Settings for sitcoms have taken place in almost every imaginable atmosphere. Various backdrops have included apartments, cruise ships, homes, offices, classrooms, eateries, and radio stations just to name a few. Realism and comedy in family, classroom, office, and other situations have been depicted.

When you are thinking of the setting to put your characters and situation in, try answering these questions. What made the show memorable to you? More importantly, what do you think made them memorable to the audiences that kept the show going? Watch a few sitcoms, even ones you don’t like; and see what keeps you hooked, and what doesn’t.

“Head of the Class” used a classroom setting with smart students, while “Welcome Back, Kotter”, also in a classroom, was played with underachieving students. “Room 222” made use of classrooms and the school atmosphere, but with students of all backgrounds. “Our Miss Brooks” started out in radio and became a TV sitcom with Eve Arden as a high school English teacher.

Military settings have been the backdrop for comedies like “Gomer Pyle, USMC”, “The Phil Silvers Show”, “Hogan’s Heroes”, and “McHales Navy”. The longevity and tearful series farewell of “M*A*S*H” proved that a military series can make an impact with audiences. “Major Dad” not only had components of military life, the dual life at home was shown as well.

“Bewitched” and “I Dream of Jeannie” were mainly shot with normal home and office surroundings; but each had magical and fantasy sequences. Not many people can shrink down and fit into a bottle. One’s family does not normally throw up their arms and disappear into thin air. “The Munsters” and “The Addams Family” were your anti-typical next door neighbors, but they were good parents and loved their kids.

“Green Acres” had a home that was never finished. Never mind outhouses, they had to climb a pole to use the telephone. That was a far cry from the completed homestead on “Roseanne”; which paled in comparison to the upscale city family quarters on “Different Strokes” and “Family Affair”.

Complete families such as the “Good Times” viewers had with the Evans family and the Huxtables were shown; as well as the comparison in the standard of living. Also single parent families were shown in “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father”, “Who’s the Boss”, and “One Day at a Time”.

“Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place” was short lived, but funny. Not all of the action took place at the pizza place, though. Didn’t you feel like part of the gang at Mel’s Diner, or with the people at “Cheers”?

Offices and workplaces have also been a good setting for comedy. Just think about your own office. Compare that to the working life on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”, “The Bob Newhart Show”, and “The Office”.

Wouldn’t a job at a radio station like “WKRP in Cincinnati” have been fabulous? If you have ever worked in a retail store, was it anything like Grace Brothers on “Are You Being Served”, an offering from the BBC?

One family type setting that had the least amount of room was on “The Honeymooners”. So much comedy with so little room, and just four major characters; proving that you do not always have to have a big cast or set to write great comedy.