by Sam H.
When people think of iconic contemporary sitcoms, the first ones that pop up frequently are The Office, Parks and Recreation, The Good Place, New Girl, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, sitcoms that are mainly centered around a central romance between the two main characters. A large majority of sitcoms follow this trend, such as Superstore and Abbott Elementary, and there are even some sitcoms that seem like they might be leading up to a romance (arguably What We Do in The Shadows). How the main relationship progresses has become a common marker for people to refer to the ongoing storylines in the sitcom. For example, people will often say “X character and Y character don’t get together for another 3 seasons” instead of talking about other storylines the sitcoms may have, mainly because the relationship is seen as so central to the sitcom that the main story becomes that romance. But is this the most sustainable format for sitcoms?
There has also been a common trend of sitcoms centering around family. Some great examples include Arrested Development, Home Economics, Fresh Off the Boat, and Kim’s Convenience. One sitcom that could be argued to be a family sitcom is It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but it could be argued that the sitcom falls into the found family category. The found family category, referring to a group of friends who have become so close that they’re like family to one another, is my personal favorite category of sitcoms. Arguably, this could encompass sitcoms with romantic relationships as many of the sitcoms mentioned at the start are sitcoms that feature a large group of close friends who treat each other like family.
However, if we’re talking about sitcoms with found family with the exclusion of a relationship between the two main characters, there are plenty of sitcoms that fall into that category, such as Veep, Silicon Valley, Seinfeld, and Community. While there are romantic relationships featured in the show occasionally, they aren’t the main focus of the show. TV show genres have even evolved to the point where sitcoms aren’t expected to focus on stories because there are other shows that are comedy adjacent or are even referred to as dramedies that have become story-centered shows that still include comedic material and moments. Examples include Hacks, Reservation Dogs, Insecure, and Atlanta.
There isn’t anything wrong with a sitcom centering around a relationship, but the fact that the premise of storylines in popular sitcoms is often reduced to one main relationship points to the fact that perceiving the sitcom through the lens of a relationship is the easiest way to compartmentalize a multi-season long story. Of course, every sitcom approaches relationships between characters differently, but for many sitcoms, the initial will-they-won’t-they phase tends to last the longest, often including tropes related to jealousy and pining. But the issue is that it’s difficult to keep the relationship interesting once they actually start dating, so many shows turn to the option of letting the characters get married. These relationship patterns are very common in sitcoms, and the simple explanation for this is that it’s comforting. For a lot of people, relationships, especially romantic ones, is a difficult topic to deal with, and having a sitcom address this topic in a simple way makes it easier to deal with. This is the same reason why some people might prefer watching family sitcoms or found family sitcoms and find those more comforting.
So, long answer short, sitcoms have sustainable formats outside of centering around relationships, but if people want to turn off their brains and enjoy the monotonous but familiar cycle of sitcom relationships, who’s to judge?
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