Dialect comedy
Dialect comedies are a genre of radio (and later television) sitcoms that were popular between the 1920s and the 1950s. They relied on the exaggerated and highly stylized portrayal of stereotypes, usually based on
Overview and history
The genre has its roots on the vaudeville stage and in the minstrel shows that became popular in the 19th century. The ethnicities of the actual actors portraying the dialects did not have to match the characters; while much Jewish dialect comedy was created and portrayed by actual Jews, other dialect comedies, such as those involving blackface, were often not.
Often overlooked in modern times were regional dialects that were not directly based on ethnic humor.
Decline
Occasional use of dialect comedy continued even after
Examples and subgenres
The Goldbergs
One of the most notable dialect comedies was
Amos N Andy
Probably the most enduring program in this genre,
Life with Luigi
Life with Luigi premiered on CBS in 1948 and centered around Luigi Basco, an Italian immigrant living in Chicago. The title character was portrayed by J. Carrol Naish, an Irishman. Many of the plots were either about Luigi attending “citizenship classes” and the wacky immigrants he meets there or about his cranky landlord trying to convince Luigi to marry his overweight daughter. The TV version premiered in 1952 and was cancelled shortly after, in part due to the bumbling helpless portrayal of a character often referred to as “the little immigrant” who didn’t understand how banks work even though there were banks in Italy at the time.[6]
Mama
Mama (alternately “I Remember Mama”) was a series about a Norwegian family living in San Francisco, CA starring Peggy Wood, Judson Laire and Rosemary Rice.
Beulah
Jewish dialect comedy
Jewish performers such as George Burns, Jack Benny and Milton Berle had shows that were arguably forms of dialect comedy. Each of these comedians used cultural markers of Jewishness such as incorporating Yiddish words and phrases into their dialogue and referencing places that were known for being Jewish neighborhoods such as New York’s East side. Comedians like Berle and others had come out of the same vaudeville tradition as the minstrel performers and as such did their shows in a classic variety format which included characters who were often based on racial and ethnic stereotypes. As late as the 1990s, the work of Jerry Seinfeld was seen as having a distinctly New York Jewish flavor to it, which initially hindered his show Seinfeld (which later became a smash hit) from being picked up as a series.[7]
References
- ISBN 9780791482636.
- ^ McPherson, Virginia (June 15, 1950). "13 'Voices' Put Sara Berner in Demand for Show Parts". UPI. Retrieved November 30, 2017 – via tralfaz.blogspot.com.
- ISBN 978-0815610816.
- ^ "Radio Mirror (May-Oct 1936)". archive.org. May 1936. Retrieved 2015-12-04.
- ^ "Variety (October 1948)". archive.org. Retrieved 2015-12-04.
- ^ "St. Petersburg Times - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2015-12-04.
- ^ Battaglio, Stephen (June 27, 2014). "On Seinfeld's 25th anniversary an exclusive look at the memo that almost killed the show". TV Guide. pp. 18–19.