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"It was about a family that argued a lot and the dad was always wrong. You heard the audience laugh, so you knew it was funny."
—Monk synopsizes The Cooper Clan, a fictional example of this trope
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A contraction of "Domestic Comedy", a Sitcom which revolves around home and family.[1]
You're going to see some standard jokes in most of these. Usually, the "wacky" differences between men and women, perennial 'rebellious teenager' issues (including frequently erroneous stories about what kids are like these days), kids doing the darnedest things, and visits from the wacky neighbor.
The Dysfunctional Family sitcom began as a Deconstruction of this genre, but since so many appeared in the late 90s, and modern versions tend to reconstruct many of the old tropes, there's not much of a distinction any more.
Examples: Radio and Radio to TV
- The Aldrich Family
- Blondie
- The Burns and Allen Show
- Father Knows Best - from radio to TV in the 1950s
- Fibber McGee and Molly - mainly on radio, short lived on TV
- The Jack Benny Program
- The Phil Harris Alice Faye Show - some overlap with Work Com
Examples: TV[]
- According to Jim
- All in The Family and its sequel series Archie Bunkers Place
- American Dad
- As Time Goes By
- Arrested Development - lacked most standard features of the traditional Dom Com; deconstructed/parodied others (such as Maeby's standard Rebellious Teenager arc, which culminated in her becoming a powerful Hollywood film executive without her parents noticing); also had some Work Com influence, as one might expect from show centred on a family business. The show takes every opportunity to subvert traditional Dom Com tropes, sometimes with extreme subtlety. Could be called Troperiffic.
- The Beverly Hillbillies
- Big Wave Daves
- Blossom
- The Brady Bunch
- Casados con Hijos
- The Charmings
- The Cleveland Show
- The Cosby Show
- Coupling
- Cybill
- Daddy's Daughters
- The Dick Van Dyke Show - another hybrid of Dom Com and Work Com
- Diffrent Strokes
- Drake and Josh
- Ein Herz und eine Seele - the German "cousin" of All in The Family, due to both series being a Foreign Remake of the Britcom Til Death Us Do Part.
- Everybody Hates Chris
- Everybody Loves Raymond
- The Facts of Life
- Family Affair
- Family Guy
- Family Matters
- Family Ties
- Father Knows Best
- Fibber McGee and Molly
- Frasier
- The Fresh Prince of Bel Air
- Friday Night Dinner
- Friends
- Full House
- The Golden Girls
- Golden Palace
- Good Luck Charlie
- Good Times
- Grandmas House
- Grounded for Life
- Growing Pains
- Happy Days
- Hausmeister Krause
- Hearts Afire, though all of the adult housemates also worked together, making it a Dom Com / Work Com hybrid.
- Hey Dad
- The Hogan Family
- Home Improvement
- The Honeymooners
- I Love Lucy (the Ur Example)
- Its Garry Shandlings Show
- The Jeff Foxworthy Show
- Jessie
- Joey
- Jonas
- The King of Queens
- La Petite Vie
- Last Man Standing
- Leave It to Beaver
- Life with Derek
- Lizzie McGuire
- Love, American Style
- Lucky Louie
- Mad About You (A rare childless — for most of the series — couple! Although sitcoms starring elderly couples usually have the kids long grown up and moved away.)
- Malcolm in the Middle
- Mamas Family
- Man About the House
- The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
- Married With Children — Working title: The Anti-Cosbys
- Melissa and Joey
- Men Behaving Badly
- The Middle
- Modern Family
- Mr. Belvedere
- Mrs. Browns Boys
- My Family
- My Three Sons
- My Wife and Kids
- The Nanny
- Nanny and the Professor
- New Girl
- One Foot in the Grave
- Packed to the Rafters
- Perfect Strangers
- Perfect Couples
- Petticoat Junction
- Punky Brewster
- Reba
- Roseanne
- Rules of Engagement — Another childless series.
- Samantha Who
- Silver Spoons
- The Simpsons
- Sonic Boom
- Soupy Norman
- Spaced
- Step by Step
- Steptoe and Son
- Still Standing
- Sykes
- That 70s Show
- 3rd Rock from the Sun - seeing as it's about an expedition of aliens only posing as a family perhaps it's a Work Com.
- Threes Company
- Til Death
- Titus
- Too Close for Comfort
- Tucker
- Unhappily Ever After
- Virtues of Harmony
- The War at Home
- The Wayans Bros
- Webster
- What's Happening
- Whos the Boss
- Will and Grace
- Yes, Dear
Examples: Web Original[]
- ↑ Not a comedy about a BDSM relationship. The Moral Guardians would throw a fit.