Sitcom A history in 24 episodes from I love Lucy to Community
Book - 2014
"Obsessively watched and critically ignored, sitcoms were a distraction, a gentle lullaby of a kinder, gentler America--until suddenly the artificial boundary between the world and television entertainment collapsed. In this book we track the growth of the sitcom, following the path that leads from I LOVE LUCY to THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW; from THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW to THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW; from M*A*S*H to TAXI; from CHEERS to ROSEANNE; from SEINFELD to CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM; and from THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW to 30 ROCK. In twenty-four episodes, SITCOM surveys the history of the form, and functions as both a TV mix tape of fondly remembered shows that will guide us to notable series and larger trends, and a carefully curated guided tour... through the history of one of our most treasured art forms"--
- Subjects
- Published
-
Chicago, Illinois :
Chicago Review Press
[2014]
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Item Description
- "An A Cappella Book."
- Physical Description
- 406 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN
- 9781613743843
- Introduction
- 1. I Love Lucy: "Lucy Does a TV Commercial"
- 2. The Honeymooners: "Better Living Through TV"
- 3. The Phil Silvers Show: "Doberman's Sister"
- 4. Leave It to Beaver: "Beaver Gets 'Spelled"
- 5. The Dick Van Dyke Show: "Forty-Four Tickets"
- 6. Gilligan's Island: "St. Gilligan and the Dragon"
- 7. The Mary Tyler Moore Show: "Chuckles Bites the Dust"
- 8. All in the Family: "The First and Last Supper"
- 9. M*A*S*H: "Yankee Doodle Doctor"
- 10. Taxi: "Latka the Playboy"
- 11. Cheers: "Strange Bedfellows, Pt. 2"
- 12. The Cosby Show: "Pilot"
- 13. Roseanne: "Terms of Estrangement, Part 1"
- 14. The Simpsons: "22 Short Films About Springfield"
- 15. Seinfeld: "The Pitch"
- 16. The Larry Sanders Show: "The Mr. Sharon Stone Show"
- 17. Friends: "The One with the Embryos"
- 18. Sex and the City: "My Motherboard, My Self"
- 19. Freaks and Geeks: "Dead Dogs and Gym Teachers"
- 20. Curb Your Enthusiasm: "Seinfeld"
- 21. Arrested Development. "S.O.B.s"
- 22. The Office: "Casino Night"
- 23. 30 Rock: "Rosemary's Baby"
- 24. Community: "Modern Warfare"
- Acknowledgments
- Bibliography
- Index
Review by Kirkus Book Review