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Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 2:05 pm
by Juan_Bottom
Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
Yes, her friend Valerie help me through my early pre-teen nights.
And then I got older.
What qualifies a sitcom? No one here has said Saturday Night Live or Late Night with Jonny Carson so I assume it's something else?
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 2:53 pm
by Iz Man
Not necessarily in any order:
M*A*S*H
Seinfeld
Hogan's Heroes
Barney Miller
All In The Family
+1 for Gilligan's Isle (thanks andre)
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 2:57 pm
by Megadeth666
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 2:57 pm
by jonesthecurl
Well, the word comes from "situation comedy", i.e. the same characters and their stories appear regularly as in a soap, but to basically comic effect.
One of the failings of U.S. television is the oft-repeated failure to distinguish between the two. Sitcoms often become about what happens next, when the essence should really be in the interactions between the basically unchanging characters. Seinfeld got it right about "nothing happens". Niles and Daphne should never have got it togehter, not should the various characters in Friends, Roseanne and Dan shouldn't have won the lottery - the essence of the com is in how they deal with the sit. In a classic sitcom, you should be able to watch the episodes in any order and it makes almost no difference (obviously characters age, children grow up, if its not animated).
Oh, and Malcolm in the Middle.
BTW, a few posts have referred to I Love Lucy _ I barely remember this and it's not endlessly repeated in the UK so I can't comment - but one comedy of I think about the same era which is much-loved and much-repeated in the Uk is Bilko/ the Phil Silvers show.
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:00 pm
by InsomniaRed
M*A*S*H for sure!
I love Radar
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:01 pm
by FireStar
jonesthecurl wrote:
Oh, and Malcolm in the Middle.
definately... lol
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:02 pm
by Megadeth666
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:26 pm
by InsomniaRed
FireStar wrote:jonesthecurl wrote:
Oh, and Malcolm in the Middle.
definately... lol
Nah it's not that great.
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:45 pm
by KoolBak
+2 Gilligans Isle
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 4:18 pm
by Phil1580
A vote for Frasier.
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 5:42 pm
by Juan_Bottom
InsomniaRed wrote:M*A*S*H for sure!
I love Radar
Ahhh..........
The Andy Griffith Show?
If you don't find the lack of "color" frustrating....
No
Happy Days or
Laverne and Shirly?
jonesthecurl wrote:Well, the word comes from "situation comedy", i.e. the same characters and their stories appear regularly as in a soap, but to basically comic effect.
Much appreciated sir.
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 6:42 pm
by jesterhawk
Home Improvement <--> But then I probably love it because my dad thought he was Al and in reality he was Tim.
JH
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 6:46 pm
by Premier2k
MeDeFe wrote:Coupling, oh wait, sorry about that.
erm, M*A*S*H then, I guess.
Coupling....brilliant!
But, back on track...gotta be Family Guy!
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 7:30 pm
by spurgistan
In some discernable order, I'd say the Andy Griffith Show (nobody?), Simpsons, South Park, Seinfeld, Cheers. And then the rest.
But mostly, really?? 3 pages, nobody thinks to mention the Andy Griffith Show? Or anything made before the 80s that I could recognize. Shame.
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 7:43 pm
by jonesthecurl
Never heard of it. Probably didn't make it to the UK.
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:04 pm
by InsomniaRed
Three's Company!
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 11:17 pm
by GabonX
Three's Company is a good one. That and All in the Family are probably my favorite two "old" sitcoms. I'm assuming we're no counting animated shows like The Simpsons or Southpark..
..Best newer (80's and later) sitcoms I would have to say are Married With Children and Seinfeld. The Cosby Show gets an honorable mention.
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 12:17 am
by Quirk
I think The Honeymooners deserves mentioning. It's my favorite old sitcom. The first 10 years of my life was just like an episode of The Andy Griffith Show. My favorite all-time would have to be The Simpsons. My favorite traditional (or non-animated) show is Seinfeld. Cheers is a close second.
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 1:41 am
by TheProwler
People are mentioning some old classics like I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners. I think The Dick Van Dyke Show should also be mentioned.
A few years later, The Odd Couple was a good one.
The how about Taxi and WKRP In Cincinnatti?
I'm just naming a few good ones that haven't been mentioned.
Oh, and in the cartoon category, I'm not sure if The Flintstones was mentioned. It's not as "edgy" as some of the newer cartoons, but it is funny for both kids and adults.
For the most number of really good laughs, it is hard to beat Friends and Seinfeld.
The two that I really got into the ongoing plot and cared about the characters the most would be Friends and Cheers (in the Diane Chambers era).
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 1:59 am
by oaktown
Iz Man wrote:Not necessarily in any order:
M*A*S*H
Seinfeld
Hogan's Heroes
Barney Miller
All In The Family
+1 for Gilligan's Isle (thanks andre)
Actually, I think that's a good order, but while I think Hogan's Heroes is oddly brilliant it may not rate with the rest. How about replacing it with Taxi?
Special premature-cancellation nod to Arrested Development.
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 7:44 am
by Megadeth666
Megadeth666 wrote:Think the Simpsons beat out the Flintstones for longest animated sitcom
, but The Jetsons rocked too
Now we have " Two and a Half men "
blacker jesus spoke...666
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 5:32 am
by saraith
oaktown wrote:Special premature-cancellation nod to Arrested Development.
Probably the 2nd best show on Fox... The best one, of course, was Firefly.
Both were canceled. TV execs are flamin' ij-its!
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 3:21 pm
by Iz Man
TheProwler wrote:A few years later, The Odd Couple was a good one.
The how about Taxi and WKRP In Cincinnatti?
Aw man, I feel foolish for not thinking of these 3.
Remember the WKRP where Dr. Johnny Fever takes the sobriety test; and gets better the more he has to drink?
Awesome.
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 8:39 pm
by radiojake
jonesthecurl wrote: Roseanne and Dan shouldn't have won the lottery -
I'm pretty sure they made it worse by ending the season (actually, the whole show) with 'the-whole-season-was-a-dream-and-they-never-won-the-lotto-and-Dan-actually-died-at-the-end-of-the-previous-season-from-a-heart-attack-at-Becky's-wedding'
Anyway, Luns, in answer to your question, the answer is 'no such thing'
Re: Best American Comedy Sitcom of All-Time
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 9:10 pm
by luns101
radiojake wrote: Anyway, Luns, in answer to your question, the answer is 'no such thing'
I hear ya!
It's still cool to talk about though. Perhaps you could start a thread about Australian tv sometime.
SNL? check this out: