Decline of Sitcoms a Troubling Sign, Analyst Says
Sitcoms as a genre have "been in a long-term tailspin and ... that is not a good thing," as they "were in many ways a money printing machine for the industry," TVRev analyst Alan Wolk wrote Friday. Sitcoms were generally cheap to produce and advertiser-friendly, he added, but they have been supplanted by eight-episode streaming series with unpredictable shooting schedules and no syndication riches for the actors and producers.
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Wolk urged streaming platforms to consider reviving sitcoms with the traditional 22 episodes per season. While longer seasons mean that quality gets diluted, the upside is "presence, in that sense fans get that you are there for them week in and week out."