AUDIO: Click to hear Aaron on WBAL Radio explaining why the sitcom is back and pick the best new comedies of the fall
When I look at the fall prime-time television schedule, I’m struck by how funny it is. Not funny weird, like a show built around 1960s Playboy Club waitresses or the idea of reuniting Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul.No, I mean funny funny. As in LOL. ROTFL. LMAO. What I mean is this: The sitcom is back, baby. You remember the sitcom — that time-tested package of calibrated punch lines enhanced with helpful audience laughter. Usually paired off in twos — TV’s version of happy hour — sitcoms were designed to deliver millions from the cares of the day and into the grateful arms of the sponsors. And for half a century they succeeded marvelously. Whether it was the one with Lucy or Dick or Maxwell or Archie or Fonzie or Cosby or one of the friends or Ray, the vessel stayed the same. Only the contents changed.But about 10 years ago, the vessel ran aground. Networks lost interest in sitcoms, as reality TV stormed onto the prime-time schedule. After all, who needed the expense of a writers’ room and marathon taping sessions before a studio audience when you could get just as many laughs putting 10 unpaid bachelorettes in a room with a man they barely knew?The audience confirmed the networks’ foresight. Ratings for sitcoms plummeted, as reality and police procedurals crowded Nielsen’s top 30. When “Everybody Loves Raymond” signed off for good in 2005, many old-timers reacted as though it was the end of an era. The show’s creator, Phil Rosenthal, took the occasion to mock-declare “the end of laughing, and soon the end of smiling,” but truthfully? It kind of felt that way. By the fall of 2006, the roll call of prime-time network sitcoms had fallen to just 15 shows, half the number that were airing the day before “Survivor” debuted.What a difference five seasons and 5,000 reality shows make. Today the sitcom doesn’t look so hackneyed or formulaic. Not only are laughing and smiling back, so is writing. Whether it is the instantly recognizable voice of the teenage outsider in ABC’s “Suburgatory,” or the madcap pacing of Fox’s Zooey Deschanel vehicle “New Girl,” or the finely crafted odd couple at the heart of CBS’ “2 Broke Girls,” comedy writers are showing us some of their best stuff in years.(Unfortunately, today’s sitcoms resemble a lot of the sitcoms we grew up with in one outdated respect — how few people of color are in starring roles on the shows. It’s not just comedies either — such high-profile dramas as "Pan Am" and "Person of Interest" are whiter than Cheryl Hines’ teeth. The 2011 season is proving to be a throwback behind the scenes as well; as my colleague at AOL, Maureen Ryan, reported, the number of female writers and producers on prime-time shows has fallen from 35 percent five years ago to 15 percent.)There will be 27 network sitcoms this fall, and though nobody knows how many will still be on the air come January, there’s little doubt that the genre has reclaimed its rightful place both on the schedule and in the hearts of tastemakers. What changed? The sitcom changed, that’s what. The networks never really gave up on their 30-minute chucklefests, not out of the goodness of their hearts but because one hit sitcom will make more money than “Jersey Shore” ever could, with revenue from selling and airing the reruns over and over.Here, in three acts, is how I see the metamorphosis of the sitcom in the 21st century:•Act 1: Chuck Lorre takes over CBS. Monday nights were never the same once “Two and a Half Men” took over “Raymond’s” time period. For a while it was by far the raunchiest comedy on network TV — also the most popular and (from my seat) the funniest. Lorre then developed “The Big Bang Theory” and “Mike & Molly” for CBS. Compared to, say, a typical episode of “Entourage,” these sitcoms were relatively tame. But they set a new tone for network prime time, as seen in “2 Broke Girls” (from “Sex and the City” producer Michael Patrick King).•Act 2: DVRs begin to count. Or rather, the Nielsen ratings people start to count DVR usage. For years “The Office” and “30 Rock” languished in the ratings, and the boost they got from time-shifting (not to mention rentals on iTunes) was crucial to their success. For “The Office” in particular it was helpful, because its mockumentary format was a genuine experiment in network comedy. Had it been allowed to die, it’s unlikely ABC would have greenlit “Modern Family,” TV’s first mockumentary with mass appeal.•Act 3: Animation domination. It wasn’t that long ago that Fox had just two cartoon sitcoms on Sunday nights. This fall there are five, with the addition of “Allen Gregory” from creator-voice Jonah Hill. While it’s a stretch to think that Hill could be the next-gen version of Seth MacFarlane (who has three of those five shows), it’s clear that Fox has learned its lesson since the year it canceled “Family Guy” and renewed “Arrested Development.”Hey, I loved “Arrested Development.” But let’s just say it was a show ahead of its time. Fortunately, you can watch “Arrested Development” any time you like on DVDs or Netflix. That is, if you can find any time to watch old TV shows this fall. Funny, isn’t it?
FALL TV ALERT
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