Page 55 - Sitcoms News Today

♪ in 1970, cbs is trying to change their landscape. they had all these rural family sitcoms. they were looking for more sophisticated sitcoms. >> after abc declined to move forward with the "all in the family" pilot, norman lear made the decision to move the show over to cbs. >> they said, yes, but you need a new set of kids. so rob reiner and i were the third set of children for archie and edith bunker. >> so i made the pilot for the third time. same script. i wouldnt change a word. >> so l...

>> oh. >> hey, girls. knock yourselves out. im really sorry, it was a slip of the fingers, slip of the fingers. >> its a fantasy of what teen life could be. >> hey, dafazio. theyre here. all right. laverne. this is laverne dafazio. shes mine. this is shirley feeney. shes yours. as you can see. >> nice to meet you, ritchie. >> my pleasure. >> when "laverne & shirley" made a guest appearance, one of the cameramen said, look at this two shot. thats a series. >> shamele, shamozle -- hossenfere incor...

As if we didnt all come from a pregnant woman. >> and in the 60s, sitcoms were still stuck in perpetuating this 1950s suburban housewife mentality. but then its this really interesting dynamic where you see tv trying to address the gender war that was coming. >> i definitely think i dream of jeannie is an escape for many people. >> i could eat a horse. >> you know. shes this entity whos trying to do the best she can in the world that shes come into. >> thou may ask anything of thy slave, master....

>> they were very different from other sitcom families, from the point that we were urban. trying to survive on the south side of chicago with a dad that has spotty job situations. >> its a cold world out there, and we cant change it. >> maybe we cant change it, james, but we sure cant let it change us. >> "good times" was not only to show the problems but to show the love of a minority family. >> were staying in the used car lot of love. >> in 20 years we only turned out one clunker. >> the ide...

>> im out. >> what? >> yeah, im out. im out of the contest. >> ugly naked guy is having thanksgiving dinner with ugly naked gal. >> "friends "or "seinfeld," you want me to choose? >> i cant answer that. its so subjective. >> challenge accepted. >> contest. a contest? >> "seinfeld" will win, i think. >> giddy up. >> "seinfeld" was smart. >> "seinfeld" was a brilliant half hour of television. >> i loved "seinfeld." >> "seinfeld". >> "seinfeld". >> you come to expect their dickishness. >> all right...

>> one of the reasons, i think, that "the conners" works in, like, the 2010s is because income disparity is an even bigger deal now than it was in the 1990s. >> i am completely financially unprepared to have a baby. im screwed. >> the conners themselves are still dealing with the same issues of a blue-collar family living smack dab right inside the american dream. >> look how much money youre saving by not drinking while youre pregnant, whats that? >> theyre not cognizant of it, and i think peop...

Friend, i would take my bare hands and pop your head off your neck. >> its not the best friend. >> "curb your enthusiasm" came about at a time when sitcoms of the 90s had somewhat worn out their welcome because there had been a glut of them. >> in the wake of "friends" ending, this juggernaut for nbc networks obviously had to find some way to make it new. >> kids, im going to tell you an incredible story. >> the premise of "how i met your mother" is a grown man telling his children the story of ...

Just have to cut down, cut out this high living. >> "the honeymooners" was an example of the idea of class and struggle and what it was like to be a family who didnt have a lot. >> you dont know how to handle money! >> of course i dont, i never had any practice. >> these were people born with blue collars. >> lower middle-class people that could do regular things but didnt have a lot of money. >> in the 1950s, you had a major push to move out to suburbia. >> and consumerism -- you have all these...

Nothing like that has ever happened to me, and ive done some pretty suspicious things in the street. >> hey, hey, there, what are you doing? >> im just playing a prank on my buddy. >> sounds fun. carry on. >> after the re-election of president obama, there is no longer much room for hope in politics as much as there was division, which meant it was the perfect time for a show like "veep." >> i cannot [ bleep ] believe how terrible you are at your job. what are you, running on a platform of highe...

To make fun of the rich, sort of, you know, expose them for everyone to see. >> luce, that coat costs more than your house. oh, thats how we joke. she doesnt even have a house. >> because a lot of really wealthy people have gotten in their positions by stepping on working-class people. >> im sorry, we cant afford to live lavishly anymore. drink your milk. >> its lumpy. >> then chew it. >> by the 21st century, americas shaky economy begins to shrink the middle class, and we see that represented i...