It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia: A Modern Sitcom

In Colin Tain's guest lecture about television and sitcoms, he highlighted a few key characteristics that set sitcoms apart from other TV show types. Sitcoms are usually episodic and comedic, with the show ending basically where it began, showing little character development throughout an episode and having predictable plot development. It is for these reasons that so many sitcoms are set up so that a viewer can see any episode at a given time, and the plot will be understandable regardless in it's placement within the show's season. This makes sitcoms the perfect shows to be rerun, with networks like Nick@Nite making a living showing various sitcoms in a random, non-linear order.

Although the general characteristics of sitcoms may seem formulaic on paper, there is still room for a lot of creativity within the sitcom template. Show's that are episodic in nature must focus on each episode being unique from the rest, in story and detail. Writer's have to focus more on individual jokes than on broad plot development. And given that many modern dramas that follow a serial structure are often as stale in plot development as any sitcom, a sitcom's self-aware formula can often work towards it's advantage.

A modern example of great creativity within the sitcom formula is the FX show It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. The show features almost no character development whatsoever, no plot development throughout a season, and alway ends where it began. However, within this formulaic sitcom structure, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia is able to focus on each episodes content, especially within it's humor. Indeed this is where It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia is able to distinguish itself from other sitcom's; it's humor is ridiculous, vulgar, and often showcases the complete lack of morality within it's central characters. And yet, viewers who enjoy the show often sympathize with these characters and continue watching the show because it is far funnier within this "anything goes" structure, in which individual decisions within an episode will have almost no effect on future episodes. This gives the show free-range to do absolutely anything, and within it's now 6 season run, it has definitely tried to get away with everything it can. The results are often hilarious.