272 Pages
by Routledge

272 Pages
by Routledge

272 Pages
by Routledge

In this new Routledge Television Guidebook, Jeremy G. Butler studies our love-hate relationship with the durable sitcom, analyzing the genre’s position as a major media artefact within American culture and providing a historical overview of its evolution in the USA. Everyone loves the sitcom genre; and yet, paradoxically, everyone hates the sitcom, too. This book examines themes of gender,... Read more

Introduction: Comedy Genre, Humor Theory [Modern Family]  1. Understanding the Sitcom  2. A Critical/Cultural History of the Sitcom [I Love Lucy]  3. Comedy, Family, and Small Towns [The Andy Griffith Show]  4. Comedy, Sex, and Gender Identity [Sex and the City]  5. Comedy, Race, Ethnicity, and Religion [Black-ish]  6. Comedy, Televisuality, and Convergence [The Simpsons]

Biography

Jeremy G. Butler is Professor of Creative Media at the University of Alabama. He has published book chapters and articles on the sitcom in Journal of Film and Video and Cinema Journal. He is the author of Television: Visual Storytelling and Screen Culture and Television Style.