Sitcom as Refuge, Sitcom as Prison: Nostalgia, anti-nostalgia, and the embedded multi-camera sitcom in WandaVision and Kevin Can F**k Himself

Reto Winckler*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

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Abstract

This article claims that the recent trend in television and web streaming drama series to feature segments shot in the style of a multi-camera sitcom, a phenomenon which is termed “embedded sitcom,” reflects the current popularity of nostalgia in popular culture. Situating the sitcom in the context of television history and theories of nostalgia, the article argues that embedded sitcom reveals the nostalgic quality of the sitcom genre as well as of the medium of television, and negotiates a larger cultural conflict between the lucrative potency of nostalgia for past media formats and a wariness of nostalgia as politically regressive. © 2024 The Authors. The Journal of Popular Culture published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)221-232
JournalThe Journal of Popular Culture
Volume57
Issue number4
Online published26 Apr 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2024

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  • This full text is made available under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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