American Sitcom

  Watch these 3 episodes of these 1950 sitcoms and write a written report: 1. I love Lucy, S2 E4 (Job Switching - you can find it on Hulu), 2. Amos n Andy (episode "Kingfish Sells a Lot" - you can find it free on YouTube), and 3. The Real McCoys, S1 E1 (Californy Here We Come- also you can find free on YouTube). The purpose of this report is to gauge the potential impact/effect that the content of the television programming has on certain aspects of American society at the time. Did the content reflect, or shape, the times? Try to paint a picture for the others. Use specific examples. How did program content portray and potentially influence the following? Note: Interpret “portray” to mean as it was actually presented in the specific episodes assigned; Interpret “potentially” to mean how you think it might have, in fact, influenced viewers perceptions. The Family Unit & Communication Interaction within the Family Gender Roles/Portrayals Ethnic Roles/Portrayals Occupational Roles/Portrayals Nature of the Plots and Problems