Sitcom: a history in 24 episodes from ''I love Lucy'' to ''Community

The form is so elemental, so basic, that we have difficulty imagining a time before it existed: a single set, fixed cameras, canned laughter, zany sidekicks, quirky family antics. Obsessively watched and critically ignored, sitcoms were a distraction, a gentle lullaby of a kinder, gentler America—until suddenly the artificial boundary between the world and television entertainment collapsed.<br /><br /> In this book we can watch the growth of the sitcom, following the path that leads from<i>Lucy</i>to<i>The Phil Silvers Show</i>; from<i>The Dick Van Dyke Show</i>to<i>The Mary Tyler Moore Show</i>; from<i>M*A*S*H</i>to<i>Taxi</i>; from<i>Cheers</i>to<i>Roseanne</i>; from<i>Seinfeld</i>to<i>Curb Your Enthusiasm</i>; and from<i>The Larry Sanders Show</i>to<i>30 Rock</i>.<br /><br /> In twenty-four episodes,<i>Sitcom</i>surveys the history of the form, and functions as both a TV mixtape of fondly remembered shows that will guide us to notable series and larger trends, and a carefully curated guided tour through the history of one of our most treasured art forms.