Sitcoms

Here's an article about Bravo's reality show about pitching a sitcom. This show is something, like just about everything else on tv these days, I forgot to watch. But the article brings up an interesting point about the health of the American sitcom. It ain't good. I think we're in a comedy lull this decade but I don't think it's dead. Some decades are just stronger than others. If you look at the decades you get some great ones like:

The 50's (GOOD):
Honeymooners
The Phil Silvers Show (Sgt. Bilko)
Jack Benny
Your Show of Shows
Burns and Allen

All classics I would watch this minute. A lot of people mention I Love Lucy but personally I found it a bit annoying.

The 60's (NOT SO GOOD):
All I can think of is the Dick Van Dyke Show

Everything else is a guilty pleasure, like Get Smart, Gilligan's Island, the Munsters, Batman (let's face it, it WAS a sitcom), the Brady Bunch, et al. Kind of a silly time for sitcoms. Not a whole lot of believability in this decade. Maybe that's why the sci-fi of the Twilight Zone and Star Trek was so good.

The 70's (REALLY GOOD):
the Bob Newhart Show
Taxi
the Muppet Show
WKRP in Cincinatti
All in the Family
Saturday Night Live
the Odd Couple
Barney Miller

Not to mention some great stuff from outside the US like Monty Python's Flying Circus and SCTV. Norman Lear made sitcoms gritty and we love him for that. Even the guilty pleasures like Sanford and Son or the Happy Days franchise were a cut above My Mother the Car. There's a lot of people that love Mary Tyler Moore too. I'm not saying they're wrong.

The 80's (REALLY NOT GOOD):
Cheers

What else you got? Most 80's sitcoms don't hold up today. Nick at Nite shows Night Court and Family Ties, Newhart and the Cosby Show. Go watch them. They don't live up to your memories. Moonlighting was funnier than most shows of its time and it was considered a romantic detective show. Different Strokes outright DEFINES this decade. Lots of smart ass kids and stupid parents. Good stuff in England like Black Adder and the Young Ones but here? Oh yeah, we had ALF.

The 90's (REALLY REALLY GOOD):
the Simpsons
Seinfeld
Kids in the Hall (Canadian)
Mr. Show
Frasier
Everybody Loves Raymond

People seemed to like Friends a lot too. There are some history making shows here. Just look at the first two. Made Home Improvement very easy to ignore. Over the pond we had Father Ted. Man, was that a good show.

The 00's (NOT GOOD):
Curb Your Enthusiasm

All the shows I like get cancelled or threatened. Arrested Developmentis wonderful and nearly dead all the time. Cancelling Andy Richter Controls the Universe was like drowning a puppy. Pamela Anderson has a sitcom now. That's cause for worry. The only hit on the air is Two and a Half Men. I swear I watched that show for a month only because it was broadcast in widescreen.

The point is there's a pattern. Sitcoms will get good again. Luckily movies are getting funnier. The 40 year Old Virgin was the funniest movie I've seen in years. We will be fine.

BTW, I'm only counting sitcoms in this list so really funny stuff like You Bet Your Life, Conan O' Brien and Late Night with David Letterman were left out. I counted sketch shows because I liked them. I counted a Canadian show once because I'm cheating. I 'link only to the good' because Albert Brooks once said so. I want you to argue with me because I like to see high numbers on the comment threads. Go to it.