One Day at a Time: The Political Limits of the Domestic Sitcom
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-8026.2021.e75557Abstract
Most critics argue that the television comedy One Day at a Time (2017), produced in the United States, is a progressive show, mainly due to its cast, its attempt at faithfully representing an ethnic minority, and its courage in advancing relevant, sensitive topics. In order to qualify such assumptions, we will review the history of the sitcom formula, particularly the genre often defined as domestic comedies of the 1970s, and argue that its formal constraints impose unsurmountable limits on a progressive agenda. Finally, we proceed with an aesthetic analysis of the first season, which further demonstrates that the genre’s need of family stability—what we call a hierarchy of values—compromises the dramatization of political content. We hope that by examining the genre’s history and analyzing the show’s aesthetic, we can contribute to a better understanding of its inherent shortcomings and compromises.
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Copyright (c) 2020 André Carvalho, Marília Dantas Tenório Leite, Paola da Cunha Nichile
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
