Page 120 - Sitcoms News Today

Sitcoms in the 80s for most lgbtq communities, it was a very dark time. >> seems, you had a transfusion while you were there. the hospital thinks the blood may have contained hiv antibodies. >> hiv? wait a minute. youre talking about aids. >> "the golden girls" being about older characters gave the show license to go further. and really, show how the women reacted to important issues. dammit, why is this happening to me? >> i mean, this isnt supposed to happen to people, like me. >> you mustve g...

He addressed sitcoms in provocative ways. how did shows like "all in the family, good times, sanford and son" how did that deal with race on television? >> sitcoms have always been a police where we can tackle important issues and laugh at them and kind of disarms you and so, norm man leer realized this is an important venue to speak about racial issues and it wasnt being done so he wanted to be at the forefront of that. we saw that in what archie bunker would say and would be debunked and more ...

1957. >> whats that? >> a haircut, i think. >> the real key to "leave it to beaver" is that its written from a childs point of view. >> why dont you let stanley cut your hair? >> i lost all my money. >> you have the character of beaver, and you have wally, who is his older brother who usually does things right. beaver is always the one that gets in trouble. >> and there were the parents to teach them, show them the right path. >> we want you to feel that you can come to me or to your mother with...

Able to deliver that message, because of who they were. >> our media doesnt exist in a vacuum. so, when we do see these moments in sitcoms, its because there have been activists trying to normalize and humanize folks who have been not humanized, for so long. >> i mean, its fine if thats who you are. >> absolutely. >> i mean, i have many gay friends. >> my fathers gay. >> and then, you have got the outing. >> you know, just because you two are homosexual, so what? >> the premise of that episode w...

>> fox network had come on and done well with black sitcoms so the wb and upn at the time were coming on, and they started to diversify and grow that audience. >> they are able to snatch up this audience that the other networks were really ignoring up until that point. >> so these shows kind of set the stage for the diversity in the family sitcom that can be seen on television today. >> welcome, wongs, im rick. the length and depth of my bow expresses my deep appreciation. >> thats more of a jap...

>> i think we like workplace sitcoms because we identify with them, with even these unlikable people in this unlikable world. >> they seem very excited about the possibility of a woman becoming president. >> not necessarily you. >> every generation gets the political satire it deserves. and the bizarros. >> nevada is my state. im going to be president. >> but its tough to compete with reality, you know. the trump administration. >> ill have a lovely inauguration. billy joel is going to sing. so ...

And they hope this booster campaign will help achieve that goal. >> thanks. still ahead, having the guts to tackle race and representation is the secret sauce of some of the greatest sitcoms of all time. the executive editor of entertainment weekly is here to talk about how these shifts helped shape tv and the country. coming up next. get outta here. everybodys a skeptic. wright brothers? more like, yeah right, brothers! get outta here! its not crazy. its a scramble. just crack an egg. do you ...

Your kids hoopla. its not natural. show me one place in the bible where a kid talks. >> we want to be able to laugh about sex for the same reason we want to be able to laugh about anything that scares us or disturbs us. >> so im sure youve had sex with my mother. which is fine. >> oh, my god. >> but are you using protection? >> and it took a long time. but sitcoms really opened the door for us being able to tell stories about sex and laugh at them. without "threes company" you dont perhaps get "...

>> id like to begin with a fact. a simple, yet shocking, fact. it is this. homosexuals, lesbians, are threatening to pervert an entire generation of our american children. >> the history of lgbtq characters in sitcoms is, actually, very similar to the history of lgbtq people in america. they were always there. they just had to be hidden. >> theres the understatement of the century. >> with paul lind on bewitched, we had that cliche. >> dont you get it, dumb dumb? >> and on beverly hillbillies wa...

Nbc, and nbc was really sold on these quirky workplace sitcoms. ♪ >> with "30 rock" i wanted to see how far we could push a premise that you can trace back to "mary tyler moore." and the first version of it i pitched was set in a news environment. and nbc passed on it and said no, write more of what you know. >> we were there at "30 rock" we were there at "snl." we knew what went on in the office. >> lets get into the first commercial parody. we were trying to think of a funnier cereal name. t...