The Sitcom Reader: America Re-viewed, Still Skewed

414 Pages·2016·5.362 MB·English

by  Mary M. Dalton, Laura R. Linder, (eds.)

THE SITCOM READER

Second Edition
THE
SITCOM
READER
America Re-viewed, Still Skewed
Edited by
Mary M. Dalton and Laura R. Linder
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2016 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic,
magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior
permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production, Eileen Nizer
Marketing, Anne M. Valentine
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The sitcom reader : America re-viewed, still skewed / edited by Mary M. Dalton and
Laura R. Linder. — Second edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4384-6131-1 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4384-6130-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4384-6132-8 (e-book)
1. Radio comedies—United States—History and criticism. I. Dalton, Mary M.,
1962– editor. II. Linder, Laura R., editor.
PN1991.8.C65S57 2016
791.45'617—dc23 2015030787
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For everyone who makes me think and laugh at the same time.
—MMD
For my super-smart granddaughters, Taylor and Kate.
—LRL

Contents
List of Illustrations xi
Introduction xv
1. Origins of the Genre: In Search of the Radio Sitcom 1
David Marc
THE 1950s 13
2. Who Rules the Roost?: Sitcom Family Dynamics from the
Cleavers to Modern Family 17
Judy Kutulas
3. I Love Lucy: Television and Gender in Postwar Domestic
Ideology 31
Lori Landay
4. To the Moon! Working-Class Masculinity in The Honeymooners 43
Steven T. Sheehan
THE 1960s 55
5. The Rural Sitcom from The Real McCoys to Relevance 59
Rick Worland and John O’Leary
6. The 1960s Magicoms: Safety in Numb-ers 75
Gary Kenton
viii | Contents
7. Negotiated Boundaries: Production Practices and the
Making of Representation in Julia 91
Demetria Rougeaux Shabazz
THE 1970s 105
8. The Norman Lear Sitcoms and the 1970s 107
Gerard Jones
9. Liberated Women and New Sensitive Men: Reconstructing
Gender in 1970s Workplace Comedies 121
Judy Kutulas
10. “Who’s in Charge Here?” Views of Media Ownership in
Situation Comedies 133
Paul R. Kohl
THE 1980s 145
11. The Cosby Show: Recoding Ethnicity and Masculinity within
the Television Text 149
Michael Real and Lauren Bratslavsky
12. Roseanne, Roseanne, Reality, and Domestic Comedy 165
Susan McLeland
13. Cheers: Searching for the Ideal Public Sphere in the Ideal
Public House 177
Robert S. Brown
THE 1990s 185
14. Seinfeld: The Transcendence of the Quotidian 189
Albert Auster
15. Cybill: Privileging Liberal Feminism in Daily Sitcom Life 199
Laura R. Linder and Mary M. Dalton
Contents | ix
16. Talking Sex: Comparison Shopping through Female
Conversation in HBO’s Sex and the City 217
Sharon Marie Ross
THE 2000s 231
17. “It’s Just a Bunch of Stuff that Happened”: The Simpsons
and the Possibility of Postmodern Comedy 235
H. Peter Steeves
18. Breaking and Entering: Transgressive Comedy on Television 247
Michael V. Tueth
19. Sealed with a Kiss: Heteronormative Narrative Strategies in
NBC’s Will & Grace 259
Denis M. Provencher
THE 2010s 273
20. The Hidden Truths in Contemporary Black Sitcoms 279
Robin R. Means Coleman, Charlton D. McIlwain, and
Jessica Moore Matthews
21. Disability and Sitcoms: A Legit Analysis 295
James Schultz
22. Transparent Family Values: Unmasking Sitcom Myths of
Gender, Sex(uality), and Money 305
Maria San Filippo
Conclusion: The Evolving, Resilient Sitcom: Sitcoms are Not Dead! 319
Bibliography 323
List of Contributors 345
Index 349