WHEN SITCOMS GET SERIOUS

[WMC2006]

-The ending of that MASH episode when they announce that Col. Henry Blake's helicopter was shot down and there were no survivors...you could hear a scalpel drop in the OR for a few seconds...and then business resumes as normal...and the episode goes dark

-When Fonzie breaks down a bit after saying goodbye to Richie (Ron Howard, who was leaving the show)...ok, that one might be stretching the topic a bit

 

[Legend City]

At one point they even had a second show for Scott Baio and Lynda Goodfriend while they were on Happy Days, "Blansky's Beauties"

If you missed it, don't worry, it sucked.

 

[mleach]

Maude is a good example of this. Aborton, mental illness, divorce, bankruptcy, alcohol addiction, suicide were all topics on this show.

Gimmie A Break had a few serious shows as well such as the death of Dolph Sweet who played the father Chief on the show and the early episode where the girls, the Chief and Nell all went to a Mexican restaurant to try to "overlook" that the day was their late mother's birthday. Everything was fine, that is until another family at another table was celebrating the birthday of their mother.

Alice, the episode where Alice was debating whether or not should she allow Tommy to go on a camping trip (?) with a guy who she found out was gay.

Even though it has been years since I have seen it, weren't there some serious moments on One Day At A Time?

 

[Braves2005]

-When Fonzie breaks down a bit after saying goodbye to Richie (Ron Howard, who was leaving the show)...ok, that one might be stretching the topic a bit

Actually,this was from a 2 part episode from the last season where Richie and Ralph are discharged from the military and come back home and Richie wants to become a screenwriter in California against Howard and Marion's wishes for him,Lori Beth,and Little Richie to stay in Milwaukee where Howard has offered Richie a job at the newspaper,and at the bar where Richie is sitting getting halfway drunk,Fonzie comes in and tries to talk to Richie only for Richie to hit Fonzie with his fist.

 

[Braves2005]

Several episodes of Good Times would be great examples:

The episode where J.J and Diane want to get married only to get turned down by both James and Florida and Diane's parents. When Diane gets upset by this,she goes into Thelma's room and shoots up on heroin,which J.J does not know at that time. The 2nd part of the show is where J.J. and Diane go to the hotel outside of town to get married. Back at home,Thelma has found the balloon deal with the heroin,Diane had switched purses accidentally and they call the pusher who come to find out is a very young boy. Back at the hotel,J.J notices that Diane is acting very strangely now and starts yelling at J.J(the heroin withdrawal had kicked in) and Diane rushes into the bathroom. Meanwhile,J.J gets a call from home from James and Florida saying that Diane is on drugs and J.J. thinks that is an excuse for them not get married and he doesn't believe him so he decides to call Diane to the phone but as he opens the bathroom door,the window is open and Diane is nowhere to be found,fate unknown. After J.J sees this,he sits on the bed very depressed as James is trying to get J.J. to come back to the phone.

The episode where J.J is shot by Mad Dog,and also the one where Penny is abused by her own mother and is scrotched by the iron,and Keith's alcoholism also come to mind.

 

[ShawnHill1]

Every prominent sitcom from the 70s right through the early 90s all dealt with serious episodes at one point or another, the Norman Lear-related sitcoms were all prime examples of this...Edith's near-rape on All in the Family, James Evans killed off on Good Times, numerous episodes of Diff'rent Strokes, Facts of Life, and One Day at a Time. The Miller-Boyett sitcoms, especially Full House and Family Matters, were also big on serious storylines as well. One example was, I believe it was season five of Family Matters (it aired on ABC Family a couple weeks ago, in fact), where one of Steve and Laura's classmates was shot because the classmate wouldn't give up a fancy jacket she was wearing (side note--a rather unknown Freddie Prinze, Jr. appeared in a very small role). After the episode, the cast (out of character) filmed a PSA about gun danger.

 

[WMC2006]

-When Fonzie breaks down a bit after saying goodbye to Richie (Ron Howard, who was leaving the show)...ok, that one might be stretching the topic a bit

Actually,this was from a 2 part episode from the last season where Richie and Ralph are discharged from the military and come back home and Richie wants to become a screenwriter in California against Howard and Marion's wishes for him,Lori Beth,and Little Richie to stay in Milwaukee where Howard has offered Richie a job at the newspaper,and at the bar where Richie is sitting getting halfway drunk,Fonzie comes in and tries to talk to Richie only for Richie to hit Fonzie with his fist.

NO, I vaguely recall the storyline was that Richie was leaving to join the military because Ron Howard was leaving the show. It was not the last season I'm thinking of here.

 

[bpatrick]

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."

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?

I can't speak for other producers, but Garry Marshall once said that "if
someone is supposed to educate the American public, then my shows are
recess. But recess is so powerful now that I have to give information too.
I can get more information across than they can get when they are teaching
in the classroom, because our shows are hitting more people." (Sally Bedell,
Up The Tube, 242) Thus the serious episodes of Happy Days and
Laverne & Shirley, as well as Robin Williams' little comments to Orson at the
end of Mork & Mindy. Tom Miller and Bob Boyett worked for Marshall before
doing Full House, Family Matters, etc., and obviously took this philosophy
with them.

 

[dmargalotti]

I can't speak for other producers, but Garry Marshall once said that "if
someone is supposed to educate the American public, then my shows are
recess. But recess is so powerful now that I have to give information too.
I can get more information across than they can get when they are teaching
in the classroom, because our shows are hitting more people." (Sally Bedell,
Up The Tube, 242) Thus the serious episodes of Happy Days and
Laverne & Shirley, as well as Robin Williams' little comments to Orson at the
end of Mork & Mindy.

bpatrick,

That's a great point you bring up...thanks for the insight. However, I still wonder why Gary K. Marshall and other producers felt the need to "educate" us at all? I wonder how the serious episodes did in the ratings. Were they proven to spike ratings up? And if so, did that help drive advertising revenue?

Some shows mentioned above had obvious (and needed messages) about topics like gun violence or child abuse or the danger of drugs. But what was the lesson to be learned by seeing Ritchie Cunningham lying in a hospital bed...or Fonzie fighting to regain his sight? That just seems like a cheap and cheezy way to get viewers.

 

[donnyg]

Some shows mentioned above had obvious (and needed messages) about topics like gun violence or child abuse or the danger of drugs. But what was the lesson to be learned by seeing Ritchie Cunningham lying in a hospital bed...or Fonzie fighting to regain his sight? That just seems like a cheap and cheezy way to get viewers.

I don't mean to climb on a soap box, but the above quote needs to be seriously addressed. dmargalotti asks what lessons are learned by richie cunningham lying in a hospital bed or fonzie fighting to regain his sight? Let's look at that for just a second. How about, oh I don't know, maybe not taking things for granted, or maybe being thankful for what we have? Sure it was all slickly produced by hollywood on a hollywood soundstage, and everybody lived happily ever after at the end of 30 minutes, as it always is in television. But in real life, happily ever after isn't always the case. I myself am disabled since birth, confined to a wheelchair, and I have friends that have had accidents and haven't just magically regained the ability they once had. I don't know dmargalotti, however I suspect that he or she as the case may be is not disabled, and quite possibly has never dealt with a disabled person, but I can assure you that we are no different than anyone else, and speaking for myself, would never use my disability as a cheap or cheesy way to gain attention. Just the other day, I was boarding the bus and had trouble parking my wheelchair and one of the passengers made a snide comment about my driving like a girl. I put him in his place by suggesting he try driving my wheelchair to see how easy it is, after which he quickly back peddled and apologized for he realized he has no experience with my situation. I don't like to put people in their place, however in this case again I feel I have no choice. So dmargalotti, I say to you, that unless you have personally experienced a situation of which you so elquently quoted, do not speak of what you don't know, Or as the late Morton Downey Jr. said on his talk show ZIP IT!!!

 

[dmargalotti]

So dmargalotti, I say to you, that unless you have personally experienced a situation of which you so elquently quoted, do not speak of what you don't know, Or as the late Morton Downey Jr. said on his talk show ZIP IT!!!

Hi donnyg,

You right, you don't know me...if you did you would most seriously reconsider the tone and direction of your post rather than lash out at my comments. It is my position that these sitcoms actually cheapen the suffering of people like you with real disabilties or people like me who've experienced real loss and tragedy in their lives. I suspect it's a cheap gimmick by the producers to bring in viewers and revenue and really has very little to do with making the world a better place to live in.

I watch sitcoms to laugh, to escape, to be entertained. I don't need Mork, Ritchie, Fonzie, Tootie, Jimmy Walker, Maude, Hawkeye or anyone else to teach me a lesson on life. I've got God, family and friends for that.

Also, as a father...do you think I'm going to leave it to a TV show to teach my kids about sexual abuse, gun violence, the danger of drugs, etc? No sir...that's my job not Norman Lears or Gary Marshalls.

The whole concept of a SERIOUS SITCOM is silly...it's a contradiction. My original point when I began this thread was that once in a while a show did OK with the premise. But more times than not...it was silly, stupid and a waste of a half-hour.

Good luck to you, sir.

 

[donnyg]

You right, you don't know me...if you did you would most seriously reconsider the tone and direction of your post rather than lash out at my comments. It is my position that these sitcoms actually cheapen the suffering of people like you with real disabilties or people like me who've experienced real loss and tragedy in their lives. I suspect it's a cheap gimmick by the producers to bring in viewers and revenue and really has very little to do with making the world a better place to live in.

Dear Mr. Margalotti,

You have stated your point much clearer to me this time. I do whole hartedly apologize for my last post regarding your comments. It's just that when I hear or see comments such as oh it would be so neat to be in a wheelchair, or like the comment that the person on the bus the other day, it does bother me because those people actually most likely have not experienced such a situation as mine. I can assure you that there is no suffering in my situation, although I am confined to a wheelchair I get around much better than most able-bodied people. I myself am a part-time actor with a troupe of other disabled individuals. We are called PHAMALy. Physically Handicapped Actors and Musical Artists League. The point that I am trying to make I guess, is that certain people such as that gentleman on the bus the other day need to experience my situation to see what life is like from my side of things. You sir have obviously experienced many hardships in your life and I am deeply sorry. If T.V. can be used to educate be it through the news or through Fonzie and Richie, then more power to it. And once again, I sincerely apologize and stand corrected.

With Love and respect to you and yours,

Donny G

 

[cdk]

The Andy Griffith Show would get serious quite a bit...remember the episode where Opie killed the mother bird and nursed the babies until they could fly away? Priceless TV...

 

[Kurt Toy]

There was a "Growing Pains" ep from 1988-89 in which one of Carol's boyfriends [Matthew Perry?] got drunk, drove his car [I think], and died. Carol was very sad.

 

[LKellerIII]

There are some occasions when going serious on a sitcom makes sense. If an actor is leaving a show (John Amos, or Maclean Stevenson) for example - it makes sense to tie up the loose ends in the story by killing off the character. Then, if you going to kill him, you don't want to make jokes about it. I remember that Good Times episode, and I remember learning things about how the African-American community coped with death.
But as often as not, it's a story contrivance. My older kids loved Full House when they were younger. Toward the end of each show, the serious moment would occur, when one of the kids had "learned her lesson," and Bob Saget would deliver the serious fatherly speech. It would always be telegraphed about 20 seconds ahead of time, when the syrupy music would start. It always made my flesh crawl...that and Dave Coulier.
As for Norman Lear, even though I was a big liberal at the time, I was always annoyed by Lear's presumptuous efforts to "educate" me. Ugh.