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The situation comedy seems to have originated in the United States, but today they are produced around the globe. Many countries, such as Britain, have embraced the form and so sitcoms have become among the most popular programmes on the schedule.
The situation comedy format originated on radio in the 1920s. The first situation comedy is often said to be Sam and Henry which debuted on the Chicago clear-channel station WGN in 1926, and was partially inspired by the notion of bringing the mix of humor and continuity found in comic strips to the young medium of radio. The first network situation comedy was Amos & Andy which debuted on CBS in 1928Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s Years: 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 See also 1928 in aviation 1928 in film 1928 in literature 1928 in mu, and was one of the most popular sitcoms through the 1930sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s Years: 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 Events and trends Technology Jet engine invented Link Trainer invented Sc.
Situation comedies have been a part of the landscape of broadcast television since its early days. The first was probably Mary Kay and JohnnyMary Kay and Johnny was probably the first situation comedy broadcast on television. It debuted on the DuMont Television Network in the USA on Tuesday, November 18, 1947. The fifteen minute long weekly sitcom starred Mary Kay Stearns and Johnny Stearns, w, a fifteen minute sitcom which debuted on the DuMont Television NetworkThe DuMont Television Network was the first licensed American television network, beginning operation in 1946 and predating CBS, NBC, and ABC as networks. It owned and operated three television stations, WABD (named for Allen B. DuMont) in New York City, in November of 1947Events January January 1 British mines nationalized January 1 Nigeria gains limited autonomy January 1 The Canadian Citizenship Act went into effect January 3 Proceedings of the United States Congress are televised for the first time. January 10 United Na.
This type of entertainment seemed to originate in the United States, which continues to be a leading producer of the genre, but soon spread to other nations.
Traditionally, situation comedies were largely self-contained, in that the characters themselves remained largely static and events in the sitcom resolved themselves by the conclusion of the show. One example of this is the animated situation comedy The SimpsonsHomer, Marge, Maggie, Santa's Little Helper, Bart, Snowball II, and Lisa. The Simpsons is the longest-running animated television series and sitcom series in U. television history, with 16 seasons and 338 episodes since its debut on December 17, 1989., where the characteristics of animation has rendered the characters unchanging in appearance forever -- although the characters in the show have sometimes made knowing references to this (the writers have made reference to that by calling The Simpsons a "frozen-in-time" show).
Other sitcoms, though, use greater or lesser elements of ongoing storylines: FriendsThis article is about the television show; Friends can also refer to Quakers or, more esoterically, a brand name of a spring loaded camming device. Friends was a long-running American television situation comedy centered on lives of six twenty-somethings, a hugely popular US sitcom of the 1990sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s 2040s Years: Events and trends Computers, technology Explosive growth of the Internet; decrease in the cost of computers and other techn, contains soap opera elements such as regularly resorting to an end-of-season cliffhanger, and has gradually developed the relationships of the characters. Other sitcoms have veered into social commentary. Examples of these are sitcoms by Norman Lear including All in the Family and Maude in the US, and the controversial Till Death Us Do Part in Britain.
A common aspect of family sitcoms is that at some point in their run they introduce an addition to the family in the form of a new baby. One exception to this are the several sitcoms starring Bob Newhart, who insisted that his sitcoms not have babies or children. However while babies are cute and give adult characters opportunities to act silly, toddlers are of little use in comedy as besides the difficulties of the "terrible twos" they basically can only look cute and say a few words - thus most sitcom kids are aged to four or five within two years of their birth - for example "Andrew Keaton" on Family Ties and "Chrissy Seaver" on Growing Pains. Cases of sticking with the same child such as Erin Murphy 's "Tabitha Stephens" on Bewitched or The Olsen twins' "Michelle Tanner" on Full House are the exception to the rule.
Most contemporary situation comedies are filmed with a multicamera setup in front of a live studio audience, then edited and broadcast days or weeks later. This practice has not always been universal, however, especially prior to the 1970s when it became more common. Some comedies, such as M*A*S*H, were not filmed before an audience. (In the case of M*A*S*H, the use of multiple sets and location filming would have made this impractical.)