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Your mt rushmore of sitcoms

grateful zed

By grateful zed,
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Leroy Hoard

Better than the movies imo.

Binky The Doormat

the Col. Flagg appearances are money.   the wind

Major

Seinfeld The Office Sopranos Arrested Development

pollardsvision

pollardsvision 3,011

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I've watched a lot of older sitcoms, but I'm far too ignorant do this based on long-term impact.

So, I've just got to go with my 4 favorite: Parks and Rec, The Office, Arrested Development, and the either Seinfeld or It's Always Sunny. 

As an aside, there's an alternate universe where The Cosby Show gets a lot of mentions here. 

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need2know

need2know 6,173

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1 hour ago, pollardsvision said:

I've watched a lot of older sitcoms, but I'm far too ignorant do this based on long-term impact.

So, I've just got to go with my 4 favorite: Parks and Rec, The Office, Arrested Development, and the either Seinfeld or It's Always Sunny. 

As an aside, there's an alternate universe where The Cosby Show gets a lot of mentions here. 

The office and park and rec are basically the same show.

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rockaction

rockaction 22,965

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Cheers/Frasier

Seinfeld when it's not too painful to watch

The Simpsons

Other than that, comedy is so time-bound that I feel bad listing older or later ones (neither of which are funny unless you're in the grips of the show's context)

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Brunell4MVP

Brunell4MVP 835

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The young people on here will have no idea how good MASH and All in the Family were.   I don't consider animated.  Simpsons was great.  But it's easier to make animated stay relevant over years.

Seinfeld

MASH

All in the Family

The Office

 

Friends, Cheers, Modern Family ... those were good too.

Edited by Brunell4MVP
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wikkidpissah

wikkidpissah 18,084

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3 minutes ago, Brunell4MVP said:

The young people on here will have no idea how good MASH and All in the Family were.   I don't consider animated.  Simpsons was great.  But it's easier to make animated stay relevant over years.

 

The Gelbart years of M*A*S*H were as good as it gets. The Reynolds/Alda years are why it's not on my Rushmore.

I was in the comedy biz during All In The Family reign. We (the Emerson College crowd and the guys who were doing standup in stripjoints & Chinese restaurants before Boston had comedy clubs) discussed AitF a LOT because it wasn't the least bit funny and had America rolling. We never figured it out...

MTM beat em both by a mile.

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E Street Brat

E Street Brat 1,576

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50 minutes ago, Brunell4MVP said:

The young people on here will have no idea how good MASH and All in the Family were.   I don't consider animated.  Simpsons was great.  But it's easier to make animated stay relevant over years.

Seinfeld

MASH

All in the Family

The Office

 

Friends, Cheers, Modern Family ... those were good too.

I've never understood the love for MASH.  The laugh track alone makes it un-watchable for me.  

 

Seinfeld

Gilligan's Island 

Sanford & Sons

Cheers  

 

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Binky The Doormat

Binky The Doormat 12,644

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41 minutes ago, wikkidpissah said:

The Gelbart years of M*A*S*H were as good as it gets. The Reynolds/Alda years are why it's not on my Rushmore.

I was in the comedy biz during All In The Family reign. We (the Emerson College crowd and the guys who were doing standup in stripjoints & Chinese restaurants before Boston had comedy clubs) discussed AitF a LOT because it wasn't the least bit funny and had America rolling. We never figured it out...

MTM beat em both by a mile.

you know what ...you got spunk

I love spunk

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TLEF316

TLEF316 4,929

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Yeah, I get pulled into watching episodes of MASH every once in a while when I'm over at my dad's. I've probably watched like 25 or so. Not sure I've laughed once. I'm not old enough to have seen it live, so maybe that's the issue. But I just find it painfully unfunny.

For me....Seinfeld and the Office are slam dunk choices.  I had never watched Curb (so weird, as I'm a HUGE Seinfeld fan) until quarantine back in March. But it makes my list now. Larry is my spirit animal.

The 4th spot is a tough one.  If we're including animated shows, I'd probably have to choose South Park. Obviously they have the occasional stinker, but I grew up on the show and it still makes me laugh like an idiot at times (even now, pushing into my late 30's).

If no animated shows.....I guess I'd choose Big Bang. I get that its not for everyone and some will mock it but I think the writing was incredibly clever and Parsons did an amazing job carrying it.

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Binky The Doormat

Binky The Doormat 12,644

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25 minutes ago, TLEF316 said:

Yeah, I get pulled into watching episodes of MASH every once in a while when I'm over at my dad's. I've probably watched like 25 or so. Not sure I've laughed once. I'm not old enough to have seen it live, so maybe that's the issue. But I just find it painfully unfunny.

the Col. Flagg appearances are money.  

the wind

Edited by Binky The Doormat
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rockaction

rockaction 22,965

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1 hour ago, wikkidpissah said:

The Gelbart years of M*A*S*H were as good as it gets. The Reynolds/Alda years are why it's not on my Rushmore.

I was in the comedy biz during All In The Family reign. We (the Emerson College crowd and the guys who were doing standup in stripjoints & Chinese restaurants before Boston had comedy clubs) discussed AitF a LOT because it wasn't the least bit funny and had America rolling. We never figured it out...

MTM beat em both by a mile.

AitF was too preachy for me upon rewatching it. I thought it was a blunt instrument where a skewer is usually better. My parents have described its popularity by saying that audiences, despite how obvious a send-up caricature of a man Bunker was, chose to ignore the preachy and laugh at the bigotry because they couldn't be as bad as Archie. But they also, in the dark recesses of their mind, thought Bunker might be right about certain things and found humor in their own closed-mindedness. 

But that's just what I hear. Like I was saying before I decided to respond, the sitcoms I listed were all of my time as a nascent adult or adult.

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AAABatteries

AAABatteries 24,337

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41 minutes ago, TLEF316 said:

Yeah, I get pulled into watching episodes of MASH every once in a while when I'm over at my dad's. I've probably watched like 25 or so. Not sure I've laughed once. I'm not old enough to have seen it live, so maybe that's the issue. But I just find it painfully unfunny.

For me....Seinfeld and the Office are slam dunk choices.  I had never watched Curb (so weird, as I'm a HUGE Seinfeld fan) until quarantine back in March. But it makes my list now. Larry is my spirit animal.

The 4th spot is a tough one.  If we're including animated shows, I'd probably have to choose South Park. Obviously they have the occasional stinker, but I grew up on the show and it still makes me laugh like an idiot at times (even now, pushing into my late 30's).

If no animated shows.....I guess I'd choose Big Bang. I get that its not for everyone and some will mock it but I think the writing was incredibly clever and Parsons did an amazing job carrying it.

Yeah - I never got the disdain around here for BBT.  It wouldn't be in my top-4 but it would definitely be in my top-10.

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Sea Duck

Sea Duck 1,000

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11 minutes ago, rockaction said:

AitF was too preachy for me upon rewatching it. I thought it was a blunt instrument where a skewer is usually better. My parents have described its popularity by saying that audiences, despite how obvious a send-up caricature of a man Bunker was, chose to ignore the preachy and laugh at the bigotry because they couldn't be as bad as Archie. But they also, in the dark recesses of their mind, thought Bunker might be right about certain things and found humor in their own closed-mindedness. 

Same reason "The Colbert Report" was so popular, imo.

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rockaction

rockaction 22,965

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1 minute ago, Sea Duck said:

Can you really call a show a "sitcom" if it's animated (Simpsons), or if it's filmed on location without a studio audience (The Office, Arrested Development)?

The Simpsons is so meta about everything you could argue that they're more than conscious enough about the sitcom format that while they get to break rules, they generally adhere to them.

Edited by rockaction
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AAABatteries

AAABatteries 24,337

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2 minutes ago, Sea Duck said:

Can you really call a show a "sitcom" if it's animated (Simpsons), or if it's filmed on location without a studio audience (The Office, Arrested Development)?

situational comedy (situation comedy in the U.S.), is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who carry over from episode to episode.  I'd say all of those are sitcoms, although I would probably say Animated Sitcom should be seen as different but that's just my personal preference and not strictly going by the definition.

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rockaction

rockaction 22,965

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5 minutes ago, Sea Duck said:

Same reason "The Colbert Report" was so popular, imo.

I don't mean to argue, but I'm really not sure. I think the Colbert Report is distinctly aimed, and the people in on the joke are in on it for what the comedian would call the "right" reasons. Colbert manages to take all the patriotic gin in the world's punch bowl and make it palatable for the teetotalers.

eta* But your broader point is taken. Irony has that tendency to become real in a heartbeat. Ask a million Pabst drinkers circa 2000 what that was all about.

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Uruk-Hai

Uruk-Hai 7,471

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30 minutes ago, rockaction said:

AitF was too preachy for me upon rewatching it. I thought it was a blunt instrument where a skewer is usually better. My parents have described its popularity by saying that audiences, despite how obvious a send-up caricature of a man Bunker was, chose to ignore the preachy and laugh at the bigotry because they couldn't be as bad as Archie. But they also, in the dark recesses of their mind, thought Bunker might be right about certain things and found humor in their own closed-mindedness. 

But that's just what I hear. Like I was saying before I decided to respond, the sitcoms I listed were all of my time as a nascent adult or adult.

There were "Archie Bunker For President" posters hung unironically in the basements and garages of a lot of blue collar workers in the early '70s. 

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Judge Smails

Judge Smails 3,593

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48 minutes ago, rockaction said:

AitF was too preachy for me upon rewatching it. I thought it was a blunt instrument where a skewer is usually better. My parents have described its popularity by saying that audiences, despite how obvious a send-up caricature of a man Bunker was, chose to ignore the preachy and laugh at the bigotry because they couldn't be as bad as Archie. But they also, in the dark recesses of their mind, thought Bunker might be right about certain things and found humor in their own closed-mindedness. 

But that's just what I hear. Like I was saying before I decided to respond, the sitcoms I listed were all of my time as a nascent adult or adult.

Hmmm.  Interesting take.  I thought it was a very important show that touched on subjects not being talked about on TV at the time. It was also a relatable show.  I still know people like Archie.

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wikkidpissah

wikkidpissah 18,084

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, rockaction said:

AitF was too preachy for me upon rewatching it. I thought it was a blunt instrument where a skewer is usually better. My parents have described its popularity by saying that audiences, despite how obvious a send-up caricature of a man Bunker was, chose to ignore the preachy and laugh at the bigotry because they couldn't be as bad as Archie. But they also, in the dark recesses of their mind, thought Bunker might be right about certain things and found humor in their own closed-mindedness. 

But that's just what I hear. Like I was saying before I decided to respond, the sitcoms I listed were all of my time as a nascent adult or adult.

i knew quite a few comics who became comedy writers. their biggest obstacle - besides being ugly & lazy in a town that doesnt abide either - was how hacky the sitcom format (basically, writing to a laugh track) actually was. i think that was the problem we wiseguys had with the Norman Lear tip. It was "new" source material done Lucy style. Instead of Lucy saying WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA when Ricky wouldnt let her in the show, it was Editt exclaiming "Oh Aaawchie" when he'd rail on sumn polite folk didnt talk about. Same with Maude, Jeffersons and blossomed beyond Lear to Sanford & Son and Chico & the Man, Kotter and such. Twas impossible for anyone who respected beats, callbacks, even punchlines when the setup and "Oh my!" riffing was enough

ETA: and the catchphrases......cant forget the catchphrases..

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BoerumHill

BoerumHill 171

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1 minute ago, Major said:

Throw a laugh track behind it and it can be viewed as sitcom IMO.  It's comedic elements are severely underrated.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIrNR7YPlhI

The malapropisms are endless and hilarious. Hell, the straight lines are pretty good. I try to use “when’s the last time you’ve had penisary contact with a vulva?” at least once a week.

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