TOP 10 SitComs of all time.

[Charger]

Let's move the discussion of Sit Coms to it's own topic shall well...

Here's a TOP 10 list I made several years ago about Sit Coms and went through it and the only thing I think I'd change is lift The Big Bang Theory to 5th Place...but other than that I am still perfectly happy with this list..


10. Yes Dear

A family comedy at it's finest. A show about two families who are also family. Sister's Christine and Kim and their husbands Jimmy and Greg and their children who are forced to live under the same roof due to the fact that Jimmy and Christine aren't doing so great financially. Great cast and Liza Snyder (Christine) is the icing on the cake...she takes funny to a whole new level on this one! The obvious differences between the families is where the comedy comes from and the writers have done a great job!
 
9. Alf

What could possibly be said about this furry little alien whose fascination with cats ran bit deeper than your average person. Gordon Shumway was the lucky survivor of his homeworld Melmac's annihilation who accidentally crashed into the carage of a regular earth family. The comedy came from Alf's crazy ideas and his never ending curiosity that usually ended up in a catastrophy of some sort...and very financially costly to Will Tanner, the head of the family.

Very sympathetic show about welcoming a total stranger into the family unit.

8. Home Improvement

"Tim the Tool Maaaaaaan Taylor!" Tim has a "do it yourself" type of a tv show with his "buddy" Al, where they do all kinds of little fix it jobs...or usually Tim talks big and then screws everything up and Al has to save his face and the whole studio from blowing up. Tim is also a father and a husband and a neighbour to Winston whose face we never see!

Comedy usually comes from Tim's lacking skills in fixing things or being bit too selfish in the marriage. A great bunch of actors surrounding the brilliant Tim Allen in this is what made the show so great! Also it introduced a certain Playboy model to the world! Pamela Anderson anyone!

7. Friends

What can be said about this? This was after all probably one of the most succesful sitcoms in the history. A show about 6 very different friends who usually spend time at either the home of Monica and Rachel or Joey and Chandler who live accross the hall or at the local cafe called Central Perk. The center of the show was about the on off romance of Rachel and Ross...later also about the romance of Chandler and Ross' sister Monica.

This show was all about the brilliant cast, Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and the brilliant beyond brilliant Lisa Kudrow whose bit simple but good hearted character Pheobe won over the hearts of millions upon millions (yours truly included) of people.

6. The Big Band Theory

Nerd is the new sexy...well maybe not, but it sure as hell is funny! This centers around four nerdy scientists, Leonard, Raj, Howard and the one of a kind Sheldon and their neighbour a corgeous blond girl Penny who is...shall we say...bit less smart as the guys. The exellence of this show is due to the great dialogue and brilliant actors...especially Jim Parsons (Sheldon) and the awesome Kaley Cuoco (Penny), the latter who already made a permanent impression on me on Eight Simple Rules and later on Charmed...This show has all the potential to be one of the greatest comedies ever made. The show is funny as hell, great storylines and top of the line cast....not to mention the brilliant theme song.
 

That is the first 5...these were really hard to choose, so many great ones had to be left out...including the brilliant According To Jim (Jim Belushi is without a doubt one of the funniest people alive), Less Than Perfect (a brilliant office comedy hold up by the brilliant Sara Rue! Eric Roberts also stars as the boss!!!), Reba (Who would have thought that a country singer can be this brilliantly funny!?!?), Suddenly Susan, Til Death (Brad Garret's new comedy, very different from Raymond) and King Of Queens (Jerry Stiller and Leah Remini!!!!) and Married With Children that almost made it to the top ten, but was at the last minute dropped by Yes Dear!
 

Then follows the top 5!

 
5. The Drew Carey Show

A show about an everyman Drew (portrayed by Drew Carey) and his friends Oswald (the awesome Diedrich Bader), Lewis (Ryan Stiles, the man of countless impressions) and Kate (Christa Miller who is without a doubt one of the funniest women in comedy) and his work colleague who wears really bright colours and excessive ammounts of make-up, Mimi (Kathy Kinney).

This show had it all as well, great cast, funny dialogue and a great theme song! The show ran for 9 years and hardly lost any touch towards the end, which is rare.

4. Frasier

Who would not love the sympathetic snob radio shrink Frasier Crane and his even more (if possible) snob brother Niles and their wounded cop father, his physical therapist and Niles' secret love interest Daphne and Frasier's radio show producer Roz? The brilliance of this sitcom comes from the difference of the brothers and all the others...This is a very intellectual comedy, but not in a bad way at all. This also is probably the most succesful spin-off ever made...lot of people don't even know that Frasier's character was introduced on Cheers...Awesome cast, Kelsey Grammer, David Hyde Pierce, John Mahoney, Jane Leeves and Peri Gilpin...not a weak link on this one! Brilliantly written...what more can I say....
 
3. Everybody Loves Raymond

The family that everyone wants but everyone who has it hates it most of the time! This has always been one of my favourite shows, period. The Barone family life became a part of my life for over 9 years...Center of the show is Ray Barone, a father of three and a devoted husband (well at times anyways, when it suits him the best, or when Debra is watching) and beloved (and envied) brother and son. The Barone family is something of a dream/dread of everyone...a close family unit of three generations living on the same street opposite each other. Ray's wife Debra doesn't really like the situation of Ray's (overly loving) mother Marie and (overly straight forward) father Frank living so close, but she tries to get by...and taking care of her family at the same time. The cast is suberb, Ray Romano, (The beyond awesome) Doris Robers, (the brilliant) Peter Boyle, (sexy even with food on her hair) Patricia Heaton and (the man of gazillion brilliant facial expressions) Brad Garret....Family comedy does not get any better than this...ever.
 
2. Two And A Half Men

Chuck Lorre has done it...two shows on my Top 10 list!!! (Big Bang Theory). This show is the better of the two and very close of being the best sitcom ever made. Charlie Sheen stars as the eternal bachelor, womanizer and a booze hound Charlie whose life takes a turn when his recently divorced brother and his early teen aged son come to live with him. But look and behold, Charlie doesn't change at all...he still drinks too much and brings new girls home every night! The funniest parts of this show are Charlie's drunken bafoonery and his nephew's crazy ass remarks. Angus T Jones as the young Jake is so brilliant that it is beyond words. He alone is enough of a reason to watch this show, not to mention Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, the awesome evil mother played by Holland Taylor, the opinionated housekeeper Berta played by the awesome Conchata Farrel and Marin Hinkle...This show has it all...If you haven't seen this yet, watch it! And you shall laugh...and laugh...and after you've crawled on the floor almost dying of laughter...you'll laugh some more!

 

Then it is time for the winner....the #1 in my little top ten list of greatest Sitcoms of all time....and the winner is.....

....

 

..

..

 

1. Seinfeld

The show about nothing! And indeed not "a" show about nothing but "the" show about nothing...The awesome cast of Jerry Seinfeld (As himself), Julia Luis-Dreyfus (as Elaine), Jason Alexander (as George) and the one and only Michael Richards (as Kramer) take everything out of nothing. Also another driving power of this show is it's brilliant quest cast of Jerry Stiller (SERENITY NOW!!!!) as George's dad, Estelle Harris as George's Mom, Liz Sheridan and Barney Martin as Jerry's parents and the awesome, brilliant, suberb (how many superlatives are there) Wayne Knight as NEWMAN!

A sitcom like no other, Seinfeld ran for 9 seasons and hardly lost it's touch in all of that time...and that is something considering this was a show about nothing...But this proved that nothing can be greatness in the right hands.

This is without a doubt the greatest sitcom ever made...the comedy is taken from everyday situations...it's funny, because it's real! How can you argue with that? This show is responsible for countless of phrases, jokes, actions and millions upon millions of uncontrollable fits of laughter. A classic..a true classic.

[Charger]

Moved

All this time on the show hasn't dated either. The best comedy sitcom af all time.

What's the 2nd best?

Two And A Half Men I'd say. As far as a laugh fests are considered this one came pretty darn close to Seinfeld.

Maybe not a big surprise, but i couldn't disagree more. Anything with the Chuck Lorre stamp on it is just lazy typical sit-com misunderstanding set-ups. It's just too annoying. It's like Seinfeld said in that Coffee episode with David; "why not just say; hey, this was a misunderstanding, and solve the problem right there?" That does ofcourse ruin the whole premise of a sit-com, but that's where Seinfeld was so genious. It was the sit-com that destroyed the sit-coms. Which is why we can always have a second best (got no good suggestion for that right now, though), but there will never be anything that's even remotely simillar to Seinfeld... IMO, ofcourse...

Well to me in sitcoms it's not really about the story or topic anyways...Seinfeld already taught us that the story is totally irrelevant as long as the dialogue is great and funny and in the case of Two And A Half Men that is most certainly true. The dialogue was fantastic, it even surpassed Seinfeld occationally...Also the interaction between Charlie Sheen and Jon Dryer was incredible.

[Charger]

Moved

I was a big fan of Married With Children growing up. Al Bundy was a classic! Loved his sarcasm and his insults could be hilariously savage. Not sure you'd get away with a character like him these days.

Oh yes...Married was a classic too...and the facial expressions of Al....priceless!

[Jack the Stripper]

Moved

I was a big fan of Married With Children growing up. Al Bundy was a classic! Loved his sarcasm and his insults could be hilariously savage. Not sure you'd get away with a character like him these days.

Oh yes...Married was a classic too...and the facial expressions of Al....priceless!

[Thelemech]

1 - Seinfeld
2 - Fawlty Towers
3 - Frasier
4 - All In The Family
5 - Night Court
6 - Married With Children
7 - WKRP
8 - Cheers
9 - Three's Company
10 - M.A.S.H.

[Billy Underdog]

Moved

All this time on the show hasn't dated either. The best comedy sitcom af all time.

What's the 2nd best?

Two And A Half Men I'd say. As far as a laugh fests are considered this one came pretty darn close to Seinfeld.

Maybe not a big surprise, but i couldn't disagree more. Anything with the Chuck Lorre stamp on it is just lazy typical sit-com misunderstanding set-ups. It's just too annoying. It's like Seinfeld said in that Coffee episode with David; "why not just say; hey, this was a misunderstanding, and solve the problem right there?" That does ofcourse ruin the whole premise of a sit-com, but that's where Seinfeld was so genious. It was the sit-com that destroyed the sit-coms. Which is why we can always have a second best (got no good suggestion for that right now, though), but there will never be anything that's even remotely simillar to Seinfeld... IMO, ofcourse...

Well to me in sitcoms it's not really about the story or topic anyways...Seinfeld already taught us that the story is totally irrelevant as long as the dialogue is great and funny and in the case of Two And A Half Men that is most certainly true. The dialogue was fantastic, it even surpassed Seinfeld occationally...Also the interaction between Charlie Sheen and Jon Dryer was incredible.

I do agree with the sentiment that the dialogue is more important than the story. It's just that with the typical sit-com set-up, the dialogue often become stupid and false. Which is why Seinfeld was so great, the absence of the typical sit-com set-ups made the dialogue alot more realistic. One of the first dialogues with Elaine says it all: "E: You wanna go somewhere and eat? J: Sure, where? E: I don't care, i'm not hungry..." That's real life right there.

I used to watch alot of sit-coms when i was younger, and i've been into most of your top tens there. But just like i've outgrown certain styles of Metal, i've also outgrown that style of comedy. I was probably overfed. Fraiser is a true 90's classic, can't stand it any longer...

[Billy Underdog]

10 - M.A.S.H.

Oh, that's a great one. I think the setting and location helps alot, though, and the poorly hidden jab at the Vietnam war. It's very political for a sit-com, and knowing the darker themed books and movie that predated it helps alot too.

Here's something that might put another spin on it for you, though: pay attention to Radars left hand. His left hand is "disformed" in that it's alot smaller than his right one. He did become very good at hiding it with a clip board or whatever else he was holding, but pay attention and it's noticable. Didn't stop him from becoming a good jazz drummer, though...

[Typhon]

10 - M.A.S.H.

I saw the movie before the show existed.  I found that Elliot Gould and Donald Sutherland were too good in the film to be replaced by Alan Alda and what's-his-name.  Did not work for me.

[Jack the Stripper]

Get Smart was just about my favourite show growing up but was on repeat by the time I started watching it in the late 70’s early 80’s.

Also another show I loved that was from the 80’s was Newhart.

[Typhon]

1. All In The Family
2. The Honeymooners
3. Monty Python's Flying Circus
4. The Andy Griffith Show
5. Seinfeld
6. Cougar Town
7. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
8. The Big Bang Theory
9. Sex And The City
10. Cheers

[Thelemech]

^^^ Nice list Ty!! I was going to include Monty Python myself but is it not more of a variety show as opposed to a sitcom???

[Axefiend]

Off the top of my head in no particular order:

- Barney Miller
- WKRP In Cinncinati
- Night Court
- Sanford & Son
- The Odd Couple (Original Version)
- Big Bang Theory
- Corner Gas
- The Bob Newhart Show
- M.A.S.H.
- Taxi

A few honourable mentions:

- Trailer Park Boys
- King Of Kensington
- Gilligan's Island

My actual top 3 now that I think about it would be:

- WKRP
- Barney Miller
- Big Bang Theory

[Thelemech]

WKRP in Cincinnati is such a classic show and the Doc Johnny Fever is a real Rock N Roll Doctor 

[Thelemech]

[Zzzptm]

Python was comedy, but not situation comedy.

Here's my list of quality jollity. I consider how well the shows hold up over time, how they deliver the yuk-yuks season after season, and how they don't have to become a drama in order to keep viewers.

1. Fawlty Towers
2. Yes, Minister (with Yes, Prime Minister)
3. Seinfeld (starting with season 3, but the best stuff kicks in around season 5)
4. WKRP in Cincinnati ("As God as my witness... I thought turkeys could fly.") tied with The Honeymooners
5. IT Crowd
6. Father Ted
7. The Dick Van Dyke Show
8. The Abbott and Costello Show
9. Get Smart
10. Top Gear / The Grand Tour (Clarkson, May, and Hammond are one of the best comedy acts going today.)

I think Brooklyn Nine-Nine will make it to that list one day, just need to give it the test of time. But it is truly one of the best written shows on television right now.

I'm not including All in the Family because what I remember most from it were the dramatic moments, and they were very, very powerful moments, indeed.

I'm also not including The Office. It was great fun while it lasted, but doesn't really pique my interest the way Seinfeld does. I don't have to keep going back to it to explain a situation in my life. Same with Cheers and a lot of other long-running sitcoms. I watched them, and I don't need to see them again or use them for memes.

Compare that to Father Ted...