniston) addiction towards cheesecake; Monica (played by Courtney Arquette) not being invited to her cousin’s wedding and Joey (played by Matt Le Blanc) and Phoebe (played by Lisa Kudrow) standing each other up for dinner with other people. Before the end of the episode these complications are all resolved in humorous or unexpected ways, such as when Rachel drops her last piece of the cheesecake after ranting about no more sharing and then causing Chandler to drop his too, or when Monica discovers she wasn’t invited to her cousin’s wedding as the groom was one of Monica’s ex-lovers. And lastly, when Joey forgives Phoebe for giving him a hard time about what he had done and then going to do exactly that. The final complication could be considered as the moral of the episode: friends will always be there for you; they will understand the situation and always forgive you.

Characters, like plots, are an extremely important element in sitcoms. This is because sitcoms are character driven, as the plots, settings and humour all revolve around the lives of the characters. A general trait among all characters is that they are usually stereotypical. As the stereotypes assist in letting viewers get familiar with the characters in a short amount of time. Also these characters have strengths and weaknesses that make them more realistic and help the show in being more humorous. For example: Chandler from Friends is insecure and uses sarcasm to cover-up awkward moments, or Monica, also from Friends has a tendency to get what she wants no matter what the price. The example of this can be shown when she is not invited to her cousin’s wedding and manipulates Ross into dumping his date and going with her instead. All the similarities and traits found in sitcom characters are to give the audience a chance to relate or to get familiar, much like the theme song.

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