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Where to watch "History of the Sitcom"
8. Escaping Reality
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As antidotes to fear in a fast-changing world, what sitcoms offer an escape from -- and what visions they escape to -- reveal insights into the American psyche.
7. Freaks, Geeks and Outsiders
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Sitcom characters who are outsiders -- such as aliens, witches, nerds or teens -- have given viewers permission to laugh at their own foibles in relatable ways.
6. Movin' on Up
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The American Dream of social mobility is so often beyond reach that sitcoms have used humor to help audiences find laughter in the struggles of getting ahead.
5. Facing Race
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Pioneering sitcom creators and stars have opened viewers' minds to the problems of racial injustice and representation -- but it has been a long, hard road.
4. Working for Laughs
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Sitcoms evolved in endlessly humorous ways as Americans' relationship with their jobs changed -- especially as women broke through countless workplace barriers.
3. Just Friends
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By the 1990s, sitcoms about friendship became the vital force driving the genre -- and in many ways, pop culture. But earlier shows set the stage for this trend.
2. Sex and the Sitcom
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Americans' changing attitudes toward sex, women's rights and gender identity have been mapped out with remarkable clarity on the sitcom screen.
1. A Family Matter
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American sitcoms have evolved to reflect the changing face of the fundamental social "situation" -- family.
