‘Emily in Paris’, ‘Ginny & Georgia’, ‘B99’: Are Sit-Coms Over?
By: Nhyira M
Tags: TV, The Fresh Prince, Brooklyn Nine Nine, Sitcom, Friends

*Possible spoilers ahead for the shows mentioned above + The Fresh Prince and Friends*

So we’ve got the ‘traditional’ types of comedy. Friends, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The types with studio audience laughter and reactions. The ones following people brought together because of a certain ‘situation’ that lasts a while. And the ones that have loyal viewership and fan bases, even new ones over the years. They’re not just surviving, but thriving.

Then, we have stuff like B99. Ginny & Georgia. Emily in Paris. Newer types where there’s no studio audience. Where there’s a focus on one setting and instead of the series being affected by people’s coming & going, people just come and go. And these type of procedural/drama comedies seem to be thriving now, in today’s landscape.

OK, example time. So, with Friends, at a point, some of the group move for the next stage in their lives and that’s where the series comes to an end. Of course, we have the short-lived Joey series afterwards, but if Friends had continued with the same storylines i.e. Joey going to LA, Rachel going to Paris, etc… well no-one could pull off something where the characters are all in different settings, and continue to give them each equal screen time. And so, the series, in this respect, was dependent on storylines and characters. Realistically, of course, if Friends had continued, taking on the network’s wishes, the storylines would’ve been something that’d be easier to handle.

On the other hand, let’s take a look at Brooklyn 99. And let’s take the circumstance of Gina leaving in Season 6. Although she was a regular, the series’ focus didn’t retract to go look at what she was up to, or at least use it as a main plot line regularly. Rather, it continued to focus on the Brooklyn 99th Precinct Police Dept. With Ginny & Georgia, we see the same thing.

Let’s say G&G ending up moving to California. The series wouldn’t have to stop/change because of a new situation and so, therefore, rather than it being a sitcom, it’s a dramatic comedy, much like ‘Emily in Paris’.

And with ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’, the series depends on how long Will stays there. As soon as he moves back to West ‘Philly’, it wouldn’t, well, couldn’t, be ‘of Bel-Air’ any longer.

So, I guess you could say that once Emily leaves in Paris, that’d go too, and so it’d come under sitcom, but there a few small things, like a lack of a traditional sitcom studio audience. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how it distinguishes itself further.

Now we’ve established the differences of these comedies, evaluating which one may be more appealing nowadays. Well, I know for a fact that shows such as Brooklyn 99 are very well-received. Apart from the fact that many of the jokes, stories and such are more related to this day and age, the demographics seem to be aimed to teen — YA audiences. as

So really, it’d come as no surprise if shows like Friends, though it’d certainly be sad, become almost non-existent within Gen Alpha or the next. Whilst I do a good Friends episode, even as part of Gen Z, B99 and Emily in Paris really hit home for me.

Thank you very much for reading this post, and I hope you enjoyed it.

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