My Top-10 Sitcoms of The Last 50 Years

Reaganite Republican ^ | 22 October 2015 | Reaganite Republican

[Reaganite Republican]

Newhart (1982-1990) -Please forgive me but I actually like Bob Newhart's second major sitcom series -at the Stratford Inn in Vermont- more than the first 'shrink' series with Mary Tyler Moore, as good as that one was. In fact I think the 80s series Newhart is one of the most underrated comedy shows ever- watched it every week with friends when they were new, too funny.

Interestingly, all 184 shows are -here- on this YouTube playlist.

Cheers -This would probably make everybody's list, but honestly I never go back and watch them anymore... too much saturation I guess, and it just doesn't seem quite as clever as it did at the time. Still, too substantial to leave off... I watched every single episode for years for a reason, and it launched a few careers.

Taxi  -This or Sanford & Son really might be my very all-time favorites... pretty much the best entertainment on 70s television, imo. The characters are simply superb, Danny DeVito an absolute comedy genius supported by a top-notch cast. The writing was clever and kept you riveted to every episode, I love this show. I think my favorite is when Jim burned Louie's apartment to a blackened crisp lol.

Hogan's Heroes  -Kind of silly but I just grew up with it since I was five and loved the characters. They represented pretty much what American Baby Boom kids thought of the Germans in the 1960s... until later in the 70s when we saw what kind of cars they could put together. Was in the same room as Werner Klemperer once, somebody I worked with knew him well... seemed like a nice-enough guy.

Married with Children  -Still funny if you watch it now, and was truly something fresh and revolutionary at the time... really seemed pretty radical when it was new and the casting was brilliant. Met Katey Sagal briefly once. It's funny how not that long ago this show seemed 'naughty', when it's sexual innuendo and mini-skirted babes are nothing compared to the garbage they put on TV now.

Gilligan's Island  -I know it's pretty goofy but I watched it all the time when I was a little kid and think Mary Anne was my first crush ever when I was about 8 lol... great show.

Addams Family  -these are fantastic, what can you say. Show had a cool look and feel too. You're either Munsters or AF and I was always a bit more of an AF kid/guy, the characters were more polished and hilariously complex/eccentric, I love it. I think I got interested in investment by watching Gomez at the stock ticker.

Sanford and Son  -this is close to my favorite sitcom of all time, every character is a laugh riot, including Michelle Obama lookalike Aunt Esther (SHUT UP Fred, you heathen!). And for some reason I get a kick out of 'Grady'.

All in the Family  -this one again pertinent... listen to Archie rail against the libs, I'll be damned if he wasn't right about everything!!!

Fawlty Towers -not quite as nutty as Monty Python shows but pretty comical nonetheless: these were also shown on PBS in The States back then, with John Cleese at his finest as aspiring-yet-bumbling innkeep. I think my favorite one is where he bumps his head and goes into 'Nazi' mode, deeply insulting his German guests.

I left out cartoons like Simpsons and some other good shows lose points with me for grating political message, i.e. M*A*S*H. For some reason I was never much of a Seinfeld fan, although his standup stage act was great in the 80s. 

Then some others just didn't age all that well, like perhaps The Jeffersons or Good Times. Happy Days is pretty corny too if you go back and watch one of those these days... creating ageless comedy is an elusive art.

Green Acres, Bewitched, Brady Bunch, Andy Griffith,, and Get Smart might also get Honorable Mentions, fwiw- what say you?

[dfwgator]

I think “The IT Crowd” is probably the best sit come made in the last decade, but it was a British show.

0118 999 88199 9119 725...................3.

[PennsylvaniaMom]

As a “Jan” surrounded by Marcias...I still feel teenage angst when I come accross the Brady Bunch while channel surfing.

Jan Brady, is the prototype for The Middles’ Sue Heck. Both young women underrated actresses who capture “not a cheerleader” teenage girl years beautifully.

[catnipman]

“#1 Seinfeld. Nothing comes close in any category. The sheer number of classic episodes and memorable lines is far higher than any show before or since.”

Yep. By FAR the top sitcom ever. And any “top sitcom” list that omits Seinfeld isn’t worth paying attention to.

[knittnmom]

“Film at 11”

[newfreep]

Sarah Chalke was hilarious in one of my all time favorite comedies - "Scrubs".

[TexasCajun]

Re: Brady Bunch

How disappointed to have learned the dad, Robert Reed, was homosexual and hated the show.

[Responsibility2nd]

Newhart (1982-1990) -Please forgive me but I actually like Bob Newhart's second major sitcom series -at the Stratford Inn in Vermont- more than the first 'shrink' series with Mary Tyler Moore, as good as that one was. In fact I think the 80s series Newhart is one of the most underrated comedy shows ever- watched it every week with friends when they were new, too funny.

 

Big ol' +1 on that.

[Demiurge2]

Glad someone else loved Newhart. Once it settled down after the first couple seasons, it was a witty, cozy delight (amazing how Dick Loudon was the only one in the cast who didn’t notice he was married to a world-class MILF).
I’d next vote for Frasier. Intelligent writing, and incredible chemistry between David Hyde Pierce and Kelsey Grammer.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Well it was a cultural thing. Being from the South it had a lot of stuff going on that the non southerner may not have understood or appreciated. So lets label it a popular regional sit com.

[Responsibility2nd]

Cheers -This would probably make everybody's list, but honestly I never go back and watch them anymore... too much saturation I guess, and it just doesn't seem quite as clever as it did at the time. Still, too substantial to leave off... I watched every single episode for years for a reason, and it launched a few careers.

 

True. Cheers episodes are on Neflix. But I've no desire to see them again. Same with Seinfeld.

 

But I have started watching MASH again. FWIW.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Good call. I forgot about Sanford and Sons.

[Demiurge2]

Agreed... except in later years, when she’d speak - ye Gods, she sounded like Johnny Cash!

[Cyman]

I always enjoyed Barney Miller. Hated MASH.

No Seinfeld?’

Thanks for writing my post :)

[Responsibility2nd]

I’m watching 30 Rock (for the first time ever) now on Netflix. I thought I’d hate it. Cause of Baldwin.

But I love it. Tina Fey is a brilliant director/actress/producer. And having Lorne Michaels in the mix also doesn’t hurt.

[Jemian]

FYI, the psychiatrist Newhart starred Suzanne Pleshett, not MTM.

[Demiurge2]

Yes - Green Acres has some very surrealistic “did I just see that?” elements sneaking in.

[TexasCajun]

Redd Fox was the original bad boy.

His club shows and tapes were pure filth.

[Responsibility2nd]

Only a few television shows broke the fourth wall very successfully.

George was the master at it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_wall

[Responsibility2nd]

I don’t think Happy Days has aged very well. I loved it in its first run, but lately when I tried watching a few episodes, they fell flat.

___________________________________________

Happy Days jumped the shark. Literally. And that’s why it isn’t remembered as all that great.

[Radix]

I was overseas when Mork from Ork was new but I heard it was great. By the time I returned that show had apparently lost some of its luster. I never got its appeal.

For me The Beverly Hillbillies was absolutely inspired genius comedy.

All in the family broke a lot of barriers and was a favorite for years but as said above, it actually lampooned liberals much more effectively than it likely had been intended to by its Producers.