Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau dramedy, is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical hour-long legal or medical drama, but exhibit far fewer jokes-per-minute as in a typical half-hour sitcom. In the United States Examples from United States television include: M*A*S*H, Moonlighting, The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, Northern Exposure, Ally McBeal, Sex and the City, Desperate Housewives and Scrubs. The term "dramedy" was coined to describe the late 1980s wave of shows, including The Wonder Years, Hooperman, Doogie Howser, M.D. and Frank's Place. See also List of comedy drama television series Black comedy Dramatic structure Melodrama Seriousness Tragicomedy Psychological drama References Comedy drama Drama Drama genres Portmanteaus Film genres Television genres