WandaVision Is Keeping Some of Its Biggest Sitcom Influences Secret

Stay tuned for more sitcom influences to be revealed in each new episode of WandaVision. A blend [...]

By Cameron Bonomolo

Stay tuned for more sitcom influences to be revealed in each new episode of WandaVision. A blend of decades of classic sitcoms, the first Marvel Studios original series channeled the Dick Van Dyke Show when it filmed before a live studio audience and paid homage to Bewitched with a second episode introduced by a Hanna Barbera-styled animated opening. After bumping a pregnant Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) into the 1970s of The Brady Bunch and Good Times, a riff on sitcoms of the 1980s and 1990s will eventually bring WandaVision into the cynical comedy era of Malcolm in the Middle — and there are "a lot more surprises in store."

"I think there's a lot that we have not spoken about that are enormous influences on the show because it would give too much away," WandaVision creator and head writer Jac Schaeffersaid on THR's TV's Top 5 podcast. "So I think that all of the sort of the golden age of sitcom — I mean there kind of is no golden era of sitcom, it's just every wonderful, delicious era of sitcom — all of those pieces are very obvious and will become more obvious as more of the episodes drop. But there's a lot that I'm looking forward to discussing in the future because the influences would a little bit give up the game."

Schaeffer continued, "There are so many shows right now, there' so much incredible TV content, and artists who are pushing the boundaries of what TV can be, especially what a limited series can be. So I think, truthfully, those were the larger influences as we were breaking story."

Asked if WandaVision will continue to take its characters through a decade-per-episode, Schaeffer said, "As you've seen in the first two episodes, those are pretty centered, and as the show moves forward, there are a lot more surprises in store."

Along with classic inspirations like Bewitched and I Love Lucy, Marvel Studios president and producer Kevin Feige revealed at least two of the modern-day influences on WandaVision: "mockumentaries" The Office and Modern Family.

"We go up to the Modern Family and The Office style," Feige previously told Empire. "The talk-to-the-camera, shaky-camera, documentary style."

Starring Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Kathryn Hahn, Teyonah Parris, Kat Dennings, and Randall Park, new episodes of Marvel's WandaVision premiere Fridays on Disney+.

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