# Popular sitcoms that suck(ed) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 8, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000 "2011-10-08T15:26:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000/21 "2011-10-08T19:01:23Z")
I’ll watch Everybody Loves Raymond re-runs a billion times before I waste half an hour of my life on the dreck they show now. ELR was on for 9 years and won over a dozen Emmy awards. Of course, Frank and Marie were actually the funny ones. I nominate Friends. I only watched a couple of episodes and apparently I just didn’t get it. I hated each and every one of them so much I couldn’t be bothered to watch long enough TO get it. Any show featuring a stupid fat load married to a slim hot wife. Avoid. Like. Plague. That would include The Honeymooners, which spawned the imitations. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000/22 "2011-10-08T19:17:24Z")
**Happy Days** and **Laverne and Shirley** ran for more than 20 years when added together. Today they are almost unwatchable: terrible writing, bad acting, predictable formulaic plots- it’s like it’s written by and the sets are built by a band of not particularly bright 9th graders. No idea why it lasted that long. **Love Boat** - 5,000 different stories of people on cruises and every one of them the same. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000/23 "2011-10-08T19:34:36Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > I think the correct answer was that Ray Romano is widely unpopular. People watched the show for Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle. Yeah, whenever i was able to sit through an episode, it was only to see those two. Every minute that Romano was on screen was painful. For me, it is often the case that, in sitcoms centered around stand-up comedians, the comedian himself is the least interesting part of the show. Even on Seinfeld, which i really liked, i found Jerry far less entertaining than the others, and while Seinfeld himself might be an excellent stand-up comedian he’s actually a pretty mediocre actor. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000/24 "2011-10-08T19:53:01Z")
**Two & 1/2 Men** ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000/25 "2011-10-08T20:01:37Z")
Figured I’d get excoriated for saying Seinfeld…glad to see I’m not alone. Totally Seinfeld ---
**Author:** ![C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C.Montgomery_Burns)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000/26 "2011-10-08T20:05:30Z")
Two and a Half Men Yes, Dear Veronica’s Closet Suddenly Susan Dharma and Greg The Brady Bunch The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (They actually had the audacity to use “adventure” in the title of a show so mindnumbingly dull that 60 Minutes has more laughs than a typical Ozzie and Harriet show.) Family Affair ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000/27 "2011-10-08T20:11:24Z")
**Seinfeld** had a lot of great moments but the main problem, as I see it, is also a common problem with a lot of shows that are on a long time is the characters eventually become caricatures of themselves, and in **Seinfeld** ’s case by the time it became popular they were already at that point and as it continued on they only became more and more so. As it became established that the main characters were insane in their own particular ways, the writing of the show merely became an exercise in putting those characters into situations, plausible or no, that would accentuate those individual insanities to the point that the show routinely went wildly off the rails but in an oddly predictable manner. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000/28 "2011-10-08T20:12:59Z")
**Perfect Strangers**. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000/29 "2011-10-08T20:30:01Z")
All of them, with the exception of **Home Improvement**. Every other sitcom I have ever seen sucks shit. Unless you’re including animated ‘sitcoms’ I love lovelovelove **King of the Hill**. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000/30 "2011-10-08T20:34:59Z")
Did the overused idea of the fat slob married to the hot shrew every produce a good, or even mediocre sitcom? ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000/31 "2011-10-08T20:38:03Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Did the overused idea of the fat slob married to the hot shrew every produce a good, or even mediocre sitcom? I liked **Roseanne** , But Dan wasn’t an idiot. In fact, Dan wasn’t as insulting to men than even the Cosby Show was. edit, oops, didn’t see the “hot” part. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000/32 "2011-10-08T20:39:37Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Did the overused idea of the fat slob married to the hot shrew every produce a good, or even mediocre sitcom? \*The Six Wives of Henry VIII \*was kind of funny. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000/33 "2011-10-08T20:48:57Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Did the overused idea of the fat slob married to the hot shrew every produce a good, or even mediocre sitcom? “Still Standing” could’ve been worse. Here they may have been mismatched physically but they were similarly manipulative and evil so it balanced. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000/34 "2011-10-08T20:50:10Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > And its spinoff **Facts of Life** was a show I really liked when I was a teenager. I saw it again after 15 years or so and wondered “WTF? I _liked_ this?” OMG, I’ve had the same thing happen with a lot of shows which, at the time, I thought were the creme de la creme. The Brady Bunch, for example :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C.Montgomery_Burns)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000/35 "2011-10-08T20:56:31Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Did the overused idea of the fat slob married to the hot shrew every produce a good, or even mediocre sitcom? The Honeymooners? The Life Of Riley? Do people still consider these good, or are they too old fashioned? ---
**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:** [October 8, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000/36 "2011-10-08T21:46:22Z")
**Home Improvement Coach Wings How I Met Your Mother 2 & 1/2 Men The Big Bang Theory Will & Grace** All on long enough to reach syndication; all might as well have been on alongside **Happy Days** and other formulaic dreck from the 70s/80s. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000/37 "2011-10-08T21:48:41Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > **Home Improvement > Coach > Wings > How I Met Your Mother > 2 & 1/2 Men > The Big Bang Theory > Will & Grace** > > All on long enough to reach syndication; all might as well have been on alongside **Happy Days** and other formulaic dreck from the 70s/80s. I don’t like **The Big Bang Theory** either. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000/38 "2011-10-08T22:11:26Z")
**2 1/2 Men**. There are only two good things about that show, and neither one is a main character: Conchatta Farrell’s Berta and Taylor Holland’s Evelyn. If they gave those two a show of their own, it would be funnier than 2 1/2 M ever was. ---
**Author:** ![drillrod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@drillrod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drillrod)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000/39 "2011-10-08T22:34:46Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Did the overused idea of the fat slob married to the hot shrew every produce a good, or even mediocre sitcom? **The Honeymooners** was, I think, the original of this genre. IMHO, it was great and is still quite watchable, at least once you account for the gender attitudes of the day. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000/40 "2011-10-08T22:38:27Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > **Home Improvement > Coach > Wings > How I Met Your Mother > 2 & 1/2 Men > The Big Bang Theory > Will & Grace** > > All on long enough to reach syndication; all might as well have been on alongside **Happy Days** and other formulaic dreck from the 70s/80s. All excellent shows that deserve to run forever, thus proving that everybody’s opinion is equally worthless. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sitcoms-that-suck-ed/599000.md?page=3)