Comedy shows....Back then or Today?

[Fatman LOU]

https://youtu.be/FkW35T1jQB0

 

[Fatman LOU]

It's kinda a bad Question, a lot of you might not have been around to see some of these older comedy shows.

 

[Penny Traitor]

How far back is "back then"?

The 80's were probably the best decade for the Sitcom...which has come to define TV comedy ever since, but a lot of that came before it still holds up today.

I love the Dick Van Dyke Show and you can stream the entire series on Netflix right now! And just about every sitcom in existence is just another copy of The Honeymooners.

Then the 90s had three juggernauts in Friends, Seinfeld and The Simpsons.

I would lean 1975 and later for the bulk of my favorite stuff.

(The year that brought you a little show called 'Saturday Night Live')

 

[Xuder O'Clam]

Foster Brooks, lol. Loved him as a kid in all those Dean Martin roasts.

 

[Fatman LOU]

How far back is "back then"?

The 80's were probably the best decade for the Sitcom...which has come to define TV comedy ever since, but a lot of that came before it still holds up today.

I love the Dick Van Dyke Show and you can stream the entire series on Netflix right now! And just about every sitcom in existence is just another copy of The Honeymooners.

Then the 90s had three juggernauts in Friends, Seinfeld and The Simpsons.

I would lean 1975 and later for the bulk of my favorite stuff.

(The year that brought you a little show called 'Saturday Night Live')

60s to the 90s yeah Jamias shows like you mentioned including shows a liite further back like F-troop, Hogans Heroes, Mc'hales navy, just to name a few. I have Sattelite and i look for them shows rather than the crap on tv today .

 

[KoreanBear]

How far back is "back then"?

The 80's were probably the best decade for the Sitcom...which has come to define TV comedy ever since, but a lot of that came before it still holds up today.

I love the Dick Van Dyke Show and you can stream the entire series on Netflix right now! And just about every sitcom in existence is just another copy of The Honeymooners.

Then the 90s had three juggernauts in Friends, Seinfeld and The Simpsons.

I would lean 1975 and later for the bulk of my favorite stuff.

(The year that brought you a little show called 'Saturday Night Live')

I used to love the Simpsons until I watched Family Guy. The Simpsons just seemed so watered down after getting a taste of Family Guy...
Same for Seinfeld with Curb.

But getting back to the OP, the 80-90's TV was so much better.

 

[Fatman LOU]

Foster Brooks, lol. Loved him as a kid in all those Dean Martin roasts.

Yeah right i should down load more of them from the Dean Martin Roast .

 

[Fatman LOU]

I used to love the Simpsons until I watched Family Guy. The Simpsons just seemed so watered down after getting a taste of Family Guy...
Same for Seinfeld with Curb.

Yeah.... i just cant get into them , maybe im just fucked up.

 

[Xuder O'Clam]

[video=youtube;NTRhKcjJHOU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTRhKcjJHOU[/video]


Lol, look at all these unhealthy, smoking, drinking 40 year olds from the 70s.

 

[Gustavus Adolphus]

I don't understand the question.

 

[Fatman LOU]

[video=youtube;NTRhKcjJHOU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTRhKcjJHOU[/video]


Lol, look at all these unhealthy, smoking, drinking 40 year olds from the 70s.

That shit cracks me up. Thanks Xuder.

 

[Penny Traitor]

I used to love the Simpsons until I watched Family Guy.

The Simpsons have felt like a watered down version of itself for the last half of it's run, TBH.

I have found myself watching many episodes of Family Guy and laughed at some of their jokes, but at it's core...I don't think it is that great of a show. Every character is just awful....except for the mayor. I preferred American Dad myself and even think The Cleveland Show was the superior pure sitcom over Family Guy.

South Park blows Seth MacFarlane out of the television water, IMO.

 

[Penny Traitor]

I don't understand the question.

I am just now realizing that the thread just says "Comedy Shows" when I read "Comedy TV Shows"....so maybe I am derailing?

 

[Fatman LOU]

I don't understand the question.

Thats ok Gus. Hey can you answer my dog thread?

 

[brett05]

Honeymooners and Your Show of Shows with Sid Ceasar for me.

 

[Crystallas]

Am I allowed to take a simple question, over-analyze it and therefore *over-complicate* the answer? There's a TL;DR

I think of it like this. If I were stuck with a handful of sitcoms that were re-run over and over on my TV with one channel in some cabin in the woods. What era would represent the most shows? Some shows were super great for their time, but re-runs have significantly diminishing returns, so you can both love the show, but not really want to re-watch them in a desert island situation. Heck, some I would rank higher on my list of all-time favs because they are simply better one/two time watches, or have their most value in binge watch environments due to progressive story lines(Arrested Development, Soap, The Office, Taxi, All in the Family, My Name is Earl, Newhart, Silicon Valley are some shows that would normally be near the top of my list.)

And some show runs were simply too short of a run to be be included. Damn you 6-ep standard series format over the pond, like; Black Books, The IT Crowd. Then great shows that simply had a short lifespan. My Two Dads, Men Behaving Badly(US version because it can be a little too localized for me at times to enjoy the UK original), Working, Police Squad, Better off Ted.

Then some truly great shows being simply OVER-redundant to an art form of itself due to a very strict theme or strong characters needing to be the problem solving focus/or source of all **** ups. ie: Gilligan's Island, Cosby Show, My Name is Earl, Small Wonder, maybe I Love Lucy.

Also great sitcoms in spurts that I simply don't have the estrogen volume to relate with, although I did recognize the brilliance for their humor; Alley McBeal, New Girl, Kate and Allie, Friends.

Some shows that are overly geared towards a young adult audience that can be enjoyed by everyone, but unless you're in that mood or age bracket, it doesn't really work. Full House, Boy Meets World, Saved By the Bell, The Monkees, Dennis the Menace, Leave it to Beaver, Punky Brewster.

Being fair, not to just grab shows with quantity, like the Simpsons or South Park, which are still very deserving.

Wow, that might be my longest written list of Honorable Mentions that I have ever done. So yes, that means everything listed above is actually recognition and praise, not actual hate. Well, maybe Friends, I don't HATE Friends, I just don't find it entertaining anymore.

-My island/cabin short list would probably look something like:
Beverly Hillbillies, Andy Griffith Show, Honeymooners, Cheers, Third Rock From the Sun, Sanford and Son, Seinfeld, Fresh Prince, Always Sunny, Three Stooges. Married with Children, Our Gang/Little Rascals.


So I'd personally rank decades for sitcoms 80s, 60s/2000s* tied for 2nd, 90s/50s/70s*tied, and then to be fair because TV adoption and overall development worked different to how we retroactively classify shows the 20s-40s as one group would be in this *tied for a close fourth* era, and last would be 2010s(with all fairness, the decade isn't over and it's far easier to accurately judge once the dust settles).

Reality style television taking over, extreme(key word) innuendo and agenda driving, political correctness astronomically high and the counter culture of straight up making fun of the PC culture instead of finding as much unique humor has really compartmentalized modern comedy. Competing with the internet and different formats, it's not a good era for sitcoms over-all, but I'm glad some shows have found new audiences that weren't particularly targeted well in the past(which is the one thing gained for everything lost). Doesn't matter, how many times can you do the same thing over again anyways?

TL;DR

As with most things dealing with human creativity, you can only re-invent the wheel so much. "Back Then" would get my vote and it's not that close.

 

[Penny Traitor]

Am I allowed to take a simple question, over-analyze it and therefore *over-complicate* the answer?

I can complicate it even further to say that we are focusing too heavily on the sitcom format when you also can branch out to sketch comedy, late night talk shows and even the variety shows of days long past.

(Although "Roasts" did make a good comeback)

People like Carson, Letterman and even Jon Stewart should go down as TV Comedy Legends.

 

[brett05]

Am I allowed to take a simple question, over-analyze it and therefore *over-complicate* the answer? There's a TL;DR

I think of it like this. If I were stuck with a handful of sitcoms that were re-run over and over on my TV with one channel in some cabin in the woods. What era would represent the most shows? Some shows were super great for their time, but re-runs have significantly diminishing returns, so you can both love the show, but not really want to re-watch them in a desert island situation. Heck, some I would rank higher on my list of all-time favs because they are simply better one/two time watches, or have their most value in binge watch environments due to progressive story lines(Arrested Development, Soap, The Office, Taxi, All in the Family, My Name is Earl, Newhart, Silicon Valley are some shows that would normally be near the top of my list.)

And some show runs were simply too short of a run to be be included. Damn you 6-ep standard series format over the pond, like; Black Books, The IT Crowd. Then great shows that simply had a short lifespan. My Two Dads, Men Behaving Badly(US version because it can be a little too localized for me at times to enjoy the UK original), Working, Police Squad, Better off Ted.

Then some truly great shows being simply OVER-redundant to an art form of itself due to a very strict theme or strong characters needing to be the problem solving focus/or source of all **** ups. ie: Gilligan's Island, Cosby Show, My Name is Earl, Small Wonder, maybe I Love Lucy.

Also great sitcoms in spurts that I simply don't have the estrogen volume to relate with, although I did recognize the brilliance for their humor; Alley McBeal, New Girl, Kate and Allie, Friends.

Some shows that are overly geared towards a young adult audience that can be enjoyed by everyone, but unless you're in that mood or age bracket, it doesn't really work. Full House, Boy Meets World, Saved By the Bell, The Monkees, Dennis the Menace, Leave it to Beaver, Punky Brewster.

Being fair, not to just grab shows with quantity, like the Simpsons or South Park, which are still very deserving.

Wow, that might be my longest written list of Honorable Mentions that I have ever done. So yes, that means everything listed above is actually recognition and praise, not actual hate. Well, maybe Friends, I don't HATE Friends, I just don't find it entertaining anymore.

-My island/cabin short list would probably look something like:
Beverly Hillbillies, Andy Griffith Show, Honeymooners, Cheers, Third Rock From the Sun, Sanford and Son, Seinfeld, Fresh Prince, Always Sunny, Three Stooges. Married with Children, Our Gang/Little Rascals.


So I'd personally rank decades for sitcoms 80s, 60s/2000s* tied for 2nd, 90s/50s/70s*tied, and then to be fair because TV adoption and overall development worked different to how we retroactively classify shows the 20s-40s as one group would be in this *tied for a close fourth* era, and last would be 2010s(with all fairness, the decade isn't over and it's far easier to accurately judge once the dust settles).

Reality style television taking over, extreme(key word) innuendo and agenda driving, political correctness astronomically high and the counter culture of straight up making fun of the PC culture instead of finding as much unique humor has really compartmentalized modern comedy. Competing with the internet and different formats, it's not a good era for sitcoms over-all, but I'm glad some shows have found new audiences that weren't particularly targeted well in the past(which is the one thing gained for everything lost). Doesn't matter, how many times can you do the same thing over again anyways?

TL;DR

As with most things dealing with human creativity, you can only re-invent the wheel so much. "Back Then" would get my vote and it's not that close.

I'm like 90% with you on the entire post. Especially the Short List. :clap:

 

[brett05]

I can complicate it even further to say that we are focusing too heavily on the sitcom format when you also can branch out to sketch comedy, late night talk shows and even the variety shows of days long past.

(Although "Roasts" did make a good comeback)

People like Carson, Letterman and even Jon Stewart should go down as TV Comedy Legends.

For me it's Carson, and then a step down to others.

70s thru some parts of the 80s for SNL

Big fan today of Studio C on Youtube

Old time Radio Abbott and Costello for the win!

 

[Ares]

Am I allowed to take a simple question, over-analyze it and therefore *over-complicate* the answer? There's a TL;DR

I think of it like this. If I were stuck with a handful of sitcoms that were re-run over and over on my TV with one channel in some cabin in the woods. What era would represent the most shows? Some shows were super great for their time, but re-runs have significantly diminishing returns, so you can both love the show, but not really want to re-watch them in a desert island situation. Heck, some I would rank higher on my list of all-time favs because they are simply better one/two time watches, or have their most value in binge watch environments due to progressive story lines(Arrested Development, Soap, The Office, Taxi, All in the Family, My Name is Earl, Newhart, Silicon Valley are some shows that would normally be near the top of my list.)

And some show runs were simply too short of a run to be be included. Damn you 6-ep standard series format over the pond, like; Black Books, The IT Crowd. Then great shows that simply had a short lifespan. My Two Dads, Men Behaving Badly(US version because it can be a little too localized for me at times to enjoy the UK original), Working, Police Squad, Better off Ted.

Then some truly great shows being simply OVER-redundant to an art form of itself due to a very strict theme or strong characters needing to be the problem solving focus/or source of all **** ups. ie: Gilligan's Island, Cosby Show, My Name is Earl, Small Wonder, maybe I Love Lucy.

Also great sitcoms in spurts that I simply don't have the estrogen volume to relate with, although I did recognize the brilliance for their humor; Alley McBeal, New Girl, Kate and Allie, Friends.

Some shows that are overly geared towards a young adult audience that can be enjoyed by everyone, but unless you're in that mood or age bracket, it doesn't really work. Full House, Boy Meets World, Saved By the Bell, The Monkees, Dennis the Menace, Leave it to Beaver, Punky Brewster.

Being fair, not to just grab shows with quantity, like the Simpsons or South Park, which are still very deserving.

Wow, that might be my longest written list of Honorable Mentions that I have ever done. So yes, that means everything listed above is actually recognition and praise, not actual hate. Well, maybe Friends, I don't HATE Friends, I just don't find it entertaining anymore.

-My island/cabin short list would probably look something like:
Beverly Hillbillies, Andy Griffith Show, Honeymooners, Cheers, Third Rock From the Sun, Sanford and Son, Seinfeld, Fresh Prince, Always Sunny, Three Stooges. Married with Children, Our Gang/Little Rascals.


So I'd personally rank decades for sitcoms 80s, 60s/2000s* tied for 2nd, 90s/50s/70s*tied, and then to be fair because TV adoption and overall development worked different to how we retroactively classify shows the 20s-40s as one group would be in this *tied for a close fourth* era, and last would be 2010s(with all fairness, the decade isn't over and it's far easier to accurately judge once the dust settles).

Reality style television taking over, extreme(key word) innuendo and agenda driving, political correctness astronomically high and the counter culture of straight up making fun of the PC culture instead of finding as much unique humor has really compartmentalized modern comedy. Competing with the internet and different formats, it's not a good era for sitcoms over-all, but I'm glad some shows have found new audiences that weren't particularly targeted well in the past(which is the one thing gained for everything lost). Doesn't matter, how many times can you do the same thing over again anyways?

TL;DR

As with most things dealing with human creativity, you can only re-invent the wheel so much. "Back Then" would get my vote and it's not that close.

Third Rock from the Sun was such a vastly underrated show IMO.