The Sitcom Reader: America Viewed and Skewed

Offers a variety of perspectives on the sitcom genre and its influence on American culture.

Despite the popularity of the sitcom, one of the oldest and most ubiquitous forms of television programming, The Sitcom Reader is the first book to offer critical essays devoted specifically to the form. The contributors address important topics in relation to sitcoms, such as conventions of the form, the family, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, work and social class, and ideology, and they do so from a variety of perspectives, including cultural studies, feminist theory, queer theory, and media studies.

Mary M. Dalton is Assistant Professor of Communication at Wake Forest University and the author of The Hollywood Curriculum: Teachers in the Movies. Laura R. Linder is Associate Professor of Media Arts at Marist College and the author of Public Access Television: America’s Electronic Soapbox.