An Interesting Side-Effect

File Under: Makes Sense

We've all heard it about 200 times by now.... "The sitcom is dead! There's no more comedy anywhere." And on network TV, sitcoms just can't survive. The appetite isn't there anymore. It doesn't matter how crude, or how wholesome and Full House-esque it is, people just don't watch many comedies.

We've also heard how the Box Office has had this "slump" this year. Compared to last year, it's down, like, by 20, 25%. But last year had some record-breaking weekends, so comparisions may or may not be fair.

Stay with me, I'll tie these together, don't worry... For the past three weeks, the top films at the U.S. Box Office have been Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Wedding Crashers. Both comedies. Here's this week's list:

1. "Wedding Crashers," $20.5 million.

2. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," $16.4 million.

3. "Sky High," $14.6 million.

4. "Stealth," $13.5 million.

5. "Must Love Dogs," $13.05 million.

6. "Fantastic Four," $6.8 million.

7. "The Island," $5.6 million.

8. "War of the Worlds," $5.44 million.

9. "Bad News Bears," $5.43 million.

10. "March of the Penguins," $4.2 million.

The most light-hearted movies are at the top. "Bad News Bears" doesn't count, because it's Billy Bob Thorton, who hasn't really carried a movie in a long, long time. He's more of a supporting than a lead, in my opinion. Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony, said that "Action just doesn't seem to be what the public is buying this summer. Comedy seems to be king."

Could there be a connection? Now that more and more well-written, well-produced, well-acted, well-everything drama's are popping up everywhere, have the masses decided to get the drama fix on the small screen, and laugh at the big screen?

Last year, Meet the Parents became one of the highest grossing comedies of all time. I *think* it may have been the best gross for a comedy ever, I'm not positive.

On TV, there's plenty of Law & Order, CSI, plus you've got House, Lost, and Desperate Housewives (which I hear you can't actually label... It's not a comedy, it's not a drama, it's not even a dramedy... I hear the term "like Northern Exposure" used quite a bit when attempting to describe that show's genre). But at the movies, if this trend continues, expect more laughs.

In the meanwhile, in order to attract an audience, there's still time for them to replace Liam Neeson with Cedric the Entertainer as the voice of Aslon the lion in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. And King Kong can now be voiced by John Stewart, of The Daily Show.