Why do we want to watch comedies that make us cry? The creators of CBC's Sort Of have some ideas

Contains spoilers for the first episode of Sort Of.

Here are some of the things that happen to Sabi, the protagonist of the new CBC comedy Sort Of, in the series' debut episode: they get fired, find out their boyfriend is cheating on them, have the heartbreaking realization that their mother may never accept their gender or really know them as a person, and find out that their ex-boss/still friend has fallen into a coma. 

Let's repeat, for those of you who are confused, this is in a show that is ostensibly a comedy. And it is funny. Maybe not in a broad, knee-slapping sort of way, but definitely in a "that is so on-the-nose I'm laughing out of sheer recognition" kind of way. This type of "dramedy" — a half-hour show that combines the witty and the emotionally punishing, usually on either premium cable or streaming — has come to dominate critics' lists and the "comedy" categories of awards shows over the past decade, so much so that some critics have said they should be put in their own category to allow traditional sitcoms to compete. 

But why? What is it about these shows that speak to us to deeply?

"We were really interested in what felt truthful all the time," says Bilal Baig, who is both the show's co-creator and plays Sabi. "I think when you have a lead character like the one that's in this show, nothing is going to be painted in one colour, you know? And I think it was interesting to go for realness and know that humour can come, or tears, drama, whatever, but to follow the truth of the characters in any given circumstance."

Baig's co-creator, Fab Filippo, adds that for him, the whole idea of genre feels unnatural.

"Genre is weird," he says. "I don't approach [creating] saying, 'I want to make this kind of thing.' We made this show together and it sort of became what it was."

Liz Clarke is an assistant professor of Communications, Popular Culture and Film at Brock University, who teaches a course in film and TV genres. She says that while the explosion of dramedy may seem like a new thing, it's actually always been there.

"I tend to go in the other direction of saying we are not as different from historical audiences as we think, from people from the '90s or people from the '70s right?" she says. "[Audiences] always have that desire for a mixture of laughter and sadness."

The difference, she says, is that traditionally it has been the province of film, pointing to movies like Harold & Maude as an example. But the changes in how television is distributed — from network TV to premium cable, then to streaming — has made the TV industry more open to slightly riskier, more genre-fluid projects. 

"Network TV, where there were several channels and you just had to watch what was on, it also meant that the networks couldn't take as many risks because they had to appeal to the entire audience," she says. "We're at a point now where you can have niche shows so you can trust your audience more, too."

Baig says that in addition to technology changing, the types of stories being told and communities being portrayed have changed, too. Like their character, Baig is non-binary and of South Asian heritage. They say that in dramedy, there's more of a platform to portray nuanced characters from communities that haven't traditionally seen themselves on screen.

"When you're filling your casts with people of colour, or queer and trans characters, the jokey kind of slap-sticky stereotype stuff isn't landing anymore, particularly for our communities," they say. "People want to see fully fleshed-out and nuanced characters... It's about responding to what people are actually hungry for as well, right?"

Filippo says that, rather than thinking in the traditional TV paradigm of half-hour shows being for comedy and hour-long shows for drama, the difference for him is in how you tell the story.

"The way that I look at it is the half-hour is the realm of character and the hour-long is the realm of plot," he says. "I think because of the sort of responsibility in an hour-long to keep an audience going for a longer period of time, plot becomes a different thing. With a half-hour, you can have sort of character moments that you can play with throughout, and have the plots be a little — I don't want to use words like 'smaller' because we have very high stakes and big plots, but maybe more nuanced and character-based."

Watch Season 1 of Sort Of on CBC Gem.