# Why do sitcom families all have the same house? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 26, 2001, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683 "2001-10-26T01:13:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683/1 "2001-10-26T01:13:06Z")
Roseanne, Drew Carey, 70’s Show, Grounded for Life, Cosby Show (the Huxtable one), etc all seem to have the same style of house. You walk in the front door, walk behind the couch and in front of the stairs going to the bedrooms and into the kitchen, then out the back door. (The current show bucking the trend is Damon Wayans’ “Wife & Kids.”) I don’t think I’ve ever in my life been in an actual home that was set up that way and was wondering what the reason was for it. Was it that some very early sitcom (“All in the Family?”) did it that way and since it worked they never bothered to change it? Or is it that important to sitcom humor that people be going from the kitchen to the upstairs while saying something to a character on a couch? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683/2 "2001-10-26T01:35:56Z")
Goodness, I don’t know what to tell you except that you’re right. For the record, Mr. Belvadere (or however it’s spelled), Small Wonder (!), Full House, Family Matters, Family Ties, Kate & Allie and ALF also all had the same house to use some examples from the 80’s. I was going to suggest that maybe it was a ‘typical’ middle American suburban home but Fresh Prince of Bel Air used the same model and they definately weren’t middle class. I dunno… ---
**Author:** ![SterlingNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@SterlingNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SterlingNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683/3 "2001-10-26T01:39:55Z")
Would that design let it be easier to have a camera track through the house left to right? You know move the scene from the living room to the kitchen, you just slide the camera over. ---
**Author:** ![Nacho4Sara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Nacho4Sara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nacho4Sara)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683/4 "2001-10-26T02:44:23Z")
Did you ever notice that they all have the same fridge, too? The fridge always has to be a little off. Sometimes it’s old and ugly, sometimes it’s an odd color, sometimes it has that odd 60s/70s rounded shape. Who still has a blue fridge from 1960? Would one of those even work? That has always irritated me! I think the walking-behind-the-sofa thing goes way back. It was like that in I Love Lucy and Dick Van Dyke, for sure. I’ve always wondered about people who have a back staircase to the kitchen, too; possibly because I’ve almost always lived in rail-road style row homes, and right now I live in a rancher. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683/5 "2001-10-26T03:18:11Z")
By golly, you’re right! Maybe it’s for the same reason that people in sitcoms always sit on only one side of a table in a restaurant… ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683/6 "2001-10-26T03:33:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nacho4Sara \* > **Did you ever notice that they all have the same fridge, too? The fridge always has to be a little off. Sometimes it’s old and ugly, sometimes it’s an odd color, sometimes it has that odd 60s/70s rounded shape.** So they all have the same fridge, because they all have unique fridges? Fair enough. The house in “Happy Days” actually flipped its orientation from one season to the next. In the first season, the door to the street was on the left. The next season it was on the right. And one of their children had vanished off the face of the planet and they DIDN’T EVEN CARE! Lousy inhuman house-flipping child-losing monsters. Nick ---
**Author:** ![Spoonbender](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spoonbender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoonbender)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683/7 "2001-10-26T03:54:01Z")
What bothers me about them is not so much that the design is always the same, but that they are always so freakin’ clean and perfect. Nobody ever leaves a magazine on the coffee table, or a lipstick-stained coffee mug on the counter or a pair of sneakers on the living room floor. It’s all so sanitized and artificial (kind of like the shows themselves). ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683/8 "2001-10-26T04:35:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SterlingNorth \* > \*\*Would that design let it be easier to have a camera track through the house left to right? You know move the scene from the living room to the kitchen, you just slide the camera over. \*\* I assumed something like that, but it doesn’t explain why there’s not, say, a dining room or bathroom in between or something. It’s always frontdoor/couch-stairs/kitchen/backdoor. I assume maybe it’s hard to write scenes for a diningroom, but you could have kids doing their homework there, or mom/dad paying the bills, etc. (The Cosby show did have several dining room scenes, but the diningroom was the room behind the kitchen I believe.) (I just remembered “Grace Under Fire” had the same layout.) Happy Days seems to differ in that the kitchen is to the front of the living room (from our view) and they have a bit of a dining alcove sort of hovering in the middle of nowhere. And I considered the middle class thing too, but like the Prince of Bel Air, (previously mentioned) Diff’rent Strokes had the same layout, albeit with a grand SWEEPING staircase rather than a standard one. I’m thinking the Simpsons must actually have a fancy house, because in addition to the usual setup, they also have a diningroom and a separate den/tv room area. Oh la la! ---
**Author:** ![whistlepig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/73ab20/32.png) [@whistlepig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whistlepig)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683/9 "2001-10-26T04:43:01Z")
Duh! It’s because they all live in the same neighborhood. If you don’t believe me, you can tell it from their phone numbers: 555-####. Hello! Sheesh, I thought everyone knew that. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683/10 "2001-10-26T05:10:37Z")
I think it can also serve as a plot device. Having them side by side, as opposed to one behind the other, allows for ‘secret’ conversations in one room without anyone in the other room knowing. I know that in my house, the living room is right behind the kitchen, so anything that goes on in either one is known to the other. Plus, if one is behind the other, then it will always be in the background of one of the two shots for the rooms, unless the put the camera in the doorway position for both rooms, which would seem awkward. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683/11 "2001-10-26T05:30:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bouv \* > \*\*I think it can also serve as a plot device. Having them side by side, as opposed to one behind the other, allows for ‘secret’ conversations in one room without anyone in the other room knowing. \*\* Aha! I think we have it. This allows for the “misunderstood evesdropping incident --\> Hijinks ensue” formula most sitcoms seem to employ at least once a season. (Did anyone say “Who’s the Boss” yet? There’s another one!) ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683/12 "2001-10-26T05:54:27Z")
Hey, I lived in a house (a townhouse, actually) set up like that. The whole block was like that. And I’ve seen other houses like that. Also, we had a really old refrigerator (kind of a 70’s puke green) and a lot of strange people coming over to visit all the time. Now that I think about it, there were some strange things about that house … like we didn’t have a roof … and we kept hearing laughter in the background, even though we weren’t laughing, usually when we’d insult each other … I wonder why that was. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683/13 "2001-10-26T05:55:38Z")
I thought of a counter example: Three’s Company. Of course, it was an apartment, but it didn’t fit your pattern. The front door was across the living room, the kitchen was on the right, and the bathroom and two bedrooms were on the left, with the bathroom closest to the camera. ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683/14 "2001-10-26T05:55:52Z")
Heh, check out the artist Mark Bennett, who has made a career out of drawing (made-up) floorplans of TV-show homes. A profile from [Wired](http://hotwired.lycos.com/gallery/96/50/profile.html) Samples of his work from a Los Angeles-area [art gallery](http://www.markmooregallery.com/ben/ben.html) ---
**Author:** ![Solomon7t](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Solomon7t](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Solomon7t)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683/15 "2001-10-26T07:14:44Z")
Sitcoms are the **devil**! ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683/16 "2001-10-26T10:33:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by voguevixen \* > **And I considered the middle class thing too, but like the Prince of Bel Air, (previously mentioned) Diff’rent Strokes had the same layout, albeit with a grand SWEEPING staircase rather than a standard one.** The Nanny, too. An exception: Home Improvement ---
**Author:** ![Monocracy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monocracy/32/4493_2.png) [@Monocracy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monocracy)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683/17 "2001-10-26T13:23:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by voguevixen \* > **(Did anyone say “Who’s the Boss” yet? There’s another one!)** No, “Who’s The Boss” had the second most popular type of sit-com house set-up. The front door is on the left where the characters walk into an open coatroom/foyer with the staircase to the bedrooms on their immediate left. Then there is a huge room that makes up both a living room and a dining room/den/study. The living room is set up in front, so characters still have to walk behind the couch (after taking a 90 degree turn right) to get into the kitchen and to the side door. Behind the dining room/den/study area is sometimes a back door, which is usually a sliding glass door leading to a patio or some such. Either Growing Pains or Valerie (aka The Hogan Family) had this exact same set up (or maybe both), and Silver Spoons did, too, except the door to the kitchen actually led to a library. I haven’t watched any sit-coms in a long, long time, so my memory is probably a bit fuzzy. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683/18 "2001-10-26T13:47:21Z")
“Married With Children” has essentially the same floorplan as Basic SitComHaus A, except that instead of the back door being on the stageside opposite the froont door, they had a sliding patio door next to the basement stairs between the foyer and the second floor stairs. Other than that it’s still front door-living-room-kitchen with the bedroom stairs in the center back. “Friends” is somewhat different in that the bathrooms are actually visible and frequently used for scenes. The two apartments across the hall are more or less the same, though you’d expect that what with them being in the same building and all. “Kate and Allie,” IIRC, had a much more restricted-looking house, a little more realistic. The basic layout was a Who’s The Boss? layout. The only really different live action one right now is **Frasier,** which doesn’t match any other sitcom. The kitchen is segregated from the dining/living room, which is really unusual, and two bedrooms are down the left hallway, with Daphne’s room somewhere behind the kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683/19 "2001-10-26T13:52:35Z")
FTR, the house in “Mr. Ed” is the exact same house in “Bewitched”. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683/20 "2001-10-26T17:21:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Earthling \* > \*\*Heh, check out the artist Mark Bennett, who has made a career out of drawing (made-up) floorplans of TV-show homes. > > A profile from [Wired](http://hotwired.lycos.com/gallery/96/50/profile.html) > Samples of his work from a Los Angeles-area [art gallery](http://www.markmooregallery.com/ben/ben.html) \*\* Amazing! I think I’m in love! (Check out Frasier’s pad – yowza!) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-sitcom-families-all-have-the-same-house/89683.md?page=2)