Comedy shows....Back then or Today?

[brett05]

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

x1000

 

[Fatman LOU]

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

Honeymooners great , great show.

 

[Fatman LOU]

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 love your island cabin list . Only show i will watch today that i like is Big Bang Theory.

 

[number51]

I like Silicon Valley and South Park but that's about it for sitcoms. The wife watches Big Bang Theory and Modern Family, I can't get into either of those.

I still watch SNL, Kimmel, Bill Maher, and Seth Meyers are funny, I don't watch the interviews unless it's someone I really like. Right now I'm watching a lot of The Eric Andre show on you tube.

It's ironic that in the golden age of television, network sitcoms are in the toilet. For sitcoms, pick a decade any decade, they were all better than right now.

 

[nc0gnet0]

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 like most of them, but Newhart would have made my short list, maybe laugh in and Benny Hill.

 

[Crystallas]

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

:yep:

I have it as my personal #1 90s sitcom. Not Seinfeld, like most people. But I love Seinfeld too, so to each their own. Newsradio and Spin City(MJF years) also seem to be glossed over a lot for 90s shows, and Taxi gets forgotten a lot, until someone is reminded and then it's like, Oh yeah, great show, obv.

More to the point, where truly great works get forgotten, you know modern shows have a hard time being original. Ideas are just few and far between. Or just a lot of virtue signalling, but then is that really a comedy or just a circle jerk?

 

[DC]

I pretty much like anything with John Lithgow in it. Although, after Harry and the Hendersons, it was kind of all downhill.

 

[Crystallas]

I like most of them, but Newhart would have made my short list, maybe laugh in and Benny Hill.

Aye. Benny Hill and to a similar extend, Red Green are a whole sub-class that I just glossed over. Easily would enjoy having one on the list.

 

[Penny Traitor]

It's ironic that in the golden age of television, network sitcoms are in the toilet. For sitcoms, pick a decade any decade, they were all better than right now.

The Network Sitcom is dying fast. The only recent one I can think of is NBC has a show called 'The Good Place' that I truly enjoyed.

(First season is on Netflix and believe they are just about to get season two this summer)

 

[Fatman LOU]

:yep:

I have it as my personal #1 90s sitcom. Not Seinfeld, like most people. But I love Seinfeld too, so to each their own. Newsradio and Spin City(MJF years) also seem to be glossed over a lot for 90s shows, and Taxi gets forgotten a lot, until someone is reminded and then it's like, Oh yeah, great show, obv.

More to the point, where truly great works get forgotten, you know modern shows have a hard time being original. Ideas are just few and far between. Or just a lot of virtue signalling, but then is that really a comedy or just a circle jerk?

Dont forget Coach.

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

I like Silicon Valley and South Park but that's about it for sitcoms. The wife watches Big Bang Theory and Modern Family, I can't get into either of those.

I still watch SNL, Kimmel, Bill Maher, and Seth Meyers are funny, I don't watch the interviews unless it's someone I really like. Right now I'm watching a lot of The Eric Andre show on you tube.

It's ironic that in the golden age of television, network sitcoms are in the toilet. For sitcoms, pick a decade any decade, they were all better than right now.

The Eric Andre show is amazing, I don't think anything on TV can make me laugh as hard as watching his stuff. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea(surreal comedy to the extreme), but it's great.

I don't even know if I would call South Park a sitcom, but it's great as well.

I like Silicon Valley a lot, although it sometimes has the issue of repeating the whole "company is gonna fail! Wait, no it's not!" schtick that bothers me.


As probably the youngest person posting on this thread(born in mid-'90s), I am not familiar with some of the older stuff, so most of what I like comedic wise is more modern. Do like some of the old stuff though

Some comedic shows that I like, in addition to the ones I already mentioned, are:
-IT Crowd
-Always Sunny(honestly this is the new Seinfeld to me, but quite a bit darker. Great, great show)
-Family Guy(more in it's prime, last decade, particularly when Seth was more involved)
-Chappelle show
-The Office(for you older people, milennials/gen Zs fucking love this show. Generational favorite. It's pretty good)
-Colbert Report
-Key and Peele(skit-based like Chapelle show, can be a bit hit and miss though)
-Parks and Recreation
-Archer(before Archer vice)
-Portlandia

*Separating, the following two, since they're comedic, but less the focal point IMO*:
-Boondocks
-Scrubs


Most old comedy I get, though, is through stand-up(Eddie Murphy, George Carlin, Bill Hicks,etc.) or movies(Airplane, Blazing Saddles, Monty Python, Caddyshack). Not really TV. Don't watch any of the old sitcoms, except for Seinfeld and some Fresh Prince.

Not sure how the new stuff stacks up with the old. I think shows like Always Sunny, Archer, The Office, The IT Crowd, and the Chappelle Show are probably up there compared to some of the older stuff. Hard to say for me though.

And I definitely don't watch any network sitcoms now, they all just sound awful. TV comedies have certainly moved away from that format

 

[Crystallas]

The Last Man on Earth is the last 'network sitcom' that I was pleasantly surprised with. Not a big Will Fotre fan, but the idea and execution in *some episodes* is truly brilliant. Too bad some of the execution winds up just focusing on the most annoying characters up front, instead of a balance. Brooklyn 99 is entertaining, but original jokes are very few and far between.

Haven't seen The Good Place or Baskets. Been hearing a lot about both as slightly fresher shows worth watching.

 

[BearFanJohn]

Barney Miller had a good run among others listed here. And don’t forget the Brits, Monty Python and Benny Hill.

 

[Fatman LOU]

Barney Miller had a good run among others listed here. And don’t forget the Brits, Monty Python and Benny Hill.

Man i was just thinking about Barney Miller.

 

[Xuder O'Clam]

Sctv

Kids in the Hall

 

[Xuder O'Clam]

Barney Miller had a good run among others listed here. And don’t forget the Brits, Monty Python and Benny Hill.

Black Adder

Alan Partridge

 

[Tater]

Sctv

Kids in the Hall

Always loved SCTV. Used to stay up late to watch it all the time.

 

[number51]

I forgot, Brockmire with Hank Azaria on IFC.

 

[LordKOTL]

I can't really judge.

Back then they had Not Necessarily the News

Now they got Mock the Week.