And David Crosby played his sponsor.
As I recall, the show is very much in the same vein as “Night Court”.
This is an interesting one to compare to the OP. It’s a house full of aliens who don’t (necessarily) understand our society. They are all smart characters that do dumb things.
As an anti- OP, I give you Married, With Children. They are all dumb, egotistical; not a redeeming quality in the cast. I absolutely hated that show.
No love for Soap? Granted, it was a mix of smart and stupid, but I thought it blended all that together nicely to be smart overall. Chuck and Bob, the Major, Benson watching them all with his condescending snark, and Jessica looking at her boyfriend El Puerco and sighing “oh, El”. Invisible Burt!
Damn, I need to go back and rewatch that whole thing. Doubtless a lot of the schtick about Jody being gay will seem dated and lame and offensive, but it was pretty groundbreaking for that time.
Are you perhaps confusing 30 Rock with Third Rock from the Sun?
ninja’d!
Right!
I don’t know why but mentioning Murphy reminded me of “Just Shoot Me!” But that might have too many misunderstandings for the OP.
My anti-OP example would be It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, though the writing on that show can be surprisingly smart.
A couple of years ago, I found (and bought) the complete series on DVD, from Amazon, at a great price (I think they were clearing it out). I’ve been meaning to start watching it, and just haven’t yet.
I agree, some of it probably doesn’t hold up well anymore, but I always thought that it was very smartly-written.
@kenobi_65 I went so far as to videotape every episode when Comedy Central (maybe it was Ha! back then) ran a marathon. I’ve still got 'em somewhere. Now I just need a VCR that works!
You hit the nail on the head. Remember the good ol’ days? Remember when that show was on and people were picketing because THERE WAS A HOMOSEXUAL CHARACTER? AND THEY TREATED HIM LIKE A PERSON? And the rest of us were going “Yeah, he’s a human. He’s one of the saner characters in the show!”
Re-watched the entire series within the last couple of years (METV showed the episodes, so I recorded. Can’t find them streaming anywhere). What was the first storyline with Jody? He was in a dress so he could get a sex change operation so he could be with his professional QB boyfriend openly. Um, “gay” <> “transgender”. My son (29 at the time) was talking about the blatant sexism and homophobia shown in the show, and I still don’t think he appreciates my response of “for the time, this was groundbreaking!” Think about it - later on, the courts agreed that a woman who abandoned her child, had no means of support, spent the first couple of years of the child’s life wandering the country, would be a better parent than a homosexual with a high-paying regular job.
Chuck and Bob were great. I still use one of The Major’s lines: “I’m as sane as can be, knock on wood.” (character knocks on wood himself) “Come in!”
Depending on your definition of “smart” -
Corner Gas - Hank was lazy, not stupid. Oscar was just old.
Little Mosque on the Prairie - Another Saskatchewan sitcom nobody in this country has ever heard of.
D’oh! (grumble, grumble, DuMas!)
Sorry 'bout that. You’re right. My statements still fit for 3rd Rock. Hell, 30 Rock is all the entertainment business - what the heck do they know about actual American society?
Quite possibly the best comedy series ever written and cast. The humor was fresh and genuinely funny in a mature way, and the characters (who were written from life) were very real.
From Great Britain, Next of Kin with Penelope Keith. The grandparents/godparents find they must take over care for their grandchildren. An acerbic antidote to all of the “cute kids” series.
To the Manor Born also with Penelope Keith. A look into the British class system turned upside down - or at least sideways.
And on this side of the Atlantic:
Perfect Strangers with Mark Linn-Baker and Bronson Pinchot. More common than smart, but well worth it if you can find the episodes where they parody other series or actors (The Honeymooners, Laurel & Hardy…)
I’m watching Soap now for the first time (on Roku, I think?) and I’m really surprised at how it holds up for a show of its era.
I caught this Matt Baume youtube video about Soap a few months ago. It’s worth a watch. Actually a lot of his videos are worth watching.
A few more from the UK.
Staged was a lockdown sitcom, made when making TV was …difficult. It’s all done by Zoom. David Tennant and Michael Sheen - what’s not to like?
There isn’t much of it, though.
The Thick Of It is about the British Political Establishment - so may not be what you’re looking for. But written by Armando Iannucci, so smart comedy guaranteed. With a spectacularly foul-mouthed Peter Capaldi at it’s core.
Lastly, the Brian Pern - uh - things. A Mockumentary following ageing prog rocker Brian Pern (strangely similar to Peter Gabriel…) with Michael Kitchen as his hideous manager John Farrow. Beloved of musicians - you couldn’t keep (the real) Gabriel out of it (he loved it); and you can amuse yourself by playing spot the musician in later episodes.
Again, there isn’t much of it.
j
- M*A*S*H?
- A Different World?
- Black-ish?
- Speechless
Powers &8^]
Soap was absolutely wonderful…until the end of Season Two, when Burt was abducted by aliens and replaced by an alien double in Season Three. It went rapidly downhill in Seasons 3 and 4.
A few that I don’t think have been mentioned.
- Kim’s Convenience available on Netflix. A 22-30 minute show that is a modern style sitcom, not a traditional 4-camera live audience style.
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon. A 50-60 minute show, so probably not a sitcom, but lots of comedy. From some of the same people who did Gilmour Girls, so a similar type of banter style dialogue.
- Ghosts on CBS or Paramount+. Not a 4-camera live audience sitcom, but the writing is more of a traditional sitcom style. The first episode is pretty weak, but after that it is much better than I expected.