Post 5: Everybody Loves a Family Sitcom

I think that a lot of the comedy on television is broadcasted to help viewers relate to problems that they are facing, and entertain them by helping them laugh about it. All in the Family and Everybody Loves Raymond are both family-based TV situational comedies, but they differ in the situation of their comedy.  They relate by helping others cope with their problems through laughter, but are different in the problem of their time period.

All in the Family’s comedic scenes were written with the intention to show their audience problems that were being faced in the time period such as sex and sexual orientation. While the producers were looking to show their conservative audience that they resembled the fatherly character of “Archie” in a light where they should open their eyes to change and become more open minded, the conservative audience took a like to the show because they felt like they could relate to the conservative character who didn’t like the change happening around him.  In the show Everybody Loves Raymond, the comedy is geared towards the relationship of husband and wife. A lot of couples today watch this show and can relate to the marital problems of their modern time period. The difference between the two shows is that in All in the Family, the issues that were humored expressed serious issues that everyone could relate to at the time. Each audience member could see themselves as one of the characters and relate to the situation in the angle that their character went. The issues humored in Everybody Love Raymond are issues that only married couples can relate to. There is a family, and even the in-laws are included, but most of the time when the audience in the background laughs on screen, I can only hear my mom and dad laugh in my living room. Both of these shows target an audience and make fun of situations that people are afraid to talk about like sexuality in All in the Family, and marital problems in Everybody Loves Raymond.

All and all, I think that the issues dealt with in All in the Family are issues that are still mentioned in shows like Everybody Loves Raymond but because of the modernization of values, it is not seen from an “Archie” point of view as much as it was then. I think that television will always be a way to help people cope with their problems through laughter, but I know that over time those problems will evolve and change as society changes over time.

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