Rolling Stone's Top 100 sitcoms of all-time

MASH became more drama than comedy in its last few years

 

That's kind of a weird factor with these lists too, though. Like "sitcom" can encompass shows that are heavy on the drama and sometimes light on laughs (MASH, some of Mike Schur's offerings, Friends), or on the other end of the spectrum, it can *only* be about the jokes and pretty much nothing else (Seinfeld, 30 Rock). I have no idea how you judge "All in the Family" vs. "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."

 

I liked the first two seasons of Baskets, which made the list, but I wouldn't call it a sitcom.

 

A couple of picks were so short-lived and so nearly unheard-of that they shouldn't have been included. (I don't include "The Honeymooners" in that opinion).

Several -- "Friends," "Roseanne," "The Office," and even "All in the Family" and "MASH" come to mind -- were ranked too low.

And "Three's Company" (for sheer, good old-fashioned laughs and the physical comedic talents of John Ritter and, later, Don Knotts), and "Family Ties" (full of good comedic timing, good character development and the twist of family dynamics) should've been in there somewhere. Among more recent shows, some might even lament the absence of "Superstore."

And, although I can see why it might not have made this list, I liked "Dharma and Greg," a good, easy watch that ran a few seasons and starred Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson.

 

They said it was a factor ...

Then we considered not just how much these series made us laugh, but also how much they influenced the shows that followed, how well they reflected the world around them, and, on occasion, how deeply they made us feel emotions beyond mirth.

 

Three years is a little harsh. Monica and Chandler's wedding was the Season 6 finale/Season 7 premiere, and they still had plenty of really funny episodes after that.

 

Speaking of Friends, after rewatching it about a zillion times the past couple of years, the ease with which these people approach international travel (and even domestic travel) is astounding. On at least two occasions one of the characters walks up to the airline counter and purchases a ticket to a foreign country on the spot. Once to England, once to Yemen. During Chandler's short-lived stint as the head of the Tulsa office he was flying back and forth between New York and Tulsa at least once a week, and seemingly able to make it halfway across the country in a couple of hours.
In the series finale Rachel twice causes a disturbance on an international flight and is able to get off the plane without being interrogated for hours by the FBI.
Whenever I fly it takes weeks of planning and costs a not insignificant amount of money. That they were able to just walk up and buy a ticket, or go all the way to the jetway in a couple of the later episodes that were post-9/11, always bugged me.

 

And they spontaneously fly to Vegas to see Joey and Mike shows up in Aruba at the last second to propose to Phoebe.

 

I think one of Simmons' common complaints about the show is that they abandon any pretense of money issues after the first couple of seasons. I don't think it's as bad about money as Sex and the City, which is the gold standard AFAIK, but I think it's easier to overlook the way-too-big apartment stuff for sitcom purposes, vs. the international travel on a whim, as you mention.

Along similar lines - The wife and I like 2 Broke Girls, but that's another show that goes from somewhat realistic in seasons one and two - excluding the horse - to downright farcical by the seasons five and six. Contrasting it with the classic sitcoms, you kind of realize how tough it is to do 20+ original-ish stories per year, especially if you don't have a large cast. (Every scene of 2BG has Kat Dennings or Beth Behrs in it, even though they also have capable folks like Jennifer Coolidge and Garrett Morris in the cast who surely could have carried some of the work.)

 

Really good call on Three's Company. I laughed my ass off at that show as a kid.

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I feel like the U.S. "Office" should have ended with Jim and Pam on that boat at Niagara Falls after the wedding. Show had a few moments in the following seasons, but much like Arrested Development (the Netflix seasons, ugh), The Office just lost its way in later seasons.

 

It is rare to look back on a sitcom and think it should have been longer. There is a natural tendency to have every character become a nicer person, which takes the edge off of what often makes the show good.

 

Three's Company is a top 25 show.