Single funniest sitcom of all time

I'd say All in the Family.

One of only a select few sitcoms where the comedy hasn't aged a bit. Archie Bunker remains the single best character in sitcom history.

 

Best laugh track or live audience sitcom - "Seinfeld"

Best non-laugh track sitcom - "Always Sunny in Philadelphia"



Honorable mentions - "All In The Family", "The Honeymooners", "Cheers", "Parks & Rec", "The Office", "Community", "Good Times"


I'm probably missing some

 

It was well before my time but many years ago i switched to some new TV provider that had some old classic TV show channel. I of course heard of the show and Archie Bunker but probably hadn't seen more than a clip now and then. I got to watch a lot of All in the Family episodes and thought it was great. Very few shows, particularly comedies can age so well.

 

I'm glad that things are moving away from the laugh track. I can still enjoy reruns of older shows with them, but not new ones. It's an instant turn-off.

 

I think laugh tracks are all but dead in new comedies.

 

Doesn't CBS still use them in their shitty shows that somehow draw 10's of millions of viewers.

 

Joey

 

I think it all depends on how it's used and whether it's actually a "laugh track", or an unprompted live studio audience, like you might find on SNL, or at a Stand-Up show.

I've been re-watching "Cheers" lately, and when they're on set in the bar the audience track doesn't bother me at all. Seems entirely organic. When there's a scene shot off the main set, you can definitely tell the difference in the track, and it can be annoying.

"Seinfeld" unfortunately seems entirely hit and miss with this. Laugh track can be all over the place, depending on what episode or season you're watching.

 

Cheers was a great show.

For the life I cant see what was funny about Seinfeld.

Cheers takes a steaming shit on Seinfeld.

 

Seinfeld, despite being more than 25 years old, is still on in syndication. That is the definition of a show that has held up.

 

The Jeffersons
Good Times
Sanford & Son

All were great as well. Although I personally never found All In The Family funny back then, I still acknowledge it was an amazing show even though I didn’t personally get it. That’s a little perspective you could probably give to Seinfield, a show that I did get.

 

Married...With Children

 

Seinfeld. People who don't appreciate or get Seinfeld are probably high school drop outs with limited education.

 

I thought you'd hate it because of all the fat jokes

 

The Simpsons

 

Curb? I watched some Community last night for the first time in years, still a great show and Britta is a cutey.

 

I thought about it, but had a hard time calling it a "sitcom", otherwise it would have made my list easily.

 

Also, Britta was on a solid 1/2 hour Netflix show called "Love". Horrible title, but great show. Closest comparison show is probably "You're The Worst".

She was pretty much the anti-Britta on that show.

 

Yeah, Community is a great shout

 

Married With Children
The Office
The Big Bang Theory
South Park
El Chavo Del Ocho

 

Yup it still remains funny and more so now that is 100% politically incorrect. Al Bundy is the best tv sitcom character ever IMO.

 

Married with Children is at the very least top 3, but I can't put it over All in the Family. All in the Family was equally funny, but smarter and with social commentary.

Al Bundy is probably the second greatest character in sitcom history, but make no mistake.. Buddy's character was influenced by Bunker.

 

I need to confess that I was never a fan of All in the Family. I checked it out a few times, but never got hooked by it. On the other hand MWC got me hooked from the get go. At its time was a controversial envelope pusher, breaking long held tv standards and setting the tone for future sitcoms. I do concede that without Archie Bunker there would have not been an Al Bundy though.

 

Purely in terms quality All in the Family was clearly superior. It's a more realistic show with actual social commentary mixed in. MWC is just a huge parody... though hilarious nonetheless.

Theres not a huge gap between Archie and Al in terms of comedy... both were truly legendary and hilarious, but Archie wins because his character had more depth and pushed the envelope more.

Archie was a full on bigot and black people still love him! You know you had to be good to pull that off.

 

Seinfeld.

Dogshit.

A standup’s single semi-insight-joke-type-thing stretched thin across 25 minutes for 9 fucking seasons?
How long can you keep selling it to the intellecto-plebs?
How long can you maintain the illusion that anyone would truly give a gnat's shit about any of the infinitesimally small social mistakes in the world?


Clue: Jerry Seinfeld - didn't do anything worthy before.
Hasn't done shit-all since.

The End.

 

I was never interested in Seinfield. Some people thought it was the greatest coolest show on tv, but then they couldn't summarize what it was about.

 

I think just think Seinfeld is an incredibly fuckin lame comic.

 

It’s funny because The Ringer.com just finished a multiday bracket article where fans got to vote on the best tv characters whose shows aired no later than the year 2000. SPOILER ALERT the finals came down to Michael Scott from The Office defeating Walter White from Breaking Bad, honorable mention to Arya Stark making the top 4.

Yeah but how much stock should we put into a negative review from the guy who hates everything?

So what, that doesn’t make it a bad show. If anything that flexibility or lack of definition is what made the show so great and unique. At the same time the myth it was about nothing is a bit exaggerated. What was Friends, Married with Children or most every other sitcom about? Usually it was friends and/or family dealing with everyday unique situations from a comical perspective, and that’s the same thing Seinfield was.

 

You need to put all your stock in it because:
a) you'll realize I know exactly what I'm talking about and
b) you'll stop being someone who's easily pleased all the time about something you think is good because you've followed all the other sheep into thinking this as well.