I’ll give you the first two, but Green Acres was surreal genius.
What don’t ask meant was that by its final season, Hey Dad was the longest-running active sitcom anywhere in the world (as Barry Bonds will be the leading active home-run hitter if he ever returns to the major leagues, even though he trails Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth on the all-time list). Your post doesn’t refute this thesis – once Cheers ended, Hey Dad took over the then-current honors, unless there was a longer-running sitcom still cranking out new episodes elsewhere in the world.
I have to disagree here. Sure, the repeated driving into the building was a bit over the top, and the characters living on such an affluent island is illogical, but the show worked. Roy was funnier than a crutch, it seemed like he got all the good lines. But any show that features the eye candy of Crystal Bernard can’t be all bad.
How could someone mention Ben Savage and “Boy Meets World” without mentioning Fred Savage and “The Wonder Years”? I will now think of the Savage brothers as Rasputins for the rest of my life.
The currently still running contender has to be “Malcolm in the Middle.”
P.S. “Bosom Buddies” only ran two years, and had a great cast. I always thought it should have run longer.
“Married with Children” was brilliant for the first three or four, maybe even five, years. After that, it became more or less a parody of itself. It should have ceased production at least five or six years sooner than it did. It definitely qualifies as a Rasputin.
“Malcolm in the Middle” has outlived its usefulness, though I’m not sure its ratings are stong enough to allow it to survive into another season (which means it may not meet the five year rule set forth in the OP).
The difference is the The Wonder Years was actually good, unlike Boy Meets World.
I’ve heard it’ll be back next year.
Welcome Back Kotter was good, until there was no more Kotter in it.
Gabe Kaplan “attituded” himself into the breadline, and the show into the crapper.
I haven’t seen any mention of Coach … is it just me…Lasted 8 seasons, used up all its jokes in two episodes…or has every post mentioned it, and my brain just refuses to process the horror?
Fully agreed with that statement.
Noting the message regaring the Aussie shows got me thinking. My girlfriend grew up in England, amongst other places, and always loves to watch Are You Being Served. It must be for sentimental reasons, because it sure isn’t for its witty dialgoue.
How long did that show run? Every single episode I have ever seen had the “old lady has pussy-cat” joke, the “Look at me, I’m gay” joke, and the “I’m a 70s guy who likes to hit on the blondes” joke. Ha-ha-ha!
Oooooooh. It is soooo painful.
(but I love her, so I have to watch it… as well as Eastenders. blech.)
I also have to disagree with the criticisms of Wings. This show was never a comedic blockbuster, but it was a steady performer. It wasn’t always gut-bustingly funny, but it was hardly awful.
In fact, I think that several of the criticisms here are a bit much. Friends might not be your cup of tea, but it was hardly among the worst of the enduring TV sitcoms. Not by a long shot.
You don’t like Are You Being Served? :eek:
I like the comedies on PBS. The New Red Green is hilarious.
I love blackadder, chef, and a bunch of others. generally I love English humor. I just think that Are You Being Served was horrible.
PBS runs Are You Being Served marathons during pledge week. The implied threat seems to be that they’ll stop showing it when they reach the target amount.
snerk
Keeping Up Appearances is another Britcom that’s so formulaic it’s painful. Hyacinth puts on airs, Hyacinth criticizes Elizabeth (and in later seasons, tries to get an “in” with Elizabeth’s musician brother), Hyacinth has a major “do” of some sort, Hyacinth’s family embarrasses her there. That’s it, except for an occasional unheard conversation with Sheridan.
I believe According to Jim is now in its fifth season.
Oh, god yes. My mother likes that show, for some unfathomable reason, and the “BuckÈE residence” line always makes me cringe. Are You Being Served with Ms. Slocum’s pussy brings about a similar visceral reaction.
I think it’s odd that people have this inbuilt equation “British comedy=FUNNYFUNNYOMGSOFUNNYLOL(also note refined sense of humour)”. Not really. I mean, Monty Python: hilarious. The Fast Show:terrific. Smack The Pony: very funny. Shows like Keeping Up Appearances, on the other hand, should just curl up and die. It’s not that the actors are bad; I’ve seen both “Hyacinth” and “Richard” on other shows as other characters, and they’re fine. I think it’s the formulaic quality that jayjay mentioned.
On a related note, it’s lately become a trend in Finnish TV to rerun old comedy series from the 70’s and 80’s. Mind you, these are all series that have introduced catchphrases into common language that are still being used today by people who weren’t even born at the time the series originally ran. I’ve watched a few episodes of a few series, to try to grasp the humor. Not happening. I just don’t find them funny. I think it’s also an inbuilt equation: “Old series=classic=must be funnyHAHAHAHAHA(even if I’m not getting it)”. Most of the humor is based on formulaic repetition,genitalia or flatulence, the characters are thin and one-dimensional, and some of the material is incredibly chauvinistic and/or racist. Yet, incredibly, they’re still gathering fair ratings.
Personally, I’d make a distinction between shows for which there is some reasonable explanation for its longevity, in particular, if it had a solid streak of artistic success which propelled it through a slow death.
You could make that case for shows like Seinfeld, Cheers, Friends, MASH, Wonder Years, and several other shows that have been mentioned in this thread. The Cosby Show, for example, single-handedly initiated a rebirth of the American sit-com genre.
There are other shows, such as Full House, and the others, which were simply execrable from beginning to end.
Let me add to that list Dear John, starring Judd Hirsch – “Is it something … sexual?”
Keeping Up Appearances is very formulaic, but that doesn’t mean the material isn’t originally funny. Some of the shows mentioned here were never funny in the first place and I think that’s much worse. 