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WHEN SITCOMS GET SERIOUS

D

dmargalotti

I was reading the post below about WKRP...one of my favorite tv shows ever. As I was thinking about all the great episodes, I remembered the one that dealt with the death of some kids at a Who concert. They were trampled in a rush to the stage because of the arena's general seating policy.

For a comedy show, WKRP did a really good job of dealing with a tragic subject. A lot of other sitcoms have had that "serious" episode too.

All in the Family/Archie's Place had the death of Edith...

Home Improvement had one where they thought one of the kids might have cancer...

M.A.S.H. always had some serious undertones between the gags...

Can anyone else think of a sit-com that got serious once in a while?
 
I remember one episode of Happy Days when Richie was in a motorcycle wreck, and was lying in the hospital in a coma. Probably the only time time in the series when fonzie cried. :'(
 
How about Good Times in which James (Florida's Husband) dies in a car crash in the Big Move, part 1 and in part 2 had Florida breaking the punch bowl after James' service
 
Though I have never watched an episode, I think one of the most recent examples is the death of star John Ritter during the second season of ABC "8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter."
 
Though I have never watched an episode, I think one of the most recent examples is the death of star John Ritter during the second season of ABC "8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter."
Click to expand...

Hey Tim,

You're right that is a good example. The difference however is that "8 Simple Rules..." had to work the unfortunate death of John Ritter into the story line in order for the series to continue. With a lot of the other shows mentioned, they didn't need to get serious.

I always wondered what the writers and producers were thinking when the decided to try to get serious with a comedy show. We watched Happy Days, WKRP, Home Improvement, etc. for laughs. What's the point in deviating from that formula?
 
Several episodes of All In The Family come to mind,starting with the episode where Edith is raped on her 50th birthday and she throws the cake on the attacker's face and runs out the door over to Gloria and Mike's house and says "I was raped!!!",another is where the swasitka was painted on the door and the character played by Gregory Sierra and they put a bomb in his car and it blew up at the end of the episode and everyone is very saddened by this.

WKRP had some very serious episodes: The tornado episode,when Johnny and Venus are robbed at gunpoint on the air at the electronic store,Herb's alcoholism,and the Who concert where many people were trampled to death.

M*A*S*H had an entire episode where they had to save the life of a patient and they showed a clock on screen while they did the surgery.
 
dmargalotti said:
I was reading the post below about WKRP...one of my favorite tv shows ever. As I was thinking about all the great episodes, I remembered the one that dealt with the death of some kids at a Who concert. They were trampled in a rush to the stage because of the arena's general seating policy.
Click to expand...

From the sixties: one episode of "Hogan's Heroes" (1967/68 season, I think) had the characters worrying that someone had been picked up by the Gestapo...you weren't going to get away with a whole episode of a sitcom staying serious back then, but this one did stay serious for several minutes. I can imagine that the producers got some heat from CBS over going without a single laugh track giggle or titter for that long. Several of the behind the scenes creative folks at "Hogan's Heroes" later went on to be involved in "MASH", where they were able to push that boundary a lot further. The "Mister Roberts" TV series from 1965/66 did a three part episode modeled after the movie of the same name -- except it wasn't Mr. Roberts who gets transferred to a warship and killed, but a guest star. In the finale, Mr. Roberts receives and reads to the rest of the crew two letters: one from the guest character talking about how much he likes his new posting, and the second being a death notification for the same person. Needless to say, that wasn't a sit-com scene that contained any humor.
 
The special episode where Greg and Marsha realized that they aren't really related, and, Greg had that great waterbed up in the attic.

And how Marsha had to miss the second semester of her junior year in High School.

I learned a lot from that episode.

Jan is the one that narc'ed them.
 
Diff'rent Strokes once had Nancy Reagan appear
to promote the "Just Say No" anti-drug program.

How about the episode of "Family Ties" when
Alex (Michael J. Fox), feeling responsible for the
death of a friend, spends the entire episode talking
to an unseen psychiatrist?

Or "One Day At A Time," when Ann Romano (Bonnie
Franklin) suffered a heart attack?

And one particularly memorable episode of "Soap,"
when Jodie Dallas (Billy Crystal), who was gay, made
an impassioned plea in court for custody of an orphaned
child. The court granted his request.
 
bpatrick said:
Diff'rent Strokes once had Nancy Reagan appear
to promote the "Just Say No" anti-drug program.
Click to expand...

Speaking of Diff'rent Strokes...there's also the episode where Arnold's best friend, Dudley, is molested by the bicycle shop owner, Mr. Carlson (played by WKRP's Gordon Jump).

And one particularly memorable episode of "Soap,"
when Jodie Dallas (Billy Crystal), who was gay, made
an impassioned plea in court for custody of an orphaned
child. The court granted his request.
Click to expand...

Actually, I think it was his son or daughter he was fighting for custody of. He had gotten an a girl pregnant in the second season.
 
I remember one episode of Happy Days when Richie was in a motorcycle wreck, and was lying in the hospital in a coma. Probably the only time time in the series when fonzie cried.

That wasn't serious. It was just stupid.
 
I remember one episode of Happy Days when Richie was in a motorcycle wreck, and was lying in the hospital in a coma. Probably the only time time in the series when fonzie cried.

That wasn't serious. It was just stupid.
Click to expand...

Anoldguy,

You partially right...it was SERIOUSLY STUPID!

;D
 
74WIXYGrad said:
I remember one episode of Happy Days when Richie was in a motorcycle wreck, and was lying in the hospital in a coma. Probably the only time time in the series when fonzie cried. :'(
Click to expand...

Another Happy Days episode had the Fonz going blind. So serious was the situation that Suzi Quatro (as Leather Tuscadero) played a ballad on the piano that was supposed to be related to Mr. Fonzarelli's plight. Fonzie regained his sight, every bit of it, by show's end. Without a faith healer. I'm suprised that ep wasn't a 2-parter.

ixnay
 
Ixnay,

Actually, Leather sang that song in the other episode where Richie had his motorcycle accident. Suzi Quatro wasn't in the Fonzie's blind episode. How about the episode where Arnold's burned down, because Chachi was a moron and forgot to turn off the grill.
 
donnyg said:
Ixnay,

Actually, Leather sang that song in the other episode where Richie had his motorcycle accident. Suzi Quatro wasn't in the Fonzie's blind episode. How about the episode where Arnold's burned down, because Chachi was a moron and forgot to turn off the grill.
Click to expand...

Ohhh...burning the house down is a whole 'nother subset of serious plotlines in comedies.

Valerie (the show became The Hogan Family when star Valerie Harper left after one season) burned the house down mid-way through the first season. The boys (Jason Bateman and Daniel Ponce) plugged in a badly-wired lamp up in the attic which started the fire.
 
Tim-In-Houston said:
bpatrick said:
And one particularly memorable episode of "Soap,"
when Jodie Dallas (Billy Crystal), who was gay, made
an impassioned plea in court for custody of an orphaned
child. The court granted his request.
Click to expand...

Actually, I think it was his son or daughter he was fighting for custody of. He had gotten an a girl pregnant in the second season.
Click to expand...

It was his kid, even though I don't remember if it was a boy
or girl (an orphan wouldn't have packed the same wallop, now
that I think about it). Besides, it's the speech that made the
episode memorable (to me, at least).
 
Wasn't every 4th episode of Facts of Life a serious one? Drugs, virginity, bulimia, 80's hair styles, etc?
 
remember one episode of Happy Days when Richie was in a motorcycle wreck, and was lying in the hospital in a coma. Probably the only time time in the series when fonzie cried.

That wasn't serious. It was just stupid.

Anoldguy,

You partially right...it was SERIOUSLY STUPID!

I sir, stand corrected. You are right.
The really sad thing about Happy Days was that it was such a quality show when it first started - the first year & a half. I still enjoy watching those episodes when they come around. Seems about the time Fonzie started wearing the black leather jacket Happy Days became worthless. The good ol' days were back when Potsy really was a nerd and never sang!
 
anoldguy said:
The really sad thing about Happy Days was that it was such a quality show when it first started - the first year & a half. I still enjoy watching those episodes when they come around. Seems about the time Fonzie started wearing the black leather jacket Happy Days became worthless. The good ol' days were back when Potsy really was a nerd and never sang!
Click to expand...

While Garry Marshall could crank out the hits, I have to agree. "Happy Days" was a fine show when it was shot on a sound stage. The quality went down hill immediately after it was shot in front of a live audience.

On the other hand, with all the physical comedy of "Laverne and Shirley" a live audience was what was needed.

The one Marshall show that was shot without then with an audience that didn't seem to suffer in quality either way was "The Odd Couple".

But then again, this has absolutely nothing to do with the topic at hand so to save face, when "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" had a funeral for Chuckles the Clown....oh never mind.
 
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