This article concentrates on how women, and especially men, act as parents and spouses in domestic comedies. The first section concentrates on the background and rationale for studying the portrayals of fathers and husbands in television's domestic comedies; the second section examines the way gender (with emphasis on males) has been portrayed in these shows from the 1950s through the 1980s. The final section proposes that men are presented differently in women's fiction.
This article is about the family (domestic) comedy, one of the most popular and enduring genre on television. The first section concentrates on the background and rationale for studying family life as portrayed in television’s domestic comedies; the second follows the evolution of the TV family from Molly Goldberg in the 1940s when television came into American homes to the Nelsons (The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet) and the Stones (The Donna Reed Show) in the 1950s to the Huxtables (The Cosby Show) and Keatons of Family Ties in the 1980s. The focus is on how gender, race, and class have been portrayed over time, and whether the messages, issues, and themes about love and sex have changed and in what ways. After analyzing approximately 40 years of television, the article concludes by noting that the family is not always presented as conflict-free. Family members often make fun of each other; sometimes they deceive each other to get their way; and often interact by putting each other down. However, the family is basically the place where one goes for support, to solve problems that are generated from the outside, and to find solace when needed.
The power and influence of the American television industry in today's world market is examined. Based on interviews with media buyers and sellers from the United States and other countries, the argument is advanced that the goal of attracting large audiences dominates program selection. It is the audience in each country, with its own system of cultural values and beliefs, that ultimately decides the popularity of programs. This plays a decisive role in influencing the types of shows imported from the United States.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.