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The Sitcom Reader: America Viewed and Skewed
Offers a variety of perspectives on the sitcom genre and its influence on American culture.
356 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 19, 2017
Well, first off, I'd like to start out with saying that I requested the new edition from my library and I received this one and finished it before I realized it was the wrong one. There's about 12 new chapters in the one, so you can probably just skim the table of contents and pick which essays sound more intriguing and go from there. I'll probably read that one soon.
As with most essay books, especially something that tries cramming the entire social history of television into one book, it gets too broad so what they decide to cover can potentially silence another subgenre or movement. And of course, the essay quality ranges from author to author. This book wasn't a 3, but obviously I can't grade the essays individually, so I'll try grouping the distinct ones. Luckily, most of the pages are less than 15 pages, so you won't waste time on something you don't get.
1 star (as in, I can't even play along with the author's argument): Who's in Charge Here?: Views of Media Ownership in Situation Comedies (an interesting topic, but not really explained clearly), Poofs- Cheesy and Other: Identity Politics as Commodity in South Park (I think talking about LGBT people in adult cartoons and the impact it has on its "bro" middle school audience is an interesting idea, but the way they talked about it here was disappointing. What, South Park is really the only other thing you can put in the LGBT unit? Next.), It's Just a Bunch of Stuff That Happened: The Simpsons and the Possibility of Post Modern Comedy (just a flat out no)
5 star (or close to it)- Ellen: Coming Out and Disappearing, Sealed with a Kiss: Heteronormative Narrative Strategies in NBC's Will and Grace, Segregated Sitcoms: Institutional Causes of Disparity among Black and White Comedy Images and Audiences (This essay talks about the marketing of shows based on race, how shows with minorities are clumped with each other even if they have nothing else in common thematically, and why it discourages more minority shows from being made).
As with most essay books, especially something that tries cramming the entire social history of television into one book, it gets too broad so what they decide to cover can potentially silence another subgenre or movement. And of course, the essay quality ranges from author to author. This book wasn't a 3, but obviously I can't grade the essays individually, so I'll try grouping the distinct ones. Luckily, most of the pages are less than 15 pages, so you won't waste time on something you don't get.
1 star (as in, I can't even play along with the author's argument): Who's in Charge Here?: Views of Media Ownership in Situation Comedies (an interesting topic, but not really explained clearly), Poofs- Cheesy and Other: Identity Politics as Commodity in South Park (I think talking about LGBT people in adult cartoons and the impact it has on its "bro" middle school audience is an interesting idea, but the way they talked about it here was disappointing. What, South Park is really the only other thing you can put in the LGBT unit? Next.), It's Just a Bunch of Stuff That Happened: The Simpsons and the Possibility of Post Modern Comedy (just a flat out no)
5 star (or close to it)- Ellen: Coming Out and Disappearing, Sealed with a Kiss: Heteronormative Narrative Strategies in NBC's Will and Grace, Segregated Sitcoms: Institutional Causes of Disparity among Black and White Comedy Images and Audiences (This essay talks about the marketing of shows based on race, how shows with minorities are clumped with each other even if they have nothing else in common thematically, and why it discourages more minority shows from being made).
April 12, 2008
Haven't read all the essays, but I've found those I have a little dull and not that useful.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews