Sitcom as the Hardest Genre

Among the TV genres, I think hardest genre to create successful products is Sitcoms not only because it is hard to laugh people but also they have to be continuously funny and interesting. It is interesting that Sitcoms are mostly based on pure humor meaning that even the most emotional scenes have some humorous context. For example, I was watching the American version of The Office, which is also my favorite Sitcom, and I’ve realized that I laugh even at the saddest moments of it. Since I get used to laugh at the main character Michael’s gestures and reactions, I couldn’t feel upset when he had to break up with love of his life.

 

(Even he was actually crying because he lost his love of his life, it is obvious that the intention is to make the audience laugh.)

I wonder why there are no sad moments in sitcoms and if the producers make the saddest moments funny on purpose because even the strongest dramas have some humorous context or at least some funny conversations that is included in the scene while sitcoms are completely based on comic events. 

On the other hand, for the dramas, it is usually easy to make people cry with an emotional sound track. I have a Spanish colleague who doesn’t speak Turkish but when we watched the final episode of the first season of Kara Sevda together with her, she was shocked and crying because the main character Nihan was screaming and crying when she heard her brother’s unexpected suicide. The sound track was so strong and Neslihan Atagül's acting was so impressive that my colleague doesn’t need to understand the words to understand what is happening. Anyone who watches that scene would easily cry without knowing the characters and the story. 

(It begins on the fourth minute) 

Based on these two examples, I think that it is really hard to produce sitcoms than to produce dramas. For the sitcoms, audience needs to know the characters and create some connections with them, they are usually local and makes sense only for the people who know the culture. On the other hand, to produce successful dramas seems easier since to make people cry is easier than to make people laugh.