Life Is Not a Sitcom

What situation comedy defines your era? I grew up on I Love Lucy, with Lucille Ball, Desi Arnez, William Frawley, and Vivian Vance. Which of the following were your favorites: Father Knows Best, The Andy Griffith Show, the Dick van Dyke Show, the Brady Bunch, the Mary Tyler Moore Show, All in the Family, Good Times, Happy Days, Cheers, Taxi, The Cosby Show, Friends, Frasier, Home Improvement, Roseanne, Married with Children, The Simpsons, Scrubs, the Office, South Park. And, of course, there are dozens of others.

Most situation comedies followed a basic formula. In a simple plot, a problem arises that is more amusing than serious, at least to the audience. Problems come one at a time in situation comedies, or to each character one at a time. Somehow the problem is solved in an amusing and/or surprising way. In the Cosby Show of the 1980's, for example, Cliff Huxtable's wit, wisdom, or whatever always saw whichever kid through whatever predicament. Even in the later, more edgy, rougher sitcoms, some sort of resolution or closure ends the episode. In South Park, for example, if Kenny gets killed in this episode, he'll be back in the next one.

Maybe we like sitcoms so much because we wish our lives were like that - lightweight problems more amusing than threatening, problems coming one at a time in an orderly fashion, and entertaining solutions before everybody has a good laugh and the credits roll. Some even think that if God really liked us he give us a life like that, or that those who have lives like that are the ones God likes the best? Do you know anyone who has a life like that? It's not me.

So do you think God promises us a sitcom life or owes us that? More on this in a post on Sunday. I'll see you around the next bend in the river.