Okay, not a sexy thread topic, but I'll explain... I'm starting some initial work as a research assistant on a history of non-marital cohabitation in England and Wales. One aspect of that massive subject is how non-marital cohabitation has been portrayed in books, theatre, TV etc. Since you start to see comedy appearing based around things/changes/new ideas that society perhaps feels uncomfortable with but is trying to understand or come to terms with, we'd expect the increase in cohabitation in the 60s and its explosion in the 70s to be reflected in the subject matter of TV sitcoms. As an example, there's the engaged couple in Abigail & Roger in 1956 who live in separate flats but meet up to go out, then the couple in Rings On Their Fingers, where the crux of the comedy is the fact that they're cohabiting before marriage (the very idea!), through to say Men Behaving Badly, where a cohabiting set-up before marriage is taken as read.
Now, the reason for this post is to ask the aficionados in British Comedy Guide Land if they can pass on any leads on sitcoms that involve a portrayal of non-marital heterosexual cohabitation (the whole gay aspect is outside the scope of the research for the moment, as it wasn't an alternative to marriage for most of the period we're interested in). We're especially interested in the 1970s right now, but any references from the 50s to the present day would be very gratefully received at my personal email liamdarcybrown@hotmail.com (erm Mr Moderator - is posting an email address ok?). Thanks in anticipation. Phew, what a long, dull post!!!
It's chronologically later, but I still think Peep Show is more modern.
