The title I wanted to use would have gotten me banned. Go ahead and add an H in the title 
Why would a politically oriented site even bother with looking at sitcoms, I hear you asking. Hey - voices, shut up and pay attention. Sitcoms tell the world you live in better than documentaries, being social science writ large. Each one takes the fears and expectations of the time and imprints it on your screen. I have a loose definition of sitcoms, but these all made me laugh. And think. They are presented in loose chronological order - a polite way of saying I can't be bothered to find the airing dates.
All in the FamilyDad is a bigot. Mom is a mouse. The son in law is a useless hippy. The daughter is pretty smart and together. The odd thing about this is not the time capsule of casual racism and implied domestic violence. The Honeymooners had all that and more. It's the first totally honest look at the generation gap that was widespread on TV and played for laughs. Of course, it was stolen from the UK, since the UK had the concept of quality programming.
The 60's were a damned uncomfortable time to be a parent. The values of the late 40s and 50s were gone and being replaced by - well, what? Nothing that someone who'd gone through the war would recognize. It was also as real as it could be made. The first ever sound of a toilet flushing was on All in the Family. That has to count for something.
M.A.S.H.War bad. Helping people good.Though set in Korea, it was a satire on Vietnam and American triumphalism, as opposed to American exceptionalism. Superbly written (apart from the final two seasons, which got preachy) and incredibly well acted, it introduced the viewer ever so gently to the idea that "sometimes the good guys lose." That was unheard of on TV at the time.
War sitcoms there had been before - Hogans Heroes, for example - but every episode wound up in victory in those cases. MASH was the first one to admit that sometimes your best is just not good enough, and the first one to treat the military, not as legendary heroes, but as normal human beings with their own concerns, both personal and petty.
The Young Ones4 scruffy university students sharing a run down house with a sleazy landlord.Unless you are an Anglophile or have one heck of a Netflix subscription, you've probably never seen this. And you should remedy that omission immediately. It's a primer to the slacker generation and a perfect summary of how that generation's demographic broke down. You had the laid back hippy, the up tight socialist, the punk anarchist, and the "in it for me" guy, all in a home so filthy that the housewives in the 1950s sitcoms would scream at.
BaywatchSlow motion jiggling boobs are awesome.No comment. I could make some witty observation that it's a) not a sitcom, and b) is an accurate reflection of the increasing trend in personal narcissism - but why bother. You are too busy thinking about the slow motion jiggling to bother to read. It wasn't affectionately referred to as Boobwatch for no reason.
Baywatch nights, or David Hasselhoff's chest hair are never to be mentioned, lest the 7th seal be broken. And those of you who ferociously claim that it is not, in fact, a sitcom? Don't watch the story lines. Watch the acting. It's a triumph of appearance over ability. This is the point when the idea of reality TV gelled inside whatever TV producers use for brains.
Friends20 somethings trying to make sense of the world. And setting up the trend for hipsters to sit in Starbucks for hours over one cup of coffee.Never really saw the appeal of Friends. It was harmless enough, just six people sitting around bitching about their lives, loves and emotional states like a bunch of self obsessed, entitled and oblivious urbanites. Irritating in a mild way, but nothing that has you hissing at the screen and throwing bricks or crucifixes. Don't dismiss it. It was prescient about the way the culture has moved towards self absorption and the whole "I want it now" idea.
Sex and the CityI am woman, hear me roar, before I down several glasses of whine and complain to my friends.I'll admit to a fondness of Sex and the City. You can say what you like, but I am incredibly attracted to Kim Caterall, even though I'd last under an hour with her in character. Yet the message it has is deeper, and sort of compliments the message of Friends.
These are liberated women. They got it all - what the feminists wanted. Independence, good jobs, shoes - was that a feminist thing or not? And none of them are happy with it. Even the only one who has a husband, who seems a decent sort, is a neurotic wreck, desperately trying to get pregnant.
Family Guy / Bobs Burgers
Males retarded. Women smart and very annoying with nasal voices. Children evil (the youngest), stupid (the boy) or outcasts (the eldest daughter). Yes, they are both animated, and that is one of the points. Cartoons for adults are not exactly a new idea - think Fantasia - But they have exploded in recent years.
This is such an oddly specific trope that it has to have come from somewhere, but God knows what misbegotten male impregnated the cast of Sex and the City with this. (It was Joey, wasn't it. It must have been Joey. He's the only one who could cope with Whiny Stressed Out One and Horseface without performance anxiety.)
It's the infantile that appeals. Pop culture references, adult themes, presented in primary colors. Hey, Obamacare declares you are a child until you are 26, so why bother growing up?
Game of ThronesNot watched it. Apparently pretty much everyone screws each other and dies.So yeah, yet another day inside the Beltway. I hear it is funny though.
