Gotta go with Seinfeld. I liked Friends but Seinfeld was just the most annoying show I ever saw.
Well, okay, except for the Ferris Bueller train wreck, but that didn’t last so it doesn’t count in this thread.
Friends
Married With Children
Love, American Style
I could prolly name more if I had a TV…
I have to split my vote among every one of the space fillers that went into NBC’s “Must See Thursday” and ABC’s TGI Friday lineups.
If anyone thinks Seinfeld and Friends were overrated, think back to shows like Caroline in the City, Suddenly Susan, The Single Guy and Boston Commons.
And the shows ABC was putting on were even worse.
*Gilligan’s Island * and *Married With Children *, definitely.
I would also add It’s a Dog’s Life. It only aired one episode, in the late 70s, and was quickly forgotten, but it was so bad thta it was overrated at that. Really just as funny as a broken nose.
Wait a minute. Did anyone ever think this show was good? (Other than “Love in the Happy Days,” of course.)
Who the heck rates Gilligan’s Island highly enough for it to be considered “over-rated”?
Around here, Home Improvement was wildly popular. Tim’s antics were funny, but the rest of Tim’s family was appealing because they were normal Midwestern suburbanites. They weren’t white trash (like the Bundy’s or Rosanne’s family) or self-centered New Yorkers (like the Friends or the Seinfeld crew) or any of the other types of families that usually populate sitcoms.
Perhaps the show didn’t have as much appeal outside the Midwest, but then, Home Improvement isn’t usually held up amonst the pantheon of classic comedy shows, like Seinfeld or Friends is.
I would like to second Roseanne and Will and Grace and add the King of Queens . I know it’s not exactly huge, but just the fact that it has lasted this long makes it overrated. Alothough I must admit the supporting characters are entertainging, like Jerry Stiller and that one stand-up comedian that is really funny. They should give them their own show instead.
In some quarters Will & Grace is actually considered decent. Blegh.
Oh, FWIW, I loooooooove Seinfeld. It’s by far my favorite show.
Oh come on, this is easy: Third Rock from the Sun. But that’s only because Rob Shneider has necver (to my kowledge) been on a sitcom.
Ditto, Love American Style.
Thank…thank God I never saw it. Alas, God is merciful.
The show never did become the kind of dominant fixture in the world of reruns that I thought it would have.
I will second someone’s earlier nomination of the Honeymooners. While many of its’ premises were reused later by other series, I honestly can say that I find it about as far from funny as you can get.
1.The sets have dated horribly–again, I realize this was the dawn of TV, but GAWD they look like rejects from Cabinet of Dr. Caligari sometimes.
2. Has there ever been a series before or after this one that made light of the threat of spousal abuse? I’m quite serious about this;it’s just not funny!
3. A key similarity between this and Seinfeld is that the characters are all pretty much unlikable(albeit occasionally funny). A Key difference between the two shows is that Seinfeld revels in the fact that their characters are unlikable, whereas Honeymooners always gives me a vibe of"See how warm, funny and likable these characters are? Huh? Huh?"
Chris W
Look, if you just didn’t find the show funny, fine. Nothing makes EVERYBODY laugh.
But the idea that the show promoted or condoned spousal abuse…Jesus, I’ve heard that charge a hundred times, and I still can’t figure out how anyone who’s actually seen the show can make it with a straight face.
Ralph Kramden NEVER hit Alice. He’d never dare. As anyone who’s seen the show can attest, Alice is always 100% in control in the Kramden household. Ralph blusters, he talks big, but in the end, Alice always gets her way.
Whenever Ralph says, “Oh ho ho, you’re going to the moon, Alice,” it’s always after the argument is over and Alice has won (again).
Friends was never taken seriously enough to be “overrated.” It was popular (and to many funny) but no one ever called it “art,” “genius,” “ground-breaking,” “classic,” or “cutting edge.” It wasn’t critically acclaimed, it wasn’t lauded. It just was what it was.
“Sex in the City” OTOH. Funny. But not really as good as you’d think, based on television reviewers accolades.
I think that Lucy is one of the most influential sitcoms ever, and it certainly established much of the format and style still getting used today, though pratfalls and prop comedy aren’t as much in play today as they were at the time. But I think Lucy holds up with a certain timeless appeal.
Once you understand that she was amongst the most influential individuals in the history of television the rest will follow. I don’t particularly care for I Love Lucy myself but I’ve got to give her, and Desi, props for their acomplishments. To this day their shadow still touches almost every sit-com produced.
Marc
This was the first (American) one that came to mind.