Jews are semites, which is a race of arabs. You know when you discuss what Jewish people are doing, and they call you an "anti-semite"? By doing that they're identifying as arabs, not white. They don't call you "anti-caucasian" when you shit on bankers and the media.
Being shot on film I assume is the main difference to explain what you're talking about.
Set dressing has changed in some ways. A lot of sitcoms today are packed with furniture/props that is really bright and "happy." A lot of CBS sitcoms do this - think like Two Broke Girls. There were shows that did that in the past (e.g. Full House) but I think there was just more a sense of drabness in the 90s.
Not that sitcoms ever had a realistic approach to what actual human beings' apartments/houses looked like, but it feels like now there's just more of a weird sense of hyperrealism when it comes to creating sets.
Ryan Cox
4:3 sitcoms are maximum comfy - you can feel how close they are, and this especially works for family comedies
That was the heyday of sitcoms. Today they are irrelevant. Is there even any popular sitcom currently airing?
Jaxon Martinez
>Digital unironically ruined everything. Every medium. Computers were a mistake Incorrect. You can make quality digital source footage look like anything you want. Problem is editors always go for the sharp look with a cool color filter over everything.
Cooper Gomez
People watch shit like the The Big Bang Theory and Mom, apparently, but they're all completely irrelevant culturally. There's no modern day Family Matters or Seinfeld that influences society and whose cast are arguably bigger than movie stars, The Office was kind of the last hurrah of that and even still way past the prime of sitcoms. Almost everything past the turn of the millennium has been cheap, sterile, throwaway garbage that's borderline shameful to star in as an actor.
Thomas Bennett
soul
Chase Turner
>Is it because of the lighting? Superiority of analog technology?
Yes, partially. Film aesthetically looks a whole lot better than digital. But it goes beyond just that. The fashion and culture of the era shines through in all kinds of sitcoms from that era.
The internet and electronics didn't dominate life in the 90s, so there was still a big emphasis on socialization (in the real world) and its intricacies -- which is what shows like Seinfeld, Friends and Frasier was all about. Though the latter also played into the growing class divide in the US. Plus, the nuclear family life dynamic still played a major role, which is why shows like Married With Children, Fresh Prince, Roseanne and The Nanny also thrived, to name a few.
It was a fun era mixed with growing trepidation about the future and millennium, which is why you had shit like the macarena and grunge co-existing at the same time. Sitcoms of that era projected the times especially well, whether consciously or not.
By the time 9/11 happened, the world went into full paranoia mode, and that's not exactly the best theme for a sitcom.