Comedy Shows - What Are They Really About?

Comedy is about making people laugh – whether it’s a sitcom giving you a look into the absurdity of someone’s supposed life, or a stand up performer that strikes you as funny, both aim to make you laugh, smile, be entertained and to come back for more. The name of the game is that – come back for more.

A Comedy show like Seinfeld or The Big Bang Theory don’t just give you slapstick, they give you a commentary on how modern life is, and what aspects of it are impacted by how people in general view them. The points brought up are usually relevant to today, but in such a way as to entertain you, not to make you feel unknowing. A comic episode about someone desperately trying to loose weight, going and having vaser lipo in order to do so with hiarious results - this could also be making an important point about our obsession with the way we look.

Hit shows like Two and a Half Men strike a chord with us as we all know at least someone one of the characters, bringing it that closer to home for us, the viewers. Yet all this fun and appeal leads to one thing and one thing only – come back. Watch us next week, when – we’ve all seen it. The ‘Why” is a little more complicated than just entertainment.

All these shows are products, simply put, used to drive up the value of the airtime of the show so the TV companies can charge others with higher costs for their advertising and product placement. Without these ads and sponsors none of the shows as we know them would be possible. Even more, during the show there is product placement. Whether that is obvious like them drinking cans of coke, or more subtle like them buying a certain companys caravan insurance during one of the episodes they are getting paid to use that particular brand/company.

So when we talk about entertainment, about comedy, we’re really talking about money, in its strictest sense. A writer’s strike for more royalties on digital products sold brought the industry to its knees not so long ago, and what would all these studios do if there was an actor’s strike? Well, we know what we would be watching more of – reality TV. Let’s hope it doesn’t ever happen.