Got it, I thought this was something you had against them, specifically. Politics, me too etc, hence my guess of Jay Johnston.
I always liked Steve and Brian in that show but I can certainly understand how a lot of people wouldn’t. How do you feel about them in other shows? They tend to play pretty much the same character in everything.
The Office
Bobs Burgers
Golden Girls
Another one that hasn’t been mentioned yet is Letterkenny, allegedly.
I was hoping someone would mention it. It would be my favorite.
In order:
Arrested Development - I’m amazed it got made because I don’t see how it could possibly have been funny on the page. You had to see it. Plus it had no spin-up time - AD had its voice from the very first episode.
Veep - Perhaps the most cynical show ever, and devastatingly funny. I could talk about it all day, but I think one very true to life moment was the episode where Meyer is asked repeatedly why she wants to be president and she simply has no idea. She just craves power.
The Office - I re-watched recently and came away with a greater appreciation of the later seasons, after Steve Carrell had departed. Good characters, occasionally uneven, but ended strong. At its best, it was wonderful fun.
The Good Place - Very smart and a satisfying ending.
30 Rock - Very clever and fun.
That’s why the added the narrator and the “Next time on Arrested Development” parts. The narrator helped them move through the jokes faster without losing people and the “next time…” was so the test audiences would answer ‘yes’ when asked if they’d watch another episode.
A couple not mentioned yet:
Kim’s Convenience
Corner Gas
Ok, but a lot of comedies/sitcoms also have drama, both heartwarming and otherwise. From Growing Pains and All in the Family to Brooklyn 99 and Modern Family. And Ted Lasso is written for laughs as much as any of those shows.
We love the US version of Ghosts, but IMO it’s premature to put it on this list. There’s plenty of time for it to go straight into the toilet, dragging the overall series down as it circles the bowl. I don’t expect it to, but you never know. Lost did exactly that. (I know Lost was not a sitcom, but it started with such promise, then FLUSH!)
Mom might also go heavier on drama than comedy, but I think it comfortably fits into the category of sitcom.
I don’t feel Ghosts has the same potential to fall apart that Lost did. Ghosts is, at heart, a sitcom. It’s about a group of characters being funny. The worst thing that can happen to it is it stops being funny. Each episode in a sitcom is narratively self-contained.
Lost pretended to be something it never was. It pretended to be a mystery but part of the narrative of being a mystery is working towards a solution and Lost never had that. A mystery without a solution is pointless, like a riddle without an answer or a joke without a punchline or a race without a finish line. The narrative of a mystery requires a completion and when you realize there is no completion, it retroactively ruins the entire narrative.
Just remembered
Two and a Half Men.
I think I’m gonna toss Santa Clarita Diet into the mix.
I don’t think I’ve seen Steve in anything else. I have seen Brian elsewhere and he’s okay (just okay) in small doses for me.
Something that I just thought of. Maybe the Steve and Brian sections could be considered cringe humor (which isn’t my type)
He was in Superstore and New Girl. But they’re small parts and easy to miss if you don’t recognize him.
I hope you’re right. All it takes is to lose a couple of writers, or the loss (or even introduction) of a character. You only know a sitcom has jumped the shark well after the fact.
A drama can be funny. A comedy can be dramatic. It’s a matter of degree I suppose. Personally I feel Ted Lasso was more of a light hearted drama than a comedy and certainly not a sitcom. I was greatly amused by it but there were very few actual jokes.
IMO, Ted Lasso is clearly a sitcom. The comedy is pretty central; it’s not The Wire.
Well, if it can be funny my number 1 absolutely is
House M.D.
The Wire had its moments:
Pretty much any scene with Herc and Carver is comedy gold. Those guys should have gotten a spinoff!
Stranger