Transient Character

Grace Cuiming Li

          Transient characters have three purposes in sitcom. First, they provide plot problems and complications. Second, they provide comic bits of business, aiding the regular characters in comic scenes. Third, they make it possible for many plots to function, performing those bits of business that would be dramatically impossible for a regular character to do. Hence, transient characters can often be unsympathetic, providing conflict with the main character or one of the supporting characters, or both. The relationships between the characters on a sitcom are only as close and deep as is necessary to make the actions possible and believable. Families and friends often appear to have no life beyond that shown on the screen, leaving a sense of superficiality, as though families were barely acquainted, much less related.