Let me preface this article with a very important fact about myself: I watch a lot of TV. I know this isn’t exactly unique to a lot of people my age, but I’ve used the hours I cram into each day watching sitcoms to come to one very important life lesson: we could all improve our lives a little bit by acting as if our lives are one big ensemble comedy show. Here’s why.
1. It helps you realize not everything is about you
A key part to the great ensemble comedy shows that have graced the small screen in recent years is, you guessed it, the ensemble. Shows like The Office, New Girl, Friends, and many more might have a couple characters you would consider the “main character,” but they feature a lot of episodes that are entirely based around more minor characters in their central cast. Like the recent episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine “Hitchcock and Scully,” the story involving these characters is strong enough to carry the entire plot. You can think about your life this way, too – think of each day in your life as an episode. Even though, as your own main character, most of what goes on will be about you, a taste breaker every now and again where you focus on other aspects of what’s going on can be refreshing. What’s more, it can give you key insights on your own overarching “plot,” make you learn things about people you would have never realized, and make you realize your own problems aren’t the most important thing in the world. Your friends will appreciate the extra audience, too!
2. More people? More laughs!
If you’re treating your life as an ensemble comedy, a key part is getting the perfect cast of friends and family together to make a great dynamic for jokes. When it’s not just about you, but more importantly the relationships between you and others, there’s more room for joking around and having fun together. When you can build off each other and rely on your friends to make you laugh, everyone has a better time!
3. It makes the ordinary entertaining.
The premise of most newer ensemble TV shows rely on the fact that the character’s lives aren’t really that exciting. Whether it’s about coworkers in an office building, local government employees, or just a group of regular broke friends trying to get by, these shows thrive on using ordinary everyday life and creating funny and entertaining episodes out of situations we can all relate to. If you’re able to take your own life and find the comedic moments of the most boring, commonplace activities, you’re in pretty good shape.
4. Exploring the dynamics of different relationships
One thing ensemble TV shows love to do is find moments where two characters who don’t normally get paired off together are able to interact. It can make for interesting, funny, or heartwarming moments and is definitely something we can all do more in our own lives! You might know someone in your group fairly well while never interacting one-on-one with them. Consider finding the moments, like in these episodes, to create your own memories and strengthen your relationships with people you don’t normally find the time to hang out with alone.
5. You make friendship the central theme to your show.
Love and friendship is the most important part of an ensemble comedy, and it’s a great thing to make the focus of your life. If you’re able to find the beauty of being there for each other mixed in with the drone of everyday life, then your life is on par with all of the great shows we know and love. If you ever wanted to have a romance like Jim and Pam, or find a group of friends to struggle through life together with like on New Girl, you can make that happen for yourself – just find your magic ensemble and stick together!