History
The terms "situation comedy" or "sitcom" were not commonly used until the 1950s. There were prior examples on radio, but the first television sitcom is said to be ''Pinwright's Progress'', ten episodes being broadcast on the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC in the United Kingdom between 1946 and 1947. In the United States, director and producer William Asher has been credited with being the "man who invented the sitcom","William Asher – The Man Who Invented the Sitcom"By country
Australia
There have been few long-running Australian-made sitcoms, but many US and UK sitcoms have been successful there. Sitcoms are a staple of government broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC); in the 1970s and 1980s many UK sitcoms also screened on the Seven Network. By 1986, UK comedies ''Bless This House (UK TV series), Bless This House'' and ''Are You Being Served?'' had been repeated by ABC Television (Australian TV network), ABC Television several times, and were then acquired and screened by the Seven Network, in prime time.Collier, Shayne. Again and again and again. ''The Sydney Morning Herald – The Guide'': 2 June 1986, p.1, 6Canada
Although there have been a number of notable exceptions, Canadian television networks have generally fared poorly with their sitcom offerings, with relatively few Canadian sitcoms attaining notable success in Canada or internationally."Why do Canadian sitcoms suck?"India
Sitcoms started appearing on Television in India, Indian television in the 1980s, with serials like ''Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi'' (1984) and ''Wagle Ki Duniya'' (1988) on the state-run Doordarshan channel. Gradually, as private channels were allowed, many more sitcoms followed in the 1990s, such as ''Dekh Bhai Dekh'' (1993), ''Zabaan Sambhalke'' (1993), ''Shrimaan Shrimati (TV series), Shrimaan Shrimati'' (1995), ''Office Office'' (2001), Ramani Vs Ramani (2001), ''Amrutham (TV series), Amrutham'' (Telugu 2001–2007), ''Khichdi (2002 TV series), Khichdi'' (2002), ''Sarabhai vs Sarabhai'' (2005) to ''F.I.R. (TV series), F.I.R.'' (2006–2015), ''Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah'' (2008–present), ''Uppum Mulakum'' (Malayalam 2015–present), and ''Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain'' (2015–present). SAB TV is one of the leading channels of India dedicated entirely to Sitcoms. Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah is the longest running sitcom of Indian television and is known as the flagship show of SAB TV.Mexico
''El Chavo del Ocho'', which ran from 1971 to 1980, was the most watched show in the Mexican television and had a Latin American audience of 350 million viewers per episode at its peak of popularity during the mid-1970s. The show continues to be popular in Hispanic America as well as in Brazil, Spain, the United States, and other countries, with Broadcast syndication, syndicated episodes averaging 91 million daily viewers in all of the markets where it is distributed in the Americas. Since it ceased production in 1992, the show has earned an estimated billion in syndication fees alone for Televisa.New Zealand
''Gliding On'', a popular sitcom in New Zealand in the early 1980s, won multiple awards over the course of its run, including Best Comedy, Best Drama and Best Direction at the New Zealand film and television awards, Feltex Awards.Russia
The first Russian sitcom series was "Strawberry" (resembled "Duty Pharmacy" in Spanish format), which was aired in 1996–1997 on the Rossiya 1, RTR channel. However, the "boom" of Russian sitcoms began only in the 2000s — when in 2004, the STS (TV channel), STS started very successful sitcom "My Fair Nanny (Russian TV series), My Fair Nanny" (an adaptation of the American sitcom "The Nanny"). Since that time sitcoms in Russia were produced by the two largest entertainment channels of the country — STS (TV channel), STS and TNT (Russian TV channel), TNT. In 2007 the STS released the first original domestic sitcom — "Daddy's Daughters" (there were only adaptation before), and in 2010 TNT released "Interns (sitcom)" — the first sitcom, filmed as a comedy (unlike dominated "conveyor" sitcoms).United Kingdom
Although styles of sitcom have changed over the years they tend to be based on a family, workplace or other institution, where the same group of contrasting characters is brought together in each episode. British sitcoms are typically produced in one or more series of six episodes. Most such series are conceived and developed by one or two writers. The majority of British sitcoms are 30 minutes long and are recorded on studio sets in a multiple-camera setup. A subset of British comedy consciously avoids traditional situation comedy themes and storylines to branch out into more unusual topics or narrative methods. ''Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and ''Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister'' (1980–1988, 2013) moved what is often a domestic or workplace genre into the corridors of power. A later development was the mockumentary in such series as ''The Office (UK TV series), The Office'' (2001–2003, 2013). Also coming of age in such series as ''The Inbetweeners'' (2008-2010).United States
The sitcom format was born in January 1926 with the initial broadcast of ''Sam 'n' Henry'' on WGN (AM), WGN radio in Chicago, Illinois. The 15-minute daily program was revamped in 1928, moved to another station, renamed ''Amos 'n' Andy'', and became one of the most successful sitcoms of the period. It was also one of the earliest examples of radio syndication. In 1947, the first American television sitcom, ''Mary Kay and Johnny'', debuted. Since that time, many of the most watched shows in the US have been sitcoms. American sitcoms are generally written to run a total of 22 minutes in length, leaving eight minutes for television advertisement, advertisements in a 30 minute timeslot. Some popular British shows have been successfully adapted for the US.Iran
''On Tiptoes'' and ''Shabhaye Barareh'' They were among the first and most important sitcoms that led to the growth of this type of comedy in Iran,the idea of making On Tiptoes was borrowed from the series ''Friends''See also
* Black sitcom * List of situation comedies, List of sitcoms *Animated sitcomReferences
Further reading
* Lewisohn, Mark (2003) ''Radio Times' Guide to TV Comedy''. 2nd Ed. Revised – BBC Consumer Publishing. , Provides details of every comedy show ever seen on British television, including imports. * Padva, Gilad (2005) Desired Bodies and Queer Masculinities in Three Popular TV Sitcoms. In Lorek-Jezinska, Edyta and Wieckowska, Katarzyna (Eds.), ''Corporeal Inscriptions: Representations of the Body in Cultural and Homosexual Literature '' (pp. 127–138). Torun, Poland: Nicholas Copernicus University Press. * ''Asplin, Richard'' (2004) ''Gagged – A Thriller With Jokes'' – Arrow books. is a contemporary comic thriller set in London and Los Angeles that covers the financing, production, creation, ratings and marketing of a modern American network half-hour situation comedy * * * * * * Starman, Ray "The Sitcom Class Wars:20th Century". (2014) The Troy Bookmakers, Troy NY. History and analysis of 60 classic American sitcoms. Also includes glossary for easy access. Photos for every program.External links