Honey, I'm Home!: Sitcoms: Selling The American Dream

by Gerard Jones

Gerard Jones's Honey, I'm Home! has been widely acclaimed as the premier primer on America's Morality Plays--the TV situation comedies that have chained us to our Barcaloungers ever since Lucy first bawled her way into our hearts. Recalling the best and worst the sitcoms have had to offer, Jones recreates their atmosphere and their times with wisdom and style; paralleling the memory-lane trip is his shrewd and provocative assessment of the sitcom's influence on modern society. From Father Knows Best to Married...with Children, from the empty calories of The Brady Bunch to the social commentary of All in the Family, Honey, I'm Home! is a connoisseur's guide to the sitcom world--where everybody knows your name, and any problem can be solved in twenty-two minutes, plus commercials.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

291 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Gerard Jones is an award-winning American author and comic book writer. From 1987 to 2001, Jones wrote many comic books for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Viz Media, Malibu Comics and other publishers; including Green Lantern, Justice League, Prime, Ultraforce, El Diablo, Wonder Man, Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, The Shadow, Pokémon, and Batman.

Jones is author of the Eisner Award-winning Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book (2004); Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Superheroes and Make-Believe Violence (2002), and Honey I'm Home: Sitcoms Selling the American Dream (1993). Jones is co-author with Will Jacobs of The Beaver Papers (1983), The Comic Book Heroes (1985, 1996), and the comic book The Trouble with Girls (1987-1993). From 1983 to 1988, Jacobs and Jones were contributors to National Lampoon magazine. He and Jacobs began writing humorous fiction again in 2008 with the online series My Pal Splendid Man and Million Dollar Ideas

Reviews

[Carol Mann Agency]

"Jones has written a thorough analysis of the sociological impact of television sitcoms from their beginnings in radio. While always a popular format, the half-hour comedy has reflected changing trends in society, helped the average person cope with these changes in a nonthreatening way by laughing at them, and most of all sold the advertiser's product. From the early classic I Love Lucy to The Mary Tyler Moore Show and All in the Family , which changed the face of television in the 1970s and set the standards for all sitcoms since that time, up to Cheers and The Simpsons , Jones's lively and insightful presentation will amuse as well as provoke thought." - Marcia L. Perry, Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield, Mass.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for a history research project. It had a lot of really helpful information and had a very conversational tone which made it pleasant to read.