When you've had a long and stressful day, one of the best things you can do for yourself is have a hearty laugh. A great way to get the laughter you need is to watch television comedies. What any people don't realize is that while they watch classic TV sitcoms, they may be exposed to new ideas or to different perspectives on old issues and that in time their attitudes may change for the better.
The humor in a sitcom normally comes from the situations in which the characters find themselves. This is why the genre is more formally known as the situation comedy. One of the great American classics in the genre was 'I Love Lucy' in the Fifties, while lines from the British 'Fawlty Towers' from the Seventies are still quoted even by people who've never seen this hilarious show.
The family has often been a major theme for sitcoms. Many shows have focused on traditional family values, especially during the Reagan era. These included 'The Cosby Show' and 'Family Ties' and most of these shows featured the ideal of a family consisting of a father, mother and children.
Some shows provided a different perspective on the idea of a family. They would feature non-traditional families, such as single-parent households. 'Kate and Allie' was about two single moms, for instance, while 'Full House' involved a widower who raised his daughters with the help of a male friend and a brother-in-law. Other shows focused on familial relationships between adults, such as the brothers and father Crane in 'Frasier'.
As young people move to cities like New York, they leave behind their families and need to find a new support system that they can count on. The urban family that is made up of unmarried friends started featuring in shows such as 'Seinfeld' and the trend continued with 'Friends' and later with 'How I Met Your Mother'. 'Will and Grace' broke new ground by making two of its main characters openly gay.
Back in the Seventies, the British had a show called 'Mind Your Language'. It was about a hapless teacher trying to teach English to a class full of recent immigrants from countries as far afield as India, Pakistan, China and Spain. It helped expose audiences to different cultures and to be more understanding of immigrants. The USA has had some wonderful shows for creating cultural tolerance too, such as 'Aliens in America' with its Pakistani Muslim main character, which was aired when the fear of Islam was widespread.
A long-running sitcom of the Eighties had as its setting one of the most horrific situations possible. 'MASH' was set during the Korean War, specifically in an army field hospital. Heart-wrenching scenes of death and destruction were placed in between scenes of the wildest, funniest antics. Interestingly, this was very realistic, since humor was a way for medical personnel during that war, and in most others, to handle the daily horrors of armed conflict.
These days it's incredibly easy to watch almost any classic sitcom you can think of. Sometimes you may find reruns on TV. Many shows are available on DVD as well and with a good internet connection, you also have the option of simply streaming the episodes you want to see.
The humor in a sitcom normally comes from the situations in which the characters find themselves. This is why the genre is more formally known as the situation comedy. One of the great American classics in the genre was 'I Love Lucy' in the Fifties, while lines from the British 'Fawlty Towers' from the Seventies are still quoted even by people who've never seen this hilarious show.
The family has often been a major theme for sitcoms. Many shows have focused on traditional family values, especially during the Reagan era. These included 'The Cosby Show' and 'Family Ties' and most of these shows featured the ideal of a family consisting of a father, mother and children.
Some shows provided a different perspective on the idea of a family. They would feature non-traditional families, such as single-parent households. 'Kate and Allie' was about two single moms, for instance, while 'Full House' involved a widower who raised his daughters with the help of a male friend and a brother-in-law. Other shows focused on familial relationships between adults, such as the brothers and father Crane in 'Frasier'.
As young people move to cities like New York, they leave behind their families and need to find a new support system that they can count on. The urban family that is made up of unmarried friends started featuring in shows such as 'Seinfeld' and the trend continued with 'Friends' and later with 'How I Met Your Mother'. 'Will and Grace' broke new ground by making two of its main characters openly gay.
Back in the Seventies, the British had a show called 'Mind Your Language'. It was about a hapless teacher trying to teach English to a class full of recent immigrants from countries as far afield as India, Pakistan, China and Spain. It helped expose audiences to different cultures and to be more understanding of immigrants. The USA has had some wonderful shows for creating cultural tolerance too, such as 'Aliens in America' with its Pakistani Muslim main character, which was aired when the fear of Islam was widespread.
A long-running sitcom of the Eighties had as its setting one of the most horrific situations possible. 'MASH' was set during the Korean War, specifically in an army field hospital. Heart-wrenching scenes of death and destruction were placed in between scenes of the wildest, funniest antics. Interestingly, this was very realistic, since humor was a way for medical personnel during that war, and in most others, to handle the daily horrors of armed conflict.
These days it's incredibly easy to watch almost any classic sitcom you can think of. Sometimes you may find reruns on TV. Many shows are available on DVD as well and with a good internet connection, you also have the option of simply streaming the episodes you want to see.
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