Blackadder, yes! Huge fan, even have the book of scripts.
Hi dear forum community,
Seinfeld might be one of the best sitcoms ever, the Cosby show had its moments but wasn't really more than just entertaining with a smile, however, Fawlty Towers is great! Spin City (Michael J. Fox) is the one which I'm missing in the list.
Finally it seems that only the UK and the US (the latter are fortunately not presented too often in the top list) may produce good sitcoms. What a pity! This is not true...but only another proof for the force of Hollywood-like productions (which aren't really that bad, don't get me wrong!!!)
There's not much to add to the list, as we in Germany might not know some of the sitcoms named (Sgt. Bilko, e.g., "who" I only know from the movie feat. Steve Martin), nor whether they may have been broadcast here...just as the Dick van Dyke Show...
There once was a sitcom broadcast with some yuppie-like people living in LA (film stars parody, their neuroses etc....that kind of stuff), a somehow satirical thing...actually I don't know the title any more. But it was guite convincing!
Best regards,
Rainer
aka
51Days
My favourite sitcoms:
1. Seinfeld
2. Spin City
3. Fawlty Towers
4. The Simpsons
5. Frasier
That's all! MASH is terrible!!!!
I'd probably say, "Leave it to Beaver," which ran from 1957 to 1963.
Set in the never quite located middle American town of Mayfield, it derives its humor from the situations that a boy, Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver, gets himself into, or is led into by his friends. Occasionally, it deals with the misadventures of his older brother, Wally, instead. The whole show has a sort of "better than real" feeling to it. The parents, while not without momentary flaws, usually do the right thing, or admit their mistakes if they don't, and every problem is solved in 30 minutes.
AbFab should have made the list, but maybe it's too mean-spirited....I love it anyway.
Ab-Fab mean-spirited? Only in the funniest way. Those people have foibles!
Family Ties. That was the sitcom that launched the career of Michael J. Fox. He had that special something. You knew he was going to be big.
Anybody like Married With Children?
I like Life With Bonny, Everybody Loves Raymond, and King of Queens. Ray Romano and Kevin James are hilarious.
Friends and Scrubs are really good. I like Wanda at Large also and the new one WB has on Fridays Like Family.
I would say that the Brits showed perception in their selection of American sitcoms. I don't know all their shows, of course, but of the the American shows they selected, I thought it was a good list. I especially appreciate the selection of the Dick Van Dyke show.
Yes, it is strange to see a list without I Love Lucy on it. That show pretty much established the sitcom as the staple of American television.
Bilko was a great show, loved by everybody over here. But here are two more shows, besides Lucy, that most Americans might have rated higher at the time:
A) The Honeymooners
B) The Andy Griffith Show
PS: How did the Brits leave out their own Absolutely Fabulous? I neither know nor care about the fashion world, but that show was a riot.
My nominees (excluding the British shows, which I have not much seen), based on longevity, ratings success, pop culture influence, and strength in reruns (which indicates a sort of timeless appeal) would include, in no particular order:
I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Andy Griffith Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Cheers, Frazier, Friends, The Simpsons, Seinfeld, M*A*S*H, Married With Children, The Cosby Show, Home Improvement, Everybody Loves Raymond, Barney Miller, Taxi, All in the Family, The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, Newhart, Leave it to Beaver, Bewitched, Murphy Brown, and Happy Days.
My own choices (based on nothing more than personal taste) would be:
1. The Simpsons
2. Seinfeld
3. The Dick Van Dyke Show
4. Leave it to Beaver
5. Frank's Place
6. Wizards and Warriors
Current show that will make the list if it doesn't jump the shark (see: Cheers, M*A*S*H, and, of course, Happy Days) :
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Good sitcoms I don't watch, for some reason or other:
Scrubs, The Bernie Mac Show
Good sitcoms I didn't or don't watch on purpose (based on nothing more than personal taste):
I Love Lucy, Cheers, M*A*S*H, Friends
Bad sitcoms that a lot of people watched anyway:
The Cosby Show, Married With Children, Bewitched, Happy Days
Other good cable sitcoms:
Sex in the City, The Larry Sanders Show
Of course, this is just one old curmudgeon's opinion, and I might change my mind tomorrow.....
All in the Family - the best ever
Seinfeld - unique, excellent
Simpsons - philosophically hilarious
Scrubs - new, but extremely well-written and funny
I also like Will & Grace, well-written, love the characters especially "Karen"
Somehow I never watched Married with Children when it was on television. I've recently caught an episode or two off of the satellite, and thought it was hilarious. Amazon is selling the entire first season on DVD - I just ordered it, and will watch it on vacation starting next week.
You'll have fun with that Jim. I forgot all about married with children. Hysterical :-D
hmm. . . I'm afraid I'd be too quick to throw in some new sitcoms just because they're freshest in my mind. . . I think Monty Python, however, are a good choice, because you can see their influence in so many sitcoms, comedy acts, and the like today. . . I know Cheers is that way in that there've been a lot of spin-offs, the lingo has pervaded common speech, etc. . . but Monty Python is the king in that area, at least for this generation. . .
I've always like Monty Python, but never had opportunity to see many episodes.
