# Creepy, offensive, or just plain unsettling subtexts in lighthearted sitcoms. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 2, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320 "2007-03-02T17:40:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320/1 "2007-03-02T17:40:45Z")
I was thinking about this the other night after talking with a friend about **Family Ties**. It’s a generally lighthearted show about, well, family. But the way that the entire family - not just the kids - treats the goofy neighbor/friend Skippy is just a little too harsh and mean-spirited. Even the parents, who are otherwise the picture of loving, understanding, perfectly balanced people are creepily cruel and derisive of Skippy, whose only real sin is being a nerd. It always kind of creeps me out when the Dad says or does things to Skippy that are just as, if not more, mean-spirited as the kids. The show **King of Queens** has a similarly angry subtext going on between the titular character, Doug, and Arthur, his live-in father-in-law. While the whole point of the relationship is that it’s antagonistic - Arthur is weird and his living in-house tends to irritate Doug - the show often goes out of its way to insinuate that Doug actually **hates** Arthur and **wants him to die soon**. I get that they’re just playing up the whole Tom and Jerry antagonist thing, but it often goes just a little too far to where the viewer feels unsettled rather than amused. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320/2 "2007-03-02T18:05:36Z")
I really enjoy the George Lopez show, but the relationship between George and his mother goes way overboard when they continually wish death on each other. Sometimes they bring the kids into it, too. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320/3 "2007-03-02T18:05:36Z")
The much derided (deservedly IMO) sitcom “A Small Wonder.” It seems so banally inocous on the surface, but when you think about it - why in the world would this guy build a robot that looks just like a babydoll little girl? And IIRC, he built the robot to be a _servant_ for the family. Just how was this ‘adorable darling girl’ going to service this grown man? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320/4 "2007-03-02T18:07:45Z")
Seinfeld is generally lighthearted but in essence the characters aren’t considered particularly nice people. They tend to be self-centered and not empathetic. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320/5 "2007-03-02T18:16:26Z")
I think in “Small Wonder”, the reasoning for the ‘little girl’ is that she would be a playmate for his son. That doesn’t sound bad at first, but it really is just as creepy. You’re giving your 12-year-old child a plastic, lifesize girl that he commands, and letting her stay in his room all night? No wonder he wasn’t interested in the neighbor’s daughter. The entire premise of “My Two Dads” was just bizarre and wrong. “Sorry, your mom was a slut, and since we’re not sure who the real father is, we’ll just let them both live together and raise you.” ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320/6 "2007-03-02T18:22:19Z")
I could not bring myself to enjoy **Everybody Love’s Raymond** because of how incredibly hateful and cruel that entire family was. Oh, no, wait. I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy it because it sucked. Seriously, though, I recognize that the “comedy” was supposed to be in how dysfunctional the whole family was, but everytime I’d catch an episode I was blown away with just how sadistic they were to each other, and it was supposed to be funny! No, it was a couple of emotionally disturbed men who’d been abused by their parents when they were children, and were still subjecting themselves to this treatment for God knows why. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320/7 "2007-03-02T18:39:50Z")
For me it would be **Seinfeld**. The four of them have such a selfish, callous outlook on life that it really is disturbing. People would get injured, lose jobs, have their self esteem shattered because of some rude or just outright thoughtless behavior by one of them and it would be played off for laughs. ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320/8 "2007-03-02T19:02:16Z")
I get really frustrated when shows play up the “adults are always wrong, kids are always right” theme. The best example I can name was actually from a movie-- the terrible modern remake of _Cheaper by the Dozen_. The viewer is supposed to root for the kids even though they act like insufferable assholes. And the parents are the villains because they won’t cede _all_ decision-making authority to their kids. A lot of newer TV shows aimed at kids have similar messages, it seems to me. It’s one thing to show the world from a kid’s point of view or satirize the foibles of adults, but when adults are portrayed as ignorant jerks whose authority over kids is always illegitimate, I have to wonder how much it contributes to the bratty, entitled attitudes of so many kids. And one more thing… GET OFF MY LAWN! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320/9 "2007-03-02T19:05:17Z")
I suppose Stewie Griffin’s murderous megalomania in _Family Guy_ is too blatant to be considered a “subtext” . . . more of a “running gag” . . . ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320/10 "2007-03-02T19:12:31Z")
The love/hate relationship with Skippy or Steve Urkel really bothered me too. How bad must their lives be at their never seen home if they constantly show up at the neighbors for abuse. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320/11 "2007-03-02T19:14:10Z")
_Three’s Company_ - Using blatent homosexual cliches to cheat an elderly landloard may not be as bad as the ones mentioned above, but still… ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320/12 "2007-03-02T19:16:04Z")
[QUOTE=Autumn Almanac] I get really frustrated when shows play up the “adults are always wrong, kids are always right” theme. [/QUOTE] Of course, the reverse theme can be just as pernicious, and is the one that usually predominates in family sitcoms. ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320/13 "2007-03-02T19:18:15Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] The love/hate relationship with Skippy or Steve Urkel really bothered me too. How bad must their lives be at their never seen home if they constantly show up at the neighbors for abuse. [/QUOTE] Aww, that makes me really sad, now. It’s true that those poor kids were treated very badly and yet their home lives had to be even more miserable, or else why would they keep coming back for it? Or, you know, they’re stupid sitcoms and the writers never gave much thought to those characters beyond using them as verbal punching bags. But I always have to fill in the fanwanked backstory. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320/14 "2007-03-02T19:20:23Z")
_Bewitched_. It always bothered me that Darrin was so against “unnatural” magic until he needed something. Jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320/15 "2007-03-02T19:31:06Z")
The ultimate for me in the “wow, these people are really, really horrible and cruel to one another” genre is “Will & Grace.” Those people are vicious. They make the Seinfeld cast look like saints in comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320/16 "2007-03-02T19:32:57Z")
Oh, this is probably a gimme, but the wife abuse subtext in “I Love Lucy,” “The Honeymooners,” and probably any number of other 50’s sitcoms. ---
**Author:** ![Spiral\_Stairs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Spiral\_Stairs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiral_Stairs)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320/17 "2007-03-02T19:32:58Z")
I always thought the married couple on **Mad About You** hid severe insecurity and marital instability behind a relentless and utterly impenetrable wall of sarcasm and irony. Why anyone would want to live with, or spend five minutes with, either of them always escaped me. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320/18 "2007-03-02T19:35:35Z")
[QUOTE=Rodgers01] Oh, this is probably a gimme, but the wife abuse subtext in “I Love Lucy,” “The Honeymooners,” and probably any number of other 50’s sitcoms. [/QUOTE] 😕 Wife abuse? We’re looking for stuff that’s creepy, offensive or unsettling. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320/19 "2007-03-02T19:35:52Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] I suppose Stewie Griffin’s murderous megalomania in _Family Guy_ is too blatant to be considered a “subtext” . . . more of a “running gag” . . . [/QUOTE] And the continual mistreatment and neglect of Meg. Of course many parts of that show are over-the-top on purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320/20 "2007-03-02T19:49:03Z")
_Will & Grace_ had a relationship that made me cringe. It was horrible, counterproduction, brought out the worst in both of them, and yet they clung to it like a leaky raft in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Grace seems to be the only woman (or possibly person) who can stand Will. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-offensive-or-just-plain-unsettling-subtexts-in-lighthearted-sitcoms/394320.md?page=2)