Television comedy has its roots in British radio shows developed in the late 1940s and the early 1950s. At a time when radio was in its infancy, comedy shows such as Hancock’s Half Hour and Around the Horn provided entertainment for the family when television had very basic programming and was not broadcasting at all hours of the day.

Many of the more popular radio shows transferred to television, with less successful ones staying on the radio. In this period in the UK there were only two, later three television channels. Viewing figures in this era were a lot higher than they are today and a show for the whole family to sit down and watch was a real family event. Even some of the more popular television comedy shows achieved listening figures of up to 30 million, a figure that many television broadcasters in the modern age would love to get even close to. Television comedy in its infancy usually had one writer-performer who sometimes would also direct. Occasionally a pair of writers would be employed to write a show, as in the case of Galton and Simpson.

American television comedy began with shows such as I Love Lucy and Bilko, which have been popular in the United States for very long time and remain so today. These shows were usually written by a team of writers rather than an individual, this is why this type of comedy is often said to be more superior to its British counterpart. Others would argue that allowing one writer, or a pair of writers, to develop a story, plot and most of the jokes binds the show together in a more cohesive manner.

Television comedy does not necessarily have to take the guise of the traditional sitcom format. Many other types of comedy shows, such as sketch shows and variety shows have also enjoyed great exposure over the years. Occasionally movie spin-offs from television comedy would enjoy a cinematic release.

Modern television comedy is very different from the material that it originated from in terms of language and sexual connotations. All of these things have led to what some may argue is the dumbing down of television comedy. Others would argue that it gives the writers more freedom to write what they want, and what we know as the decline of the sitcom is often cited as a symptom of the dumbing down of television. Some might say that television comedy can be described as lewd and aims for the lowest common denominator, others argue that one tends to look back on comedies from 30, 40 or 50 years ago with rose-tinted spectacles. The comedies that are repeated the most often now are the most popular; broadcasters don’t show all the ones that didn’t quite come up to scratch. We are most likely not living in an era where things are getting worse, but in an era where much has stayed the same.

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