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Misfit Character Trope Essay

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The misfit character trope has evolved in television for 50 years now. It has played an important role in television and portrayal of society. A majority of sit-coms now obtain a misfit character in their casting.The misfit character trope has a very unique way of submerging the viewer into something more than just comedy. It takes social viewpoints about a specific stereotype and presents it in a way which is thrilling for the viewer to watch, yet still, making the viewer relate to the trope in some way. This report will compare examples of misfit characters from 1996 to ongoing shows in the present day and focus on ways the character trope has changed and evolved to engage the modern audience in todays society.

Comedy in television is often portrayed in a form that shows a person being picked on. Whether it be because of their race, height or hair colour. If a person was picked on like this for their looks or culture, in the real world, this would be frowned upon. The misfit is designed in a way which the viewer does not feel bad when the character trope is picked on. The character first made an appearance soon after after the second world war in the 1940’s to relieve tension at home. (America In Primetime, 2011). …show more content…

The character emerged at first in TV shows such as The Beverly Hillbillies(1962) and The Addams Family(1964). These shows were the first of the kind shows that portrayed characters that tried very hard to orientate themselves in the real world but were full of goofs and foils. The circumstances of the misfit character trope started off in a family oriented way, which it then set the path for other TV shows and how they could portray characters, going on to shows such as Taxi (1978), which was a show that portrayed a large amount of misfits, united together in a cab

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