Whatever Happened to Sitcoms?

By Vivienne Mockenhaupt ‘27

Every Sunday night, my mother and I reflexively open Netflix. After the scarlet logo booms onto the TV screen, we scan for new shows, hoping to find the next big thing. Alas, we have found no such luck. Every streaming platform offers the opportunity to rewatch Seinfeld or maybe even The Office if North Dakota ACLU Whatever Happened to Sitcoms? Vivienne Mockenhaupt ‘27 we’re really lucky. Notably, although Modern Family ended only five years ago, nearly every other popular sitcom’s pilot aired over a decade ago. When I asked a group of friends about their latest watches, all of them echoed this sentiment, mentioning either a comfort rewatch or a modern drama series with hour-long episodes (Severance and Succession come to mind). I never receive recommendations for currently airing comedies, especially not sitcoms: long-running shows revolving around a cast of recurring characters in a consistent setting, facing challenges in their day-to-day life.

Sitcoms do still exist. Abbott Elementary, for example, has received near-universal acclaim, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 99%, while the 2000s classic It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is somehow still airing. These shows’ cultural capital, however, is negligible compared to that of the sitcoms that came before them. In 1953, 71% of American households tuned in to watch a single episode of I Love Lucy, per Vulture. Sitcoms today, on the other hand, make up a mere 1.7% of new TV series, with newly produced comedies forming less than 5% of Netflix streaming demand, according to data journalist Daniel Parris. This sudden shift puzzles me: if those around me still seek out the sitcoms of the past, why have sitcoms declined in popularity? Should we bring these shows back? The loss of social influence of modern sitcoms stems from a post-COVID lack of genuine connection, but nostalgia is driving their resurgence, and we need to bring back the lost art of laugh tracks and mockumentaries. (I’m only kidding a little bit.)

The magic of the sitcom has left our everyday lives. We likely all remember being transported to the prototypical “hangout spots” populated by characters in the sitcoms of yore. Today, the increased commercialization of “third places” has erased the resemblance between our own living spaces and the utopias portrayed in these comedies.

The late-stage capitalist hellscapes of Capital One Cafes and co-working spaces make even a casual weekend get-together feel corporate and unwelcoming, a far cry from the cozy atmosphere of Central Perk or Cheers. The dominance of remote work in recent years plays no small part in this transition, as nearly anywhere can become an office, and leaving the house has become in many ways an isolating and antisocial act— if there’s even anywhere to go. The loss of restaurants and other small businesses to the pandemic, as well as the social stunting that many Gen Zers have experienced as a result, has left our generation disconnected and lonely. The death of the weekly sitcom, a result of an ever more disjointed society, reflects a change in daily life as we grow more antisocial and lose opportunities for connection. After all, nobody wants to watch a TV show where every character spends upwards of four hours a day scrolling on Instagram Reels.

However, we seem to have found an equally momentous resurgence of these sitcoms in the form of reruns and a corresponding rise in nostalgia. In an era where New York City nostalgia fills Pinterest boards and so-called “Zoomers” have pigeonholed local coffee shops and bookstores into “cores” and aesthetics, ‘90s sitcoms provide a sense of safety and comfort. Today, most of us can hardly imagine a lifestyle like that of the titular characters of Friends, but we’re fascinated nonetheless; a 2023 YouGov survey found that half of American adults rewatch a TV show at least once a week, and comedies are by far the most popular choice. While the pandemic has left us ever more unable to truly connect socially, transforming media forever, it’s also made us turn back to the past. Gen-Z does lack the social center that became table stakes for a nineties or aughts sitcom, but our return to these nostalgic stories suggests a desire to bring back the “good old days,” even if we never lived them.

So, what comes next for sitcoms? Most of us could certainly use some escapism these days, so we should expect a rise in new sitcoms as the format returns in full force to capture the Internet’s attention. Perhaps our generation will seek the erudite humor of The Good Place or the quirkiness of Community in whatever comes next; how the form changes in a world of streaming remains to be seen. However, at the very least, I can optimistically predict that within a few years, we won’t be reluctantly clicking “Play Again” at 9 pm on a Sunday. The “New and Exciting” label will hopefully adorn a sitcom once more!