A characteristic of TV sitcoms is the modified three-act structure. This structure is composed of setup, confrontation and resolution. The setup establishes the characters and location in a “character-based casualty” so that the sitcom is portraying their everyday lives. The confrontation presents a conflict that the protagonist must work to resolve which usually leads to character-growth. The third act is the climax, where the characters must confront growing tensions and resolve the conflict. This structure characterizes classical medium and “controls disclosure” of information.
An example of how the three act structure functions in the sitcom genre is when a character sets a goal, but is met with obstacles pertaining to his life and eventually comes across a solution, enabling him to attain that goal.
The Office is a television sitcom that follows the daily lives of office workers at the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. In the seventh season premier of The Office (Nepotism), a new office assistant, Luke is introduced in the first act. His attitude and poor work ethic cause tension and everyone expresses their dislike towards him, but it is revealed that Luke is Michael’s nephew. The conflict of whether or not to get rid of Luke essentially makes up act two. This conflict is finally resolved when Luke continues to behave poorly and finally comes a climax. During a meeting, Michael spanks him in front of the entire office and he runs away crying to the satisfaction of all of the workers. This episode was extremely hilarious and accurately represented the three-act structure characteristic of the sitcom genre.
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