The trend goes up and down, and I swear it mirrors the state of the economy.

Like I think it first started getting big back in the 70's in particular, and as a general trend in multiple genres it continued until the 90's, when the economy was booming.

Admittedly, it did remain a little trendy in a few sitcoms, but even then the apartment complexes and areas they depicted were actually clean looking.

Not sure if/when it started trickling back up again in recent years, since I've not kept up that much with recent television.

Another thing I'd wonder is if it's just cheaper and more convenient to get a hold of an apartment sized set than a suburban house. Especially given how hit or miss a sitcom's success was, historically. And I guess it would be a little jolting for audiences to upgrade some of the characters to an actual house after the show started becoming a hit. It's probably easier to just add more characters' apartment sets into the mix at that point.

Not that I actually have a clue what the real financial and logistical challenges are with this stuff. Just started wondering about it.

The trend goes up and down, and I swear it mirrors the state of the economy.

Like I think it first started getting big back in the 70's in particular, and as a general trend in multiple genres it continued until the 90's, when the economy was booming.

Admittedly, it did remain a little trendy in a few sitcoms, but even then the apartment complexes and areas they depicted were actually clean looking.

Not sure if/when it started trickling back up again in recent years, since I've not kept up that much with recent television.

Another thing I'd wonder is if it's just cheaper and more convenient to get a hold of an apartment sized set than a suburban house. Especially given how hit or miss a sitcom's success was, historically. And I guess it would be a little jolting for audiences to upgrade some of the characters to an actual house after the show started becoming a hit. It's probably easier to just add more characters' apartment sets into the mix at that point.

The trend goes up and down, and I swear it mirrors the state of the economy.

Like I think it first started getting big back in the 70's in particular, and as a general trend in multiple genres it continued until the 90's, when the economy was booming.

Admittedly, it did remain a little trendy in a few sitcoms, but even then the apartment complexes and areas they depicted were actually clean looking.

Not sure if/when it started trickling back up again in recent years, since I've not kept up that much with recent television.

Another thing I'd wonder is if it's just cheaper and more convenient to get a hold of an apartment sized set than a suburban house. Especially given how hit or miss a sitcom's success was, historically. And I guess it would be a little jolting to upgrade some of the characters to an actual house after the show started becoming a hit.

The trend goes up and down, and I swear it mirrors the state of the economy.

Like I think it first started getting big back in the 70's in particular, and as a general trend in multiple genres it continued until the 90's, when the economy was booming.

Admittedly, it did remain a little trendy in a few sitcoms, but even then the apartment complexes and areas they depicted were actually clean looking.

Not sure if/when it started trickling back up again in recent years, since I've not kept up that much with recent television.