History of the Sitcom


History of the Sitcom is an eight-part CNN documentary television series that traces the development of the American situation comedy show from the 1950s to the 21st Century. The show features 184 interviews with creatives, actors and directors including Norman Lear, Mel Brooks, Yvette Lee Bowser, Marta Kauffman, and Carl Reiner. The series follows a similar format of the CNN Original Series The History of Comedy.
The series takes an expansive view of what can be considered a sitcom; it includes traditional programs shot with multiple cameras in front of a live audience like I Love Lucy as well as modern single camera programs like Fleabag. The decision about which programs to include, according to series producer Bill Carter, came down to: "If the overarching purpose of the show is to make you laugh, it can be considered a sitcom. And in almost all cases, the shows are half-hours rather than hours."

Production

"The series uses the same team — executive producer John Ealer and former New York Times media writer Bill Carter — that recently created CNN's six-part The Story of Late Night.
They first had to first decide how to define a sitcom, which originally was three cameras on a soundstage before a live studio audience and a laugh track. But in recent years, comedies such as The Office and Modern Family dispensed with the laugh track and audience. "We created a sniff test," Ealer said. "Does it feel like a sitcom? Insecure is not the same as The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Yet they both represent how comedy opened up the viewpoints of Americans in profoundly funny ways." Carter noted that M*A*S*H was considered a groundbreaking comedy despite heavy doses of drama. "If you started to eliminate shows because they had a lot of drama, you'd get rid of a lot of great comedy," he said.
History of the Sitcom began production just before the pandemic and used the rest of the year to interview a whopping 184 people for the series, including some of the biggest living luminaries of the sitcom world, from Ted Danson to Tina Fey. Ealer said they strategically began lining up interviews of the older luminaries first and fortunately did so right before the pandemic."
Before each episode, there is a 10-second intro to the show that mimics the title cards of famous sitcoms including I Love Lucy, Bewitched, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Home Improvement, Happy Days, Living Single, M*A*S*H, Seinfeld, Gilligan's Island, Fresh Off the Boat, Cheers, Frasier, Black-ish. Friends, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Simpsons, Arrested Development and ends with the show name inside a box TV. The beat of the intro is similar to Seinfeld's and has a sitcom laugh track at the end.

List of sitcoms represented

Each episode section below lists the film clips from the decade that are featured in that episode. The list below will order the sitcoms in the chronology order in which they appear in the show and only have shows that are credited on the right/left corner once they are introduced. If a series appears many times in the same episodes, it will be listed on the time it is mainly mentioned.

Episode 1: A Family Matter

Arrested Development Frasier I Love Lucy The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet Father Knows Best Leave It to Beaver Better Things My Three Sons The Brady Bunch The Partridge Family And Justice For All (Pilot) Those Were The Days (Pilot) Petticoat Junction The Beverly Hillbillies Green Acres All In The Family Maude Good Times One Day at a Time Family Ties The Cosby Show Married... with Children Roseanne Home Improvement Mad About You Everybody Loves Raymond The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Martin The Bernie Mac Show Everybody Hates Chris Modern Family Fresh Off the Boat Black-ish

Episode 2: Sex & The Sitcom

The Donna Reed Show I Love Lucy I Dream of Jeannie That Girl The Mary Tyler Moore Show Maude Schitt's Creek Bewitched The Beverly Hillbillies All In The Family The Jeffersons Soap Transparent Bosom Buddies Three's Company Too Close For Comfort The Facts of Life The Golden Girls Seinfeld Ellen Will & Grace Modern Family Master of None Black-ish Better Things Sex and the City Girlfriends Girls Insecure

Episode 3: Just Friends

The Odd Couple Welcome Back, Kotter Happy Days Laverne & Shirley What's Happening!! The Facts of Life Cheers The Golden Girls Seinfeld Living Single Friends Curb Your Enthusiasm How I Met Your Mother Community

Episode 4: Working for Laughs

I Love Lucy The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet The Dick Van Dyke Show Your Show of Shows My Three Sons The Andy Griffith Show The Mary Tyler Moore Show The Bob Newhart Show M*A*S*H Barney Miller Taxi WKRP In Cincinnati Who's the Boss? Family Ties Kate & Allie Designing Women Murphy Brown The Larry Sanders Show Scrubs The Office (UK) The Office 30 Rock Parks and Recreation Brooklyn 99 Veep Mr. Mayor Ted Lasso

Episode 5: Facing Race

All In The Family Sanford and Son Good Times The Jeffersons Beulah Amos 'n' Andy The Golden Girls 30 Rock Father Knows Best The Courtship of Eddie's Father Julia Chico and the Man I Love Lucy Diff'rent Strokes The Cosby Show A Different World The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Martin All-American Girl Fresh Off the Boat Sister, Sister Moesha The Bernie Mac Show Everybody Hates Chris King of the Hill George Lopez House of Payne Black-ish #blackAF Insecure Atlanta Ramy Never Have I Ever

Episode 6: Movin' On Up

Seinfeld Atlanta The Honeymooners Father Knows Best The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet The Andy Griffith Show The Beverly Hillbillies Green Acres Petticoat Junction All In The Family Good Times The Jeffersons The Mary Tyler Moore Show Alice Family Ties The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Roseanne Frasier Arrested Development Malcolm in the Middle 30 Rock Everybody Hates Chris Last Man Standing It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia The Conners One Day at a Time The Upshaws The Last O.G.
  • ''Schitt's Creek''

Episode 7: Freaks, Geeks & Outsiders

Mork & Mindy ALF My Favorite Martian Happy Days 3rd Rock from the Sun Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt The Munsters Leave It to Beaver The Addams Family Bewitched I Dream of Jeannie Sabrina the Teenage Witch Bob Hearts Abishola Never Have I Ever Life with Luigi Mama The Goldbergs Taxi Perfect Strangers Freaks and Geeks Blossom Saved by the Bell The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Silicon Valley Family Matters

Episode 8: Escaping Reality

The Flintstones Mister Ed My Mother the Car The Flying Nun Gilligan's Island Get Smart Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Hogan's Heroes The Love Boat Happy Days Mork & Mindy Three's Company Eight Is Enough Night Court The Bob Newhart Show Newhart Full House The Simpsons Family Guy American Dad! King of the Hill South Park The Boondocks Dinosaurs Bojack Horseman