From "I Love Lucy" to "All in the Family" to Seinfeld" to "Ellen", sitcoms have been groundbreaking. Now we're living in 2004 (almost 2005). What's next for a sitcom to be groundbreaking? We've come so far - How much further do we need to go?

Alot. the current moral climate of the country is turning back the clock in alot of ways. Could you see All In The Family being on the air today? Even the last season of Ellen seems too radical for the airwaves right now. Hopefully, the tide will turn on this and sitcoms will once again become a medium for social change- it certainly isn't happening with anything that's on the air right now.

I think it would be really groundbreaking if a sitcom took place at a church. It wouldn't be any of that hellfire and brimestone preaching stuff, just a sitcom set in a church. The church secretary could be Jewish, too!

Since gay marriage is in the news so much it would be interesting to see how much controversy a show about a gay couple with an adopted child would be like. It would be like a gay "I Love Lucy."

Originally posted by Petrie Malone
I think it would be really groundbreaking if a sitcom took place at a church. It wouldn't be any of that hellfire and brimestone preaching stuff, just a sitcom set in a church. The church secretary could be Jewish, too!

I work in a church, and have thought of that idea for a long time. It could work too, lets of crazy **** goes down at churches.

Originally posted by barwars
I work in a church, and have thought of that idea for a long time. It could work too, lets of crazy **** goes down at churches.

I like the way you think barwars... great minds think alike!

Originally posted by Petrie Malone
I think it would be really groundbreaking if a sitcom took place at a church. It wouldn't be any of that hellfire and brimestone preaching stuff, just a sitcom set in a church. The church secretary could be Jewish, too!


"Amen." It ran from 1986-1991 and was very popular...

"Good News"
UPN
Aug '97 - Aug '98

I'm working on church sitcom. I think we need to rebreak the ground and have shows like All in the Family, Maude and the Jeffersons with real issues. Whoopi was groundbreaking, but it may have been too real for some.

The "Church sitcom" has already been done. AMEN in the late 80's dealt with the Church, the staff, the minister, etc. 90% of every episode took place in the church. Heck, even the opening theme song was sung by a gospel choir which showed the minister walking from his car to inside the church. I don't think there would be anything new to add in a church sitcom today. Don't you guys remember this show? It was really funny.

The trouble with groundbreaking new things on a TV show is that sometimes it can get too controversial, people throw a hissy fit and the show will be cancelled in no time.

I don't think there is too much more ground to break in the TV world except for gay issues (marriage, benifts, adoption/children, love stories, etc). But America is still in a very close minded place when it comes to these topics. "Ellen" took a nose dive when the character came out. All recent sitcoms that involved gay lead rolls (Normal Ohio, Odd Couple for example) never made it past 7 episodes or so. Will & Grace is the only sitcom that has ever made it, but that show focuses more on the friendship between Will and Grace and not too many gay issues. (Any affection between gay characters has to be talked about, not seen). If Will had been in a serious relationship in season 1, the show probably never would have made it past it's first season.

I'd like to see some real issues talcked on an actually good and funny sitcom...not the campy goofy sitcoms like My Wife & Kids, Hope & Faith, Two And A Half Men...etc...

With regard to the church sitcom, it has been done, but what about a sitcom about conservatively religious people that isn't set in a church and where the people aren't portrayed as being crooks, crazy or creeps, but normal people who are funny and have funny situations. Especially younger people like college age or twentysomethings. If done the right way this type of show could be very successful.

I would be very hesistant about Hollywood doing a show about religiously conservative people because as far as I can tell Hollywood has a snide attitude towards these types of people and tends to portray them in an undignified manner. Recently, I saw a sitcom produced and aired in Toronto about a church called Lord Have Mercy. It was produced last year (13 episodes). It was very, very funny to me and to me the humor was more sociological (generation gap issues, immigration issues etc) than merely showing the church people in a bad light. But I think Hollywood would just mess up a show like this.

I don't know if there is a whole lot of new ground to be brokern per se, or even that America is becoming more conservative as such. I live in NYC and New Yorkers are not really morally conservative with regards to sexuality, religion etc. (at least not the people who are setting policies in place and a lot of the people that I come in contact with). What is happening is that a lot of people are fearful of terrorism , the economy, nuclear weapons, war and other political stuff, but they're not running scared from gays or lesbians or independent women or single parents or people with disabilities.

I would say that a good show has to be entertaining, bottom line and have some sort of unique vision. I don't think it needs to be envelope pushing per se.

Another issue that bogs US shows down in mediocrity is that they are made for commercial consumption, so the bottom line is don't offend the consumers and place things into the shows to get the consumers to buy more products. Even cable is affected by this to an extent. PBS should start producing sitcoms. The Britcoms that run on PBS are a lot richer in quality than a lot of the American shows because they are not made to pander to an American corporate assumptions about what the consumer wants to see and buy into.

A really groundbreaking sitcom would be one about a corporate exec who bucks the trend and begins promoting socialist ideologies instead of captialism and then gets persecuted for it, like maybe a sitcom version of the 1976 Oscar winner Network, but let's be for real, if you've seen that movie you know that is the last type of show that would ever be produced in the USA now.

Originally posted by Caffeine King
I'd like to see some real issues talcked on an actually good and funny sitcom...not the campy goofy sitcoms like My Wife & Kids, Hope & Faith, Two And A Half Men...etc...

"Roseanne" did a good job of tweaking the traditional "family" sitcoms format. They tackled some issues that had never been addressed, and they showed that not all problems can be solved in thirty minutes.

"Arrestred Developmant" certainly has redefined the sticom family.

Writers and the creative TV folk need to try new things with the traditional genres.

I agree.

Rosseanne was probably the last sitcom that actually tackled real issues and was still funny and realistic (well until the episodes when they won the lottery.)

I read at the futon critic that ABC had a pilot it's name was something Light and it's about a fireman who survived 9/11 and his mother has alheizmers (sp?)

At least that's what I remember reading.

I'd love to see that get greenlighted. :)

Anybody have any news on it? :confused: or have any idea what I'm talking about?

Originally posted by Caffeine King


I read at the futon critic that ABC had a pilot it's name was something Light and it's about a fireman who survived 9/11 and his mother has alheizmers (sp?)

At least that's what I remember reading.



I think "Rescue Me" on FX beat them to it.

Probably the next ground to be broken on TV is post 9/11 life.

We'll probably see more shows about people dealing with the aftermath.

According to the description it's a sitcom, not an hour long drama thing.

Now that I think of it I think it was called Long Island Sound or Long Island Light because I remember it saying that the family lives on Long Island, NY.

I'm not getting political, but a good idea for a sitcom could be a married couple, a liberal and a conservative. Sort of loosely based on Mary Martlin and James Carville. They could have politically related professions, even one working in the White House.

Opposing political views worked well with Archie and Mike on All In The Family. With today's hot political climate, it might sell. Their families could be worked in to make for some interesting get togethers.

The thing about "Ellen" is that it wasn't originally "Grondbreaking". It followed in "Seinfeld's" footsteps. It wasn't until the last few episodes of season 4, when Ellen came out, that the series became groundbreaking.

As opposed to a show like "All in the Family", which was groundbreaking from day 1.

there needs to be show about a gay family raising their adopted kids. that's kind of a controversial, ground-breaking topic. i have yet to seen anything of this sort on television.

There's a recurring gay couple on Will & Grace with an adopted daughter. Not that they have a show of their own, but there's at least evidence of that on tv.

I'd like to see a show about a family raising a child with a learning disability. Not a severe disability that is visable but a hidden disability like ADD or Dyslexia, something that affects the family in everyway but no one ever acknowledges. Its an important relevent topic that NEEDS to be discussed.

I also like the idea of a show about a gay couple raising adopted kids. it needs to be intellegentlly and soon.

On the Cosby Show, Theo had a learning disability although we didn't find out that he had it until the 5th of 6th season.

Originally posted by dynoguy88
On the Cosby Show, Theo had a learning disability although we didn't find out that he had it until the 5th of 6th season.


I'm fully aware of this. but its still a topic that needs to be discussed more openly and up-front. its an important topic that people today seem to overlook.

It'd be awesome if there was one about a deaf family...see how they live day to day life...It could be a sitcom too, which could lead to some interesting episodes. :)

How about an asian family sitcom? Let's see how they live day to day and how they live life. I think america is ready for that.

Originally posted by jamesanthony

I would be very hesistant about Hollywood doing a show about religiously conservative people because as far as I can tell Hollywood has a snide attitude towards these types of people and tends to portray them in an undignified manner.
Exactly. Where do you think alot of people's ideas about Conservatives come from; the idiot box.




How about a sitcom that is actually funny?! That would be groundbreaking nowadays.

Originally posted by Sterling Holobyte

How about a sitcom that is actually funny?! That would be groundbreaking nowadays.

I'll make a call to this saint I know. He might have a miracle or two he's not using.

;)

Originally posted by Sterling Holobyte
Exactly. Where do you think alot of people's ideas about Conservatives come from; the idiot box.


Or perhaps from witnesseing the idiot that is our president make bad choices based on morals that he really doesn't possess.

Originally posted by factsoflife
Or perhaps from witnesseing the idiot that is our president make bad choices based on morals that he really doesn't possess.
I'm not touching this statement with a ten-foot pole.

Not that I have anything against Polish people who are ten feet tall. ;) It's just that it is bound to turn into a vicious political argument from people too conditioned by the idiot box to form their own opinions. Exactly what I was talking about in my other post, thank you!

Originally posted by Sterling Holobyte
I'm not touching this statement with a ten-foot pole.

Not that I have anything against Polish people who are ten feet tall. ;) It's just that it is bound to turn into a vicious political argument from people too conditioned by the idiot box to form their own opinions. Exactly what I was talking about in my other post, thank you!


Sorry i think that my post was a little inapropriate. i apologize if i offended anyone.

Originally posted by factsoflife
Or perhaps from witnesseing the idiot that is our president make bad choices based on morals that he really doesn't possess.

Very well said! Couldn't agree more.

Originally posted by dynoguy88
Very well said! Couldn't agree more.

Thanks. i did mean it, what i didn't mean was to offend anyone, i realized after posting it th at it was probally hurtful to some.

You want groundbreaking, here's a thought: How about a situation comedy that's actually funny? You know, the reason "All In The Family" was such a success was because the producers remembered it was supposed to ENTERTAIN, first...the controversial storylines were springboards on which to lauch the plot, and promote debate on said topics at home. it also helped that AITF had one of the finest casts and behind-the-scenes crews in the history of television. THAT is what made that show, and its spin-offs (and spinoff's of spin-offs) so successful.

There has to be a balance of plot and subject matter with sitcoms. People watch sitcoms to FORGET about the stresses of the day, not to get hammered on the head with it on a constant basis. A show can't be groundbreaking for its own sake; it's got to mean something AND it's got to be entertaining as well, or no one, no matter HOW important the message may be, will want to watch it.

If you come up with a good enough story, and if you have an original way of presenting said story, then it won't matter about the politcal leanings or social implications you include in your narrative, because the core story will have already grabbed your attention...remember, "All In The Family" wasn't just about a loud-mouthed bigot...it was about a loud-mouthed bigot and his liberal children all in the same house!

Now THAT'S funny!! ;)

Not being political, but I also think we need to tackle hardcore political issues on shows instead of having show that are about nothing and too happy go lucky.

Not being political, but I also think we need to tackle hardcore political issues on shows instead of having show that are about nothing and too happy go lucky.


I agree, Dr. Phillips...I just don't think a tv situation comedy is the best forum for that sort of discourse, Norman Lear's various 1970s tv series' notwithstanding. Frankly, there's enough propaganda masquerading as entertainment being shoved down our throats as it is.

If, indeed, you do wish more political discourse, I propose suggesting to the networks that they limit the number of "reality" programs and put on more issue-oriented news programs in prime-time (and I don't mean more news magazines like "Dateline" or "20/20" that traffic in sensationalism...I mean a nightly "Meet The Press" kind of dealie.)...let my entertainment programs BE entertaining!!

Thank you.

I agree, Dr. Phillips...I just don't think a tv situation comedy is the best forum for that sort of discourse, Norman Lear's various 1970s tv series' notwithstanding.

IMO, the networks really don't want to do that kind of programming anymore, because they don't want the show to appear "dated."
In order for a show to sell better in syndication (especially if the show is owned by the network) they want the program to have a timeless quality, so references to the 'real" world are few and far between.