Family Sitcoms

Chuck Lorre meets the modern viewer’s aversion everyday working people

This AP article on the decline of the “family sitcom” mostly re-states what’s been stated before: once an inescapable part of every network’s lineup, the family comedy — meaning not necessarily a show about a family, but a show that kids will want to watch with their parents — doesn’t really exist now except on cable. (The Bill Engvall Show isn’t a particularly good example of the genre, yet it’s managed to snag a number of writers with impressive résumés, including Michael Leeson, co-creator of The Cosby Show, mostly because these writers specialize in family sitcoms and the networks don’t do them any more.) Of course, family shows of one kind or another will never really go away, not while Brenda Hampton stalks the land, but you don’t see many prime-time shows that really, truly want children to watch them.