Mixing Comedy & Soap: A History of the Serialized Situation Comedy

Mixing Comedy & Soap: A History of the Serialized Situation Comedy
By Doug Prinzivalli

As one of the producers of the hit web series PRETTY - a parody hybrid of reality TV and soaps - I thought it would be a fun idea to take a brief look at the long history of the serialized situation comedy. The idea of mixing comedy with soap elements is not a new one - in fact it started over 60 years ago.

THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS (CBS 1950-52) was a mildly humorous daily soap about newlyweds who are gifted with a bat-infested Victorian mansion. Sounds pretty wacky to me. After less than two years, it was replaced by something called THE GUIDING LIGHT.


THE EGG & I (CBS 1951-52) Based on a book by Betty MacDonald and the 1947 film (starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray) that followed, this show followed the misadventures of city folk who move to the country to run a chicken farm. The popular characters of Ma & Pa Kettle originated here. This 15-minute daily failed to catch on, but undoubtably later inspired the successful 1960s CBS sitcom GREEN ACRES.