Over the years there have been many different genres of television shows one might decide to watch in their free time. These genres range from the sci fi thriller, game shows, all the way to reality television. However one genre in particular has been around since before the television was invented, the situational comedy or sitcom for short. This paper will be focusingon two sitcoms from two very different time periods, Taxi which first aired on September 12th, 1978, and How I Met Your Mother which made its own television debut on September 19th, 2005. Both of these sitcoms have things in common when it comes to jokes, gender roles, and the way their were produced. These two sitcoms also have some differences as well though. In both Taxi and How I Met Your Mother respectively the two shows go on to prove how the sitcom displays how masculinity roles and gender roles are portrayed thro
ugh peoples everyday lives and how the use of crude and sexual humor is subtle at times but used quite in the sitcom throughout the many years. The two shows go on to prove this through a number of different ways which include but are not limited to the actors/actresses, the episode titles, the jokes being used, and the situations that are presented throughout each episode and sometimes even ongoing throughout the lengthy seasons. In this paper we will dive into to explore each of these aspects by comparing and contrasting the two sitcom television shows Taxi and How I Met Your Mother. Some of the techniques and methods in both of these shows are quite effective and have either stayed the same over the many years of the evolution of the television sitcom or have changed things up a little bit or a lot due to time period and the appropriate target audience for the two shows respectively.