TV Sitcoms

There is said to be two types of TV sitcom, episodic and serial. An episodic sitcom is a show like The Simpsons or Family Guy, where a single issue is presented for that episode and the episode ends with the resolution of that issue. Often times at the conclusion a lesson is learned. With more controversial and political episodic sitcoms like South Park or the Boondocks, a social issue is addressed or a political statement is made and episodes end when the point has been made and next week a brand new issue is addressed. Serial sitcoms are very different. With serial sitcoms, a plot is present throughout the entire series and every episode is an advance on that plot. Thus each episode may not end with a huge resolution or life lesson, in the case of the serial sitcom Lost, most episodes actually ended with no resolution and even more questions.

Using the examples previously given, one can see how TV sitcoms can be seen as black and white as episodic or serial sitcoms when comparing two shows like The Simpsons and Lost. However, many shows are in the gray, blending both characteristics of serial and episodic television. Once again I bring up my favorite show, Arrested Development, because it is one of the shows that lies in the gray. Arrested Development is both an episodic sitcom and a serial sitcom. Arrested Development doesn’t have the character development of a serial sitcom like Lost, however the depth of the characters in the serious is more so then that of a typical episodic sitcom. Also, every episode presents a new hilarious problem the family must deal with while simultaneously playing off of the central problem throughout all three seasons of the series. What Arrested Development does, which is why I believe they are distinguished from the rest is its ability to successfully function as an episodic sitcom and a serial sitcom in the sense anyone can view any episode and enjoy it, but at the same time the show makes references that transcend several seasons making the shows exponentially funnier to those who follow the series. 



(Funny clip from Arrested Development, however this clip is even funnier if you get all of the references to past episodes)