On The Screen is a series here on Writing Theory where we dissect television and film to better understand their decisions in storytelling and how you can apply it to your own writing.
Modern Family
Modern Family is a successful sitcom that ran for an astounding 11 seasons. It features three generations of the Pritchett family and a large list of characters ranging from patriarch Jay Pritchett, an old-school “man’s man”, to Lily Tucker-Pritchett, Vietnamese adopted daughter to two fathers.
Why Doesn’t It Work
Modern Family is clearly a beloved show. I mean, no show can go 11 seasons without positive response for fans (discounting Big Bang Theory #sorrynotsorry). It works in a lot of ways. I’ll be the first to admit that, in the first season, I thought that Modern Family could be a top ten show of mine! It had a large, dynamic cast of characters that felt fairly distinctive. It set itself up to tell a lot of varying stories. It was like walking into a room full of art supplies and a big, blank canvas.
Each episode is like taking down a couple of different paints, a stick of charcoal, pastels, and putty knives. Paint is mixed and the artist considers what to draw.
And then everything is put away.
The canvas remains untouched.
Sitcom Syndrome
Sitcom Syndrome is my name for introducing conflict in your story that simply fails in lasting consequences or character development. Character don’t learn from their situations and repeat the same mistakes.
In Modern Family, Cam and Mitchell (a married gay couple) repeatedly find themselves in conflict because one party doesn’t want to say something to another party. Multiple examples:
- Cam wants to take a job as a music teacher and start working again, but Mitchell thinks that Cam getting a job means Cam has to leave his easy life as a homemaker, but the extra income would be worth it. Conflict arises as both characters dance around speaking their mind.
- After they get married, Cam continues with large, romantic gestures towards Mitchell. Mitchell doesn’t feel like he can tell Cam to stop the big gestures. Cam is afraid that once the honeymoon ends, then their romance will fizzle out. Conflict arises as both characters dance around speaking their mind.
- Cam and Mitchell want to prove that they are still young and cool and able to go out with their wild friend, Sal. Both are tired and exhausted early in the night, but keep agreeing to more wild events. Conflict arises as both characters dance around speaking their mind.
Is this sort of conflict because of the nature of the characters? Possibly? Is this conflict an easy and repeatable trope of Sitcom writing? Absolutely.
This is Sitcom Syndrome. This conflict repeats time and time again with no learning or changing of the characters. The examples above just concern Cam and Mitchell, yet it is present in every episode of every season with every character.
This conflict is repeated time and time again without any learning or changing of the characters.
Even with episodes that involve a character breaking down and crying due to frustration doesn’t lead to any change of character in following episodes/seasons. Honestly, the most character development in the show is the aging of the kids. Any adult character remains the same as their character from the first season.
Avoiding Sitcom Syndrome in Your Writing
Sitcom Syndrome results from the Sitcom genre. People love the characters of their favorite shows. Characters changing and evolving introduces the risk of a show ruining a character. That’s why Homer Simpson is still a goofy dad, Cartman is still a narcissistic maniac, and George Costanza was always a bumbling goof.
That being said, do audiences expect character development within Sitcoms? It’s not unheard of. There are examples of evolving characters within this genre. Jeff Winger, and nearly every other character in Community, evolves drastically over their 6 season run in Community. Dr Cox, gruff mentor figure in Scrubs, evolves into a dedicated father and devoted husband.
Avoiding Sitcom Syndrome in your writing aligns closely with this piece of advice I got from a mentor at my first job:
It’s not bad to ask a bunch of questions, it’s bad to ask the same questions time and time again.
If your character is repeatedly in conflict for the same reasons: be aware. Readers will expect growth within that character at some point.
If that growth doesn’t happen, readers will get bored. There’s only so many situations that your static characters can get into without staleness.