Sitcoms in the United States

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Situation comedies, or sitcoms, have long been a popular genre of comedy in the US, initially on radio in the 1920s, and then on television beginning in the 1940s. A sitcom is defined as a television series featuring a recurring cast of characters in various successive comedic situations.[1]

The first sitcom was the radio show Sam 'n' Henry, which had evolved into Amos 'n' Andy by 1928. Mary Kay and Johnny, the first American TV sitcom, premiered in 1947, and by the 1950s, I Love Lucy was leading TV viewership. Since that time, sitcoms such as The Beverly Hillbillies, Bewitched, All in the Family, Cheers, The Cosby Show, Seinfeld, and Friends have each been the highest annual rated TV series in the US for at least one season.

Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll of Amos 'n' Andy in 1929

The sitcom format was born in January 1926 with the initial broadcast of Sam 'n' Henry on WGN radio in Chicago, Illinois.[2] The 15-minute daily program was revamped in 1928, moved to another station, renamed Amos 'n' Andy, and became one of the most successful sitcoms of the period. It was also one of the earliest examples of radio syndication. Like many radio programs of the time, the two programs continued the American entertainment traditions of vaudeville and the minstrel show. Early sitcoms took the forms of recurring comedy sketches with running characters, which on national network shows often took the form of a broader variety show with vocal and instrumental music performances padding out a half-hour time slot.

The Jack Benny Program, a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades, is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th-century American comedy.[3]

Fibber McGee and Molly was one of radio's most popular sitcoms of the 1940s.[4] The weekly half-hour domestic sitcom starring real-life husband and wife Jim Jordan and Marian Driscoll ran from 1935 to 1956 on NBC.

Television

See also

References

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