Evaluate the extent to which The Simpsons follow the conventions of a typical sitcom - Refer to specific episodes that you have watched to support your evaluation.

Authors Avatar

Evaluate the extent to which The Simpsons follow the conventions of a typical sitcom. Refer to specific episodes that you have watched to support your evaluation.

As T.V was getting more and more popular some shows had started, which fitted into a category of “Sitcoms”. These types of shows were both humorous and situational. The type of comedy which was comic devices like violence which is funny in cartoons or in real life the way the people fight and when some one gets hurt it brings a sense of comedy. There were a variety of different devices used examples include:

Satire- this was a way of making jokes of stereotypes most people in America are stereotypes.

Gags- In the sitcom it shows there were a lot of gags (jokes) used to make the show funny and more interesting.

Slapstick- this was used a lot not only in cartoons but also in real life you would see idiotic people running into walls or slipping over banana peals.

        These sitcom shows were short. Normally what would happen is that there would be a situation but at the end everything will turn out to be OK and the situation would be dealt with. In most sitcoms when something funny would happen you would hear canned laughter it is an audience laugh recorded. Sitcoms were based on middle class homes/workers and about normal American/British families. The episodes weren’t in any sort of order any episode would come on. You would have main characters like the family and then the other characters friends, neighbours and other family/relatives etc. The narrative structure becomes a problem and it needs to be sorted out, at the end everything is back to normal, it is a simple plot.

Join now!

        In the opening sequence of a sitcom called “The Simpsons” they show different stereotypes. The show is about a normal American middle class family. The father in this family is “Homer Simpson” who is a fat lazy slob he is definitely a stereotype because a lot of people are like him. In the opening sequence he is introduced when we go into the power plant he is doing dangerous work with a radioactive rod, which is glowing, there is a caution sign behind him, when the whistle blows to go home he drops everything takes his gas mask of. ...

This is a preview of the whole essay