The origin of the word "sitcom" is the hit series "I Love Lucy"

The first recorded use of the term sitcom by the Oxford English Dictionary dates back to 1956. The word, a compound of the abbreviations situation and comedy , appeared in the Hollywood trade publication Variety . Five years earlier, a situation comedy had rewritten the rules of entertainment creation and economics in the United States, making television a major, if not respected, cultural medium. Massive, influential, and popular, the I Love Lucy phenomenon certainly deserved a neologism.

Yet this series, which gave CBS a lasting advantage in the competition shaping the American television landscape after World War II, was not the first sitcom. The format was born without images, during the interwar period, on radio. Trained in the school of the stage, American comedians quickly realized that, carried by the airwaves, the jokes that made their fortune on stage fell flat. To make people laugh, you need characters and—here we are—situations. Amos 'n' Andy (two black cab drivers, played by white actors), Fibber McGee and Molly (domestic troubles written and performed by a married couple) reached peaks of popularity.

The commercial success of television receivers triggered a rush for entertainment content, which was still scarce. On the day of the premiere of I Love Lucy , October 15, 1951, CBS's New York station broadcast the United Nations debate on Iran during the day. The fledgling television networks turned to radio hits. Among them was My Favorite Husband , starring a Hollywood actress, Lucille Ball. She was well-known enough that the New York Times reported, in 1940, on her marriage to a Cuban-born bandleader, Desi Arnaz. But not well enough to land the leading film roles she dreamed of.

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