The half hour long television show, more commonly known as the Sitcom gets a bad rap, I think. Often times, people mock the predictable nature of so many of them and they are rarely good enough to sustain for long periods of time, especially these days. For my top 10 list, I decided to go with 10 shows I watched as they aired, so nothing like Happy Days, which I used to watch religiously in morning reruns. Also, I wanted to go with shows I watched all the way through, or if they are still on, shows I plan on watching all the way through. This eliminates South Park because, while I used to watch it without fail, I now rarely catch it. Okay, on to the list.
10. Entourage- The show still has its ups and downs, but when it is good, it is so good. I love how the characters are consistently evolving, with the exception of Vince, which feels real. The show can be very inside, which always cracks me up and they get a lot of actors and singers to come on and play hilarious versions of themselves. Through it all the show is littered with gorgeous naked girls, so that certainly does not hurt. Jeremy Piven gets the best jokes, but any scene where the four friends are just sitting around talking, smoking out or eating, is full of great real feeling lines. Having just finished season number 8, I think the show is getting ready to wrap up its run, but it is one I want to own because I know it is something I can rewatch.
9. Saved by the Bell- I maintain that this is the first show I had to watch. It was appointment television on Saturday mornings and the college years, while no good, were also appointment television. It was corny and full of cheesy episodes, but I loved it all. I loved the relationships, the jokes, the sight gags and above all, Zack Morris was the coolest guy in the world. He could freeze time! I have seen every episode countless times and can usually tell what episode it is going to be in the first few minutes. I was devastated when Kelly left Zack and could not believe it when Lisa and Zack hooked up. I wanted to be at Bayside High and I wanted to at the Max. But mostly, I just wanted to freeze time and be with Kelly Kapowski.
8. Scrubs- This might be the single most up and down show I watch on a regular basis. There are moments of pure comic genius and then there are just moments of pure disaster. However, I stick with it because no show mixes outrageous nonsense and deeply serious moments so well. In the first three seasons there were episodes that would crack me up and make me tear up. The characters are always fun and the continuity holds up pretty well. Zach Braff has done a wonderful job anchoring a very bizarre mix of actors and characters and they always find a way to make good use of guest stars. The show had the perfect ending to the series, but then ABC decided to bring it back with some tweaking. Who knows if it will be any good, but for quite a few years, this show did a whole lot right.
7. Boy Meets World- To me, this show anchored TGIF. There were some shows in the line-up that I enjoyed, but this was the real treat. Cory and Shawn were so much fun to watch as a sort of Odd Couple for the high school sect. I admit that towards the end of the run, I did not anticipate every episode, but I still watched because I grew up with Cory and Shawn. I remember their trials and how hard they fought to stay best friends with everything going against them. Cory’s parents were the perfect television parents and when you add in Mr. Feeney’s relationship with the family, especially Cory’s older brother and you get just good wholesome television with some great laughs.
6. Home Improvement- Oh Tim Taylor how I love three. Whether he was building something incorrectly, mismanaging his marriage or embarrassing his children, Tim Taylor was hilarious. I never knew much about cars or tools or construction, but that did not stop me from laughing at Taylor’s troubles. The kids were all very different and all pretty funny, with JTT the break out star child. It is impossible not to mention Al Borlen, who provided a really nice counterpart for Taylor and of course, Wilson. Who can forget Wilson’s always partially obscured face? The show spun out of control as the kids grew up and JTT wanted off the show, but it always made me laugh and what more can I ask for from a show like this?
5. How I Met Your Mother- Often called the new Friends, this show really captured my heart from the first episode. I love the serialized aspect, as sitcoms are not usually serialized and I love the story telling and the narrative framing. The 5 characters are all very likable in different ways and everyone has a different favorite. I love how they create things like “The naked Man” or “Woo Girls” and also add the internet into so many episodes, but mostly I just these five people in their late twenties and early thirties still trying to figure out life. NPH is absolutely fantastic as Barney Stinson, the best sitcom character this decade without the last name Bluth. It loses its focus every so often, but “Slap Bet” remains one of the best episodes of any sitcom, ever. Yes, I stand behind that.
4. The Fresh Prince of Bel Air- If you did not watch this show, there is something wrong with you, plain and simple. This show was, at its best, an absolute crowd pleaser. Will Smith was incredibly funny, charming and brought a sense of reckless abandon to the show and everyone else followed suit. Every single actor committed 100% to each role and we were the better for it. Each character had episodes in which to shine, but it always came back to Will and Carlton. Their friendship was the core of this show from beginning to end. However, the show was not afraid to go serious and when it did, Smith delivered. I can very vividly remember how I felt during the episode when Will’s father came back, or when Will got shot. But those were the rare episodes, mostly the show just delivered laughs at a fast pace and besides, it gave us “The Carlton Dance” and for that alone it deserves a spot on this list.
3. Friends- In the 1990s this was my show. I know for many it was Seinfeld, but no, for me it was Ross, Rachel, Monica, Joey, Phoebe and Chandler. I love everything about this show, even the nonstop Ross and Rachel thing. Every single guest star was used perfectly, and every episode had great laughs. These were 6 people I wanted to spend time with every week and because of reruns, every day. It is impossible to pick a favorite episode or a favorite story line, but the group of episodes where people start to find out about Chandler and Monica is pretty priceless and the Thanksgiving episodes were always perfectly classic. This is another one of those shows where everyone had a different favorite character, but I could never choose just one. They all had things about them that I loved. I feel like Friends mastered all different kinds of comedy, and when the show ended, I knew I was watching the end of something special.
2. Arrested Development- Much has been made about this show. Sadly it is mostly about how the show was cancelled far too early. While that is true, the show should be celebrated for the comic brilliance of every single episode, character, actor and storyline. It is virtually impossible to pick a favorite character, or episode or even scene because everything about this show is absolutely, flat out hilarious. Television does not get funnier than this show and it was in every single episode. There was not a weak moment anywhere in the three seasons and to show its cultural significance, Jason Bateman is a kind of movie star now because of his work here. Hell almost everyone in the cast has found really good post AD work and that is rare in the world of sitcoms. It is a testament to the cast and everything else in this show.
1. Sports Night- To be perfectly honest, this show is not funnier than AD, but it takes the number 1 spot for finding a way to be not only hilarious, but thought provoking, brilliantly written and perfectly executed. Aaron Sorkin is my favorite television writer and it begins here. With episodes covering drug abuse, sexual assault, depression, drugs in sports and a real life actor’s stroke, Sports Night found a way to be functionally hilarious and still found a way to be serious. The actors all fit their roles and this is the show I come back to the most. It is my comfort food. It is the thing I watch when I need a pick me up, or when I need to cry. It can accomplish all of this in the same episode. I cannot really pick a favorite episode, but what makes this show is the relationships between all of the characters and how they interact in different ways. I have seen the entire series over 15 times and it still finds a way to make me laugh, and that is a seriously impressive feat, if you ask me.
Next week I will be doing this same thing, but for 1 hour long dramas
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