Sitconomy

Cidu Bill on Nov 16th 2008

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Filed in Bill Bickel, CIDU, Joe Martin, Willie and Ethel, comic strips, comics, economy, humor | 14 responses so far

14 Responses to “Sitconomy”

  1. Rainey Nov 16th 2008 at 02:50 am 1

    This is a commentary on the governments of the world being so inept at balancing an economy that they borrow ideas from T.V. shows. Unfortunately, what works on T.V. does not necessarily work in reality.

  2. Keera Nov 16th 2008 at 06:48 am 2

    Didn’t 50’s sitcoms feature only white, working men and stay-at-home moms? The truth is, today’s governments do assume families can hold to that pattern and still afford to buy a house. Even in Europe, where the gap between rich and poor is far narrower than in the US, an increasing number of middle-class families need two incomes.

  3. yellojkt Nov 16th 2008 at 07:39 am 3

    A lot of 50s sitcoms regularly featured whacky get-rich quick schemes that never worked.

  4. Catlover Nov 16th 2008 at 08:30 am 4

    The New York Times once said, “Return with us now to those dreary days of yesteryear when television was black-and-white, Dad was a hopeless sap and Mom was still the virgin mother of two.” Of course, it went on to say, “The real joke here is on the [current age], which have no sitcom to compare with the Fifties’ ”I Love Lucy” and no TV humor at all to compare with the Fifties’ Sid Caesar shows.”

    This is a headscratcher. My initial instinct was that the comic was saying that the economic crisis is the result of traditional family values, as Keera said. “Father Knows Best”, “Leave It To Beaver”, “Blondie”, “Hazel” … But let’s look at some fifties sitcoms.

    “I Love Lucy” was certainly a very popular one. Lucy often worked outside the home (and Ricky was not a “white, working man”). Lucy wanted desperately to get into show business, and there may have been one or two “get rich quick schemes”.

    “The Real McCoys” was another favorite - NOT a nuclear family by any means. (Who didn’t love Walter Brennan!) “The Honeymooners” never claimed to be a story of wealth and success. “Topper” starred a married ghost couple.

    Andy Griffith (ok, that was 1960) was also a non-traditional home. Andy was always the voice of reason who would never promote a get rich quick scheme - and neither would the “hapless dads” in most of the fifties sit-coms.

    So I don’t find a basis for either traditional family values or get rich quick schemes.

  5. padraig Nov 16th 2008 at 01:03 pm 5

    “Fannie Mae, you gotta lotta ’splainin’ to do!”

  6. Joshua Nov 16th 2008 at 08:59 pm 6

    I’d think “The Honeymooners” would be the most prominent example of a 1950s sitcom where the main character’s economic policy was based on far-fetched “get rich quick” schemes.

  7. Jack Nov 16th 2008 at 10:19 pm 7

    Gee Wally…maybe they’re taking their fiscal advice from Eddie Haskel.

  8. Jack Nov 16th 2008 at 10:21 pm 8

    By the way, you can file one under “CIDU Bill’s title funnier than the actual comic.”

  9. Mark in Boston Nov 17th 2008 at 01:08 am 9

    Actually I remember it being commented on in the 50’s or 60’s that more T.V. families (sit-coms and other shows) had a missing parent than otherwise. My Three Sons. Family Affair. Bonanza. The Andy Griffith Show. The Beverly Hillbillies. Another thing about the sit-coms is that the strange families were the least dysfunctional. The Munsters and the Addams Family each got along perfectly well, and a decade or so later the epitome of the dysfunctional family was in fact the best-adjusted and happiest family in all of television history, The Simpsons.

  10. Powers Nov 17th 2008 at 07:57 am 10

    The Simpsons are more well-adjusted than, say, the Huxtables? The Simpsons? The family where the father regularly chokes his eldest child?

  11. Catlover Nov 17th 2008 at 09:14 am 11

    Joshua - while that may be true, it wasn’t being put out as a good idea. No one would say their financial position was the ideal and seek to emulate it.

    In contrast with “Father Knows Best” or “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet”, there is no pretense of a comfortable, middle class suburban environment in The Honeymooners. The Kramdens had an icebox! These went out of style in the US in the 30s.

  12. Mark in Boston Nov 17th 2008 at 11:46 am 12

    By the end of each Simpsons program everything is resolved and everyone in the family is at least as happy as the Huxtables. And it’s Bart Simpson, not Theo Huxtable, who grows up to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. (We know this from the episode where Bart finally gets to see the movie his father wouldn’t let him see as a kid. Bart wearing his robes, and Homer as a very old man, see a repertory house playing “The Itchy and Scratchy Movie” and Homer buys two tickets: “One adult and one Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.”)

  13. Scott Nov 17th 2008 at 01:27 pm 13

    The Real McCoys started as a traditional family - what is more traditional than an older person living with you? The wife and kids vanished in a later season.

    Since the strip implied that almost all sitcoms inspired the crisis, I think it is a comment on absurdity.

  14. Catlover Nov 18th 2008 at 11:55 pm 14

    Scott:

    Not to belabor the point:

    Real McCoys:
    Luke
    His little _sister_
    His littler _brother_
    Bis new wife
    His _grand_father
    (and the Hispanic farmhand)

    His wife, brother and sister (not wife and kids) left.

    The nucleus of that particular nuclear family was missing.

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