The romantic comedy genre has always been a crowd pleaser, popular in Shakespeare's time as well as in today's movies. Romantic comedies typically feature young, attractive lovers. Due to various mishaps, they don't successfully become a couple until the end of the movie or play. Often they first come together in improbable circumstances and take an instant dislike to each other, not yet knowing what the audience can clearly see --- that they are meant to be together.
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Satire, farce and parodies use laughter to make serious points. They may poke fun at powerful people or conventional social customs. On a lighter note, they may make fun of popular movies, books or music. Using comedy to communicate a critical message about society can be more effective than preaching the message directly, as people often let their guard down and are more likely to listen when they're laughing.
In physical comedies, we laugh at the misfortunes of others. Classic slapstick comedy bits include a pie thrown in a character's face and a character falling down. While physical comedy has never gone out of style, it was especially popular during the silent film era because words weren't required. Verbal comedy, by contrast, relies on the sounds of words and includes broad humor such as puns and sophisticated humor such as witty repartee.
Sitcoms, short for "situation comedies," may be the most prevalent form of comedy today. Sitcoms involve a regular cast of characters who live within a self-contained social universe, usually a family or a family-equivalent such as a group of co-workers. Sitcoms may be rigidly formulaic. Each episode, a new problem is presented and solved, with the characters learning moral lessons along the way, while still remaining essentially unchanged.