Ten years ago, television was filled with sitcoms. Any situation from community college to a small town’s parks and recreation department was given a motley crew to represent it. But today, despite the quantity of content, the comedy genre is desolate.
Compared to the ever-growing trend of straight-to-streaming dramedies, “Abbott Elementary” feels like a breath of fresh air. The show, which follows a group of teachers in an underfunded district, appeals to the stereotypical sitcom format instead of trying to break the conventions. Its success questions what modern audiences really want out of a show. Maybe all we need is a good laugh.
Audience interaction is generally the reason shows get renewed. The more people are watching, the more likely it gets another season, meaning shows hinge on audience enjoyment. If the viewer finds enough issues in the show, they will stop watching it.
Traditionally, creators are able to gauge audience opinions on the show. If they notice enough issues piling up, they will remove what they can before all episodes are released. This irons out the show, giving the audience what they want and allowing the show to continue.
But if the show is direct to streaming, there is no dialogue. Any critique comes after the season is released, which means the flaws cannot be amended. Shows that have potential get canceled because they lack the necessary audience input. To avoid the potential financial loss of releasing a show in its entirety only for it to fail, streaming services cut down the episode count.
Sitcoms struggle in a streaming format. The standard sitcom runs for roughly nine months a year, generating around 20 episodes, each 20-some minutes. Shorter episodes keep a sitcom cohesive — it opens with a conflict, and for the final 15 minutes, we follow the characters working to get themselves out of it. Because they are so short, the tone can stay light and comedic, making them easily consumable. It ensures that the issue presented never gets too dramatic because it has to be wrapped up quickly.
But with added episode length, the problem presented needs to be elevated to fill the time. This leads to what might have been a traditional sitcom becoming a dramedy.
Furthermore, good sitcoms take time to develop. “The Office,” one of the most successful shows of all time, made major improvements to characters that took years to achieve. Michael Scott, the show’s lead, is introduced as obnoxious, insensitive and arrogant. But throughout seven years, Scott slowly improves.
The show added exposition: Scott’s desire to be loved makes him take things too far, showing him as a deeply lonely person who overcompensates with insensitive humor. And as he finds love, we see him become a kinder person.
Since the show explored Scott’s character arc across the years, his development is gradual and earnest. We see him stumble in his attempts to change, realistically falling back into his old ways but eventually bettering himself. If “The Office” was created for streaming, this depth likely would have been removed. Scott’s arc would have been sped up to fit the narrow requirements streaming shows must abide by. Anything that does not directly serve the plot is cut, depriving characters of necessary progression.
When a show is released throughout the months, the anticipation around it grows. However, if all episodes are dropped at once, the excitement quickly dissipates. The viewer feels pressured to binge the show because the only way to avoid spoilers and participate in the conversation is to watch every episode at once.
This experience feels gluttonous. Instead of savoring the show’s craftsmanship, you are encouraged to gorge yourself on it.
Sitcoms have been a staple in television for decades. They offer a 20-minute release where audiences are not reminded of the outside world’s problems. Not every show needs to be ingenious; sometimes, our entertainment should be just entertaining.
