What were the most realistic sitcoms?

[counrfk]

"All in the Family" was very realistic and relatable. The Bunkers and Stivics felt like a real family. They fought and loved like a real family. "One Day at a Time" was pretty realistic too, especially in its early years.

[Alan Brady's Hair]

All in the Family is very unrealistic: they had two people who weren't members of the household die inside the house, and two guests violently killed just after leaving the house, in just 6 or 7 years, They place would have been under 24/7 police surveillance.

I don't think there are any realistic shows. I think "escapist" shows can actually be less unrealistic, because they're admitting up front that they're not pretending to be realistic.

[Merry24]

the middle. Their sense of humor there financial troubles. There Mother’s Day episodes describe my own mother’s experiences on Mothers Day.

The entire series was very realistic and relatable. (lol).

[Chocolate Moose]

Certainly not:

Third Rock from the Sun
Mork and Mindy
Three's Company
I Dream of Genie
Bewitched
Gilligan's Island
Beverly Hillbillies

[Charles Knox]

The Munsters

[MikeLutton]

sanford and son

[Samme]

I agree there aren't any truly realistic sitcoms. They have to be funny and life usually isn't. Not enough funny stories for a sitcom. Each sitcom creates its own world. As I get older the more escapist shows usually play better for a longer time.

[Alan Brady's Hair]

Originally Posted by Samme

I agree there aren't any truly realistic sitcoms. They have to be funny and life usually isn't. Not enough funny stories for a sitcom. Each sitcom creates its own world. As I get older the more escapist shows usually play better for a longer time.

The thing is, virtually all of the escapist shows - Mister Ed, The Hillbillies, Gilligan, Green Acres, Addams Family, Bewitched, My Favorite Martian - had strong satirical components to them. They explored aspects of modern life without pretending that theirs was the only view.

[merlinjones]

Eunice/Family sketches
The Donna Reed Show
Leave it to Beaver

[space1999]

Cheers - just some bar patrons and employees hanging out everyday.

[Reinhold_Weege]

Growing Pains
Too Close For Comfort

[24/7 reruns]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

All in the Family is very unrealistic: they had two people who weren't members of the household die inside the house, and two guests violently killed just after leaving the house, in just 6 or 7 years, They place would have been under 24/7 police surveillance.

I don't think there are any realistic shows. I think "escapist" shows can actually be less unrealistic, because they're admitting up front that they're not pretending to be realistic.

I'm not so sure about no realistic shows. Most shows do exaggerate at times but there were some shows that held some sense of realism. I think shows like Frank's Place and Hooperman were basically realistic in nature. Since they were not 100 percent comedies they could show a more true to life story. Room 222 did similar. As well as the Alan Alda focused M*A*S*H.

I really do think the Norman Lear created shows were realistic, but yes there were times were situations were over the top. Yet it is possible that many of the things you mentioned could have actually happened. All in the Family was based on a Queens NY family. Lots of things can and do happen in NYC. Living in the area I can attest to that. Good Times often showed correctly the struggles of a family in low income setting. True J.J. came off like a Clown and John Amos was correct in his assessment and desires to leave the show. One Day At a Time was often truly representing the single mom story especially in the mid '70's were single mom's were not shown in a true light if at all.

Someone suggested that The Beverly Hillbillies was truly not a realistic show. For the most part that is correct. Yet the "fish out of water" approach did show some of the struggles and confusion someone could have navigating new things. My dad was a farm boy going to med school in Pittsburgh. He told me stories about learning how to do things everyone else around him took for granted. He said there was a huge learning curve for him. And he was valedictorian of his college graduating class! He shared the Andy Griffith comedy record "What it was, was Football" to help explain kind of what he experienced.

So there is probably no 100 percent realistic tv shows, but some were truer than others.

[24/7 reruns]

Originally Posted by Samme

I agree there aren't any truly realistic sitcoms. They have to be funny and life usually isn't. Not enough funny stories for a sitcom. Each sitcom creates its own world. As I get older the more escapist shows usually play better for a longer time.

I too feel that as I get older I really appreciate the escapist shows especially from the '60's. For that time TV gave people a chance to forget about the negative things going on like Vietnam. Now, for me it's a struggle to turn on the news or read a newspaper without getting throughly depressed. So Binge watching shows like Mr. Ed, Addams Family, The Munsters, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Green Acres ( my favorite show to binge) etc really can be comforting and certainly better than other forms of escape like drinking and drugs. No detrimental affects with watching old TV show.

[24/7 reruns]

Originally Posted by Charles Knox

The Munsters

Not sure if you're serious but if you are then I had to think about that. It was realistic in the sense that the Munsters really thought they were a "normal American family" they even gave Marilyn a pass and accepted her even with her "flaws". The never could understand why those around them didn't truly accept them. Kind of like a race thing when you think about it. They didn't completely fit in and they really wanted to.

Now The Addams Family was not realistic. They were completely comfortable in their own skin and really had no interest in conforming to those around them. They were kind of in their own world with people coming in and out of it. I don't think they ever formed friendships with anyone beyond their own family. The situations they got into were wonderfully absurd.

[Charles Knox]

Originally Posted by 24/7 reruns

Not sure if you're serious but if you are then I had to think about that. It was realistic in the sense that the Munsters really thought they were a "normal American family" they even gave Marilyn a pass and accepted her even with her "flaws". The never could understand why those around them didn't truly accept them. Kind of like a race thing when you think about it. They didn't completely fit in and they really wanted to.

Now The Addams Family was not realistic. They were completely comfortable in their own skin and really had no interest in conforming to those around them. They were kind of in their own world with people coming in and out of it. I don't think they ever formed friendships with anyone beyond their own family. The situations they got into were wonderfully absurd.

Just about the only live action family show during that time, were the kid had both a father and mother. Most family sitcoms and dramas from the 60's and 70's was about a widowed dad, uncle or mom raising a son(s)/daughter(s) or sometimes even twins. The Munsters also shared a single bed like married couples do in real life.