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a few days after thanksgiving, michael and i embarked upon a truly deranged project: watching as many sitcom christmas specials as we could make time for.
after a while, we started noticing the same weirdly specific tropes over and over. here is a thread about what we observed
after a while, we started noticing the same weirdly specific tropes over and over. here is a thread about what we observed
first: the scientific process of selecting what to watch was based around * checks notes * what was on streaming services we have. we started out with ones that we actually like (e.g. frasier) but eventually dedicated ourselves to even the worst we could find (full house)
all together, we watched 33 episodes. if most sitcoms are 22 minutes, that is 726 minutes, ~12 full hours. i think we enjoyed maybe like, 5 of those hours combined? anyway, here is the full list of what we watched and how many eps of each, followed by said Christmas Tropes
30 ROCK: 1
BOY MEETS WORLD: 1
CHEERS: 1
COMMUNITY: 1
FAMILY MATTERS: 1
FRASIER: 6
FRESH PRINCE OF BEL AIR: 3
FULL HOUSE: 2
GOLDEN GIRLS: 2
IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY: 1
MALCOM IN THE MIDDLE: 2
MARRIED WITH CHILDREN: 1
PERFECT STRANGERS: 1
SANDFORD AND SONS: 1
SAVED BY THE BELL: 2
BOY MEETS WORLD: 1
CHEERS: 1
COMMUNITY: 1
FAMILY MATTERS: 1
FRASIER: 6
FRESH PRINCE OF BEL AIR: 3
FULL HOUSE: 2
GOLDEN GIRLS: 2
IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY: 1
MALCOM IN THE MIDDLE: 2
MARRIED WITH CHILDREN: 1
PERFECT STRANGERS: 1
SANDFORD AND SONS: 1
SAVED BY THE BELL: 2
SEINFELD: 1
SISTER SISTER: 1
STEP BY STEP: 1
TAXI: 1
THE BIG BANG THEORY: 1
THE OFFICE: 1
WILL AND GRACE: 1
SISTER SISTER: 1
STEP BY STEP: 1
TAXI: 1
THE BIG BANG THEORY: 1
THE OFFICE: 1
WILL AND GRACE: 1
HOLIDAY SITCOM TROPES AND FREQUENCY OF APPEARANCE:
Rotoscoped Snow / Establishing Shot Altered to Include Snow and/or Lights: 8 of 33
Everybody Starts Fucking Singing: 7 of 33
Unpleasant Mistletoe Moment of Dubious Consent: 7 of 33
Rotoscoped Snow / Establishing Shot Altered to Include Snow and/or Lights: 8 of 33
Everybody Starts Fucking Singing: 7 of 33
Unpleasant Mistletoe Moment of Dubious Consent: 7 of 33
Emergency Santa, aka Someone Has to Be Santa Last-Minute: 6 of 33
Travel Plans Have Gone Awry, Oh No, But Don't Worry We All Still Learn the Meaning of Christmas Anyhow: 5 of 33
A Hated or Otherwise Chaotic Relative Appears: 4 of 33
Why Are We Fat Shaming Santa: 4 of 33
Travel Plans Have Gone Awry, Oh No, But Don't Worry We All Still Learn the Meaning of Christmas Anyhow: 5 of 33
A Hated or Otherwise Chaotic Relative Appears: 4 of 33
Why Are We Fat Shaming Santa: 4 of 33
Some Freaking Nerd Wants or Gets a Weirdly Specific Nerd Gift: 4 of 33
Wow, Carolers Appeared at Exactly the Right Moment!: 4 of 33
Wait, Is Magic and/or Santa Actually Real? 4 of 33
Argument Over Tacky Decor: 4 of 33
Someone Still Believes in Santa: 4 of 33
Wow, Carolers Appeared at Exactly the Right Moment!: 4 of 33
Wait, Is Magic and/or Santa Actually Real? 4 of 33
Argument Over Tacky Decor: 4 of 33
Someone Still Believes in Santa: 4 of 33
A Scene in a Hastily Constructed Toy Store Set, Like, Are Those Walls Just Paper? Yikes: 3 of 33
A Struggle for the Season's Hot Holiday Toy: 3 of 33
Some Kind of Seasonal Psycho Shows Up and Ruins Things for 8 Minutes Before the Inevitably Saccharine Denouement: 3 of 33
A Struggle for the Season's Hot Holiday Toy: 3 of 33
Some Kind of Seasonal Psycho Shows Up and Ruins Things for 8 Minutes Before the Inevitably Saccharine Denouement: 3 of 33
The Episode's Tension Is Entirely Focused Around Obtaining a Last-Minute Gift: 3 of 33
Boombox as Gift: 2 of 33
Boombox as Gift: 2 of 33
Things we learned:
- A lot of sitcoms, especially older ones, are bad. Like, really bad. So many of them consist of nothing other than a laugh track, waiting for That One Character to show up and deliver their catch phrase so we can rush into a treacle-y smarmy ending.
- A lot of sitcoms, especially older ones, are bad. Like, really bad. So many of them consist of nothing other than a laugh track, waiting for That One Character to show up and deliver their catch phrase so we can rush into a treacle-y smarmy ending.
- The ones we tended to enjoy more have way more dialogue and a fast pace, as well as some characters who are either kind of assholes or kind of misanthropes. EG: Frasier, Golden Girls, Taxi, Community, It's Always Sunny, etc.
- Very few multigenerational family sitcoms are universally funny (unless anchored by a very strong cast or a few strong actors) and it's a mystery to us how they ruled television for so long
- Nobody in any sitcom has ever successfully made it home for the holidays
- Nobody in any sitcom has ever successfully made it home for the holidays
- Everybody needs to be taught The Meaning Of Christmas, so much so that we didn't even count it as a trope because i think that's literally like, 31 of the 33 episodes
- It seems like sitcom writers used to think that audiences are very stupid? Glad this is changing
- It seems like sitcom writers used to think that audiences are very stupid? Glad this is changing
OVERALL BEST: It's Always Sunny, Frasier (episode with Goth Son)
WORST, BY FAR: Saved By the Bell
WORST, BY FAR: Saved By the Bell
anyhow, merry christmas everyone and maybe will continue this in a more scientific fashion next year!
