Oh, I know the content is radically different from those innocent days when you couldn't say the word pregnant on TV or have married couples sleep in the same bed. These days, sitcoms are all about bathroom jokes, bratty kids and double entendres. All the rude and crude jokes would make Rob and Laura Petrie blush.

But while the content is pushing the envelope, sitcoms have failed to evolve.

Fifty years later the laugh track, the three-camera set up and the stationary set pioneered by "I Love Lucy,'' are all still around.

And boy do they look tired.

With "Friends'' and "Frasier'' coming to an end this season and word that "Everybody Loves Raymond'' and possibly "Will & Grace'' may end their runs next year, it's time to pause and take a look at the future of sitcoms. Clearly, they need an injection of something new.

I'm not saying there aren't any good sitcoms on TV. I love "The King of Queens,'' and "Everybody Loves Raymond'' is still remarkably good week in and week out.

But a truly classic sitcom hasn't been developed in years and I don't hold out much promise for the future. Sitcoms are stuck in a rut.

How many double entendre jokes about sex or bodily functions can we take? Can we stand one more show with a family full of dimwitted parents and sassy kids? Does anyone want to watch shows about 20-somethings sitting around making crass jokes about their sex lives while a canned laugh track explodes every 10 seconds? Isn't it time for sitcom characters to leave their living rooms and their offices and go outside? Can we get rid of the three-camera setup and the laugh tracks? And can we get back to being funny? Why is the relationship between Bob Newhart and Suzanne Pleshette in the old "Bob Newhart Show'' so much sexier and playful than the couple in "Happy Family?'' Why are Felix and Oscar from "The Odd Couple'' so much funnier and enjoyable than Charlie and Alan, the characters on "Two and a Half Men?'' And why is an old episode of "All in the Family'' so much more relevant than anything seen on "Whoopi?'' The interesting thing about the best comedy is how timeless it is. We watch old cop shows and they seem stiff and silly. But sit down to watch "I Love Lucy'' or "The Dick Van Dyke Show'' and they are bursting with freshness and humor and they are as funny as they were 40 or 50 years ago.

It's not that great sitcoms can't be adult-oriented or PG-13 rated. "Seinfeld'' definitely had its share of double entendres (remember "The Contest'' episode?). "Friends'' has plenty of sex jokes. But both shows were consistently well written and the characters were well developed.

And that's what's missing from most sitcoms these days.

Why try for good, character-driven writing when you can just throw in a crass sex joke? One dimensional characters? Who cares when you can delve into bathroom humor? Not funny? All you have to do is crank up that 50-year-old laugh track and you're in business.



Jane Holahan is a New Era staff writer. Her column appears every Wednesday.

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