Jealousy in Comedy

Between the Lines of Comedy

Regardless of its medium or genre, Comedy has always had one sole purpose which is to make an audience laugh. Situational Comedies or “sitcoms” in American television have been around for 70 years, but comedy itself is much older. Dating back to the 6th century BCE in ancient Greek culture, Comedy’s roots are satirical in nature and used to criticize and make fun of people and society. Although clouded with humor, there is always a message and intention behind Comedy. Jealousy is a complex emotion often commented on within sitcoms. Comedic writers include characters who display insecurity, fear and manipulation to portray jealousy while maneuvering through humorous situations.

From early sitcoms in the 1960’s like The Dick Van Dyke Show, to more current shows in the last twenty years such as Friends, Community, Wilfred, and Parks and Recreation; all popular sitcoms have something in common, relatability with its viewers. While many of the exaggerated storylines aren’t always relatable, the emotions and human behavior behind them are. Satire, the root of comedy, uses humor to criticize people’s faults and weaknesses. The emphasis of any comedy is not just the situation that occurs, but the characters behind it. People relate to people, seeing others go through or feeling something becomes self-reflexive. Directors and writers know their audience have all felt jealousy, but it is how they create characters whom audiences can relate too when the message can be received. This, along with the engaging humor of sitcoms, creates opportunity for a deeper level of understanding and self-realization as a viewer.

What viewers don’t realize is the ways comedies dance around heavier topics without letting the audience feel like they’re watching a drama instead of a sitcom. Using subplots, laugh tracks, jump cuts, double entendres and character exaggeration; audiences are left to see and feel exactly what’s been intended for them. Everything on the screen is intentional and serves a bigger purpose. Incorporating the idea of jealousy and how it’s established in comedy is just as intentional, especially in sitcoms.

The popular sitcom Friends shows the life of a group of close friends who live in the same apartment complex in New York. The show follows the lives of six main characters, along with their relationships to each other, themselves, and others outside of their group. In season 3 episode 11, “The One Where Chandler Can’t Remember Which Sister”, a conflict begins between characters Ross and Rachel who are in a relationship. Rachel meets a man, Mark, who after overhearing Rachel complain about wanting a real job in the retail industry, offers to help get her an interview at Bloomingdales, the retail company he works for. Elated to tell her boyfriend Ross the good news, Rachel is disappointed when Ross’s response isn’t what she thought it would be. Ross tells Rachel that this guy, Mark, just “wants to have some sex.” He then asks their friend Joey if “men are ever nice to strange women for no reason”, which he responds “no, only for sex.” Ross then continues to ask her if she said anything about him to Mark. As the episode continues, Ross grows more and more jealous towards the situation without showing any genuine happiness for Rachel and this opportunity. Rachel and Ross have a good relationship, she is loyal, and she has no interest in Mark, so why is Ross jealous? Insecurity is something most people feel whether it’s conscious or subconscious. It’s the feeling of uncertainty or lack of confidence that usually manifests into anxiety and feelings of jealousy. Ross’s apparent insecurity can be better understood by a theory explained in the sitcom How I Met Your Mother.

The sitcom How I Met Your Mother centers around the life of main character Marshall and his group of friends in New York. In season 5 episode 13, “Jenkins”, Marshall is nervous his wife Lily will become upset that he’s withheld the gender of a new co-worker, Jenkins, whom he’s told numerous wild stories about. When he finally tells her and she is unphased by the news he starts to get jealous. Marshall tells the situation to his friends who begin to explain the theory of the settler and the reacher to him. This theory is that in every relationship there is someone who reaches for someone out of their league and someone who settles for someone below theirs. Marshall realizes his friends are telling him he’s the reacher in the relationship which brings out his own insecurity. When Marshall confronts Lily with this theory and begs her to answer who she thinks is which in their relationship, he becomes even more insecure when she says that she’s the settler. Later in the episode, Jenkins drunkenly kisses Marshall and when he runs home to tell his wife she doesn’t believe him because of their previous conversation. Lily believes Marshall is just trying to make her jealous, so Marshall sets out to prove her wrong so that she will become jealous. Marshall’s insecurities have now fueled him and his jealousy to create conflict in his relationship that was never there to begin with, similarly to Ross in the previously mentioned episode of Friends.

With the understanding of the settler and the reacher theory, Ross’s insecurities can be illuminated by the fact that he’s the settler in his relationship with Rachel. Him being so easily threatened by the presence of another male in Rachel’s life who can provide her an opportunity fuels his insecurity. This, along with a comment made by Ross’s sister Monica who described Mark as “dreamy”, has internally made Ross feel like the inferior man. His jealousy in the situation stems from the thought of losing Rachel to Mark, and his own insecurity has allowed him to believe this could be true. Rachel has given Ross no reason to believe anything that he’s now become worried about. She simply took advantage of an opportunity that was presented to her for a better job. While it’s clear the role insecurity plays in jealousy, how are either of these situations in Friends or How I Met Your Mother made to be funny?

In both shows there is strong usage of subplots, laugh tracks, and character exaggeration. These elements increase the humor of the shows and balance out the seriousness of some of the themes.

Subplots, or secondary plots, are the other storylines occurring within an episode and are usually much more light-hearted and humorous than the main plotline. In the episode of Friends, there are 2 subplots. One regarding group members Chandler and Joey, and the other with group member Phoebe. While at Joey’s birthday party, Chandler gets drunk off Jell-O shots and discovers the next day he has hooked up with one of Joey’s sisters. The only problem is that he can’t remember which one. After lying to Joey that he remembers and likes his sister, Chandler’s forced to go to Joey’s family dinner where he cannot tell the sisters apart or remember which one he’d been with. Ultimately the truth is revealed and results with Chandler getting punched in the face by one of Joey’s sisters. In the other subplot, Phoebe begins casually seeing the neighbor upstairs, but the walls are thin and the roommates can hear everything going on. Later, while all the friends are together in the girls’ apartment, they hear the upstairs neighbor with another girl. In the episode of How I Met Your Mother, there is a subplot having to do with fellow friends Ted and Robin who are competing for acceptance with Ted’s college students. Robin believes she is cooler then Ted because the students watch her television show. Later, Robin and Ted learn the students watch her show because they’ve made a drinking game out of it and her frequent usage of the phrase “but um.” These different subplots serve the purpose of keeping the viewers engaged while also maintaining the humor of each episode, even when there are more serious themes and conflicts occurring elsewhere. Like subplots, laugh tracks are meant to maintain and emphasize humor when occurring in episodes.

Laughter tracks are audio recordings or live-audience laughter that is regularly incorporated in sitcoms. In both episodes from each show, there are several occurrences of the laugh track which are meant to capitalize on jokes or funny moments throughout the episode. This element is something often overlooked and not always used, but is a trademark of American sitcoms. In addition to the use of subplots and laugh tracks is character exaggeration.

An essential piece of any show or story is the characters in them. Whether it is major or minor characters, especially in comedy, they all bring something to the table. Character exaggeration is taking a personality trait or likeness of a character and exaggerating it immensely. Examples of this are seen in most sitcoms and especially shows such as Friends, How I Met Your Mother, and Parks and Recreations. This inflation of a character’s personality helps viewers relate to characters whether they can identify with them or are reminded of someone in their own life. With exaggerated characters comes exaggerated emotions and situations which plays into the humor of the stories. In Friends, Joey’s character is an exaggerated version of that friend who’s “sweet and not very smart.” In How I Met Your Mother, Ted is an exaggerated version of that friend who’s the “know it all.” These are just a few examples, but most if not all characters in sitcoms are exaggerated to elevate the humor throughout.

Now with this understanding of a few tools used to maintain humor in sitcoms, it’s easier to navigate through the other ways jealousy can be portrayed in comedies while remaining funny. Another way in which it’s done is using the element of fear.

Feelings of fear come from the awareness of danger, and concerns for something that may happen or worry, whether it is real or imagined. In any relationship, there can be fear of being abandoned, of not being good enough, or of not being satisfied with a partner anymore. In most real-world and story-world relationships, the fear of being cheated on or left is something that can be extremely detrimental.

Comedies use fear as a motivating factor towards jealousy in relationships. The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American sitcom from the 1960’s centered around the work and family life of Rob, a head writer of a televised comedy show. In season 1 episode 7, “Jealousy”, Rob’s wife becomes jealous when he must work late nights with a beautiful movie star. When the episode begins, Rob’s wife Laura is unphased by the news as she understands her husband’s job and know he’s a good and loyal man. Laura’s fear becomes evoked when family friend Jerry makes suggestive comments about Rob spending time with Valerie Blake, the beautiful movie star. In the context of the episode, Jerry serves as an agent provocateur which is a character meant to elicit feelings of fear and uncertainty. As the episode continues, Rob spends a few late nights with Valerie re-writing a sketch which continues to instill fear in Laura. Being a stay-at-home mother, Laura feels alone and becomes consumed with fearful thoughts of what her husband could be doing. While this starts with Jerry’s comments and continues with Rob’s late nights at the office, it escalates to Laura crashing a rehearsal with Rob, his co-workers, and Valerie. This situation did not start or end with Laura being jealous of Valerie, it was Laura’s developed fear that created a jealousy of losing her husband to another woman. While this situation and the themes involved are serious ones, the constant use of laugh tracks and the humorous character exaggeration helps to make light of this storyline. Jealousy based fear can also arise from non-romantic relationships as well.

The show Wilfred follows the life of Ryan who has an interesting friendship with his neighbor’s dog, Wilfred, who he sees as a grown man in a dog suit. In season 2 episode 12, “Resentment”, Wilfred becomes fearful that his owner Jenna is showing attention to other dogs, and may potentially get another dog as well. This fear was not provoked until he discovered that Jenna had once cheated on her boyfriend, which leads Wilfred to believe she could do the same to him. While the relationship isn’t romantic, Wilfred loves Jenna and views her like a mother. The thought of her giving other dogs attention or potentially getting another leaves Wilfred feeling like he is not good enough. When he sniffs her and smells other dogs, his fear and jealousy became depression. He begins emotionally vomiting and acts unstable. His fear of the situation is elicited by his jealousy of not wanting his owner to give anyone else attention. This unusual situation is just another representation of how fear is used to represent jealousy within the context of comedy.

Similar to the intense theme of fear, manipulation also serves as a factor in displaying jealousy within comedy. Manipulation is controlling and/or using someone or something. While manipulation itself is ill-minded, the intentions may not always come from a desire of wrongdoing. In sitcoms Community and Parks and Recreations, there are scenarios in which manipulation represents unresolved jealousy from characters.

Community is a sitcom about members of a study group at a community college. The group members are all very different from one another and have different relationships amongst each other. In season 1 episode 15, “Romantic Expressionism”, couple and group members Jeff and Britta are concerned for fellow member Annie and her new relationship with Vaughn, Britta’s ex-boyfriend. They decide to manipulate the situation by getting Annie’s old crush, Troy, to become interested in her so she forgets about Vaughn. Jeff and Britta approach Troy and manipulate him into pursuing Annie by telling him that she is in love with him. The plan ultimately fails leaving both Troy and Annie furious with Jeff and Britta. While it’s clear they tried to manipulate Troy and Annie in the situation, it’s less clear as to why. Britta later reveals her jealousy of seeing someone else with her ex-boyfriend even though she no longer has feelings towards him anymore. Her unresolved jealousy was portrayed through acts of manipulation.

Likewise, the sitcom Parks and Recreation displays a very similar scenario. The show follows the lives of employees who work for a Parks and Recreation Department. In season 3 episode 1, “Go Big Or Go Home”, a youth basketball game is organized and characters Andy and Ron are the coaches while Tom is the referee. Ron’s girlfriend comes to the game in support, which happens to be Tom’s ex-wife. Tom’s current girlfriend is also there in support and although he’s over his ex-wife, his jealousy of seeing her with someone else takes over his emotions. As the game goes on it is clear Ron is a much better coach than Andy, and his team is better as well. Filled with jealousy of having to see his ex at the game supporting Ron, Tom as the referee begins to manipulate the game in Andy’s favor. Tom makes ridiculous and made-up calls to manipulate the game and guarantee the loss of Ron’s team. Tom then ejects his ex-wife, Ron and his entire team from the game. Tom’s unresolved jealousies lead him to manipulate the entire basketball game.

In both episodes of Community and Parks and Recreations, a character’s jealous emotions towards seeing someone they used to be with now in a relationship, leads them to manipulation. Although both Britta and Tom are happily in new relationships, it doesn’t change the fact that seeing someone who used to be theirs is now with someone else. While both these scenarios are spiteful, they can be extremely relatable to viewers. The humor comes from the character exaggeration on both ends, along with the sense of relatability and emotion from both characters. Seeing others create situations like these can be humorous for the viewer, especially in the sense of situational irony. The idea of situational irony is when an audience knows what’s going to occur within a situation when the characters do not. Seeing the perspective of all characters and their emotions, the viewers know the direction and outcome of the situation before it even occurs. This creates a humorous boiling point for the audience once the conflict has finally arrived. While manipulation differs from insecurity and fear as it is an action and not an emotion, manipulation is an emotion based action. Many times, it is subconscious or not premeditated. In Parks and Recreation, Tom’s developed jealousy through the game is what leads his emotions to take over and manipulate the basketball game because of his ex-wife and Ron. During the episode of Community, Britta’s manipulation was pre-meditated as she and Jeff had conversations about how to manipulate Troy and Annie into liking each other. Jeff goes so far as to explain, “Crash course in Manipulation, you don’t actually tell the person what you want them to do you help them realize they want to do it so it can’t be traced back to you.” Both scenarios represent that manipulation is extremely emotion-based, regardless of it is something planned or not.

The concept of jealousy, especially the way it is seen through comedy, can be recognized through insecurity, fear, and manipulation. However, these deeper themes which are intentionally included by comedic writers can be easily overlooked by the viewer. Use of different tools such as subplots, laugh tracks and character exaggeration are meant to maintain the humor throughout the storyline. While some could argue the only intention of including jealousy in comedy is to elicit funny situations, the concept is much more complex than that. From the 1960’s with the Dick Van Dyke Show, the 90’s with Friends, to more current shows like Community, Parks and Recreations, and Wilfred; it’s clear that these types of shows have always meant to do more than keep audiences laughing. If these shows advertised to teach life lessons and elaborate on the complex of jealousy, viewers would be confused. It is the relatability the audience feels with the characters that allows them to connect to each situation even if they haven’t been in one like it. This is especially true when it comes to the ways conflicts in relationships are portrayed through these sitcoms. Understanding that the roots of comedy are satirical in nature reminds us that comedy is meant for commentary just as much as it is for humor. When thinking about insecurity, fear and manipulation; laughter and humor don’t come to mind. Writers, Directors, and Producers have taken the meaning of comedy and interjected deeper themes so that the audience may learn a thing or two without even being consciously aware of it while watching situational comedies.