Television comedy has, over the course of its illustrious history, both reflected and critiqued American society in many unique ways. From Lucille Ball to Roseanne Barr, from Bill Cosby to Jerry Seinfeld, and from Sacha Baron-Cohens Ali G to Sacha Baron-Cohens Borat, comedians and comedy have allowed us the opportunity to look with fresh eyes at our own lives and at the lives of others-and have even come to alter what we view as stereotypically American over the years. Comedy remains televisions dominant genre because it embraces all aspects of American life, offering up a commentary on nationalities, customs, issues, and contemporary obsessions. Ron Simon's new work examines how the styles and archetypes of TV comedy have evolved over fifty years to accommodate and reflect changes in American values, and how this comedy has intersected with the culture.
Television comedy has, over the course of its illustrious history, both reflected and critiqued American society in many unique ways. From Lucille Ball to Roseanne Barr, from Bill Cosby to Jerry Seinfeld, and from Sacha Baron-Cohens Ali G to Sacha Baron-Cohens Borat, comedians and comedy have allowed us the opportunity to look with fresh eyes at our own lives and at the lives of others-and have even come to alter what we view as stereotypically American over the years. Comedy remains televisions dominant genre because it embraces all aspects of American life, offering up a commentary on nationalities, customs, issues, and contemporary obsessions. Ron Simon's new work examines how the styles and archetypes of TV comedy have evolved over fifty years to accommodate and reflect changes in American values, and how this comedy has intersected with the culture.
All of television comedys most enduring and successful programs, as well as some of the more obscure works, are represented here, with due attention given to both style and content. Simons work features dozens of new interviews with television creators and performers, putting shows from ^II Love Lucy^R and ^IYour Show of Shows^R to ^ISex in the City^R and ^IThe Office^R into a new historical and artistic context, and giving readers a deeper understanding of how television comedy gets made, and why it remains so important to us.
- ISBN10 0275984079
- ISBN13 9780275984076
- Publish Date 10 December 2005
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 15 June 2016
- Publish Country US
- Publisher ABC-CLIO
- Imprint Praeger Publishers Inc
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 250
- Language English