The stupidest thing was that they had the same teacher from elementary school to college (Mr. Feeney, who kept getting promoted or transferred [yeah, lots of elementary school teachers become college history professors- same basic field, teaching much younger people, after all]). Of course I’m thankful for the fact it made William Daniels rich (a latter day reward for starring in 1776 {which is why the school was John Adams High) and for the fact that some of the kids grew into jailbait eye-candy by the time they were in their late teens (particularly Matthew Lawrence and Will Friedle), but another show that just wouldn’t die (and I understand Ben Savage was one of the biggest jerks of any age on any television show- btw, when Topanga filled out, girl filled out).
I don’t even think they were jailbait anymore by the time the show ended, Sampiro. Anyay, although I didn’t watch it regularly, I thought Boy Meets World was a lot better than a kid-oriented “TGIF” sitcom on ABC had any right to be.
–Cliffy
P.S. On Friends, Monica and Rachel were illegally living in Monica’s grandmother’s rent-controlled apartment.
Hey, I liked Becker!
Gilligan’s Island.
Beverlyl Hillbillies.
Green Acres.
They speak for themselves.
Hate to nitpick but Gilligan’s Island only last three years. It just seems like it ran longer because it’s been constantly rerun in syndication, Nick at Night, and TV Land since it was canceled.
BTW, Gimme a Break was a good example cited in the OP. That show never got high ratings but somehow, year after year, managed to have just enough viewers to avoid being canceled. Also, its survival had a lot to do with the fact that during much of its too-long run, NBC was in such dire straits ratings-wise that even a borderline successful show like Gimme a Break was considered a “jewel” in its line-up.
Cite?
PLEASE?!
SNL did a sketch once, “The Death of Rasputin,” with John Belushi as Rasputin.
I spent quite a few years waiting patiently for Rider Strong to become legal tender. Or is that legal AND tender?
And he’s nekkid on film now.
Longest running in Australia maybe, but it couldn’t have ever held the record for longest running sitcom in the world. Several American sitcoms pre-dated it that ran longer:
Ozzie and Harriett 1952-1966
Make Room For Daddy 1953-1964
My Three Sons 1960-1972
the Beverly Hillbillies 1962-1971
All in the Family 1971-1979
MASH 1972-1983
Happy Days 1974-1984
One Day at a Time 1975-1984
the Jeffersons 1975-1985
Alice 1976-1985
the Facts of Life 1979-1988
Cheers 1982-1983
Night Court 1984-1992
Come to think of it, a couple of those shows have caused me to wonder why the hell they stayed on the air so long. As Theodore Sturgeon once said, “90% of everything is crud”, I guess because there are a lot of people who like the crud. It probably shouldn’t really surprise us then when some of it stays on the air year after year. 
Okay, I’ll give you Jimmy Walker, but on that show, poverty was indeed funny. James & Florida, the economic opposite of the Jeffersons. And wasn’t Janet Jackson on that show?
“Oh, James!”
Not a sitcom per se, but Saturday Night Live was past its prime about 20 years ago. Roseanne sucked hard and long. The networks really need to retain a professional hitman for the odd driveby mercy killing. I’m thinking the latter years of MAS*H, Cheers, and much more.
All but the best sitcoms have no more than 3-4 good years in them. After that, they become grotesque caricatures.
Yes. She played Penny, Wilona’s adopted daughter.
Wings appears to have dragged on for seven years. I found that show painful, yet there were actors in it who have gone on to do some interesting work.
I nominate every Australian sit-com that lasted 5 years.
Wings was one of the worst shows that ever saw the light of day. The first time the idiot Beeyotch Helen decided to slam her car into the building (Hey, how come she was never arrested?) was a warning of major suckitude. It wasn’t funny, it wasn’t cool, and in real life if one did that stuff they’d have to do a lot of explaining to a judge. And then she did it again in a later episode–God, I hope that show didn’t even make 5 seasons. I’m still having nightmares about that horrible excuse for a sitcom.
And she recently did a hysterical parody of the show on SNL (she played Wilona). Too bad they didn’t get any of the original cast members to make a cameo as that would have been too cool.
I’ve mentioned this on other threads, but I’ll mention it again: one thing that always drove me nuts on that show is that these characters are all supposed to be barely getting by financially, and yet they all live in spacious well appointed beach houses on Nantucket. Even assuming their houses are a block or two off the beach, these houses IRL would sell conservatively in the very high 6 figures and more likely the low 7s. The answer to their constant money problems is obvious: sell the house, move to lesser digs, and bank the profits, but nooooo…
(Helen runs a diner in a tiny indie airport, for Gawd’s sake- how much can she make? Unless, of course, the brothers and Antonio and Helen were all jetting in Colombian drug mules on Sandpiper [but that seems more like something Roy would have done]).
The Golden Girls - frankly I’m shocked I’m the first person to mention it. There is no finer example of a show that was a huge hit at the time and is still re-run to this day. And it is unfunny and unwatchable. Blech!
Ya know, it seemed a lot longer at the time.