​​Background Information

To help you wrap your head around our research, we thought it would be helpful to give you a very brief history of where American television situational comedies (a.k.a. "sitcoms") came from.​ For an expanded history and more background information, click here to see Aaron's analysis essay.

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​History of Sitcoms

In 1938, Orson Welles, an actor writer and director, broadcast a science-fiction-based radio drama that convinced many listeners that an alien invasion was occurring. Even though it was announced numerous times prior to the broadcast that this was a fictional story, listeners still flooded emergency response telephone lines. This event signified the power of radio and its perception as a corroborator of the truth. Increasing in popularity with this science fiction genre was the situational comedy, or "sitcom".

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The sitcom first appeared on the radio, and audiences loved it for its charm, humor and wit. Television shows that successfully transitioned from popular radio programming maintained heavy emphasis on the content of catchy entertainment value in order to gain advertisers and sponsors for the shows. The first television sitcoms incorporated themes of religion, ethnicity and social status; although, characters of lower social and economic status have been historically underrepresented in television sitcoms. Shows portraying this lower class, or "working class", have continued to be scarce throughout prime-time television sitcoms.

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