The sitcom “All in the Family” is different from contemporary sitcoms because it serves as only the beginning of the family sitcom deviating from the traditional “perfect family (the working/all-knowing dad, stay at home mom, and the 2.5 kids). “All in the Family” featured an ignorant (yet funny) dad with a limited education, and tackled issues that are heavily debated such as race, sex, and politics. The show presents liberal as well as conservative viewpoints on all of the issues, and expresses the realities of the world.
Even though the show deviated from the traditional family, most of the issues that were discussed did not occur within the actual immediate family, and the show did not deviate nearly as much as sitcoms do now. Now sitcoms such as “Two and a Half Men” completely deviate from the traditional family by not incorporating the values of the “perfect” family. “Two and a Half Men” does not feature a mother, but instead involves two men raising a child. Some shows even bring the realities of the world into the immediate family, such as “Modern Family”. This show features three different types of families (muti-cultural, traditional, and homosexual) and shows the trials they go through. Now shows offer a wider range of differences in cultures, sex, and beliefs, however most of them do not focus on politics and serious issues as much as “All in the Family” did. Both “Two and a Half Men” and “ Modern Family” rarely involve topics such as politics. The sitcoms now depend more on comedy to fuel the show. Comedy remains important in the sitcoms, and is incorporated into all three.
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