A tribute to conversation-starting comedies

There’s something about a couch that makes it the perfect place to instill a life lesson.

Maybe that’s why it’s been the focal point of family sitcom sets for decades, acting as a gathering place where the story of an episode ramps up or more often reaches its end point. Folded in the embrace of its cushions, life’s greatest lessons are doled out while characters feel the glow or sting of the education.

Family sitcoms aren’t as prominent as they used to be, at least not ones with a live audience to stir the mood. But in 2017, a year that could use a lesson or two in humility and grace, two of those “old-fashioned” sitcoms went vastly underappreciated for their willingness to start a conversation with their comedy, usually while crowded on the couch.

NBC’s “The Carmichael Show” and Netflix’s “One Day at a Time” boldly pursued compelling yet hysterical stories that put their characters in the thick of touchy subjects, allowing them to debate the merits of each side and grow as people or explain why they won’t budge.

“One Day at a Time” is the Cuban-American remake of the Norman Lear classic originally born of the sitcom heyday. “The Carmichael Show” was the fresh-voiced throwback to that era, with an all-black cast and outspoken comedian Jerrod Carmichael as its creator and star. The former will debut its second season January 26, while the latter was canceled in May after three seasons.

Etched into each show is an understanding of the warmth and closeness a stage-bound comedy can, for better or worse, stoke in the family dynamic.

Where some family comedies traffic in the outlandish for laughs, these two shows spent most of their time using humor as an entry point for commentary on the state of the world, especially for people of color.

“The Carmichael Show” drew continued praise from critics as each episode found the North Carolina-based Carmichael family locking horns with their more liberal son and his girlfriend on topics including mass shootings, gun control, assisted suicide, the stigmas of depression, Donald Trump, rape, alcoholism and even whether or not it’s OK to still like Bill Cosby.

All with big voices that want to be heard, the show’s cast brought blisteringly funny and shockingly potent insight to conversations the rest of the country is still having. In one episode, “Girls Trip” breakout star Tiffany Haddish films a cop’s improper search and drops a scary truth on the audience: "I'm taping this, just so you know. If you shoot anyone, you'll probably keep your job, but it's going to be a rough couple of weeks."

On “One Day at a Time,” Justina Machado plays Penelope, a single mother juggling two teens, an eccentric live-in mother (the incomparable Rita Moreno) and a 40-hour work week, all while struggling with the remnants of PTSD from her time in the Army.

In the confines of a small apartment, the show navigates Penelope’s daughter’s coming out as a lesbian, combats immigrant stereotypes and powerfully condemns the failings of Veterans Affairs.

With laughs echoing in the background, it may not seem like a sitcom has anything important to say, but these do.

It is not a coincidence these shows are predominately anchored by people of color because they have a voice not heard as often on TV. These casts demand and deserve to be heard. There is comedy to be found in the struggles of living in America in 2017, but there is also conversation to be had.

With the holidays slowdown here, take time to watch “One Day at a Time” on Netflix; catch “The Carmichael Show” on Hulu.

It’s not too late to hear them out.

Reporter Hunter Ingram can be reached at 910-343-2327 or Hunter.Ingram@StarNewsOnline.com. Hunter is a member of the Television Critics Association.