Hmm... American VS. British comedy?
There are definitely more American sitcoms that I watch, but... Quality > Quantity...
And usually the British ones are funnier.
Not always though.
Damn you! got me into a confusing argument with myself ;( *shakes fist*

Ah. I understand what you mean now. Although Seinfeld was definitely filmed in a similar way to some of the other shows you mentioned, on an obvious set, in front of live audience, etc. But I agree that there has been a huge shift in American comedies in recent years away from shooting on an obvious soundstage like they used to.

Can you give some examples? I can see the idealistic thing in some of the 80s family sitcoms like The Cosby Show, Family Ties, etc. but I can't think of anything with "American pride" as any kind of component unless I go back to the 50s or 60s (Dragnet, though not a sitcom, is the first show that springs to mind).

Janszoon, most American TV shows are about goody-goody-virgin-until-they're-married-and-boys-who-respect-it people.
:P
It's pretty silly and naive, but yeah.

Examples?

Most TV shows that aren't sitcoms.
I don't watch any of those *because* they are so naive, so no - can't give you an exact example.
But my sister always watches it, so... =\

It's seems to me right now most American shows that aren't sitcoms are crime shows like CSI, Law & Order, Criminal Minds, Bones, etc. or are reality shows. Honestly, I can't think of a single example that resembles what you are describing.

Nvm then, I might be wrong.
But from what I remember, a few years ago - you couldn't open the TV without watching one of these shows.

Can you give me the name of one? Like I said, I can't think of a single show that matches your description.

Full House, for example.
Oh - duh - even Beverly Hills was kinda naive.
(Yeah, not sexless, but still naive.)

Again I think maybe I'm needing to choose my wording a little more carefully. What I was intending is certainly best shown in some older shows and usually centre around family life or friendships and in the bigger iconic cities such as NYC. Where the shows can revolve around themes such as happy family life and seem, at least to me as a foreigner to portray places such as NYC and America proudly as the greatest places in the world. They certainly would never or rarely deal with some of the cultural issues such as war and gun crime etc and maybe even portray forgeigners in a very stereoptypical manner. Friends did this for a start. Im not saying its a problem or anything, its sitcom after all. I think the Brits appear to be a little more prepared to show the grittier sides of their culture. A lot of British sitcoms show life in this country from the more working class and poorer point of view and I can think of quite a few that deal with some of the more negative aspects of the culture such as football hooliganism which seems a common one. Whichever way you look at it a lot of British comedy is set in environments that are probably far from attractive and I dont see this happening much over there.

Seinfeld was of course set out in a very traditional manner for a sitcom. It was hugely different though on the basis of the content and especially the scripts. Maybe not so much as the show progressed but certainly in the beginning.