An Interior Design Expert Breaks Down Why Sitcom Sets Look Like That

As an expert in interior design — and with a masters in architecture — TikToker Reeves Connelly views TV series like Modern Family and Cheers differently than the rest of us, revealing that there are, in fact, reasons for the design choices on sitcom sets. 

To start, those circular kitchen tables aren’t just meant to look quirky. They serve a narrative purpose. “The tables in sitcoms are usually round because it allows the actors to sit in a semi-circle formation so no one has their back to the camera or is blocking another actor from the shot,” he explained in a video from earlier this week. 

Superimposing stills from Friends and Disney Channel’s Good Luck Charlie as examples, Connelly described how a kitchen’s layout plays an equally important role. In shows like Full House and That’s So Raven, the kitchen door butts up to another room, providing an easy out for characters looking to get in some narrative exposition. 

“They’ll usually have a door between the kitchen and the living room because sitcoms don’t have narrators, so the only way to express a character’s inner thoughts about a situation to a live audience is through dialogue," Connelly said. This divide allows characters “to have those private conversations in a way that feels realistic.”

For characters who, like me, are still firmly rooted in their “not a homeowner” phase, the rules are a bit different. Shows like The Big Bang Theory and Friends that are set in apartments have to use an open concept. “It’s just the standard layout for an apartment,” Connelly said. But the use of stairwells and corridors prevent these shows from falling into a forced use of breaking the fourth wall. 

“They’ll make sure to build a corridor set so that the characters can still have those conversations,” he added. 

Of course, how they pay for all that space is another matter entirely. For that, you don’t need an architect or interior designer, you need a financial planner.