The Sitcom Reader: America Re-viewed, Still Skewed PDF
Preview The Sitcom Reader: America Re-viewed, Still Skewed
THE SITCOM READER Second Edition THE SITCOM READER America Re-viewed, Still Skewed Edited by Mary M. Dalton and Laura R. Linder Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 2016 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu Production, Eileen Nizer Marketing, Anne M. Valentine Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The sitcom reader : America re-viewed, still skewed / edited by Mary M. Dalton and Laura R. Linder. — Second edition. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4384-6131-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4384-6130-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4384-6132-8 (e-book) 1. Radio comedies—United States—History and criticism. I. Dalton, Mary M., 1962– editor. II. Linder, Laura R., editor. PN1991.8.C65S57 2016 791.45'617—dc23 2015030787 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For everyone who makes me think and laugh at the same time. —MMD For my super-smart granddaughters, Taylor and Kate. —LRL Contents List of Illustrations xi Introduction xv 1. Origins of the Genre: In Search of the Radio Sitcom 1 David Marc THE 1950s 13 2. Who Rules the Roost?: Sitcom Family Dynamics from the Cleavers to Modern Family 17 Judy Kutulas 3. I Love Lucy: Television and Gender in Postwar Domestic Ideology 31 Lori Landay 4. To the Moon! Working-Class Masculinity in The Honeymooners 43 Steven T. Sheehan THE 1960s 55 5. The Rural Sitcom from The Real McCoys to Relevance 59 Rick Worland and John O’Leary 6. The 1960s Magicoms: Safety in Numb-ers 75 Gary Kenton viii | Contents 7. Negotiated Boundaries: Production Practices and the Making of Representation in Julia 91 Demetria Rougeaux Shabazz THE 1970s 105 8. The Norman Lear Sitcoms and the 1970s 107 Gerard Jones 9. Liberated Women and New Sensitive Men: Reconstructing Gender in 1970s Workplace Comedies 121 Judy Kutulas 10. “Who’s in Charge Here?” Views of Media Ownership in Situation Comedies 133 Paul R. Kohl THE 1980s 145 11. The Cosby Show: Recoding Ethnicity and Masculinity within the Television Text 149 Michael Real and Lauren Bratslavsky 12. Roseanne, Roseanne, Reality, and Domestic Comedy 165 Susan McLeland 13. Cheers: Searching for the Ideal Public Sphere in the Ideal Public House 177 Robert S. Brown THE 1990s 185 14. Seinfeld: The Transcendence of the Quotidian 189 Albert Auster 15. Cybill: Privileging Liberal Feminism in Daily Sitcom Life 199 Laura R. Linder and Mary M. Dalton Contents | ix 16. Talking Sex: Comparison Shopping through Female Conversation in HBO’s Sex and the City 217 Sharon Marie Ross THE 2000s 231 17. “It’s Just a Bunch of Stuff that Happened”: The Simpsons and the Possibility of Postmodern Comedy 235 H. Peter Steeves 18. Breaking and Entering: Transgressive Comedy on Television 247 Michael V. Tueth 19. Sealed with a Kiss: Heteronormative Narrative Strategies in NBC’s Will & Grace 259 Denis M. Provencher THE 2010s 273 20. The Hidden Truths in Contemporary Black Sitcoms 279 Robin R. Means Coleman, Charlton D. McIlwain, and Jessica Moore Matthews 21. Disability and Sitcoms: A Legit Analysis 295 James Schultz 22. Transparent Family Values: Unmasking Sitcom Myths of Gender, Sex(uality), and Money 305 Maria San Filippo Conclusion: The Evolving, Resilient Sitcom: Sitcoms are Not Dead! 319 Bibliography 323 List of Contributors 345 Index 349
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