Death of sitcoms

The broadcast networks are going to unveil fall lineups to media buyers next week, and when they do there’s a good chance there won’t be many new comedies.

The few that are on the networks’ schedules will most likely be along the lines of NBC’s “Parks & Recreation,” meaning smart and edgy.

Likely as not, they will fail to attract viewers. It’s almost as if the networks haven’t been paying attention to Nielsen ratings the past few years.

Those ratings make clear that most viewers want family comedies like CBS’s “Two and a Half Men 1-5 dvd box set,” which is a huge hit on network television and in syndication. They do not want quirky shows.

That's according to a Magna analysis of comedy ratings over the past several years.

Magna points to hit family sitcoms in syndication like “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “George Lopez” that are continuing to pull in strong audiences years after leaving network TV.

Yet the bulk of network sitcoms are in the mode of Fox’s canceled “Arrested Development.” While the show was adored by critics, and served to up Fox’s profile with upper-income, well-educated TV viewers, it failed to draw a mass audience to the network.

This edgy approach to TV sitcoms goes a long way in explaining network TV’s years-long sitcom drought.

Last fall, there were 22 sitcoms on network TV, down from 50 in 2003, according to Magna.

That decline has led to much talk of the death of the sitcom, but the reality is that comedies are more popular than ever, just not on network TV.

On average, adults 18-34 spend 2.89 hours each week watching sitcoms, up from 2.58 hours in the early 1990s, according to Magna. But 18-34s spend only 0.17 hours watching network sitcoms, down from 1.47 hours in 1993.

That additional viewing of sitcoms is on cable and in syndication.

Even older adults have veered away from broadcast comedies. Adults 50-64 this season are watching 0.20 hours of network sitcoms each week, down from 1.2 hours 15 years ago.

The other reason network comedies aren’t doing well is competition. And while much of it is shows in reruns, like “Seinfeld” and “Friends,” there's more and more original comedies, such as TBS’s “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” and “Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns,” two of the highest-rated comedies on cable TV.

Neither is anything close to being quirky. These are straight-up family sitcoms that harken back to the 1970s with laugh tracks, simple storylines and broadly drawn characters.

Last week on network TV, the highest-rated sitcom among 18-49s was “Two and a Half Men,” with a 5 rating. That show’s lead-out, “Rules of Engagement,” about two couples, one married, one engaged, was the second-highest rated comedy with a 4.1.

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