Well, I guess we are on a different wavelength on the Dick Van Dyke Show.
A sitcom is first and foremost a piece of dramaturgy. Although there are farcical examples of the sitcom, like Get Smart, for the most part it is a realistic piece of writing, with some latitude. Therefore, we have to judge it as a play, with plot development, characterization, dialogue, and so on. The laughs should mostly arise naturally out of the situation, and it is okay not to have belly laughs, but to have periods of quieter amusement. The ultimate aim of the sitcom, in its most typical manifestation, is to make us think more fondly of this world, and the people in it....... |
