• by Lydia Loizides , Op-Ed Contributor, May 14, 2007

I read a fascinating article on MiamiHerald.com -- an interview with Norman Lear.  What piqued my interest was the line "The sitcom is dead." Is it true? Well, Lear, the creative mind behind such iconic sitcoms as "All In The Family," "Sanford and Son," and "Maude," is quoted as saying, ''Appointment TV doesn't exist in my life anymore." That, my friends, is a sign from the television gods that something is amiss.

Spending a reasonable amount of time thinking about this idea -- the sitcom is dead -- I have come to the conclusion that Lear is correct. The sitcom as I knew it growing up is long gone.  That's not to say there aren't sitcoms that make me laugh -- "The Family Guy," "Two and a Half Men." But the sitcoms from my youth, which used the art of story-telling to make me laugh AND make me think, are gone.  Now I am faced with extremes -- from the squeaky-clean to the downright vulgar.  Where has the sitcom gone?  Will it ever come back?

On the eve of the upfronts, I ask myself this: Whose fault is this untimely death? Is it the network's fault? Is it the advertiser's fault? Is it the simple evolution (or arguable regression) of the television audience toward other types of programming (that shall remain nameless)? I don't know. What I do know is that the longer this goes on, the more network television will lose share to cable and other content distributors that are willing to take chances, coming up with the kind of programming that both challenges and entertains through laughter, that asks the tough questions and looks at the real issues we face every day through the eyes of characters we can relate to.

So, for all of you out there in television land, may Saint Clare of Assisi be with you in the coming weeks and months as the 2007/2008 season descends upon us.  And if you don't know who Saint Clare was, perhaps you ought to think about a career change.