That ’90s Show Fills the Missing Niche of The In-Between Sitcom
sees a new generation of teenagers, some of them the children of ’s original group, spend their summer hanging out in the basement of Red and Kitty Foreman. Like with any sequel to a popular sitcom of yore, there are those who are only watching to see what their favorite characters are up to 15 years later. However, the show is also trying to appeal to a new generation, and it fills a niche that has been lacking in the zeitgeist lately: the in-between sitcom.
The sitcom has been a staple of television since the medium’s early days. It began with squeaky clean shows broadcast in black-and-white like and .It currently consists mostly of shows that ditch the sound stages and classic laugh track (and often break the fourth wall) like.
Sitcoms used to be geared toward a general viewing audience; entertaining for all ages with nothing that would be objectionable to parents of young children. As the scope of TV widened, with more channels and more creators could “get away with” on the platform, sitcoms geared towards more narrow and specific age demographics emerged in addition to the ones families could enjoy together.
Nowadays, that “in addition to” isn’t really a thing anymore. You’ve got the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon sitcoms for kids, and the network TV ones for adults. The last time there was a strong middle ground was the 1990s, the age of sitcom programming blocks like ABC’s TGIF lineup with sitcoms aimed at families, but particularly older kids and younger teens. Some of these programs, like, skewed more towards the younger kids in the family, while others tackled subject matter that was a bit more grown-up but in a way that kids would understand and parents (probably) wouldn’t freak out (not taking things to the
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