Page 68 - Sitcoms News Today

Normal american life. but it took awhile to be reflected in sitcoms. ♪ the brady bunch ♪ >> "the brady bunch" is the story of two separate families being glued together. >> a man with three boys, a woman with three girls. the man would be a widower and the woman divorced. but divorce was a taboo topic on television, so they said, lets just leave it so you dont know. >> hey what are you yelling about, huh? >> she stole our ball. >> im just trying to find out what they did with my scuba boards...

The air, we did have other black family sitcoms to fill that void. and one of them was the "fresh prince," which was another version of aspirational black family wealth. >> i didnt know there were so many brothers living in this neighborhood. we doing all right, huh? >> fox was one of the first networks that really took risk with black sitcoms that had minority people that were very much part of the writing and the creation of it. >> i think its vital that people of color write their own stories...

Laughter is a wonderful place to go for forgetting your troubles and woes. >> sitcoms are an escape. the more dire the circumstances, the more you need sitcoms to forget about your troubles. >> were going to the good place in a freaking gold balloon! >> shotgun! >> thats what we had. thats what helped me escape being poor. [ applause ] >> everything single one of you is a good person. >> when im feeling kind of hopeless and sad, i get to laugh and lose myself and remember lifes not that bad. >> ...

>> well, we just got to face it. 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 ...

>> hes not my 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, have to find some way to make it new. >> kids, im going tell you an incredible story. >> the premise of "how i met your mother" is a grown man telling his children the story of how he met their mother. >> it was way back in 2005. i was 27, just ...

Hey, pops, how come you never gave me the talk? >> i most certainly did. what do you think that box of condoms i left in your bedroom was about? >> that was it? >> oh, you wanted a hug too? >> the american people are collectively a little bit conservative when it comes to issues of sex. >> dont get all caught up in this "having open dialogue with 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 ...

>> we like to think of ourselves as a classless society. and in post-war america, that was more true than ever. but at the same time, there are all of these little tells. theres obviously your job. what kind of house you live in. what kind of clothes you wear. what kind of car you drive. >> hey, gomer! >> hey, ope! >> but one of the biggest tells for class was actually a southern accent. >> can i use your hose? >> [ southern accent ] help yourself. water in theres free. we do make a charge for g...

>> a lot of these outsider characters, they were just a sidekick of sorts, but once you start to get into the 90s, geeks are becoming more and more part of the national conversation. ♪ i dont give a damn about my reputation ♪ ♪ living in the past ♪ >> "freaks and geeks" is a pushback against the cookie-cutter characters and the typical teen sitcoms of that era. >> im sick of being called a geek. i mean, whats so geeky about us anyway? were just guys. >> gentlemen, good news, new "dungeon...

>> dont try to, its bigger than both of us. >> people just needed to escape and go watch a talking horse. >> come on, mom, cut it out. >> not until you call the police. >> "my mother the car" with this guys car was haunted. i dont know why his mother was haunting a car. >> is that about a car? and its a mother? [ laughs ] what the hell? >> "the flying nun" was probably the silliest show ever made. >> i suppose thats true in a way. >> i wanted to be a nun when i grew up. >> hey, i think im gettin...

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" is a brilliant half hour of television. >> i loved "seinfeld" >> "seinfeld". >> "seinfeld". >> you come to expect their dickishness. >> alright! >> "seinfeld". oh, my gosh. >> "seinfel...