What's with all the bitchy sitcom wives / idiot husbands?

[MCS]

[ QUOTE ]
Because white males and Nazis are the only groups you're allowed to portray as stupid/evil in PC Hollywood. Al Qaida gets better treatment.

[/ QUOTE ]

False.

[chicken10der]

ALF is the last family-type sitcom I can think of where the wife isn't a bitch AND the husband isn't an idiot.

Edit: Well, does Dharma & Greg count? They kind of had it the other way around.

[MicroBob]

I think the more general, "Why do so many sit-coms today completely suck?" is worth addressing as well.

And the whole bit about just doing the same type of family dynamic over and over again is part of that answer.


2 semi-recent sit-coms that I've started to actually enjoy via re-runs and syndication:

Malcolm in the Middle
Becker


I never thought Becker was worthwhile at all. But I caught it on TBS at 12p (eastern) and I actually like it now.
It's mostly straight-forward and not exactly mind-blowing with creativity. But it feels more like some of the more 'traditional' sit-coms of the 70's and 80's.
There's something about the formula that works.


Malcolm is obviously clever in it's own mostly-original way.


Shows that I was never able to stomach AT ALL include Everybody Loves Raymond (they're always just freaking mean to each other...and it's really just not that funny), Home Improvement, Friends.

King of Queens and that other one with Daniel Legue (sp?? is that his name??) are borderline tolerable. But they add nothing and really aren't that funny. And they annoy me for that whole, "whiny wife with lazy hubby" aspect that gets really freaking boring to watch over and over and over again.


Please please please. Can the networks try to stop sucking?

[diebitter]

I thought of one!

The Brady Bunch!

[Vehn]

simpsons and family guy absolutely fit into sitcom - situational episodic comedy with little to zero character advancement from episode to episode.

[KSOT]

OP stole this from Bill Maher.

[ThePenguin]

Gotta agree with MircroBob about Malcom in the Middle, that show was exceptionally entertaining, especially in it's first few seasons. It was simultaneously wackier than your own life (mine anyway) and relatable to your upbringing as an adolescent. Though the Mom tried to be controlling and the Dad was generally clueless, the show's emphasis on the children as the main protagonists allowed them to ellude the pitfuls of other sitcoms.