March 12, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Written by: Jaylin Emond-Hardin | Entertainment Editor<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It seems like wherever I look on social media, there is always some sort of clip from a sitcom that once ruled the airwaves. Seeing this had me wondering why my algorithm was pushing them to so many people\u2019s feeds, I mean, most of them had thousands upon thousands of likes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While popular new sitcoms are few and far between, it seems that those that have stuck with people are ones that were likely watched growing up \u2014 \u201cFriends,\u201d \u201cThe Office\u201d and \u201cNew Girl\u201d are some current fan favorites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Part of understanding why these shows have seen such a resurgence in popularity means understanding the history of sitcoms and why they were so beloved in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The word \u201csitcom\u201d itself is short for \u201csituational comedy.\u201d They typically features recurring casts of characters to allow for continuity in the story. A majority are filmed in front of a live studio audience, while others opt for canned laughter. Sitcoms were also popularly animated as soon as the \u201890s, with shows like \u201cThe Simpsons,\u201d \u201cKing of the Hill\u201d and \u201cFamily Guy\u201d making their debut and taking TVs by storm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While they got their start on the radio during the 1920s, sitcoms didn\u2019t really take off until the 1950s when \u201cI Love Lucy\u201d first aired, starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. The show ran for six years, and is still considered one of the most influential shows of all time. Many popular tropes and plotlines were born on \u201cI Love Lucy,\u201d and jokes surrounding the wildly mismatched couple are still made in shows today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Part of what worked so well for the sitcom was the fact that it followed the characters\u2019 day-to-day lives and took place mostly in the home. This created a familiar atmosphere that made fans feel as if they personally knew the Ricardo family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As sitcoms advanced through the years, scenes began to take place in other familiar settings \u2014 school, work, even bars became a subject, as seen in the 1982 show \u201cCheers.\u201d Viewers were able to watch the shows and feel seen in the characters, going as far as being able to commiserate the stress of work and family that was always at the forefront of problems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The \u201890s and early 2000s meant that friend groups began to take precedence as the center of sitcoms rather than family. Programs like \u201cFriends\u201d and \u201cHow I Met Your Mother\u201d showed that a found family is just as strong and important as one\u2019s biological family. Not long afterwards, \u201cThe Big Bang Theory\u201d and \u201cNew Girl\u201d would also share this premise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, family centered sitcoms were still just as popular during this period and had many viewers sitting to watch them, as most shows aired on the same network and premiered back to back. Streaming services have made accessing and watching these shows much easier than ever before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what does this all have to do with the resurging popularity of older sitcoms? After all, it seems like it\u2019s millennials and Generation Z watching them the most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Believe it or not, it\u2019s for the same reason that sitcoms became popular in the first place: the familiar atmosphere and ability to relate to characters. I mean, my partner tells me every time we watch \u201cHow I Met Your Mother\u201d that we\u2019re Marshall and Lily. If that\u2019s not an indicator of how relatable these shows are, then I don\u2019t know what is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The recent uptick in popularity of these shows started back in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. With people stuck in quarantine for months on end and unable to see their friends and family in person, they turned to sitcoms for that feeling of being with their loved ones. It reminded them of good times and the social interactions that made us human. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This continued through 2021 and 2022, with \u201cThe Office\u201d especially picking up some of its highest streaming numbers in the period between February 2021 and March 2022. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the pandemic, however, social interactions began to shift and had vastly changed from before. More and more people began to find themselves disconnected from their loved ones, finding that using a screen to communicate had made things sorely different. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Consequently, people fell back on sitcoms for that sense of belonging and familiarity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It seems now, however, that Hollywood is back into the push for superhero movies and first responder shows that took the 2010s by storm. After all, when I looked at a list of the best sitcoms of 2024 and 2025 so far, I found that I hadn\u2019t even heard of more than half of said list. Whether they\u2019re being promoted or swept under the rug is the real question. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, regardless of what\u2019s happening with the newer sitcoms, people still find themselves turning to the classics that they grew up with. In a way, it reminds me of the way my memaw always rewatches \u201cM*A*S*H\u201d and \u201cLittle House on the Prairie,\u201d reminding viewers of what they consider to be the \u201cgood old days\u201d of television, childhood and teenage years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Besides, whether one is entertained by the antics of Sheldon Cooper or Dwight Schrute, the popularity of these shows seems steady and likely won\u2019t change for years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
March 12, 2025 Written by: Jaylin Emond-Hardin | Entertainment Editor It seems like wherever I look on social media, there is always some sort of clip from a sitcom that once ruled the airwaves. Seeing this had me wondering why my algorithm was pushing them to so many people\u2019s feeds, I mean, most of them […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[6461,6472,6468,928,6466,6465,6469,6460,6471,6473,6464,6462,6470,6474,6467,6463,1144],"class_list":["post-22486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-barney","tag-big-bang-theory","tag-cheers","tag-friends","tag-himym","tag-how-i-met-your-mother","tag-i-love-lucy","tag-leonard-hofstadter","tag-lily","tag-little-house-on-the-prairie","tag-lucille-ball","tag-marshal","tag-mash","tag-new-girl","tag-ricky-ricardo","tag-sheldon-cooper","tag-the-office"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22486"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22493,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22486\/revisions\/22493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}