# Best sitcom ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 19, 2012, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sitcom-ever/628677 "2012-07-19T02:10:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sitcom-ever/628677/21 "2012-07-19T04:41:05Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Well, I dunno about ever, but I’ve basically spent the past few weeks on a Dick Van Dyke Show bender. I am surprised at how engaging it still is. +1 ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sitcom-ever/628677/22 "2012-07-19T04:42:50Z")
[ol] [li]_Seinfeld_[/li][li]_The Dick Van Dyke Show_[/li][li]_Green Acres_[/li][/ol] I’d put _The Wonder Years_ somewhere south of 50 on the all-time greats list. I don’t consider _The Simpsons, Futurama_ or _South Park_ sitcoms. _Give Community_ a couple more seasons (and a movie) and it’ll be right up there with _Seinfeld_. Some others are on the top 10 “except for” list, like _Cheers_ (except for the Kirstie Alley years), _Frasier_ (except for Kelsey Grammer), and _Taxi_ (except for Andy Kaufman). ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sitcom-ever/628677/23 "2012-07-19T04:44:21Z")
Seinfeld should be on this list. ---
**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:** [July 19, 2012, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sitcom-ever/628677/24 "2012-07-19T05:33:58Z")
DVD and MTM were definitely among the best written. So were Gilligan’s Island and F Troop. Also the first few years of Bewitched and That Girl. Cheers!, Night Court, and Frasier are probably the most sophisticated sitcoms ever. The Good Life/Good Neighbors was one of the most clever. Green Acres was definitely the most surreal. Barney Miller was probably the most realistic. I’d say Soap was the most outrageous. Andy Griffith was funny only when Don Knotts was on. Petticoat Junction and My Three Sons were funny only with the original casts. Subversive is definitely the word for The Beverly Hillbillies. Gomer Pyle, USMC, was full of, uhm, subtext. :rolleyes: Burns and Allen, Jack Benny, and Lucy and Ricky set the standards for almost everything that followed. Without The Honeymooners and Sgt. Bilko, there never would have been The Flintstones or Top Cat. Some of the fluff from the '80s I will still watch with nostalgia: Facts of Life, Diff’rent Strokes, Three’s Company, Benson. I very rarely laughed at MASH, except at some unexpected witticism (usually from Potter, Mulcahey, or Winchester). No matter how many times I see it, I still laugh the longest and hardest at Fawlty Towers. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sitcom-ever/628677/25 "2012-07-19T05:46:03Z")
What about _The Young Ones_? ---
**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:** [July 19, 2012, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sitcom-ever/628677/26 "2012-07-19T05:46:07Z")
DVD and MTM were definitely among the best written. So were Gilligan’s Island, F Troop, and the first few years of Bewitched and That Girl. Cheers!, Night Court, and Frasier were probably the most sophisticated sitcoms ever. The Good Life/Good Neighbors was one of the most clever. Hogan’s Heroes was one of the best conceived. Mr. Ed and Green Acres were the most surreal. Barney Miller was probably the most realistic. Burns and Allen, Jack Benny, and Lucy and Ricky set the standards for most everything that followed (and the first two were carryovers from radio). Without The Honeymooners and Sgt. Bilko, there never would have been The Flintstones or Top Cat. If we’re counting animated series, then The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Futurama would be near the top of my list. Andy Griffith was funny only when Don Knotts was on it. Petticoat Junction and My Three Sons were funny only with their original casts. Gomer Pyle, USMC, was full of, uhm, subtext. :rolleyes: The Beverly Hillbillies was indeed subversive satire. I very seldom laughed at M_A_S\*H, except at some unexpected witticism (usually from Potter, Mulcahey, or Winchester). Soap was the most outrageous sitcom ever, except for 'Allo, 'Allo! and Heil, Honey, I’m Home! I will still watch '80s fluff for the nostalgia value, if nothing else: Facts of Life, Diff’rent Strokes, Three’s Company, Benson. No matter how many times I see it, I still laugh the hardest and longest at Fawlty Towers. ---
**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:** [July 19, 2012, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sitcom-ever/628677/27 "2012-07-19T05:47:07Z")
Sorry, thought the first post was lost. Delete it, please? ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sitcom-ever/628677/28 "2012-07-19T05:55:47Z")
If I had to pick from your list, I’d go with _The Simpsons_. If I had to pick my favorite, it’d be _Arrested Development_. If I had to pick what I thought was most objectively the best sitcom of all time, I’d go with _Seinfeld_. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sitcom-ever/628677/29 "2012-07-19T06:06:07Z")
Golden Girls. ---
**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:** [July 19, 2012, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sitcom-ever/628677/30 "2012-07-19T06:27:58Z")
I don’t care how un-PC it is, I’m going to add Amos ‘n’ Andy to my list. I still laugh out loud when I watch it, and it has nothing to do with the color of the actors. It was very well-written and the comic acting was superb. Truth be told, I find A ‘n’ A far less offensive than some of the Norman Lear sitcoms featuring blacks of the '70s. (The best Lear show, IMHO, was Fernwood 2-Night, which was a satire of locally produced late-night talk shows rather than a sitcom _per se_.) ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sitcom-ever/628677/31 "2012-07-19T07:05:03Z")
Other: Fawlty Towers. (Why must only American sitcoms be on the list?) If I were limited to American ones, then Arrested Development. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sitcom-ever/628677/32 "2012-07-19T07:24:34Z")
\*The Simpsons. \* But, to be clear, only the first ten seasons. ---
**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:** [July 19, 2012, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sitcom-ever/628677/33 "2012-07-19T08:02:36Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > (Why must only American sitcoms be on the list?) Fools and Horses, before they bowdlerized it in the name of PC. Like drawing the proverbial mustache on the Mona Lisa, that was! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sitcom-ever/628677/34 "2012-07-19T08:06:53Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Well, I dunno about ever, but I’ve basically spent the past few weeks on a Dick Van Dyke Show bender. I am surprised at how engaging it still is. I’ll go with this. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sitcom-ever/628677/35 "2012-07-19T10:07:41Z")
There were some pretty good british comedies - a) It ain’t half hot mum b) Steptoe and Son c) Open all hours d) Some mothers do ave 'em ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sitcom-ever/628677/36 "2012-07-19T10:16:41Z")
Definitely Other: _Fawlty Towers_ Only because _other (state)_ was crap the last few seasons. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sitcom-ever/628677/37 "2012-07-19T10:25:50Z")
Curb Your Enthusiasm ---
**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:** [July 19, 2012, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sitcom-ever/628677/38 "2012-07-19T10:38:10Z")
Rocky and Bullwinkle (and Friends). ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sitcom-ever/628677/39 "2012-07-19T10:56:14Z")
I didn’t want to stress my brain out by thinking what to choose if I clicked “other”, so I went with The Simpsons. It’s been on forever, and it’s been mostly funny the whole way. Most of those other options are from before my time and I’m not very familiar with them. They may be great, but I’m not qualified to judge them. ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-sitcom-ever/628677/40 "2012-07-19T11:36:48Z")
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