One of my favorite contemporary, family-based sitcoms, although it recently went off-air, is "Everybody Loves Raymond." After watching the 1970s hit, "All in the Family" in class last Thursday, I immediately noticed similarities and differences between the two very popular sitcoms.
One similarity I found between "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "All in the Family" is the way in which both shows use insults to get a laugh from their audience. In "Everybody Loves Raymond," the family members trade insults about each other's intelligence, cooking, way of living, and way of raising their children throughout each episode of their show. In fact, the realistic depiction of a typical sarcastic, Italian-American family is what made the show successful. Similarly, the characters in "All in the Family" continually trade insults about each other's race, way of living and appearance. "All in the Family" became notable specifically due to the daring script writing which included crude remarks and comments between its characters.
One difference I found between both TV sit-com hits was the specific words chosen to insult the characters on the show. "Everybody Loves Raymond" used words such as "idiot," "moron," "stupid" and "ugly", just to name a few. While "All in the Family" used racial slurs such as "fag", "spic", "jap" and "gook". Even though the words that "Everybody Loves Raymond" are definitely offensive, they are hardly as controversial as the words the characters in "All in the Family" used to trade insults. In other words, "Everybody Loves Raymond" playfully pokes fun at its characters, while "All in the Family" pushed the boundaries by having a discriminatory and racist script.
In my opinion, "All in the Family" dared to represent a group of Americans who are generally left out of many contemporary sit-coms today. Today, networks are concerned with being politically correct. As a result, a lot of controversial content regarding race, in particular, has been played down in family-based sitcoms. "Everybody Loves Raymond" is a perfect example of how family-based sitcoms have significantly toned down controversial content in its show. Racism is a topic that is generally left out of prime-time family based sitcoms. However, I do feel the need to mention that many dramas, particularly dramas on networks such as FX, HBO and Showtime continue to push the envelope when it comes to racism and its role in society. To be more specific, I recently began watching the hit drama "Rescue Me," on FX. "Rescue Me" addresses racism head-on during many episodes of the show and uses similar racist terms that "All in the Family" did in the 1970s. In conclusion, I think that family-based sitcoms have either tried to avoid racism in its scripts, or to tone it down. However, racial slurs and discriminatory behavior are still represented on certain networks.
Below I have attached clips of both "All in the Family" and "Everybody Loves Raymond" and how each show represents family in their scripts.
"Everybody Loves Raymond:"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RHkpi0QYTs
"All in the Family"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dKpHtc9F9M
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