10 Great Sitcoms That Totally Subvert Genre Expectations

Part of the joy of watching a sitcom is seeing the familiar tropes of the genre, but recent television shows have expanded upon this by taking the sitcom format and creating something entirely new. Sitcoms have become so ubiquitous with comedic television that audiences have no trouble guessing the beats of the plot, the development of the characters, and every narrative twist before they happen. While a little predictability can be comforting, it’s not the way to make a piece of media that will stand the test of time.

Tropes come in many forms and can appear as character archetypes, specific episode formulas, or, at worst, offensive stereotyping. To subvert an audience’s expectations, a series must be self-aware enough to identify where these tropes might exist within their narrative, draw attention to that fact, and poke fun at it by introducing a new plot point that questions the validity of the assumption. While even the most subversive shows aren’t always perfect and fall victim to conventional plotting, more often they create a new language through which to tell stories.

Related

8 Worst Sitcom Tropes That Can Ruin Great TV Shows

While tropes can be an effective shorthand to communicate a story within a sitcom, they can also be detrimental to the quality of the show.

10 Community (2009 – 2015)

A community college study group that has epic adventures

With the Community movie finally on the horizon, and chock-full of the original cast of the show, the series is in the perfect position to continue its tradition of taking down every genre convention out there. Perhaps the most self-aware show on television while it was airing, Community was known for experimenting with genre and form, satirizing formulaic media like crime procedurals and action-adventure movies. At the heart of this was Abed (Danny Pudi), a character with an encyclopedic knowledge of film and television who was a tool for the writers to point out tropes from inside the show.

9 It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (2005 – )

The worst characters to make the protagonists of a show

The premise of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia was to take the five worst people in the city of Philadelphia and make a show all about how they scheme, rip off, and cause problems for each other and everyone around them. This is a subversion on its own, because a series usually relies on the likability of its characters, and a traditional sitcom is rarely as raunchy and borderline offensive as Sunny is. Strangely, over the show’s long run, the characters have become beloved by audiences and though their actions remain unexpected, they’re extremely fun to watch.

8 30 Rock (2006 – 2013)

A show within a show featuring writers writing about writers

Tina Fey, the writer, creator, and star of 30 Rock, was the head writer for Saturday Night Live for many years, and from this experience 30 Rock was born. The show is about the head writer of a late-night show, Liz Lemon (Fey), which is a satirized version of SNL. Taking advantage of every opportunity to find the humor in the dramas of show business and the concept of a series revolving around a woman trying to “have it all”, 30 Rock never gives its characters the traditional happy ending that audiences expect at the end of an episode.

Frequently, the behavior of the characters causes everything to go wrong for them, and the show isn’t afraid of making them do awful things. What makes the series so unique is its surrealist tone, and how far the writers were willing to push the bounds of reality. The series consistently questions what kind of ending the show should be providing for its audience, and leaves more than one plotline unraveled in one of many bold choices the show was known for.

7 What We Do In The Shadows (2019 – 2024)

An insight into what vampires get up to after hours

Based on Taika Waititi’s 2014 film of the same name, What We Do In The Shadows is a mockumentary-style sitcom that introduces a fantastical twist to the genre. The series’ main cast is a group of vampires who give an inside look at how they live, and show that they’re not just the stereotypical villains one sees in the media. Each character has a distinct way of handling situations that make them so much more than a vampire. However, the otherworldly elements also give the show leave to play with the conventions of sitcoms and fantasy series.

Related

What We Do In The Shadows Will End With Season 6

Everyone’s favorite Staten Island vampires are taking a bow, as What We Do in the Shadows season 6 will be the last for the hit FX comedy.

6 The Last Man On Earth (2015 – 2018)

A man struggles with being the only person left on the planet

In an unexpected take on the post-apocalyptic genre, The Last Man On Earth follows Phil (Will Forte) as he travels across North America in the wake of a world-ending event. What drives the stakes of a sitcom is how the characters interact with those around them and chafe under societal expectations. At the end of the world, there aren’t many people to come into conflict with, and the rules of society become mute. This is how the show shakes up the format, and questions how ingrained these cultural conventions are once the facade of civilization is stripped away.

5 Fleabag (2016 – 2019)

A woman suffering through life lets the audience in on her inner monologue

Despite being hailed as a revolutionary piece of television, Fleabag ended after just two seasons, but in retrospect, the show was too smart to go on any longer than it took to tell the story. Breaking the Fourth Wall has always been a tongue-in-cheek tool to let the audience know the show is self-aware, but the way Fleabag uses the gimmick is entirely new. Fleabag (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) is in constant communication with the audience, letting them know exactly what she thinks of every situation.

While this lets the viewer in on her perspective, it also plays with the concept of an unreliable narrator, as every aspect of the series is colored by how Fleabag wants to be perceived. One consistent way that a series disrupts the form of a sitcom is through tone, and Fleabag excels in balancing its dark themes with moments of levity. In the second season, Fleabag pushes these concepts even further by creating a character who sees the cracks in Fleabag’s facade.

4 Kevin Can F**K Himself (2021 – 2022)

A delicate balance between a traditional sitcom and a dark thriller

Though short-lived, Kevin Can F**k Himself made a lasting impression through its extreme juxtaposition of two contrasting genres. Starring Annie Murphy, the series uncovers the true feelings behind the sunny exterior of a typical sitcom wife. The series bounces between the traditional multi-camera, canned approach of an old sitcom, and a cold single-camera style when she’s alone and expressing her inner thoughts. Since the beautiful wife to a bumbling husband, who makes plenty of sexist jokes, is a hallmark of the sitcom, Kevin Can F**k Himself changes the narrative of this dynamic, centering the experience of Allison (Murphy).

3 Dead To Me (2019 – 2022)

Female friendship takes center stage in this poignant comedy about loss

Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini play Jen and Judy, two women going through a period of grief, who come together to help each other through it. Dealing with loss, specifically prolonged grief, is an unexpected turn for a sitcom, but Dead To Me makes it work through its commentary on how media and society have difficulty discussing death. Even the funniest moments of the show never let the audience forget that the root of the plot is the loss of a loved one, but this approach allows anyone who has dealt with this trauma to feel seen.

2 Hacks (2021 – )

Different generations of comedians form an unlikely bond

Hacks is another among the TV shows that directly interrogate the ethics of media, as well as the politics of getting older in such a highly publicized career. However, the series does not stop there. The show also focuses on the role and experience of women in comedy, acknowledging that sexism is rampant in Hollywood, particularly for women in the comedic field. While touching upon this, the show still focuses on agency more than anything. None of the characters are innocent bystanders in their lives and take an active role in how the narrative progresses.

1 BoJack Horseman (2014 – 2020)

An adult-animated series with some of the darkest moments on TV

By the end of the series, it was questionable if it could be considered a sitcom at all based on the saddest quotes in BoJack Horseman. Whether BoJack (Will Arnett) could be redeemed was a constant question on the show as his actions became increasingly hard to watch. The series evolves from season 1 when it is still utilizing sitcom tactics, to season 6, when it has become an odyssey of BoJack’s life and choices, which is incredible to watch. Anyone interested in the effects of fame and a show using subversion to better itself should be watching BoJack Horseman.