“Well, I mean, if a joke or humor is bawdy, it's got to be funny enough to warrant it. You can't just have it bawdy or dirty just for the sake of being that—it's got to be funny,” (Raga, 2017). Sitcoms today have lost sight of bringing laughter to families of all ages. Most material for humor now consists of sexual, racial, and/or other vulgar topics that sadly interest and amuse the public in today’s society. In the quote above, Betty White, a comedian and co-star on the 80s sitcoms, The Golden Girls, shows her understanding of the strayed path that humor has taken in modern television. When I was a little girl, my father had to force my brother and I to sit down and watch old classic films and television shows, such as I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show, The Three Stooges, which have now become one of my favorite black and white sitcoms. My father wanted the younger generation to appreciate and enjoy the classics. Today it breaks my heart when people do not recognize famous names such as Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Danny Kaye, Lucille Ball, and so many others. Classic sitcoms should be watched more than the typical sitcoms of today’s society due the new openness of society, creating an evolution in comedy and humor in television, or the sitcom from a family-friendly setting to a raunchy and vulgar style of comedy, due to the newly arisen topics that are so widely spoken about, such as sex, race, etc.

Comedy can be used to either entertain an audience or put a person and/or a mass of people down emotionally. In television, or the sitcoms, the strategy behind the humor is based off of the Comic Theory. In the Comic Theory is used to create comedy in performances as it describes the basic guidelines and the typical expectations when dealing with comedy and humor. The Comic Theory is composed of three separate theories: Relief Theory, Superiority Theory, and Incongruous Juxtaposition Theory. These all state that humor was created to bring out another man’s weakness and vulnerability, to feel superior (Morreall, 2012). Edward J. Fink, a professor and chair of the Department of Radio-TV-Film at California State University, Fullerton, discusses what the Comic Theory is and how it is used in comedic television entertainment. Fink uses the famous cartoon sitcom, The Simpsons, as the prime example in his research. Through the in-depth analysis of this cartoon sitcom, Fink educates his readers on the many different styles of comedy. Low comedy includes a more physical humor rather than dialogue, where it can incorporate aggression and violence, but in a “slapstick” manner where the characters are not seriously nor truly harmed. Low comedy satirizes the uneducated “low class,” displaying the characters to constantly be clumsy, hit each other, and to demonstrate stupidity (Fink, 45-46). This style is in very high demand in the creations of modern television, as there is always that one dumb character to make the audience laugh. Fink refers to Aristotle's Poetics, where it argues that comedy can imitate the actions of men when they are at the worse of themselves. He continues on saying that “comedy imitates inferior action,” which has to represent a complete and whole action of a magnitude and must have the same constitutive elements as tragedy (45). However high comedy, also known as the “comedy of manners,” creates humor through sophistication, witty dialogue, subtle nuances, and character idiosyncrasies. It basically satirizes the upper class and/or the “high society” (45). This style is mostly seen in the classics, as the society used to be a bit strict on what was proper, as well as morals and values. The Relief Theory states that “laughter is merely the mind’s response to reduce psychological tension,” a way for people to cope with either fear or anxiety (The Art of Comedy). Laughter can be used on the human mind to reverse emotional suppression, which can explain why people find certain topics, such as sex, race, bodily functions, and death humorous. 

What is the secret behind bringing laughter to others? Laughter can be defined as the making of spontaneous sounds and movements of the face and body that are the instinctive expressions of lively amusement and sometimes also of contempt or derision. In his book, The Origins of Wit and Humor, Albert Rapp discusses how humor and wit were created and differentiates between the two tools used in comedy. Wit is said to be an intellectual use for comedy and humor is natural and spontaneous that is made by affection and/or love (Rapp, 152-153). He debates how aggressive the start of wit and humor was and that “laughter was born out of hostility” (Rapp, 13), which is similar to what Fink says in his article. He also uses illustrations to demonstrate the humor with hand drawn cartoons. Rapp continues on about a sense of humor and that it is “the ability to sit back and be amused at the frailties of man. It must not be bitter. It must be loving, tolerant, and understanding” (163). Rapp also informs his audience that “laughter and the sense of humor are among man’s greatest blessings; they constitute an extraordinarily effective aid to physical and mental health” (173). To know and understand the difference between wit and humor is crucial when it comes to comedy entertainment because timing with the correct tool is everything to a good joke, no matter if it was a planned jest or a quick comeback.

Early sitcoms, such as Leave It to Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show, and I Love Lucy, had a simple setting and a certain theme that circled around a family friendly environment. These sitcoms provided a picture of the white picket fence life of the suburban residents, creating the ideal model family. They showed the world where women were housewives, while the men brought home the dough. In I Love Lucy, one of the most well-known 1950s, black and white sitcoms, shows the life of a typical housewife, although the crazy redhead does step out of conformity and attempts many times to get on her husband’s television show, in hopes of being discovered. In one episode, Job Switching, she and her husband switch roles for a day to see who has it harder, the wife or the husband (I Love Lucy, 1952). This leads Lucy, and her friend Ethel, to get a job at a chocolate factory, where they fail miserably at work enforcement, and to the creation of the most well-known and most iconic comedy bit in television history. During this scene, Lucy and Ethel’s task is to wrap up chocolates in paper wrap. As the job proves to be more of a challenge than expected, the girls struggle to keep up, causing a rise out of the audience.  I am using the famous scene from the 1950s sitcom I Love Lucy where Lucy is working in the chocolate factory, and failing miserably at it along with her friend Ethel. The duo then tries to hide their failed attempt at their job by stuffing the chocolate in their hats, shirts, and mouths (1952). This is an example of Low Comedy by the description given by Fink, because the characters funny actions were hysterical to the audience. This comedy bit is very well-known and loved by all that other writers of sitcoms use this scene in their works, such as the Nickelodeon sitcom Drake and Josh, where sushi was substituted for chocolate.

However, as time has passed, the social, political, and casual humor has changed a great deal. Today comedy material now consists of crude and vulgar humor, from cracking a put down on a corrupt politician to a sex joke, solely based on the evolution of the society’s standards and the openness of people’s thoughts and views. Some sitcoms still keep to the picture of a family sitting together at the dinner table, such as Modern Family, but they seem to not maintain the same rules as a family would from the 1950s. In his article, Bruce Feiler, an American writer and author on television personality, provides the two concerning questions about the sitcom Modern Family: “What aspects of contemporary life has it tapped into? What does “Modern Family” say about modern families?” (Feiler, 2011) This sitcom is a somewhat reflection of various families’ everyday life and situations that follow. Other sitcoms forgo the idea of the family picture, and base the setting on the concept of people and/or friends living together in the harsh, cruel world, but still maintains the vulgar humor. For example, the 90s sitcoms, Friends, a favorite of many, however the first conversation was centering around dating, sex and homosexuality (Friends, 1994). These topics would not be an option if this was filmed in the 50s or 60s. Another example is a recent show, 2 Broke Girls, where two girls from two very different worlds come together and become best friends from unlikely circumstances. This sitcom is possibly the prime illustration of how comedy in television, or the sitcom, has altered greatly. The very first joke from the first episode of this show, And How They Met, is from one of the main leads saying: “Hey when you get a sec…. stop staring at my boobs.” In the same scene, twenty seconds later, an unseen sex scene it takes place, causing the audience to laugh at such a sight (2 Broke Girls, 2011). This, if nothing else, proves that comedy and humor has done a complete turnaround in television. Others can argue that television shows such as these fit the popular culture expectations, and serves as a wonderful resource as entertainment. However, these new sitcoms show no true morals at the end scene, nor any values.

As Betty White, comedian and co-star on the 80s sitcom, The Golden Girls, once said: “The writers are the stars of every really successful sitcom,” (White, Betty). This is true. Writers for sitcoms, or any other television program, who are from the younger generation are most likely to think outside the box. Because of new opportunities now available, as well as the broad thinkers now taking a stand in this century, new ideas are being formed and heard far and wide. Kulap Vilaysack, for example, is an improv comic and podcast host, and is a part of the rising group of first-time television series, where writers from the same young and rising generation with diverse and creative thinking (Porch, 2017). Even though statistics are not provided in this article, it states that “the number of scripted shows has more than doubled in the last several years, networks and streaming services have been mining the improv comedy, film, theater and digital video worlds, and even hiring people with no Hollywood experience.” Because these new, young writers were born and raised in this new generation, they answer the demand of the public and conform to today’s society of loose morals. Due to this, these writers create and produce the well-known sitcoms that are loved by the population.

So, in conclusion, with all the openness of certain topics, the use of comedy in television and/or the sitcoms has greatly changed throughout the decades from a family-friendly material to a crude and vulgar material due to the standards and expectations of today’s open society. Hopefully through all this, the younger generation can look back at the classics, ones which taught lessons and brought genuine laughter into a home, and learn to appreciate and enjoy them.