#12 A "Revamped" Sitcom: The Office

THE OFFICE is a recent sitcom that has been “revamped” and does not follow the traditional sitcom structure. Traditional sitcoms as said by Matthew Bond in his article “Parents and Children of SEINFELD”, usually are shot in the home place or workplace, and are about the daily events and conflicts of family life. Like SEINFELD, THE OFFICE steers away from the family life aspect and focuses on a crew of odd but yet typical workers in an average American workplace. The office uses a documentary style and occasionally interviews members of the working office of Dunder Mifflin one-on-one through out the episodes. Like SEINFELD, but unlike traditional family-centered sitcoms, THE OFFICE zooms into the daily minutiae of life in the workplace. This show also deals with homosexuality, racism, and sexism in almost every episode and is not afraid to include stereotypes to poke fun at certain groups of people. As in the episode, “Diversity Day”, which is a whole episode poking fun at all three (homosexuality, racism, and sexism).
More sitcoms have been following in SEINFELD’s footsteps and are veering off the path of the “Traditional American Sitcom” to make new shows or sitcoms a little more interesting and humorous.