Sitcom is the abbreviation of the expression “situation comedy”, and it refers to a television genre created in the United Kingdom in the 50s that was later adopted by many countries in their television productions, and its mainly characterized by its humoristic strand.
Besides the comedy side that is an intrinsic part of this genre, being even part of its name, sitcoms are normally centered in a small group of characters that share a common space which is the link between all of them; it can be either their workspace, a recreation area, such as a café or restaurant, or a familiar place, like a house, and its this shared situation that completes the name of the genre. The use of irony, sarcasm and puns is very is common in sitcoms, and the episodes in this sort of series are normally short, with a duration that is inferior to 40 minutes. Other of the key characteristics of sitcoms is the fact that they can be recorded live, in front of an audience, and the laughter of the public is included as a back sound; actually, the laughter is a common detail in the majority of sitcoms, and even the ones that are not recorded in front of an audience may include laughter in the scenes that are considered to be funnier.
This genre became quite popular amongst the public, and it has spread fast throughout the world, not only in terms of the number of countries that started producing their own sitcoms, but also regarding the numerous productions that have been created, being this one of the most popular genre series nowadays.
“I Love Lucy”, “Seinfeld”, “Friends”, “The Big Bang Theory” or “Modern Family” are some examples of very popular sitcoms, considered to be cult series, and many of them have been broadcasted for several years, which proves the popularity of this genre.
