American Sitcoms - Top 100

I still haven't finalised the list but this is my provisional top 100:

1-50

01 The Phil Silvers Show/Bilko
02 Cheers
03 The Big Bang Theory
04 Get Smart
05 Mister Ed
06 The Bob Newhart Show
07 Dennis the Menace
08 Police Squad
09 Mork and Mindy
10 The Golden Girls/The Golden Palace
11 The Simpsons
12 I Dream of Jeannie
13 The Addams Family
14 Bewitched
15 Frasier
16 The Munsters
17 The Flintstones
18 Rhoda
19 Taxi
20 Alf
21 Benson
22 Soap
23 The Nanny
24 Happy Days
25 The Andy Griffith Show
26 Everybody Loves Raymond
27 The Monkees
28 Chico and the Man
29 The Mary Tyler Moore Show
30 Leave It To Beaver
31 Green Acres
32 Mash
33 The Dick Van Dyke Show
34 Gilligan's Island
35 I Love Lucy/The Lucy Show
36 Roseanne
37 All in the Family
38 Barney Miller
39 The Jeffersons
40 The Wonder Years
41 Seinfeld
42 Murphy Brown
43 Gomer Pyle
44 F-Troop
45 Spin City
46 Evening Shade
47 My Favourite Martian
48 3rd Rock From The Sun
49 Adventures of Pete and Pete
50 Dharma and Greg

Continued:

51-100

51 The Beverly Hillbillies
52 Phyllis
53 Something Wilder
54 Hazel
55 Car 54 Where Are You
56 Wait Till Your Father Gets Home
57 Mr Belvedere
58 Valerie
59 Petticoat Junction
60 Becker
61 Perfect Strangers
62 Cybill
63 What's Happening
64 Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
65 Make Room For Daddy
66 Family Affair
67 Night Court
68 WKRP in Cincinatti
69 Malcolm in the Middle
70 Dream On
71 Who's The Boss
72 Bakersfield PD
73 Married With Children
74 Welcome Back, Kotter
75 My Three Sons
76 Sanford and Son
77 Mad About You
78 Maude
79 Home Improvement
80 The Facts of Life
81 Hogan's Heroes
82 Punky Brewster
83 Coach
84 Silver Spoons
85 Laverne and Shirley
86 Three's Company
87 The Odd Couple
88 Kate and Allie
89 Alice
90 Will and Grace
91 News Radio
92 The Burns and Allen Show
93 My Two Dads
94 Dinosaurs
95 The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
96 The Partridge Family
97 Everybody Hates Chris
98 Family Ties
99 Full House
100 My Name is Earl

-
i

ARE there any others of any value ?

I love a lot of those.
A few other good ones that came to mind...

Blossom
The Cosby Show
A Different World
Caroline In The City
Veronica's Closet
Head of the Class

A good list, although I'd argue about the placement of many of them. Seinfeld should be top 3. Yeah, Cosby should be near the top, too.

Excellent. Responses!

I would welcome more so that I can explore new ones and fine tune.

I have never seen Blossom, A Different World, Caroline In The City, Veronica's Closet or Head of the Class so I will look in to those ones . Seinfeld is very clever and it was much higher up in my earlier drafts but a lot of the really old programmes from my childhood took hold as I watched them for the first time in several decades. The Cosby Show is a tough one. I used to really love it but it isn't there at present because of all the controversy around him and I'm not sure what to do,

There are a few other glaring omissions. I just don't like the language or the vibe in The Larry Sanders Show. I'm not really for the American version of The Office. There was/is quite a lot of controversy and unhappiness around some of the people in Two and a Half Men and especially Martin which this year is being brought back. I haven't "got" Futurama yet. As for the 1950s "classic" The Honeymooners, I'm afraid that I don't like Jackie Gleason and found it all quite lame.

Being a bit on the sensitive side, I have a few issues with British sitcoms that overdo race like Love Thy Neighbour and Till Death Us Do Part but the American equivalent of the latter All in the Family won me over and Chico and the Man which dabbles in Latino issues is a real find as is the partially race focussed Bakersfield PD. Just don't google what happened to the actors you like. In Chico the main actor died at 22. In another show, a sweet little girl was in real life dead at 18.

Anyhow, there were a lot of good finds, old and new. Dennis the Menace reminds me of my best pal in childhood, Gomer Pyle is uncannily a forerunner to Forrest Gump, Phyllis is a sharp spin-off from Rhoda, Becker is a worthy vehicle for Ted Danson after Cheers, Dinosaurs is puppets, sort of, and while the Adventures of Pete and Pete was designed for kids, it's the business. There are a lot of big names here too - John Travolta in Welcome Back, Kotter, Burt Reynolds in Evening Shade and Gene Wilder in Something Wilder. The episode of the latter involving Alice Cooper made me laugh a lot.

Quote: A Horseradish @ 6th February 2018, 2:02 PM

The Cosby Show is a tough one. I used to really love it but it isn't there at present because of all the controversy around him and I'm not sure what to do.

View original

I was worried I wouldn't be able to enjoy it on rewatching. But I love that show and I would hate to let what's happened ruin that for me.
So I've watched it recently, and the way I think of it is that Bill Cosby is clearly an evil, horrendous piece of shit, but Dr Huxtable didn't do anything wrong. He's bloody lovely in fact (even nicer than how I remember him from my childhood). So I just see him as Dr Huxtable, and it's all good. It's fairly easy to forget all the real life stuff once you get into watching it.

So I'd stick it back in the list if I were you.

Quote: A Horseradish @ 6th February 2018, 2:02 PM

I have never seen Blossom, A Different World, Caroline In The City, Veronica's Closet or Head of the Class so I will look in to those ones .

View original

I think you'll like them. Caroline in the City and Veronica's Closet are pretty similar to Mad About You and Dharma and Greg.

Quote: zooo @ 6th February 2018, 3:04 PM

I was worried I wouldn't be able to enjoy it on rewatching. But I love that show and I would hate to let what's happened ruin that for me.
So I've watched it recently, and the way I think of it is that Bill Cosby is clearly an evil, horrendous piece of shit, but Dr Huxtable didn't do anything wrong. He's bloody lovely in fact (even nicer than how I remember him from my childhood). So I just see him as Dr Huxtable, and it's all good. It's fairly easy to forget all the real life stuff once you get into watching it.

So I'd stick it back in the list if I were you.

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Dr Huxtable provided the drugs

DON'T RUIN IT FOR ME.

I really, really loved the American Office. A few of my choices for Top 100 that aren't on your list:

Curb Your Enthusiasm
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Eastbound & Down
The League
The Last Man on Earth
Parks and Recreation
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Cool list with a lot I don't recognise but no Scrubs? I can understand no Friends but no Scrubs?

Quote: zooo @ 6th February 2018, 12:26 PM

I love a lot of those.
A few other good ones that came to mind...

Blossom
The Cosby Show
A Different World
Caroline In The City
Veronica's Closet
Head of the Class

View original

I have now reviewed these with thanks. I liked "Head of the Class" - especially the episode they filmed in Russia which was ground breaking at the time. Veronica's Closet was pretty good - I like Kirstie Allie - and so too Caroline in the City. I found Blossom a bit girly like it was aimed at the teenage market. A Different World is ok - it's another Cosby thing isn't it although he doesn't feature.

Quote: DaButt @ 6th February 2018, 5:56 PM

I really, really loved the American Office. A few of my choices for Top 100 that aren't on your list:

Curb Your Enthusiasm
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Eastbound & Down
The League
The Last Man on Earth
Parks and Recreation
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

View original

Thank you, I know some of these but not all of them so I will see what I think. There is probably a bit of a cultural age gap here. I know I didn't get the last two when I saw them. It isn't that I am ancient. I wasn't on the planet for most of the stuff in black and white but with a few exceptions I can struggle a bit with 21st Century comedy.

Could Police Squad be considered a sitcom? If not, does it defy classification and be a genuine one off?

Wow, I haven't even heard of loads of shows on that list. I've caught glimpses of a fair amount of those shows just in passing growing up with the TV on, not really paying attention. The only ones I've revisited as an adult are Friends, 3rd Rock, Seinfield, and Malcolm in the Middle randomly. Nothing to write home about, to me. But what do I know. I'm just from here.

That's an impressive list though! I've always kind of wondered if America has a backlog of decent comedies, and I'm not sure all the ones listed are exactly decent, but I think I can now trust that American comedy is not all bad.

Don't get me wrong, I've seen and somewhat enjoyed some of the more recently aired shows listed, and have nothing substantial against them. In fact, I'd add 'New Girl' to the list. Solid funny show.

Quote: Davida @ 9th February 2018, 3:26 PM

In fact, I'd add 'New Girl' to the list. Solid funny show.

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Yes! Also The Mindy Project, and Happy Endings. (They all three share an actor or two, I think.)