Where Have All the Sitcoms Gone?

There was a point in time when prime-time television was filled with half-hour sitcoms, a lot of which are in syndication now. Nowadays, there seems to be a decrease in sitcoms, especially on the major networks. I found a current list of all the sitcoms currently on television or that are going to be on television in the upcoming fall season. The majority of the list contains shows that are on cable networks, such as FX, TBS, or HBO. I wonder why the major television networks are steering away from sitcoms. When past sitcoms were still on the air, such as Friends or I Love Lucy, they were very successful. Do networks think that sitcoms won't be as successful anymore? It is ridiculous, I think, to believe that they wouldn't be. Shows such as Entourage, How I Met Your Mother, and even the Simpsons, are doing very well for themselves. Also, sitcoms make even more money since a lot of them eventually go into syndication on another network or even several other networks. People who watch these shows do not find them boring or the storylines tired out. I have watched all three of these shows and some of the other sitcoms currently on TV. They still make me laugh and they still are interesting to me.


One of my guesses is that maybe people do not think that popular sitcoms from the past could be replaced. The truth is, though, is that a lot of the sitcoms that we used to watch in the 90's and early 2000's would not survive on TV today. People want more inventive shows. They want shows that steer away from the usual setting and that are more realistic. I think some of the old sitcoms are some of the best shows that have ever been on TV so why should we want them to start going away?

Some of my favorite TV sitcoms:
Friends
The Office
I Love Lucy
Scrubs
Will & Grace
The Wonder Years
Bewitched
Saved By the Bell

And that is just some of them. I would suggest checking out some of the ones currently in syndication.