CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE THE SITUATION COMEDY A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Mass Communication by Daniel Patrick Enright January 1986 The Thesis of Daniel Enright is approved: Donald Wood ' California State University, Northridge ii Dedication For Toni, The source of my love, my joy, and my inspiration. "Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be . II Robert Browning iii Acknowledgements Many people are to acknowledged for their contribu­ tions to this project. Without their assistance, this thesis could never have been completed. I thank Dr. Kenneth Portno~ the chairman of my committee, for his valuable insight, his interest in this study, and his efficiency in dealing with problems that arose. I thank my other committee members, Dr. Donald Wood and Dr. John Schulteis, for their guidance in the develop- ment of this project. I also thank Dr. Ants Leps for his continual encouragement throughout my graduate studies. For his tremendous assistance in the statistical analysis of the survey, I thank Dr. James Fleming. Many people participated in the survey pilot studies and gave constructive feedback which resulted in the final survey. Of these people, I would like to single out Dr. Donald Wood, Professor Jack Petry, Dr. Valerie Dull, Judith Likavec, and Arlene Hansen for special appreciation. I also thank my family and friends for their continuous support, and my wife, Toni Stromar Enright, for her_object­ ive criticism and remarkable editing skills. Finally, I thank all the respondents who, by choosing to participate in this study, made this entire thesis possible. iv Table of Contents Page Acknowledgements .... iv List of Tables .... vii Abstract ..... viii Purpose of Study. X Introduction. 1 Review of Literature. ......... 4 Theses and Dissertations . 4 Books. ..... 9 Periodicals. 14 Definitions of Terms. .. 17 Situation Comedy ....... 17 The Comedy-Variety Show .... 22 The Crossover Drama .. 23 A. C. Nielsen Batings .. 24 A Historical Review of the Situation Comedy 25 Off-Network Sitcoms ...... 40 Summary. 45 Network Program Dev~lopment . 48 Pi lots . 51 Tried-and-True Type Shows ... 52 Spin-offs. .. 53 Breakthrough Shows . 54 Pilot Testing. 56 Network Research Departments 59 Summary. 60 Methodology . 62 Survey Development 66 Survey Results and Discussion 69 Part I Results . 72 Part II Results ..... 85 Part III Results . 88 Conclusions . 96 Limitations of the Study 99 Suggestions for Further Research . 100 Bibliography. 102 Appendix. 113 Cover Letter . 114 Survey . 115 Response Letters . 120 v Central Tendency/Dispersion Tests--Part I. 126 Frequency Distribution--Part I . 130 Pearson Correlation--Part I. 139 Mean Scores--Part II . 140 Rankings--Part II. 141 Favorite Situation Comedies---Part III . 142 Best Current Situation Comedies--Part III. 143 vi List of Tables Page 1. Definition of Quality, Ranking of Importance. 83 2. Central Tendency/Dispersion Tests, Analysis of Variance--Part I, Questions 1-11 . 126 3. Frequency Distribution--Part I, Question 12 . 130 4. Pearson Correlation--Part I, Questions 1-11 . 139 5. Mean Score~--Part II, Matrix. 140 6. Rankings--Part II, Matrix . 141 7. Favorite Situation Comedies--Part III, Question 1 142 8. Best Current Situation Comedies--Part III Question 2. 143 vii ABSTRACT THE SITUATION COMEDY A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS by Daniel Enright Master of Arts in Mass Communication From a population of 113 television writers and producers, critics, and network programing executives, a sample of 59 responded to a survey designed to predict variables needed in order to create successful situation comedies. The survey also attempted to pinpoint salient variables needed in order to produce successful situation comedies which were also quality programs. In terms of internal factors contributing to a show's success, the significant findings of this study showed that Casting was the most important variable, with Writina, Concept of Show, Character Identification, and Chemistry (in that order) also being ranked as important. In considering external factors which greatly in­ fluence a show's chances for success it was noted that viii the "lead-in" (the program immediately preceding a show), makes a big difference to a show's ratings, pilot tests are very imprecise, and successful sitcoms can be written about any ethnic type and about people from all socio­ economic levels. Participants defined quality programing by intuition, reviewers, and awards such as Emmys. When creating sitcoms that would prove to be quality programing as well as successful, the three most important variables to consider are Casting, Writing, and Chemistry. To create truly quality programs, however, one must give great consideration to all program elements. The participants' "All-Time Favorite Situation Comedy" was The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and The Cosby Show was considered "The Best Situation Comedy on Television Today." These shows are the standards by which the industry judges their present programs. ix Purpose of Study Television is the most pervasive form of mass media in our society today and the situation comedy has been one of the major genres of that medium. In the 1983-1984 television season, however, not one situation comedy was in the Nielsen top ten rated shows for the year. This was the first time, since ratings began being taken by A. C. Nielsen in 1950, that situation comedies were missing from the list of most popular :tated network programs (Gunther, 1984, p. 6). A dramatic turn of events has taken place in two years, with as many as six sitcoms appearing in the weekly top ten Nielsen ratings in the first weeks of the 1985-1986 television season. The current popularity of sitcoms has been led by The Cosby Show, a show that has regularly been the highest rated program on television. These facts point out how difficult it has always been to predict success in television programing and how unstable a particular programing genre can be. This thesis looks at this problem specifically in terms of the situation comedy. Through a survey of: 1) pro­ fessionals who have made outstanding and innovative contributions to television comedy, 2) individuals responsible for programing the networks, and 3) critics who analyze television programing, this thesis will attempt to formulate variables needed to produce success- X ful sitcoms. The data collected regarding situation comedy will aid producers, writers, and programers involved in the future creation and programing of sitcoms thus providing a greater chance of success for these programs. Since not all successful sitcoms are viewed as quality shows, the survey conducted in conjunction with this thesis will also examine the aspect of ''quality" in television sitcoms to determine common variables found in shows which the survey participants agree are quality programs. This may provide the producer or programer more opportunity to create and produce quality programing without having to sacrifice a product's chances for success. This analysis will be enhanced by the review of literature and a historical review of the situation comedy. xi Introduction In 1961, FCC Chairman Newton Minow stated that television was a vast wasteland in terms of its pro­ graming. While most of the situation comedies could easily be classified as part of the wasteland, there have been exceptions from the earliest days of television that show the genre as a unique art form which has proved to be provocative, complex, entertaining, and powerful in terms of its structure and impact. It· is also the last regularly scheduled comedic form on prime time network television today. The comedy-variety show, once a staple for TV audiences in the fifties and sixties, has com­ pletely vanished. The last one to be in the Nielsen top ten was The Sonny & Cher Hour in 1973 (Steinberg, 1980, p. 173). Saturday Night Live (SNL) survives, but does so because of its 11:30 p.m. time slot. The networks have attempted other comedic formats recently, but with not much success. The New Show, an off-beat sketch comedy show, similar to SNL, was produced in the 1983-1984 season, aired in prime time, and quickly dropped because it was consistently in the bottom fifteen rated shows. The same was true of Michael Nesmith's Television Parts which failed to attract a sufficient audience during the summer of 1985. CBS's new half hour anthology series for Fall, 1985, George Burns' Comedy Week, is currently struggling to find an audience. 1 Some observers have contended that the situation comedy was the cause of the demise of the comedy-variety show, and that the sitcom was taking that same route itself (Grote, 1983, p. 9). The latest Nielsen ratings point out, however, that audiences are again watching sitcoms and that this comedic form seems assured of a future on television. The purpose of this thesis is to discover how to more readily create and program successful situation comedies. At the time of the original proposal of this analysis, it was this researcher's opinion that there was a distinct possibility that situation comedies would die out as did the comedy~variety shows of the past and that there would be no regularly scheduled comedic programing offered by the three networks. Critics had written about the grave condition of sitcoms, after such highly ac­ claimed programs such as Taxi, Barney Miller, and M*A*S*H left the airways (Turner, 1984, pp. 5-8). The prediction of the sitcom's demise has proven to be premature as is noted by the current Nielsen ratings. Despite the renewed popularity of the situation comedy, the purpose of this thesis remains unchanged. Acknow­ ledging how precarious the future of a program or genre is, dramatizes the importance of analyzing the factors needed to create a successful show. As limiting as situation comedies can be in terms of their structure and comedic styles, they currently represent the last comedic form on prime time network television and their value is too great not to merit study.