I'm a fan of TV comedies - sitcoms they're called. They are a staple of the TV genre next to mysteries, dramas, horrors, sci-fi, and others. And there have been oodles of them over the years. I've seen one unfortunate problem with a number of them, however, and that is that IMO they become ruined if they last too long.
By ruined I mean that the shows characters get bogged down in relationships with one another so much so that it alters the very nature of what the show was to begin with. The latest one to have this happen to it is I'm sorry to say The Big Bang Theory.
TBBT started off fine with 4 nerds going about their lives in their own unique and nerdy ways. No one was attached romantically to anyone else. Life was good. But in walks Penny, then Leslie, then Bernadette, then Amy, etc. etc. etc. Before long everyone is paired up and getting married. Did we need this for the show to succeed? Was the humor between the 4 nerds not enough? I'm not saying that they shouldn't try to get girlfriends - of course not. I'm just disappointed that the writers of the show thought they had no alternative than to go this way. Another path could have simply been for them to try but never succeed in getting girlfriends. At least not permanent ones.
Friends was another show that disappointed me. For a while everyone was single and unhitched, just having fun and living their lives. Then suddenly they start pairing off, Chandler with Monica, Ross with Rachael, Joey with...well Phoebe and him didn't get hitched like the others although she did have kids, which is as bad.
Another example of this has been termed 'jumping the shark' which was coined from an episode of Happy Days where the Fonz strapped on some skis and literally jumped a shark, I guess to get people to watch because ratings had dropped. This happened in The Brady Bunch in season 5 when they introduced a new character - Cousin Oliver. And any show that does anything like this is considered to have 'jumped the shark'
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