In 1950 Jackie Gleason took over as the host of Cavalcade of Stars on the DuMont Television Network. The comedy variety show had a collection of shorts, including one about a bus driver named Ralph Kramden called The Honeymooners. The show was an attempt to capture the life of a married poor couple living in Brooklyn. The success of the segment led to the creation of a new family sitcom in 1951. Initial high ratings gave way to competition and the show ended as a stand alone production. Although it returned as a sketch show until 1957 when Art Carney left. Many credit this show with being one of the founders of the modern day sitcom. Three years after the end of the Honeymooners a new show would take off using many themes similar to the Honeymooners.
In 1960 Hanna-Barbera produced a new show called The Flintstones. The show was a prehistoric Honeymooners and ran from 1960 to 1966 on ABC. In addition it spawned numerous specials and a few spin off shows. The concept borrowed from The Honeymooners created the first primetime animated show which would hold the title of the only animated prime time show until 1989.
In 1987 The Tracey Ullman show on the Fox Network was looking for content and was pitched a dysfunctional animated family sketch by Matt Groening. Groening conceived for the concept with James L. Brooks and The Simpsons were born. Feeding off the same base that was built by The Honeymooners and refined by The Flintstones, The Simpsons was a distorted view of the family structure that existed previously. Now in its 21st season with 423 episodes under its belt, The Simpsons has become a staple of Sunday night programming across the United States achieving a level of success never dreamed of by its predecessors.
With each iteration of the core concept there were successes and failures. Each time refining the concept so that each success would be as enduring as possible.
-Professor Walter
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