When Sitcoms Go On Vacation: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The situation comedy is an American institution, and so are family vacations. It’s only natural that many of our favorite TV families freshen things up by making a road trip to a more exotic location.
Vacation-themed sitcom specials have been so overdone that they have become one of the biggest clichés of the genre, right up there with the “Very Special Episodes” that awkwardly attempted to tackle the serious issues in the 1970s and 1980s (such as the serious issue of Gordon Jump trying to take dirty Polaroids of Gary Coleman, a rare example of prime time child molestation accompanied with an uncomfortable laugh track).
“The Simpsons” have made the “vacation episode” into a running gag with episodes set in such far-flung locales as Japan, Australia, Brazil, and Delaware. “Modern Family” has already visited Las Vegas and will be filming an upcoming episode in Australia, proving that vacation episodes are still alive and well today. Sometimes a new location can spark some new laughs by taking characters out of their comfort zones. Sometimes, the episode becomes a virtual infomercial for a resort destination. Here is the Interrobang’s list of Vacation Episodes: The Good, The Bad, and the Downright Ugly.
The Good:
Seinfeld in The Hamptons: The “ugly baby” episode taught the world about shrinkage, kosher dining, and commercial lobster trap robbery. While set in The Hamptons, this episode didn’t beat viewers over the head with that fact and avoided superfluous scenic B-roll footage. The vacation storyline simply gave us a reason for Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer to be guests in the same house, and for the opportunities for accidental nudity that situation affords. Watch the famous shrinkage clip, from the episode.
The Office Goes to Niagara Falls: More than 9.4 million households tuned in to see Pam and Jim tie the knot in the one-time “Honeymoon Capital of the World.” Jim and Pam secretly exchanged vows on the Maid of the Mist in the shadow of the great cataract to make sure their co-workers didn’t derail the wedding, then had a touching traditional ceremony highlighted by a performance of the viral “JK Wedding Entrance Dance” led by Michael Scott. Watch Jim and Pam on the Maid of the Mist.
The Sopranos Goes to Italy: OK, technically The Sopranos wasn’t a sitcom, but it still followed the basic vacation episode schematic. Entitled “Commendatori,” this is the episode that introduces us to Furio, the bad-ass gangster, before he wilted into a Carmela-fawning chump. Inspired by a viewing of “The Godfather Part II,” Tony takes his crew to Naples, where he flirts with a gorgeous girl, Paulie finds her prefers Jersey to the old country, and Christopher indulges in the local heroin and hooker scene. Watch the Sopranos arriving in Naples.
The Bad:
The Brady Bunch in Hawaii: List this one in the “so bad it’s good” category. This –three-parter kicked off the fourth season. Mr. Brady brings the gang along while he checks on a construction project in Hawaii, which naturally leads to the discovery of an evil tiki totem and a cave-lurking Vincent Price. Filled with over-the-top cheesiness (even by Brady standards), these three episodes influenced dozens of successors, adding dramatic and/or horror-inspired elements to hackneyed family fare (ie: the cast of Family Ties gets caught up in an international espionage plot in England, The Facts of Life girls tangle with jewel thieves in Australia). Watch the Brady’s in Hawaii.
Head of the Class in Moscow: What hath perestroika wrought? Arvid and Dr. Johnny Fever in Red Square, that’s what! The forgettable Howard Hesseman became the first U.S. sitcom to be filmed in The Soviet Union in 1988. Rife with KGB jokes and lifting an ending right out of Rocky IV, Hesseman’s team of nerds out-nerd a team of Russkie nerds, and then all the nerds nerd-out together at a rock concert in Gorky Park (regrettably, the concert did not involve the band Gorky Park). Hope that capitalism works out for ya, Boris.
The Ugly:
Roseanne at Disney World: You can call it a loving homage to “The Happiest Place on Earth,” or you can call it Disney-porn, with the Conner clan cavorting in long, lascivious shots of Cinderella’s Castle and other Disney landmarks. Less a sitcom than an example of cross-promotion between ABC’s popular television franchise and its theme park, the only real highlight of the episode is John Goodman doing a jubilant slow-motion sprint up Main Street USA, like a denim-clad Baywatch babe. From hell. Watch the Connors hit the streets of Orlando.
Married With Children in Jolly Old England: The only reason to take the quintessentially American Bundy family out of the U.S. is to showcase them as ugly Americans, which is exactly what MWC writers did for this 1992 three-part-debacle. An English town suffers from a centuries-old curse, which will only end when the last of the Bundy men are killed. This leads, naturally, to Al Bundy jousting on horseback and a visit to “The Red Fanny” S&M club (featuring leather bondage gear you just don’t see on sitcoms anymore). While all presented tongue-in-cheek, this was exactly the kind of over-the-top excess that nearly killed off traditional sitcoms in the 1990s. Watch Al Bundy at speakers corner.
Read more comedy news, stories, interviews with comedians, videos and comedy clips on our home page. Get more comedy news. Watch more viral videos. Read more interviews with the best comics in the business.
.
Latest posts by Dan Murphy (see all)
- Letterkenny’s Mark Forward: “I just want to make funny stuff” - March 23, 2020
- Did You Hear? With Kashmere! November 11 - November 11, 2019
- The New and Improved, Did You Hear? With Kashmere! September 30 - September 30, 2019
