A sitcom, short for "situation comedy", is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms usually have the same characters in the same places (for example; a home, a workplace, a bar, a city or town) on every episode.
The sitcom format was born on January 12, 1926 with the initial broadcast of Sam 'n' Henry on WGN radio in Chicago, Illinois. The ten-minute program starred Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll as Sam Smith and Henry Johnson, two African-Americans from Birmingham who moved north to Chicago to seek their fortune. The final episode of Sam 'n' Henry aired on July 14, 1928, after which Gosden and Correll reworked the premise on a more ambitious scale to create their long-running radio show Amos 'n' Andy.
Pinwright's Progress was a British sitcom that aired on the BBC Television Service from 1946 to 1947 and was the world's first regular half-hour televised sitcom. It was about the adventures of J. Pinwright, the proprietor of the smallest multiple store in the world. The first of the ten episodes, which aired fortnightly in alternation with the light entertainment show Kaleidoscope, was broadcast live from the BBC studios at Alexandra Palace on November 29, 1946.
Mary Kay and Johnny was the first sitcom broadcast on a network television in the United States. The first 15-minute episode debuted on the DuMont Television Network on Tuesday, November 18, 1947. After a year on DuMont, the show moved to CBS for half a year, then ran for another year each Saturday night on NBC. It broadcast the final episode on March 11, 1950.
The stars, Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns, were married in real life and played themselves. Most of the action took place in the couple’s apartment..
Mary Kay became pregnant in 1948 and after unsuccessfully trying to hide her pregnancy, the producers wrote it into the show. As a result, Mary Kay and Johnny was the first series to show a woman's pregnancy on television.
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz began the television sitcom I Love Lucy in 1951 in the hopes of saving their crumbling marriage. The first episode aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) on October 15, 1951. New episodes were produced for six years.
I Love Lucy still airs every hour of every day somewhere in the world.
Last of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom set in Yorkshire It premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse on January 4, 1973, and the first series of episodes followed on November 12, 1973. The show was set in the fictional village of Holmfirth in Yorkshire, and followed the antics of a group of elderly men who got up to all sorts of mischief. Last of the Summer Wine ran for 37 years and 31 series, making it the longest-running sitcom in the world.
The sitcom format was born on January 12, 1926 with the initial broadcast of Sam 'n' Henry on WGN radio in Chicago, Illinois. The ten-minute program starred Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll as Sam Smith and Henry Johnson, two African-Americans from Birmingham who moved north to Chicago to seek their fortune. The final episode of Sam 'n' Henry aired on July 14, 1928, after which Gosden and Correll reworked the premise on a more ambitious scale to create their long-running radio show Amos 'n' Andy.
Pinwright's Progress was a British sitcom that aired on the BBC Television Service from 1946 to 1947 and was the world's first regular half-hour televised sitcom. It was about the adventures of J. Pinwright, the proprietor of the smallest multiple store in the world. The first of the ten episodes, which aired fortnightly in alternation with the light entertainment show Kaleidoscope, was broadcast live from the BBC studios at Alexandra Palace on November 29, 1946.
Mary Kay and Johnny was the first sitcom broadcast on a network television in the United States. The first 15-minute episode debuted on the DuMont Television Network on Tuesday, November 18, 1947. After a year on DuMont, the show moved to CBS for half a year, then ran for another year each Saturday night on NBC. It broadcast the final episode on March 11, 1950.
The stars, Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns, were married in real life and played themselves. Most of the action took place in the couple’s apartment..
Mary Kay became pregnant in 1948 and after unsuccessfully trying to hide her pregnancy, the producers wrote it into the show. As a result, Mary Kay and Johnny was the first series to show a woman's pregnancy on television.
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz began the television sitcom I Love Lucy in 1951 in the hopes of saving their crumbling marriage. The first episode aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) on October 15, 1951. New episodes were produced for six years.
I Love Lucy still airs every hour of every day somewhere in the world.
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| Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley Wikipedia |
Last of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom set in Yorkshire It premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse on January 4, 1973, and the first series of episodes followed on November 12, 1973. The show was set in the fictional village of Holmfirth in Yorkshire, and followed the antics of a group of elderly men who got up to all sorts of mischief. Last of the Summer Wine ran for 37 years and 31 series, making it the longest-running sitcom in the world.
Tom Hanks got his first big break starring in the TV sitcom Bosom Buddies. It aired for two seasons on ABC from November 27, 1980, to March 27, 1982, and although the ratings were never strong, television critics gave the program high marks.
Cartoonist Matt Groening's dysfunctional family sitcom The Simpsons started life as short gags on The Tracy Ullman Show beginning on April 19, 1987. In 1989, a team of production companies adapted The Simpsons into a half-hour prime time entertainment series for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The Simpsons is now the longest-running US sitcom.
Singer Brandy Norwood's first role in the entertainment business was playing schoolgirl Denesha on the short-lived ABC sitcom Thea between 1993-94. Thea was the first television show to be named after and star a black female comedienne.
Singer Brandy Norwood's first role in the entertainment business was playing schoolgirl Denesha on the short-lived ABC sitcom Thea between 1993-94. Thea was the first television show to be named after and star a black female comedienne.
Although Friends ended in 2004, the show still brings $1 billion for Warner Bros. every year in royalties. This means each of the six main cast member get $20 million every year doing absolutely nothing.
The Golden Girls, All in the Family and Will and Grace are the only three sitcoms where every performer in the main cast has won at least one Emmy.
Most canned laughter that you hear on TV today, was recorded in the 1950s.
Married With Children never had canned laughter. They used only original laughter, applause, shouts etc. that came from the viewers while the series was filmed in front of them. Sometimes the audience had to be shut down for the show to continue.
The word "Sitcom,” meaning situation comedy, first appeared in 1964.
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