Blockbuster TV: Must-See Sitcoms in the Network Era

Epilogue: Some Final Observations

Epilogue: Some Final Observations At the beginning of chapter 1, I noted that Sigmund Freud be­ lieved that two reasons existed to study jokes: one was that all mental happenings are connected, the other that a joke passes from person to person like the “news of the latest victory.” Reasons to understand the very popular (and not popular) television sitcom seem the same. Whether the very popular, blockbuster series takes a while to build or whether it starts off very strong and then becomes even stronger, public dis­ cussion has to be a major part of what attracts the audience’s attention and eventually focuses it on that program. Surrogate consumers in the forms of publicity machines from the net­ works, critical response in the paper, and public discussion around a series help carry the news to the potential audience. Yet the audiences themselves also form “news” that goes back to the critics and networks in the shape of Nielsen ratings, au­ dience analysis, news stories, and ad hoc observations. Why some types of humor and joking captivate major seg­ ments of the population at particular times is not answered by this study. Yet, I would argue that this study does suggest gen­ eralizations about both what has not been consistent among the blockbusters series and what has been. One of the variables for these sitcoms is the type of humor, comedy, or joke structure. As I have discussed, the comedy in The Beverly Hillbillies works through puns and situational misunderstandings created by cultural differences between the Clampetts and Beverly Hills people. All in the Family, 160 Epilogue / 161 however, operates via tendentious joke structures in which Archie is generally the butt of the joke. (I would predict that a study surveying individuals aligned with Archie versus those associating themselves with Michael would produce conclu­ sions that the jokes were in radically different places.) Lav­ erne & Shirley and The Cosby Show use visual reactions by characters and situational misunderstandings among family members or friends for their major comic address. Comedic identification operates differently for these two programs: for Laverne & Shirley, identification by the viewer with the char­ acters should produce embarrassment and reconciliation; for The Cosby Show, the response solicited by the text is usually empathic recognition. The humor, comedy, and joking are both character­ and sit­ uation­based for the programs, but the franchises treat their characters quite differently. While character transformation is a sensitive decision for producers (changing characters will in­ variably alter the situational play—see the case of Happy Days), it is easier to tinker with minor characters than major ones. Thus, Edith becomes less of a dingbat over the course of the show, and her departure provoked a heightening of the “lovable” features of Archie. The Huxtable children also de­ velop both in complexity and personality through the series. In general, however, the other main characters remain fairly consistent through the series. Character causality is also variable among the programs. In The Beverly Hillbillies, All in the Family, and Laverne & Shirley several individuals may take actions which will catch up other characters in the situations. However, although this nonfocused agency is possible in The Cosby Show, the plot Epilogue / 162 impact of the events all center on Cliff’s response; thus, every­ one else in the show becomes a subsidiary character within a hierarchy rather than an ensemble such as exists in the other three programs. The degree of verisimilitude among the programs differs as well. Both The Beverly Hillbillies and Laverne & Shirley start plots off with credible premises but delight in taking those foundations to absurd conclusions through heightening mis­ understandings. (I always have the desire to say to the char­ acters that they just need to talk to each other and everything would be clarified—but, of course, there would go the plot!) All in the Family and The Cosby Show use the everyday as the basis for working around and through common family inter­ actions. Always grounded in the real, these programs investi­ gate the consequences of disjunction but seldom if ever be­ come surreal, as is usually the case for The Beverly Hillbillies and Laverne & Shirley. The question of comedic, character, and verisimilitude structures and of the types of emotional responses as a reac­ tion to those structures introduces the difficult textual hy­ pothesis about address and ideology. In the ideal response (from the point...