THE NEW SCIENTIST

How many documentaries do we need to tell us that "The sitcom is dead"? They're all at it these days, aren't they? You cannot turn on the television without some "expert" telling you that the sitcom is dead. It's the number one topic of documentaries today.

What happened to all the science topics? Did they use all of those up? Have people stopped inventing new science we can talk about in documentary-land?

And, here's the real kicker: Will & Grace. My Name is Earl. Friends.

We have sitcoms. Popular sitcoms. Sitcoms that run and run. Sitcoms that still get the highest viewing figures worldwide of any single television programme. The documentary is certainly showing signs of senility here, but the sitcom isn't dead.

I'm tired of having the documentaries picking on the sitcoms. They're only jealous because the sitcoms are getting higher viewing figures and have cornered the sell-through TV market. How many Horizon and Equinox box sets are in the top ten DVD rentals this week? There's no Everybody Loves the Money Programme box set.

Where are all the sitcoms heralding the death of documentaries, huh? That's what I want to know. Let's make a fight of this.