Sitcom: A History in 24 Episodes from I Love Lucy to Community

Highly recommended and extremely well written. I really loved it.

Sitcom is an odd but entertaining semi-history of the Situation Comedy. I say odd because each chapter is supposed to focus on a single episode of each of 24 classic sit-coms, but the attention span is erratic. Sometimes it does explore that episode in some detail (the Mary Tyler Moore classic "Chuckles Bites the Dust") but other times it name checks the episode then talks more about other episodes or the show in general (it barely touches on the chosen Seinfeld episode "The Pitch", instead sensibly spending more time talking about the much superior "The Contest").It does a good job of discussing the strengths of each series, how it helped evolve the genre, and discuss what other shows at the time followed in ts footsteps. At the end it provides a cohesive presentation of how an entertainment form as seemingly trivial as the sitcom has occasionally not just aspired to greatness, but reached it. I had lots of good memories reading it, and some good Netflix suggestions as well.

The topic of this book is right there in the title: sitcoms. Anyone looking for thoughts about Perry Mason, Hill Street Blues, or The Sopranos will have to search elsewhere. On the other hand, this book is about as comprehensive on trends in the development of the sitcom as one could hope to find, as the subtitle suggests, from I Love Lucy to Community. The conceit of this book is that Mr. Austerlitz takes a key episode from 24 ground-breaking sitcoms and uses these as a guide. The fact is, the choice of the particular episode isn’t very important. As a rule, these are merely stepping stones into a wide-ranging discussion of themes and trends, going beyond not only the episode but also getting into other sitcoms related to the one being analyzed. For me, one of the most interesting, unintended aspects of reading this was how it pointed out the fracturing of TV viewing in the 21st century. I had watched every sitcom he discusses—either in reruns as a kid or in first run during the 1980’s & ‘90’s—through Friends. I knew well almost every show he mentions in the first 17 chapters. From chapter 18 (Sex and the City) on, however, I was fortunate if I’d seen a single episode of the show under discussion. I still watch sitcoms and I knew of the shows he discussed. I knew better shows he mentions in passing. But the proliferation of shows in the past 15 years with the expansion of cable and pay TV means that I miss more that I see. Of course, as with any book of criticism, I disagreed with some of his analysis. For example, I have long thought that Seinfeld is highly over-rated and, therefore, I have also never had any interest in Curb Your Enthusiasm. Also, I’m sure Bill Cosby’s recent troubles would have impacted his chapter on The Cosby Show (though perhaps it’s a good thing we have some pre-jail criticism of the show for a counterpoint). Still, for the most part, I think Mr. Austerlitz hits the mark. For anyone who enjoys a sitcom, this is a book for you.

You are not going to get any "inside" information on your favorite Sitcom. What you do get to is a view of the Sitcom as an American Art Form.

Recently, I realized I had never actually watched an entire episode of the classic sitcom Barney Miller. Of course, like everyone else, I grew up watching and loving sitcoms, but somehow missed this one. I realized, after watching most of the first season of Barney Miller before the scratched-up library DVD crapped out, that I consider myself more than just a casual sitcom fan—more like a student of the genre, I guess, even once taking a sitcom writing class with a staff writer from Everybody Loves Raymond (Ellen Sadler). All of this led me to wonder if anyone had written a book on the history of the sitcom, a definitive study of the format and its evolution—more than just a list and summation of the top 100 comedies of all time. I wanted a book that would really get in there, explore the groundbreaking and influential shows, and follow this thread through TV history and see the evolution of the sitcom, the influences of landmark shows on future series, and how it’s all connected. I was afraid that book didn’t exist, and if I wanted it to, I’d have to write it myself. Thank you Saul Austerlitz for saving me the trouble! This book was everything I was looking for.

I really liked this book. It's a challenging read (very theoretical, lot's of fancy words), but ultimately worth the effort. Even tough Austerlitz rambles sometimes, the structure of the book is logical, his overall point and thought-process well articulated and thus easy to follow. Throughout the book he leads us through the gradual development of the genre step by step, sitcom to sitcom, illustrating every abstract idea with an exact scene or episode, this way striking a enjoyable balance between being obfuscating or banal. The 24 illustrating sitcoms were especially well chosen in my opinion, granted I haven't watched all of them, but the ones I have I agreed with wholeheartedly, and with the rest, he made a strong case for why they're the best representations of the zeitgeist. Altogether I recommend this book to anyone who's interested in sitcoms in a bit more analytical and meta way. Austerlitz' writing is concise but logical and clear, and on top of his wast knowledge, his great love of this genre is very apparent all throughout, and that's what makes this not only an educational but thoroughly enjoyable read. If nothing else, you're gonna walk away with a couple of new shows to watch.

l did not Like his Book as much as i thought i would i only got through half of it and then quit reading it

Very good

Excellent product!

AWESOME

Really enjoyed the book. Each chapter thoroughly describes some of the best sitcoms of my lifetime and brought back fond TV memories.