#12: Super Model?

In his essay on parents and children in Seinfeld, Matthew Bonds writes, "No family, no homeplace to speak of, no workplace: Seinfeld has dispensed with the sitcom's paradigmatic setting and social dynamic, replacing them with a sitcom about grown-up children" (109). If Seinfeld "revamped the [sitcom] model," as Bond asserts, certainly other post-Seinfeld shows have attempted the same, right?

In this week's blog (Apr. 6-12), explain how a post-Seinfeld sitcom has attempted to "revamp" EITHER the structure, characters, setting, feel, OR look of the traditional sitcom. There is a list of recent shows on the course website. As always, please include examples to support your points.

#12 Karma; the new moral code

My Name is Earl revamps the traditional sitcom by altering the overall structure proposed by traditional sitcoms. In My Name is Earl, Earl Hickey (Jason Lee) is a trouble making law breaker that after being hit by a car realizes karma is the reason for his misfortunes. To make up for all the bad Earl has done in his life, he makes a long list of the bad things and goes down the list one by one, fixing the mistakes he made in the past. For instance, in "Quit Smoking" (Sept. 27,2005) in the past Earl robbed a store with one of his friend's shirts on, however that friend was accused of the robbery and sent to jail. To make amends with his friend, Earl realizes that all his friends wants is the time he spent in jail back. So, Earl helps his friend's mother quit smoking so that his friend can have more years with his mother, considering if she had continued smoking she would pass away earlier. This defies the conventional sitcom in that it approaches the "moral of the story" aspect in a different way as opposed to shows such as Friends, or Everybody Loves Raymond. My Name is Earl sets a great example for moral integrity. It's basically saying that even though you may do some wrong in your life, there's always a possibility of making things right again. Other conventional sitcoms lack this more positive outlook such as the revolutionary My Name is Earl.

#12 Freed from the Traditional Sitcom

In the short-lived, but very memorable, sitcom ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, traditional sitcom ideas were tweaked ever so slightly for an exceptionally well-written, hilarious show. In many traditional sitcoms, the main characters are either at a place of work or a home and are usually comprised of a family or a group of friends. In ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, however, despite the characters technically being a family, the dysfunctional, arguing family acts more like a group of friends than a family. For example, the father, George Bluth (Jeffery Tambor), is arrested for suspected dealings with terrorists and treason. The series continues with the rest of the family constantly fighting like children, even though they are all over 35, and only some of the family is worried about getting their father out of jail.

Traditional sitcoms' characters are commonly known to have stable jobs and only have one or two jobs during a series. Besides the main character, Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman), and his son, the other siblings (and mother) of the family do not hold jobs -- or only have them for a maximum of two days. Furthermore, the other characters often complain of the jobs given to them and would rather spend their time doing other things like drinking, magic tricks, or buying clothes -- and when they do have a job, they take a week off for spring break despite being adults with "real" jobs. This is very different from the traditional workplace characterized by pre-SEINFELD sitcoms.

#12 "Revamped" Characters

One well known post-Seinfeld sitcom to revamp the characters of a traditional sitcom is Will&Grace. As Seinfeld, the characters on Will&Grace (Will, Grace, Jack, and Karen) tend to act as children during situations that involve adult decisions and actions. For example, in one episode Jack was unable to decide what he wanted to do for a full-time career. He kept changing his decision when he found something a bit wrong with one of his choices, and giving up as a child would when he or she is unhappy with the results. During another episode Will at one point tries to get someone’s number at a funeral. Karen does not consider her job as an actual job but a place to drink her alcohol and relax. And Grace is a good example of a quirky child who can find humor in any situation. Another way that Will&Grace has revamped the characters is the fact that the sitcom is based on homosexuality. Far different from the traditional sitcom that usually involves a close-nit family who act their age and are very heterosexual.

# 12 Living with only FRIENDS

Many recent sitcoms are many different from the traditional structure sitcoms. Traditional sitcoms are about the families and their happening in the workplace. For example, in I LOVE LUCY, the storyline was one couple in the house and Ricky Ricardo’s workplace. And these days, many sitcoms are “revamped” like SEINFELD. The other sitcom has attempted to “revamp” characters and setting is FRIENDS. This storyline is about the six main young characters’ happening around them. The structure of FRIENDS has many similar things with SEINFELD. In the FRIENDS, six characters are single and they didn’t marry except Monica and Chandler even though they have an affair each other sometimes. Also Ross and Rachel have one son but they broke up. They are childish and they don’t have any relationship with their parents. But the difference with SEINFELD is that they want to marry however they don’t want to have serious relationship. Also they have setting not in the workplace but in the coffee shop and Monica’s house. They usually meet in the Monica’s house and one of coffee shop in always same sofa. One of the episodes I watched showed that when other person sat in sofa that they usually sit, they claimed to the person to move to the other sofa just like children. I think FRIENDS and SEINFELD are popular because they dealt with the subjects which didn’t show in the traditional sitcoms.

12: Seinfeld in the City

In HBO's show SEX IN THE CITY, 4 ladies play the polar opposites of our friends in SEINFELD. The topics on Seinfeld, often including social taboos of the 90s are included in Sex in the City. They also mention the taboos of the 2000s.

These four women have very similar lifestyles that Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer had. Samantha Jones frequently floats from job to job, and many times, has no formal occupation at all. Carrie Bradshaw writes for a column, a job, similar to Jerry's comic night career. She is able to write whenever she wants, similar to Jerry never appearing in a traditional 9 to 5 work schedule. Elaine is similar to Miranda--both career ladder climbers, as Miranda eventually becomes partner in a law firm.

They are also adult children, always mentioning they want what they can't have, and how social etiquette doesn't always apply to them; they can talk about anything they want, and do anything they want. Sex in the City could be considered the Seinfeld of the new generation of TV enthusiasts.

Offroading Into Controversial Issues; Seinfeld Paves The Way For Gender Roles

Since the final episode of Seinfeld, television has taken to the trend and continuously reformulated the essential apsects of the american sitcom. An example of this would be the popular TV show, Friends. The cast of the show consists of three women and three men, however, women's liberation makes its way into the show and gender roles switch. The men are portrayed as a bit more feminine and the women; a bit more masculine. For example in the episode,'The One with the Metaphorical Tunnel', Chandler scares off his girlfriend and Monica and Rachel coach him through winning her back with lo-cal ice cream, "Rachel: Yeah, well that's that low-cal, non-dairy, soy milk junk. We sort of... we save the real stuff for the truly terminal cases" "Monica: You know, when you start getting screwed over all the time, you gotta switch to low-fat" (Oct. 10, 1996). In this same episode, Monica recalls a memory from her childhood with Ross dressing up as a girl and singing, 'I am Bea, I drink tea, won't you dance around with me?'. Throughout the seasons, Joey and Chandler are also constantly seen hugging.

Audiences know Monica as the competitive one in the group, therefore, a bit more masculine. In the episode, 'The One with the Football', the group plays a game of football on Thanksgiving day and Monica and Ross compete for 'The Geller Cup'. Rachel and Phoebe are terrible at playing but Monica keeps up with the men and the final scene depicts her and her brother fighting over the football in the snow (Nov. 29, 1996). Audiences are familiar with Phoebe's past of living on the streets of New York. One episode shows Rachel getting a tattoo and another, Monica killing Joey and Chandler at foosball. Ross wears makeup in a later episode when he over-whitens his teeth and is caught in an ex-girlfriends apartment trying to reclaim his favorite 'salmon' shirt.

Any sitcom preceeding Seinfeld portrayed the men as the breadwinners and the tough ones; women as needing help from the stronger sex. Friends expanded on the freedoms and controversial issues in which Seinfeld cleared the way.

#12: Blast from the Past

Of the many post Seinfeld sitcoms that have been created, That 70’s Show is one that has attempted to revamp the characters and structure of the traditional sitcom. Instead of creating a plot set in the current time period, That 70’s Show travels back in time and tells the story of the trials and tribulations of the Forman family and their son Eric’s close friends during the 1970s.

The first aspect that shows the sitcom’s attempt to revamp the traditional sitcom is through the characters Red and Kitty Forman. In the traditional sitcom, the parents are viewed as respectable and insightful characters who offer support and help to their child’s problems. However, Red and Kitty are the exact opposite of that outlook. They are similar to Frank and Estelle Constanza because Red and Kitty spend most of their time arguing and providing sarcastic criticism to Eric and his friends.

Another way in which That 70’s Show revamped the traditional sitcom is through the structure of the scenes. The main setting for the characters is in the basement of the Forman’s house where there are chairs and couches for Eric and his friends to hang out and talk. In many episodes, as the gang sits in the basement, the camera makes a 360 degree turn and stops at each character sitting around the table to offer a close of each face of the characters. Then, the characters talk directly into the camera usually to say what they are thinking. This offers the audience to feel a more personal relationship to the characters because it seems that they are talking directly to the viewer.

#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.

#12 Relying on Raymond

One show that I think has attempted to "revamp" the traditional sitcom style is EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND. I consider this show to be extremely similar to SEINFELD, which is considered to be a sitcom with grown-up children. EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND could be put in the same category because Ray's parents are those "helicopter parents" that just can't let their children move on. They live right across the street, are constantly checking up on Ray and his wife's lives and children, and they even discipline him when appropriate (or not). Although the parents in SEINFELD (with the exception of George's) are rarely, or never seen, these two shows are similar in the sense that they are both about grown-up children. Ray constantly looks to his parents for permission and approval even though he is a grown man who is married with children and has a successful and steady job. He just doesn't seem to be able to fully let go of his childhood and actually be an adult

Unlike the prior sitcoms Seinfeld uses the new children style of representing by using growth people playing like a kids. Many sitcoms after that started using the same idea.

The post-Seinfeld sitcom that also uses the grown people behaving like a children is the Family guy where Peter Griffin ( father) is the one who acts more like a kid. And when he meets with his friends Quagmire, Cleveland and Joe they have the typical children's conversation. On the other hand, Bryan, Stewie and Louis griffin that in my opinion have the grown people behavior even though Stwie is a little baby with British accent that wants to kill his mother.

#12: A New Spin on the Workplace Sitcom

A lot of older sitcoms use established shots with multiple cameras to give the audience a more traditional feel for the surrounding environment. In NBC’s The Office, the workplace setting is reintroduced to viewers in a new way. By using only one camera and a documentary style of filming similar to that of the recent movie Cloverfield (2007), but without as much shaking of the camera, The Office generates humor and suspense not only through dialogue, but through awkwardly editing certain clips, zooming, cutaway scenes of characters talking one on one with the camera, and breaking the fourth wall by addressing the person holding the camera.

This new look and feel for a sitcom situated mainly in the workplace breaks the previous mold for workplace sitcoms by allowing venturing outside the workplace to occur in order to follow certain characters on errands, most often, Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson). In the episode “Office Olympics”, Dwight accompanies Michael in his quest to purchase a condo. It also allows for some shots of various characters homes and public restaurants. In the episode “The Dundies”, the staff adjourn to a Chili’s restaurant to have their yearly award show sponsored by Michael. In the most recent episode “Dinner Party”, we barely see any of the workplace, but a lot more of Michael’s condo.

#12 Atypical: Out of character

Among the several post-Seinfeld sitcoms that have revamped their model, changing their characters, setting, structure or feel Still Standing is one that made a few major changes. Like many sitcoms of the time it’s based on a family, the relationships within the family and with others, everyday life and set in the home place. It is different in its conceptualization of ‘family’.

The parents are portrayed as ignorant and self absorbed. Bill Miller, the father, is lazy and not very smart. Judy Miller, the mother, though being a dental assistant isn’t that much smarter showing that they are unlike the conventional responsible and selfless role model parents depicted in most post Seinfeld sitcoms. In the episode “Still Eighteen” their son Brian is busy applying to colleges after taking a conscious decision on the college of his preference. Judy is not even aware of his major and misreads ‘physics’ for ‘psychics’. Bill on the other hand claims the credit (though misplaced) for Brian’s aspiring to be the first Miller to go to college. Later in the episode when Judy confronts Brian about quitting his job and spending time in a strip club, Bill instead of showing concern about the whereabouts of his son is more annoyed that Brian didn’t bring him back his favorite chicken wings! The father is shown as being self-centered and unlike the normal father figure depicted in sitcoms of that time. A classic example of a post-Seinfeld sitcom with a not so classic portrayal of “family”.

Hey! There was some learning invovled: Learning unconventionality from Seinfeld

After Seinfeld’s successful endeavor of changing the face of sitcoms, many shows followed their lead in hope of the same success. One of the post- Seinfeld sitcoms that followed is Girlfriends. The show is about four female friends living the sometime single life in California, which is fairly different from that of the ironic New York bunch. However, there are some similarities that are very noticeable in regards to structure, character and the non-traditional look of sitcoms.

Girlfriends is based around four African-American women who live a crazy and sometime single life. The foremost reason why this show is non-conventional is the main characters are black. This was one of the first shows to be based around such and also depict them in a positive light, or at least some of them. Many of the traditional shows always depict promising characters that can’t go wrong. Lynn Searcy (who is very much like Cosmo Kramer) is unpromising and is not your typical role model, which is the opposite of how sitcoms portray characters.

Lastly, like Seinfeld’s modest amount of estrogen, Girlfriends do the same with testosterone—William Dent the only main male character in the show. Many sitcoms are based solely on masculinity and men being in charge. However, Girlfriends was one of the first to change this occurrence and show that women can run things. Girlfriends used its Seinfeldian training of unconventionality to have a successful running in the revamping attempts of many post- Seinfeld sitcoms. With that being said the creators of Seinfeld should never say there was no learning involved.

# 12: Copy Cat

The show SEX IN THE CITY uses SEINFELD’S structure as a model for success. In both shows there are four characters that all have different personalities and signature traits. Both are located in New York City and are never shot in the same place at once. For instance, usually in sitcoms prior to SEINFELD, sitcoms where shot in the work place or at home. In both SEX IN THE CITY and SEINFELD, the location constantly changes. In addition, there is the no “hugging and learning” factor; and controversial issues are addressed. For example abortion was discussed in both shows. In SEX IN THE CITY, the episode “Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda” shows Carrie admitting that she got an abortion after a drunk one night stand. Miranda is contemplating getting an abortion and by the end of the show she decides not to. SEINFELD, also addresses this issue in the episode “The Couch.” Both sitcoms take the conservative stand on the issue.

#12 Clumsy or Just S.O.L?

Family Matters has attempted to revamp the characters in a non-traditional way by throwing major characters into life-or-death situations, such as Carl Winslow (Reginald VelJohnson) falling into a frozen pond, Eddie (Darius McCrary) and his friends hanging precariously from a fire escape, Carl and Steve Urkel (Jaleel White) hanging from a tall building by their fingers, Steve nearly falling out of a hot-air balloon, and Carl discovering a bomb in a treadmill, and having ot get off the treadmill without causing the bomb to explode. Although these events are extreme and unfortunate, they are typically resolved within a few minutes allowing time for humor to be derived from another recurring theme: property damage.

If you have seen even one episode of Family Matters, I think it is still safe to say that you probably watched Urkel destroy something in the Winslow's home. Whether Urkel is knocking over a lamp, or breaking the Winslows' windows, completely destroying Carl's garage shelves, or having his "genius" inventions going wrong and ending up destroying various parts of the house, destroying something is always a great way to get a good laugh and unsurprisingly, the absurdity of the episodes only increased as the series went on.

#12 Friends Forever

One of my favorite television sitcoms, Friends, dispensed from the traditional sitcom structure of a family oriented setting. Friends portrays six young adults in their mid twenties who are all single for most of the series. Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) get married later in the series, but they are the only two to be married permanently by the end. Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Anniston) have a child together, but they break the normal social behavior of having a child within a marriage. They both insist on not getting married when finds out she is pregnant. The two still claim that they love each other, but they don’t think that marriage is right for them.

The emphasis of the show is based around the true friendships that these six characters share with each other. Their lives show that marriage isn’t necessary to have a happy and successful life. This parallels with the idea that was emerging in the 90’s, which portrayed friendships as just important, if not more important than marriage. I think that this show is very humorous but not always appropriate for children. There is a lot of talk about sex and hooking up, which wasn’t very common in earlier sitcoms. Overall, Friends is a very humorous show that isn’t as family oriented, but it does show that importance of friendship.

#12: Out with the Old and In with the New!

One of the many post- Seinfeld sitcoms to attract millions of television viewers is non other than Friends. Friends's structural traits derive from Seinfeld's unorthodox character, and storyline structure where according to Bond, there was no home, no family, and no workplace that was concretely established throughout the series. Likewise Friend's main plot revolving around friends and everyday issues is the main storyline throught the series.

Seinfeld's "revamping" has paved the way for future sitcoms to appraoch comedy from a different angle straying away from the typical family orientated storylines, where close-knit friendships, or rather grown up children living in a world surrounded by social norms, has enabled sitcoms such as Friends to gain immense popularity. One prime example of "no family" is the issue of friends Vs sex, in "The Deal" the audience gains an insight into the trivial but complex negotiations that take place between Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) and Elaine (Julia Louis- Dreyfus) as they try and balance their friendship and their past sex life. Likewise Chandler (Matthew Perry) and Monica (Courteny Arquette Cox)go to great lengths to hide their secret affair from their friends realising the complexity of their relationship.

What Seinfeld has accomplished with regards to "revamping" the sitcom model, although portrayed negatively according to Bond's analysis has proved to be a succesfull formula for many new and upcoming sitcoms, where the idea of a group of immature grown- ups surviving in a world filled with rules and norms not only gives a stirical comical light on society.

#12 A New Type of Sitcom

Although SEINFELD revamped the traditional sitcom style, separating itself from the typical husband and wife routine, WILL AND GRACE pushed the sitcom boundaries a bit further. Most apparent was the appearance of gay men on the show. Never before had a sitcom been so open about the issue of homosexuality, or made the main characters gay. Further, instead of cohabiting a New York apartment with the traditional married couple or a single individual, the homosexual Will (Eric McCormack) and straight Grace (Debra Messing) were roommates. The entire structure of the show was focused around this unique collaboration of individuals, who although had different sexual preferences, lived and helped each other similar to the four friends of SEINFELD. Will and Grace especially were so emotionally close that their friendship at times resembled that of a typical marriage. So much to the point that when the single Grace wanted to have a baby, Will offered his sperm to assist in the matter. Also, the workforce is a large component of WILL AND GRACE. Grace is often seen outside the home in her office where she is an interior designer. Her witty, narcissistic, assistant Karen (Megan Mullally) is even a close friend of the group, especially with Jack (Sean Hayes). Having a coworker as a close friend is a concept not typical of sitcoms. Overall, WILL AND GRACE resemble SEINFELD is aspects of relationships, friends, and discussing "touchy" subjects. (Debra Messing was even a guest on SEINFELD.)Yet, WILL AND GRACE proudly discussed issues such as homosexuality, that the SEINFELD audience of the 1990's were perhaps not as comfortable with compared to the 2000 audience of WILL AND GRACE.