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

[UATrewqaz]

When was the last time you saw a sitcom where the wife was portrayed as a loving, caring type?

Likewise every husband is some bumbling, dullard who's constantly goofing around/messing up.

Every single sitcom I can remember for that last decade has followed this pretty tired format.

How has this evolved to be what people want to watch? Most married couples I know are nothing like this... believe it or not the husband is the logical/steady one and the wife doesn't constantly bitch at him.

[Andrew Karpinski]

What do you want, they're sitcoms, they're designed to suck.

[Colonel Kataffy]

[ QUOTE ]
believe it or not the husband is the logical/steady one and the wife doesn't constantly bitch at him.

[/ QUOTE ]

Half of this sentance seems right.

[tuq]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
believe it or not the husband is the logical/steady one and the wife doesn't constantly bitch at him.

[/ QUOTE ]

Half of this sentance seems right.

[/ QUOTE ]
So does half of the word "sentance".

OP, this is correct. Same tired formula, I don't know if the networks are afraid to take risks or if a cautious exec said "whoa, this worked for Everybody Loves Raymond [how is a mystery, that show sucked ass] let's just repeat that indefinitely until our shows don't get renewed".

I have no idea who the target demographic is here. My best bet is that it's meant to make each gender feel better about themselves. Men because they don't suck as bad as Ray Romano et al, women because it shows they can assert control in a relationship.

Sprinkle in worn-out jokes, rinse, repeat, and you have your answer.

[MrMon]

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.

[private joker]

Not for nothing, but Katey Sagal in 8 Simple Rules was a pretty normal/cool loving wife.

[chicken10der]

The success of Roseanne got the bitchy-wife ball rolling, and now it's out of control.

I despised Home Improvement on its own, but I wanted to choke out the toolman's wife (Jill?) - she was the bitch supreme.

[UATrewqaz]

Yeah I think this has alot to do with it. I think we've seen the last of the Kelly Bundy's of the world. The "stupid" character is always a white male now a days. They know we're the only group that doesn't pitch a big fit like a baby.

I can't remember het last time a female or ethnic character played the comic stooge foil.

I think one of the biggest things in sitcoms is "don't take any chances"

Dramas are the genre people take chances in (occasionally)

Oh and yes it was a rerun of Home Improvement I had on in the background last night that prompted this thread. They showed two episodes back to back and they both were the same, Tim creates some minor mistake, Jill bitches him out terribly, he thinks it over and admits how terribly wrong he is and she graciously accepts his apology.

And then I realized that this pretty much was every family sitcom I had seen for the past decade.

[Banks2334]

Short answer, its the pusification of America.

[chicken10der]

The only sitcom I've been able to watch since the end of Seinfeld has been Arrested Development, and of course that got canned.

I have zero interest in ever watching an episode of: Raymond, King of Queens, Yes Dear, etc. etc.

Here's a recap of last week's episodes of those shows if you missed them-

Wife: "Husband, you are stupid. I refuse to pleasure you sexually now."
Husband: "I apologize for being so hopelessly retarded, even though the whole mess was a misunderstanding on your part."
Wife: "Well, I guess I'll put up with your dumb ass then. You're extremely lucky that you have me for a wife because I am so much better than you."