How do You Like Your Sitcoms, Single or Multi-Camera?

Kellie Churchman, Section 1

Since the era of I Love Lucy, majority of American sitcoms have always followed the same setup: multi-camera, sound stages, laugh tracks, and wacky characters in normal situations. This style dominated the sitcom genre throughout the later half of the 20th century; however, there have been a couple of exceptions. Although shows like The Wonder Years and Get Smart unitized a single camera setup rather than a multi-camera one, the trend of single camera sitcoms really did not pick up until the 2000s (1). People view these new single camera sitcoms as “more polished, with music, editing, shooting styles, lenses and lighting that all aid in the creation of each show’s particular timing, realism and comedic atmosphere” (2).

Even with the positive aspects of single camera sitcoms, there are still some individuals who believe multi-camera productions are a better way to present a sitcom. For instance, Richardson believes that single camera shows “eliminate all signs of performance... by inserting multiple distancing layers (editing, music, specific camera lenses, etc.) between the viewer and the actor” (3). Richardson goes on to say that she believes actors of multi-camera sitcoms have to rely more on their acting abilities, rather than the writing or editing due to the genre’s theatrical set up. This style, along with the laugh track, produces a more communal environment because the viewer feels more connected with other audience members (4).

Although this is correct, the actor does have to be more talented because of the theatrical set-up in a multi-camera production, this does not make the multi-camera’s way of storying telling superior to single camera. If anything, it cheapens the overall process of the sitcom. If the show only relies on the actors, then the writers, editors, and cinematographers are not held to a higher standard, and this is noticeable in a series.

Sitcoms not being held to a higher standard was evident by the ‘80s. During this time, your typical American sitcom consisted of “joining a family or metaphorical family (Facts of Life, etc.) in the living room or kitchen for mildly serious dilemmas solved by broad punch lines, catch phrases, and an occasional visit from the Wacky Neighbor” (5). Because multi-camera is extremely limited in its setup, there were only so many plots producers could write. And trust me, they wrote them all.

After awhile of the same plotlines, American’s grew comfortable in their viewing habits. They were fine with shows that required little thinking and relied on the same tropes to create their storylines. These people were okay with having laugh tracks and classic “pitch and hit” jokes to guide them when to chuckle. Then things started to shift for the sitcom genre when shows like Community and Arrested Development became popular. These shows started to rely on better writers, cinematographers, and producers to create their shows.

But unlike Richardson’s fears that single camera would cover up the raw talent of the actors, the opposite turned out to be true. Producers such as Dan Harmon (Community) and Ron Howard (Arrested Development) not only hired the best actors for the roles, they also hired actors who had a great “cast chemistry”. Having chemistry with the cast allows an actor to feed off the energy of the other actors, which creates more dynamic scenes.

So where does this leave the sitcom genre? If you look at the most innovative single camera sitcoms, this means having shows that are quick witted. They require time, and sometimes research, to fully understand the humor of that episode. However, you cannot limit an entire genre to just the most groundbreaking shows since there are only a few of them. We need to look at middle ground sitcoms in order to really grasp how single camera shows are changing the sitcom genre.

I consider “middle ground” shows to be: Don't Trust the B--- in Apartment 23, New Girl, and other such shows. These types of shows, when compared to ‘80s and ‘90s sitcoms, are in some respects more innovative than their predecessors but in other ways they are still the same.

One common element that separates these new single camera shows from their multi-camera parts are the characters. Many ‘90s sitcoms utilized the same stereotypes over and over such as: women who party a lot wear trashy clothes, or dorky people are either too cool or really weird, the list goes on. New shows, on the other hand, challenge this. For example, in Don't Trust the B---, Chloe is described as a wild child, she goes out all the time, can get into the most exclusive clubs, and is with a new man each night of the weekend. Instead of degrading or slut-shaming her, the writers paint her as a free spirit, who is dedicated to her friends, and is quite intelligent (even though she uses this intelligence to con money and goods out of people).

In addition to its characters, another aspect new single camera sitcoms have improved on is a more realistic outlook on life in your twenties. In ‘80s and ‘90s sitcoms characters in their twenties are very well off. If they ever face issues with money or losing a job it is only for a couple of episodes and then everything is peachy keen. In newer shows this is brought up quite often and is expressed through many different characters. For example, in New Girl Jess, Nick, and Winston have all dealt with unemployment and have felt confused and worried at one point about their future, which I believe is closer to what most twenty-somethings feel now.

But even with their new approaches to the genre, Don't Trust the B--- and New Girl have slipped back into extremely common tropes such as: “the wacky neighbor”, and everyone from the midwest is super friendly as seen in Don't Trust the B---, or people with no money can live in a big apartment, and the main couple’s friends fall for each other before the main couple does as seen in New Girl.

Overall, the future of the American sitcom genre can go either way. It can start to break down stereotypes and paint a more realistic view on issues American’s have to deal with, or it can fall back into using the same troupes. For now, I believe newer single camera sitcoms will continue to explore new ways of storytelling that makes their audience question and engage more with and outside of the show. Yes, these shows have reused the same tropes, but that will always happen. As long as these shows keep innovating themselves, I believe there is hope for smarter sitcoms in America.

Credit/ sources:

(1) Wikipedia contributors, "List of single-camera situation comedies," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_single-camera_situation_comedies&oldid=563107844 (accessed September 26, 2013).

(2, 3, 4) Richardson. Salon, "The Great Sitcom Divide." Last modified 01 20, 2012. http://www.salon.com/2012/01/21/the_great_sitcom_divide/.

(5) ebrage. Blog Critics, "Sitcom Death and TV Comedy Rebirth: Single-Camera, Multi-Camera, and a Breathtakingly Brief History of Comedy." Last modified 08 19, 2005. http://blogcritics.org/sitcom-death-and-tv-comedy-rebirth/.