History of the Sitcom - Season 1
Season 1
Episodes
A Family Matter
Moms, dads, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters – more than just a hilarious reflection of the people we grow up and old with, sitcoms have opened our hearts to more inclusive visions of what "family" can mean.
Sex & The Sitcom
Since America has long found it easier to laugh about sex than talk seriously about it, sitcom humor has had a critical role ushering in a new era of openness, not just towards sex, but toward women's rights and gender identity.
Just Friends
When Americans look beyond family or work for their identity, the "hanging out with friends" sitcom hilariously redefines the genre while also revealing television's challenging quest for inclusivity and authentic representation.
Working for Laughs
Work families can be even funnier than our biological ones, since the endless array of wacky sitcom characters on the job offers hilarious insights into the state of the American workplace.
Facing Race
In many homes, difficult conversations about race and diversity have first happened on the sitcom screen, helping pave the way for progress with hilarity and laughter.
Movin' On Up
Upward mobility, the American Dream, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps – sitcom laughs have helped generations of Americans come to grips with their place in a supposed "classless" society.
Freaks, Geeks & Outsiders
Aliens, geeks, monsters, immigrants, witches… the fresh perspective of sitcom fish-out-of-water give us funny new insights into the ever-changing face of America.
Escaping Reality
Sitcoms have long been the ultimate comedy comfort food, but what sitcoms offer escape from – and what they offer escape to – reveal a lot about the state of the American mind and the state of sitcom form itself.
Recently Updated Shows
Dept. Q
DCI Carl Morck is a brilliant cop but a terrible colleague. His razor-sharp sarcasm has made him no friends in Edinburgh police. After a shooting that leaves a young PC dead, and his partner paralysed, he finds himself exiled to the basement and the sole member of Department Q; a newly formed cold case unit. The department is a PR stunt, there to distract the public from the failures of an under-resourced, failing police force that is glad to see the back of him. But more by accident than design, Carl starts to build a gang of waifs and strays who have everything to prove. So, when the stone-cold trail of a prominent civil servant who disappeared several years ago starts to heat up, Carl is back doing what he does best - rattling cages and refusing to take no for an answer.
Black Doves
Helen Webb, politician's wife, doting mother, and professional spy, has been passing on her husband's secrets to the Black Doves, the shadowy organization for whom she works. But when her lover Jason is assassinated, Helen's life is turned upside down, and only her old friend Sam Young can keep her safe. But Sam, a suave, champagne-drinking assassin, also has problems of his own. Out of the game, since his last job went wrong, he soon realizes his past is coming back to haunt him. Together, they set off on a mission that will lead them to uncover a vast, interconnected conspiracy. One that links the murky underworld of London to a looming geopolitical crisis — and leads them to question the cost of the moral choices they've made.
Nightsleeper
Time is running out. When hackers send a train hurtling towards death and destruction, can two strangers stop it before it meets its final destination?
My Adventures with Superman
My Adventures with Superman catches up with twenty-somethings Clark Kent, the bright and driven Lois Lane, and their best friend Jimmy Olsen as they begin to discover who they are and everything they can accomplish together as an investigative reporting team at the Daily Planet.