situation comedy

American  

noun

1. a comedy drama, especially a television series made up of discrete episodes about the same group of characters, as members of a family.

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situation comedy British  

noun

1. Also called: sitcom.  (on television or radio) a comedy series involving the same characters in various day-to-day situations which are developed as separate stories for each episode

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Etymology

Origin of situation comedy

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

I couldn’t get on a list for an audition because they identified me with situation comedy television.

From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2026

And in 1964, if you were doing situation comedy television and you didn’t get out of there, especially if you were a woman, you never got out.

From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2026

It is, in short, your basic “High School Musical”-“Glee”-“Smash”-“Waiting for Guffman”-type community-theater situation comedy.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 11, 2025

One reviewer went so far as to say, “It may be the first situation comedy truly to achieve the status of art.”

From Salon • Aug. 9, 2025

Together we resembled the cast of a dopey situation comedy, something called Grin and Bear It, or Hello, Dolly.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

Related Words

• sitcom