The new Horizons of Television Comedy in the 21st Century

Authors

  • Joseba Bonaut Iriarte San Jorge University
  • María del Mar Grandío Pérez San Antonio de Murcia Catholic University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4185/10.4185/RLCS-64-2009-859-753-765

Keywords:

Sitcom, new television comedy, USA, UK, Arrested Development, Extras

Abstract

The situation comedy or sitcom has always been considered one of the most classic television genres. Its narrative structure and the way of production have not changed substantially from its origins in the decade of the 50s.  When Seinfield (NBC, 1990-1998), Frasier (NBC, 1993-2004) and Friends (NBC, 1994-2004) ended up in the 90s without an immediate generational shift, many critics augured the death of the sitcom. However, that "crisis" encouraged a new kind of television comedy that has revitalized the genre at present times. The audience solidly, while not massively, supports these comedies and the critics greatly admire them. Therefore these TV series are undoubtedly the springboard that will mark the path of TV comedy in this 21st century.

This article points out the main characteristics of these new television comedies. There is an analysis of the first season of Arrested Development (FOX, 2003-2006)and Extras (BBC-HBO, 2005-2007). The characteristics include fiction-reality content, cinematic influence, documentary style, eccentric protagonist portrayal and an absurd humor.

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Author Biographies

Joseba Bonaut Iriarte, San Jorge University

He is a professor of History of Audiovisual Media and Director of the Degree in Audiovisual Communication at the San Jorge University (Zaragoza, Spain).

His main areas of research are the study of the evolution of television fiction formats (especially in the British and American markets), the relationship of necessity between television and sport (Mediasport) and the cinematographic phenomenon of The Lord of the Rings .

He wrote numerous publications in Spain and abroad, and in 2008 he received the First Prize for Research from the Catalan Audiovisual Council (CAC). In 2009 he published two books on the relationship between television and sport in Spain: Television and sport.

Origin and development of Spanish sports programming (1956-1975) [ISBN: 978-1-59754-504-4] and Televisión y deporte. Sports programming in the democratic era: the prelude to television competition (1976-1988) [ISBN: 978-1-59754-514-3].

María del Mar Grandío Pérez, San Antonio de Murcia Catholic University

Graduated in Audiovisual Communication and PhD in Communication from the University of Navarra.   Extraordinary Doctorate Award 2006-2007 with a doctoral thesis on the television series Friends.   Since 2006, she has been a professor in the Department of Communication at the Catholic University of Murcia.   She has done study and research stays at The University of Missouri-Columbia (2000-2001), The University of California Los Angeles (2004) and The University of Wales-Aberystwyth (2005).   She is the author of the book Audience, fan phenomenon and television fiction and a collaborator in the works The Ready Box: North American Cult Television (Laertes, 2007), Watching the Lord of the Rings. Tolkien’s World Audiences (Peter Lang, 2008), Television Series (Eiunsa, 2008) and Creating, producing and selling TV shows. The case of the most important dramedies in Spain.

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Published

2009-05-04

How to Cite

Bonaut Iriarte, Joseba, and María del Mar Grandío Pérez. 2009. “The new Horizons of Television Comedy in the 21st Century”. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, no. 64 (May):753-65. https://doi.org/10.4185/10.4185/RLCS-64-2009-859-753-765.

Issue

No. 64 (2009)

Section

Miscellaneous
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