# American Sit-coms NOT set in the 20th & 21st Centuries **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 7, 2015, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491 "2015-05-07T16:19:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491/21 "2015-05-07T18:29:42Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Bruce Campbell, as **Jack Of All Trades** , probably counts. Came in to mention that one and The Adventures of Brisco County, Junior. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491/22 "2015-05-07T18:30:36Z")
Does Briscoe County, Jr. count as a sitcom? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491/23 "2015-05-07T18:38:09Z")
Thanks! [Thanks (TV series) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanks_%28TV_series%29) And I think there was an American sitcom (animated?) taking place in ancient Rome ---
**Author:** ![half-elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@half-elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/half-elf)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491/24 "2015-05-07T18:43:44Z")
Little House on the Prairie? That other one with the “woman doctor”. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491/25 "2015-05-07T18:44:24Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **Here Come the Brides** was a mix of comedy and drama. Well, that’s stretching it a bit. I was a **very** little kid when **Here Come The Brides** aired (back then, remember, there were only three networks and no VCRS or DVRs, you were stuck watching what they offered. I had three older sisters who are in love with **Here Come The Brides** star, teen idol Bobby Sherman. So I was stuck watching it) it had the kind of comedy you’d find on **The Waltons**. Family fare. So by indicating it was also a comedy, well… not quite. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491/26 "2015-05-07T18:46:23Z")
> [@half-elf](#): > > Little House on the Prairie? > > That other one with the “woman doctor”. Again, (the woman doctor show you’re probably thinking of was **Dr. Quinn Medicane Woman** ) these were all hour long family fare drama with "pleasant humor. Not close to half hour sit-com humor. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491/27 "2015-05-07T18:51:34Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > And I think there was an American sitcom (animated?) taking place in ancient Rome Are you thinking of **this** , perhaps? :dubious: > **[Asterix](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix#Films)** > > Asterix (Astérix or Astérix le Gaulois \[asteʁiks lə ɡolwa\], "Asterix the Gaul") (also known as Asterix and Obelix in some adaptations or The Adventures of Asterix) is a French comic album series about a Gaulish village which, thanks to a magic potion that enhances strength, resists the forces of Julius Caesar in an ahistorical telling of the time after the Gallic Wars. Many adventures take the titular hero Asterix and his friend Obelix to Rome and beyond. > The series first appeared in the Fr... ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491/28 "2015-05-07T18:58:53Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Are you thinking of **this** , perhaps? :dubious: > > [Asterix - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix#Films) I think he’s thinking about an old American animated Saturday morning show called **The Roman Holidays** : [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Roman\_Holidays](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Roman_Holidays) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491/29 "2015-05-07T19:13:55Z")
[Wizards and Warriors](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085113/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_70), set in a “swords and sorcery” fantasy setting. Survived for 8 episodes at the height of the initial Dungeons & Dragons craze in the early 1980s, and starred Jeff Conaway and Julia Duffy. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491/30 "2015-05-07T19:26:16Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > I think he’s thinking about an old American animated Saturday morning show called **The Roman Holidays** : [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Roman\_Holidays](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Roman_Holidays) Aha! I remember that, vaguely. Don’t believe I ever watched it, though. \*\*\*Asterix \*\*\* shorts were being aired in Britain when I lived there in the '70s, but they definitely were not made in America. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491/31 "2015-05-07T19:26:17Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Does Briscoe County, Jr. count as a sitcom? It certainly meets the ‘com’ part, not so sure about the ‘sit’. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491/32 "2015-05-07T19:38:35Z")
Current clarification from the OP is we’re looking for sitcoms on the level of “F Troop”, so Brisco County, Here Come the Brides and Little House on the Prairie don’t really fit. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491/33 "2015-05-07T19:41:27Z")
I know animated stuff is breaking the rules, but \*\*\*Futurama \*\*\*was one of the smartest sitcoms ever. It’s not clear to me when [_ **Woops!** _](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woops!) (about a group of people in a post-nuclear war apocalypse) was supposed to be set. Admittedly I found it looking up some other stuff. Probably 20th or 21st century, anyhow. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491/34 "2015-05-07T19:53:43Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > When I was 5 or 6, there was a sitcom called _ **It’s About Time** _, about astronauts stranded back in the Stone Age. Which, IIRC, lasted about one season in the stone age before they magically brought the stone age to modern times. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491/35 "2015-05-07T20:06:35Z")
I came here to post about **Thanks** , saw that someone beat me to it, and now I’ve got the theme to **Best of the West** as an earworm. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491/36 "2015-05-07T20:06:49Z")
Blackadder Red Dwarf (Just kidding…the lack of attention in these threads cracks me up. So consistent!) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491/37 "2015-05-07T20:09:39Z")
duplicate ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491/38 "2015-05-07T21:22:07Z")
**Covington Cross** - Starring Nigel Terry,\* Cherie Lunghi (both from “Excalibur”) and Ione Skye. The pilot was priceless. No laugh track, though. - Who died just last week, Godammit! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491/39 "2015-05-07T21:25:17Z")
Paging through Rick Mintz’s The Great TV Sitcom Book - 400 pages long and published in 1980 - I’m finding a few really obscure ones that haven’t already been mentioned. [It’s a Business (1952)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0254903/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) - set in Victorian times according to Mitz, turn of the century on IMDb. [Life with Father (1953-55)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045408/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2) - 1880s [Anna and the King (1972)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068039/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2) - 1862 Near misses include [Free Country (1978)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077012/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2), a Rob Reiner production in which he narrates his life as a young emigrant to New York in 1909, and [Mama (1949)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041039/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_4), from the radio show _I Remember Mama_, about Norwegian immigrant life in San Francisco in the 1910s. I was surprised to see that F-Troop was the first comedy western. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491/40 "2015-05-07T23:09:07Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > I think he’s thinking about an old American animated Saturday morning show called **The Roman Holidays** : [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Roman\_Holidays](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Roman_Holidays) Exactly what I was thinking of - thanks. (and I see that someone mentioned “Thanks!” before I did - oops) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-sit-coms-not-set-in-the-20th-21st-centuries/719491.md?page=3)