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

TV brought half-hour situation comedies and hourlong dramas.

From Barron's

“Not everything was a funny situation. We weren’t a situation comedy, a lot of it was dreadful.”

From Los Angeles Times

Caesar denigrated situation comedies as soap operas with laughs added.

From The Wall Street Journal

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

From Salon

It brought new depth and possibilities to situation comedy, and paved the way for shows that operated at the intersection of the fictional and the real.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• sitcom