Drama Or Dramedy: Defining The Voice Of Socially Relevant Comedy
From Left to right: Boarders, Never Have I ever, Jane the virgin, and only murders in the building
In 2015, the Primetime Emmy Awards changed their rules to clarify the difference between a comedy and drama series. Any series with episodes averaging 30 minutes in length are eligible to compete as comedies, and series with episodes averaging one hour are eligible to compete as dramas. However, a series may formally petition the Academy to consider them in the alternate category (i.e. 30-minute series competing as dramas and hour-long series competing as comedies) if nine selected Academy and industry professionals reach a two-thirds majority vote.
Historically, comedy and drama were segregated into two distinct categories. However, recently there has been a rise in politically savvy, tonally despondent programing that share similar grievances: the world sucks and it’s hard to stay alive. Shows about race, generational trauma, socioeconomic instability, and other heavy topics can’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. In a society with limited economic prosperity, where physical and institutional violence is increasingly prevalent, comedy plays a critical role in examining contemporary norms and the state of our collective consciousness.
The line between drama and comedy blurs as more shows present society’s jaded cultural malaise through satirical yet realistic lenses. As a result, it’s become difficult to categorize dramedies as either dramas or comedies. The Emmys demonstrates this prevailing issue of categorization: Is there a way to differentiate traditional dramas and emerging dramedies? Dark and satirical dramedies have swept the televisual landscape, and their prominent growth requires defining what constitutes a drama versus a dramedy.
What is a Dramedy?
Traditionally, drama is a broad category of narrative fiction that maintains a serious tone while centering the interpersonal conflicts of its characters. Before television and film, theater drama was neither comedic nor tragic; it reached a subtle balance between the two that relied on the subtleties of its atmosphere, characters, and story. Drama is a broad category, with a plethora of sub-genres, which often overlap with action, romance, sci-fi, and comedy. Almost every piece of narrative fiction follows conventional dramatic storytelling, but standard dramas delve into the complexities of the human condition, weaving characters in conflict, tension, and resolution. Because of their emotional storylines, bleak atmosphere, and historical relevance, dramas are considered high-brow entertainment and dominate in the current Golden Age of Television.
A dramedy is a subcategory of drama fiction with an equal distribution of comedy and drama. It’s a hybrid genre that deals with the dark realism of traditional dramas while maintaining the humor of comedies. The ratio of drama and comedy varies between shows, but the distinctly darker tone of dramedies separates them from traditional comedies. Through a stark contrast of deep characterization and dark humor, dramedies provide thought-provoking introspection that entertains while providing social and cultural commentary.
What’s The Difference?
Dramedies lie on a spectrum, some leaning more towards drama and some towards comedy. The distinction is in the atmosphere. Dramas can be humorous, but they focus more on adequate representation of grounded stories. Dramedies tend to cynically joke about the issues they represent. Both are serious in tone, but dramedies typically skew towards absurdity, comedic relief, and characters who question their place in the world through crude and dark humor, rather than through dramatic character arcs. For example, Breaking Bad has comedic moments but it’s not a dramedy because of Walter White’s downward spiral selling meth — the bleak core focus of the series. On the other hand, Jane the Virgin would classify as a dramedy because it blends telenovela dramatics with satire and a light-hearted tone.
It’s this distinctive spectrum that lands Orange Is The New Black in the drama category at the Emmys, while Only Murders In The Building falls under comedy. Amazon Prime’s Mr. And Ms. Smith presents a brooding atmosphere throughout its six-episode run, but it contains enough comedic breaks to classify as a dramedy. The series leans into the tumultuous relationship between Donald Glover and Maya Erskine’s characters but keeps the narrative framework within the dramedy range. From the trailers alone, The Brother’s Sun is quippy and lively yet presents a grim storyline about a family struggling to keep themselves together. The two series are night and day, but both fall under the broader spectrum of dramedy, despite leaning towards opposite ends of the category.
All in all, dramas and dramedies can be distinguished by two main factors:
How well a series incorporates comedy and its prevalence throughout the series.
This is the primary differentiation between dramas and dramedies. A good dramedy contains a relatively equal distribution of drama and comedy, though this may vary depending on the series. Dramas shy away from humor and present narratives with intense focus on characterization and escalating tension.
The overall atmosphere of the series.
Drama’s main aesthetic is defined by its dark, often realistic depiction of social and emotional conflict, and its importance within the story. Dramedies vary in atmosphere, but more relaxed undertones are not typically found in traditional dramas. Dramedies range from the lower stakes high school dramatics of shows like Never Have I Ever to the more sardonic tonality of Tubi’s Boarders.
Comedy is self-aware in nature, and television’s newfound success with politically relevant dramedies highlights society’s increasing desperation for change. Dramedies have taken over traditional TV comedies, a shift largely due to the ubiquitous suffering and disillusionment prevalent in society. Both genres introspectively delve into the lives of their characters, but understanding the division between the two allows us to properly assess their cultural pertinence.