Ever since Mary Kay and Johnny premiered on U.S. TV screens in 1947, the sitcom genre has always strived to make us laugh while also solving complex, social issues. Some shows have objectively failed at this, but there are plenty of other shows that have done a decent job of solving crises in a hilarious way in under a half-an-hour.
Then, there are the sitcoms that completely rewrote the rules on how these shows are structured. These sitcoms have challenged us to look outside the box, and pushed the ways these stories are traditionally told; and, along the way, have changed the genre in ways that would be unrecognizable if these shows hadn’t premiered at the time they did. So, we’re going to look at the most influential sitcoms that redefined television and changed the way we looked at the genre, and society as a whole.
1
‘The Office’ (2005–2013)
The mockumentary subgenre is a perfect way to showcase situational comedies. It lends the series a sort of “real world” factor that isn’t always present in most scripted sitcoms. While NBC’s The Office wasn’t the first sitcom to be filmed this way, it was the show that set the standard for what mockumentaries could do, and how to craft hilarious storylines that will both make the audience laugh, and make it feel real.
NBC’s The Office is actually the American version of the British sitcom that employed the same format, but while that show only lasted a season, NBC’s version became quite legendary and influential in that it created characters that were both surreal and felt like real people in our own workplaces. Creator Greg Daniels really captured the office culture, and how we see that culture on a daily basis, which is why making The Office a mockumentary was such a great choice of style for this sitcom. Without the success of The Office, shows like Modern Family and Parks and Recreation wouldn’t have had the room to thrive.
2
‘The Golden Girls’ (1985–1992)
Before the mid-’80s, sitcoms often depicted aging characters in a tight, narrow archetype, usually as the “grumpy old man” or the perfect grandparents that often offered words of wisdom to their younger family members. Then, The Golden Girls premiered in 1985, and changed the way we looked at aging forever.
Created by Susan Harris, the series followed four older women who shared a home in Miami, and the way they portrayed these women was really influential. They weren’t perfect, and they weren’t grumpy; they were romantically active and had to navigate social issues that we normally associated with younger characters, such as dealing with addictions and political issues, and they did so in a hilarious way that made audiences laugh from week-to-week. Thanks to The Golden Girls, sitcom writers have written older characters in a more nuanced way, instead of relying on old stereotypes.
3
‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ (1990–1996)
Laughs from a sitcom are often derived from a problem or situation that is light enough that it can be solved in under 30 minutes. However, there were a handful of episodes that tossed the laugh track aside to tackle more serious social issues. But when The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air premiered in 1990, it showed the sitcom world that it didn’t need to sacrifice comedy for the sake of tackling complex social issues.
The show revolved around a fictional version of Will Smith‘s life, as he’s sent to Bel-Air by his mother to keep him from getting into trouble in his hometown of Philadelphia. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air didn’t hesitate in addressing social topics, especially when it came to race, often giving viewers a raw lesson on racism while not sacrificing comedy. It changed the way sitcom writers wrote serious episodes, now knowing that comedy didn’t have to take a backseat to teaching the audience a life lesson.
4
‘I Love Lucy’ (1951–1957)
Widely considered one of the most influential sitcoms of all-time, I Love Lucy truly did change how these shows were produced. Premiering in 1951, the CBS sitcom starred Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and follows Lucy Ricardo (Ball) as she concocts numerous schemes in order to be part of show business. Sitcoms were relatively new by the time I Love Lucy premiered, but it introduced numerous production techniques that are still employed to this very day.
For starters, I Love Lucy was the first sitcom shot on the three-camera system, with three TV cameras filming simultaneously that captured multiple angles of the show in front of a live audience. Also, the series was filmed in 35mm film, which was higher in quality and allowed the show to be re-aired in later showings, pioneering the syndication model. But, perhaps its greatest influence was cultural. Lucy and Ricky were the first interracial married couple to be shown in prime time (Arnaz was a Cuban-American), showing that you didn’t need to marry “within your race” in order to find true love.
5
‘Seinfeld’ (1989–1998)
In the late 1980s, Larry David looked at the sitcom formula that had rarely strayed away from in the past decade and decided to dramatically change things. Before he co-created Seinfeld, the sitcom landscape was dominated by the “lesson of the week” trope that aimed to teach the characters a lesson that would allow them to grow and mature as the series went along.
Seinfeld did the exact opposite. David had a rule of “No Hugging, No Learning,” keeping the characters from Seinfeld from progressing and maturing. This would be taken to the extreme by another influential sitcom (which we will discuss later), but Seinfeld was the show that introduced keeping its characters in a state of arrested development. Not only that, but Seinfeld also introduced intertwining plotlines into the sitcom format. While it was technically a “show about nothing,” each episode’s plotline was actually quite complex, with each arc seeming unrelated until coming together in an often chaotic finale. Today, sitcoms often involve intertwining plots, and we all have Seinfeld to thank for it.
6
‘The Simpsons’ (1989–Present)
An animated series in primetime wasn’t anything groundbreaking. When The Simpsons premiered on the newbie Fox network in 1989, it was groundbreaking in the sense that it was the first animated sitcom that was largely geared toward adults. Yes, the show was centered around the typical sitcom family; but this wasn’t your normal, family-friendly affair that always had a wholesome reconciliation and learned a lesson after each episode.
The comedic tone of The Simpsons was satirical, with episodes themed around mocking social fads and, in turn, becoming the barometer for societal change. All of this is born out of the anti-authority tone that was prevalent throughout its entire run, which, especially in its early years, was viewed as having a negative influence on the sitcom genre. But, it’s since come to be greatly appreciated, and it paved the way for similar adult animated shows such as South Park and Family Guy to continue pushing the envelope of what a sitcom can be.
7
‘Will & Grace’ (1998–2020)
I’m going to interject some first-person thinking here for a second. As part of the LGBTQ+ community, I’ve always been disappointed by how our community is depicted in movies and television. While it’s gotten a little bit better over the years, we’re still not where we should be with regard to LGBTQ+ stories being told authentically and honestly. Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, let’s talk a bit about the show that changed the way we looked at the LGBTQ+ community, Will & Grace.
Before premiering in 1998, LGBTQ+ representation was few and far between, and what was shown usually relied on the stereotypical queer person. That all changed with Will & Grace. While the show did have some of the LGBTQ+ stereotypes that didn’t represent the community as a whole, the show, nevertheless, should be praised for bringing queer issues into primetime television. This led to a better understanding of the community with viewers who may have held conservative views about the community, and showed that queer storylines didn’t need to depend on outdated stereotypes.
8
‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ (2005–Present)
As aforementioned, Seinfeld changed the way we looked at how sitcom characters are written and structured. Instead of having semi-flawed characters who often learned their lesson at the end of each episode, Seinfeld employed the philosophy of “No Hugging, No Learning,” in which their characters never learned their lesson because of their questionable behavior. Seven years after that sitcom ended, FX premiered It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which took the “No Hugging, No Learning” philosophy to the extreme.
Not only were its characters morally questionable, they were outright irredeemable. In fact, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is seen as the quintessential “anti-sitcom,” which takes the traditional sitcom tropes and turns them on its head. This show always pushes the boundaries with its relentless and hilarious dark humor, which paved the way for shows such as Eastbound and Down to have success.
9
‘All in the Family’ (1971–1979)
In today’s television landscape, you’d be hard-pressed to find a protagonist who would proudly be called a “lovable bigot;” but the landscape was a bit different in 1971, and creator Norman Lear used Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor) to speak on complex social issues in the iconic CBS sitcom All in the Family. Before the show premiered, the sitcom landscape was heavily sanitized, normally focusing on wholesome families that shied away from social commentary.
That all changed when the Bunkers hit the screen. Known as a “cultural petri dish,” All in the Family forced its viewers to confront a society that was in massive upheaval, and with topics often and openly addressing such issues as abortion, antisemitism, and racism in a blunt and uncomfortable, honest way. All in the Family put the “situational” in sitcoms, and changed the genre forever by showing that a sitcom could have a frank discussion about social issues.
10
‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ (1970–1977)
At the start of the 1970s, a second wave of the feminism movement was ramping up, and on television, Mary Tyler Moore became the face of what an independent woman looked like. Premiering in 1970, The Mary Tyler Moore Show was groundbreaking not just in sitcoms, but in television as a whole. Before the show premiered, women were portrayed as being defined by their spouse or family.
But The Mary Tyler Moore Show went a different direction, showing Mary Richards (Moore) as a single woman who was defined by her career. The show dealt with issues such as workplace equality, and had storylines revolving around her sex life, which was practically taboo on television before 1970. The Mary Tyler Moore Show was influential in showing that women didn’t need a husband or a family to be happy in life, leaving an influential legacy that modern shows such as Sex and the City and Murphy Brown would further expand on.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
- Release Date
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1970 – 1977-00-00
- Showrunner
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James L. Brooks, Allan Burns
- Directors
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Jay Sandrich, Peter Baldwin, Alan Rafkin, James Burrows, Jerry Belson, Jerry Paris, Joan Darling, Nancy Walker, George Tyne, Herbert Kenwith, Jackie Cooper, Mary Tyler Moore, Mel Ferber, Peter Bonerz, Stuart Margolin, Bruce Bilson
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Mary Tyler Moore
Mary Richards
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