Best TV Sitcom Of All Time? (poll added; pick 3)

[WreckingCrew]

Could have been the best had it not cancelled in its first season...Freaks And Geeks

 

[Joe McGrath]

The loss of The Critic hurt a lot less when King of the Hill came along but my goodness was Jon Lovitz hilarious in that.

 

[Beliveau]

Seinfeld

 

[Navin R Slavin]

The loss of The Critic hurt a lot less when King of the Hill came along but my goodness was Jon Lovitz hilarious in that.

Counterpoint: iiiiit STINKS!

 

[Derailed75]

Also, I'm not sure Psych was technically a sitcom, as it was an hour-long show. Although if argued off that position, I'd add that to my list as well.

The definition of sitcom doesn't have a time frame on it but it does says the US are typically 30 minutes

 

[DaveG]

Counterpoint: iiiiit STINKS!

take THAT Guernica

 

[DaveG]

The definition of sitcom doesn't have a time frame on it but it does says the US are typically 30 minutes

I was going to say, moderns sitcoms are kindof all over the map for episode length. I think some of the episodes of Ted Lasso in the final season went well over an hour. Which... yeah Ted Lasso was pretty dang good the first couple seasons.

 

[LakeLivin]

Poll added. Couldn't include all that were mentioned but I got all the serious contenders. I wish HF had the ability to do ranked choice voting but since it can't, you can pick three. When this poll ends I'll take the top couple and add another poll to crown the definitive HF26 Best Sitcom Ever.

 

[THE JAM]

1. Fawlty Towers
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Not the Nine O'Clock News
--
Best non-British sitcom... probably Seinfeld

Fawlty Towers - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[LakeLivin]

Another very good "under the radar" show was Bernie Mac. His (8-10 y.o.?) nephew Jordan made the show, imo.

I've got to go with All In The Family because it had such a great run and was so revolutionary and MASH because of how "can't miss" viewing it was for me at the time (even though it doesn't hold up as well today as I'd like). But I'm struggling with my third choice; it's between Cheers, The Big Bang Theory, and Community. Gotta admit, the fact that Community featured both Alison Brie and Gillian Jacobs is something that factors in for me. [if we're being honest, deep down aren't most men pigs, lol?]

 

[NotOpie]

Barney Miller
Taxi

Two of the best evah....

 

[Joe McGrath]

Barney Miller
Taxi

Two of the best evah....

Can’t believe Taxi hasn’t been mentioned.

Christopher Lloyd’s “slow down” bit is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.

 

[hag65]

Happy Days
Three's Company
What's Happening

 

[LakeLivin]

Barney Miller
Taxi

Two of the best evah....

Can’t believe Taxi hasn’t been mentioned.

Christopher Lloyd’s “slow down” bit is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.

Happy Days
Three's Company
What's Happening

Some worthy nominations but you guys were too late to the party; I don't see a way to change the choices. Can't even correct "Mash" to "M*A*S*H".

 

[raynman]

Is Archer considered a sitcom? While certainly not the best of all time some of the writing on that show is next level.

 

[Unsustainable]

I feel like this should have been divided by genre

 

[Mr Nogatco]

Mama's Family
Small Wonder
Dinosaurs

 

[WreckingCrew]

Maybe it's just me, or the fact that I would have been more the tail end of it, but I just never really "got" Seinfeld. Not that it's bad or don't enjoy it from time-to-time in the background, it has it's moments, but overall I just never really "got" it...

 

[hockeynjune]

Maybe it's just me, or the fact that I would have been more the tail end of it, but I just never really "got" Seinfeld. Not that it's bad or don't enjoy it from time-to-time in the background, it has it's moments, but overall I just never really "got" it...

I started watching Friends with my wife as it was ending. I have never laughed at any tv show that much. Joey and Chandler were hilarious. Never got that with Seinfeld. Like you said it had some very funny moments but no where near the comedy of Friends for me. Big Bang is pretty funny as well.

 

[Bub]

Maybe it's just me, or the fact that I would have been more the tail end of it, but I just never really "got" Seinfeld. Not that it's bad or don't enjoy it from time-to-time in the background, it has it's moments, but overall I just never really "got" it...

No pun intended, but I get it. For me, Seinfeld wore out its welcome after about 3-4 seasons. And there have been other popular comedies that I too didn't "get." The Office (US) has never been funny to me, but the UK version is one of the best shows I've ever seen.

 

[LakeLivin]

I started watching Friends with my wife as it was ending. I have never laughed at any tv show that much. Joey and Chandler were hilarious. Never got that with Seinfeld. Like you said it had some very funny moments but no where near the comedy of Friends for me. Big Bang is pretty funny as well.

I'm the opposite, always thought Friends was very overrated (big fan of Jennifer Anniston and Courtney Cox though, lol). I liked Seinfeld much more, although I wouldn't put it in my top 3. Agree with you on Big Bang.

I can't think of any sitcoms that made me regularly literally lol. Maybe it's recency bias but the show that springs to mind as far as actual lol's for me is Resident Alien. Seems like most episodes had a "spit take" scene for me.

 

[sheriff bart]

I didn't vote because I was late to the party.

I have to narrow it down to 4 on 2 tiers.
Tier 1 is MASH and Seinfeld. 2 different periods of my life and they both still stand the test of time. MASH with the stories they told, and Seinfeld for moments. The Contest, shrinkage, "the sea was angry that day", etc made Seinfeld just so funny.

Tier 2 is WKRP and Taxi. So slept on here and so funny. Probably low in the rankings because they haven't been shown a lot in reruns. WKRP's turkey drop is the funniest thing I have ever seen on tv. Jim getting his license on Taxi is the second funniest thing.

On non US shows (of which I'm woefully ignorant of), I have to go with "Are You Being Served". Hearing Mrs. Slocum's cat stories always left me rolling.

 

[LakeLivin]

My original intent was to use this as kind of a "nominating" vehicle and do a follow up poll to single out the HF26 voted best tv sitcom of all time (I could see the results changing as voters were allowed to choose three in this poll).

Not sure it's needed as the board got to express opinions here but glad to do it if there's interest. Thoughts? The finalists would be:

All In The Family
Cheers
Seinfeld
M*A*S*H

(I didn't include The Simpsons as it does seem to belong to a separate category)

 

[raynman]

No pun intended, but I get it. For me, Seinfeld wore out its welcome after about 3-4 seasons. And there have been other popular comedies that I too didn't "get." The Office (US) has never been funny to me, but the UK version is one of the best shows I've ever seen.

I’ve never seen anything that made me cringe like the original version of The Office. Ricky Gervais just gets it when it comes to awkward interactions and emotions. He has a couple other shows that are really good in Derek and Afterlife. While they’re both hilarious be prepared to get the ol’ heart strings tugged at a bit.

 

[Bub]

I’ve never seen anything that made me cringe like the original version of The Office. Ricky Gervais just gets it when it comes to awkward interactions and emotions. He has a couple other shows that are really good in Derek and Afterlife. While they’re both hilarious be prepared to get the ol’ heart strings tugged at a bit.

Afterlife is also great.

And you want cringe? Watch Extras, esp the scene with David Bowie. (In case you don't know, Extras has Gervais, et al, playing tv/movie extras, and they managed to get celebs to play really shitty or weird versions of themselves. Except maybe Gordon Ramsay, who was probably true-to-life.)