Because It Was On

CW: Body Dysmorphia, Transphobia, Sexual Assault
The Dustin Hoffman Video
Studs Terkel Interview with John Howard Griffin

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Hey, champ? Got a sec? I think it's time we had a serious talk about the facts of life.
Join Jessica and Zach as they discuss The Birds and The Bees is sitcoms throughout the ages. We discuss several episodes that deal with teen sexuality and topics such as shame, consent, queer representation, and "hand to gland combat".
Shows discussed:

• Leave it to Beaver
• The War at Home
• Family Matters
• Blossom
• Boy Meets World
• The Cosby Show
• Black-ish
• Good Times
• The Facts of Life

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Get the guest bedroom ready because this week Aunt Flo is coming for a visit! Jessica and Zach will be talking about the sitcom genre's depiction of periods from episodes where characters have their first period to episodes where men cower in fear at the dreaded PMS.
Shows discussed this week:
Everybody Loves Raymond
Roseanne
Black-ish
Married With Children
The IT Crowd
The Cosby Show
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Can a show about a car inhabited by the reincarnated soul of a man's mother tell us something about changing conservative reactions to media? Can a show about a Martian trying to ensure his roommate's boss' dog finds love tell us something about the military industrial complex? How subversive was The Addams Family really and does intent matter to how we understand it today? Jessica and Zach explore all of this and more as they wade into the groovy waters of 1960's fantasy sitcoms.
Shortly after sitcoms became the dominant fictional comedic format on television, creators began to experiment with the premise. As American society itself experienced significant cultural upheaval in the 1960s, creators had to use inventive metaphors to tell stories reflective of the social change at their doorstep while also skirting censors and conservative studio executives. Looking through the lens of fantasy sitcoms on the 1960's, Jessica and Zach will see how fantasy sitcoms have been used as a tool to tell stories of marginalized groups and where they have significant blind spots born of the cultural context in which they were created.
Shows Discussed:

• The Addams Family, Charles Addams & David Levy, ABC, 1964-1966
• The Munsters, Allan Burns & Chris Hayward, CBS, 1964-1966
• My Favorite Martian, John L. Greene, CBS, 1963-1966
• My Mother the Car, Allan Burns & Chris Hayward, NBC, 1965
• Mister Ed, Walter R. Brooks, CBS, 1961-1965

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Do you remember the shows your grandparents played while they babysat you? Or maybe you also watched the 6 hour programming blocks of The Nanny on Nick-at-Nite. If so, you will feel right at home listening to Because It Was On. Because It Was On takes those sitcoms and dissects the familiar sitcom formula to tease out the often potent social and political messages they carry in their 22 minute casing.
In this episode, Jessica and Zach discuss what sitcoms mean to them and how sitcoms actually have significant cultural importance. It is also canonically established in this episode that Jessica is the official domme of this podcast.

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