Rolling Stone's 100 Best Sitcoms of All Time

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I'm surprised that Superstore wasn't mentioned.

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I will never understand the visceral reactions people have to Friends.

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I don't understand the list and I won't respond to it.

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Another Rolling Stone click-bait, controversial list to get people talking. Garbage list for sure.

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[quote] That's because you're probably a racist, a sexist, an antisemite, and a homophobe like all the bigoted trash who watch that show

Yeah, that's a reasonable reaction to what I posted. Doesn't prove my point at all. /s

no The Nanny or The IT Crowd are my only complaints

Unwatchable, to *you*, r4.

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Friends isn't funny and it's a bland show. It's surprising how long it lasted. As for all the problematic aspects and lack of diversity. Well, it came out in the 90s and was not meant to be a realistic depiction of NYC. Real NYers knew it was a fantasy cartoon version of NYC for Midwesterners.

Where the FUCK is Strangers with Candy????

The Comeback should be higher.

Better Things is the best show on tv right now.

[quote] The /s tag is not a "get out of racism free" card. You really need to understand how bad TV has a negative impact on the real world.

Outrage is not a get out of anything free card. In my original post I said nothing about my opinion of Friends or whether I had ever watched it. Yet this was the response:

[quote] That's because you're probably a racist, a sexist, an antisemite, and a homophobe like all the bigoted trash who watch that show

So, yeah, you are an asshole who thinks he (or she) has the right to judge people on no evidence. You are worse than anyone you attack in your righteous anger at a fucking TV show. You are exactly the kind of lunatic I was referring to.

Friends? Good Times (aka the Jimmy Walker show)? Cheers (that high)? Big Bang (that low)? No The Nanny, which holds up today? No Amos and Andy (political correctness)? A Different World...hahahaha..

R14 the creators of Friends are ultra liberal white and Jewish people, so by saying they wouldn't watch a show with Black people in it, that white liberals are... racist

Interesting

And yes they ripped off the far funnier Living Single, even I noticed that as a 12 year old in 1994

The Honeymooners, The Mary Tyler Moore Show (should’ve been higher), Cheers, All in the Family and I Love Lucy all made it into the top ten.

Yeah click bait for sure.

I think half of their top ten is pretty solid. The aforementioned shows (R27) are timeless and rather inclusive in regards to racial and economic status.

I was born in the 80s and while, aside from Cheers, all of these shows are before my time, I still consider them the best. They never get old.

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[quote] Your hate speech keeps proving me right.

What hate speech? You are a lunatic.

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[quote]Yeah click bait for sure.

All such lists are clickbait.

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People who call out Friends for it's homophobia and lack of diversity, clearly don't remember or weren't old enough to remember what the 90s was like. As for the diversity thing, look around, where is all this diversity happening -- except on TV? Sure, spaces are more diverse. But how many close friend groups are truly diverse?

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Friends hater, do you also hate Seinfeld?

R40 All in the Family was “woke,” even by today’s standards. This show was as illuminating and enlightening as it could be offensive.

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[quote] You did it again, [R24], and you proved my point that not only does the show suck, but that anyone who doesn't hate it enough to publicly demand it be banned forever is a bigot.

Actually, you just keep proving what a lunatic you are.

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If that list had been done 10 years ago, it would have been 100% certain that Seinfeld would have been #1.

I'm so glad that kneejerk reverence for that show is declining.

Married with Children and The Nanny should have both made the list

MWC was lowbrow but damn was it hilarious and all the actors were surprisingly good actors The Nanny has a timeless feel to it that holds up

Same with Three's Company, which im not sure made the list. Dumb as hell but funny with great physical comedy

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[quote] I will never understand the visceral reactions people have to Friends.

I feel the extreme reactions have to do with the fact that Friends retained a huge popularity even 15 years after it ended. It managed to become one of the most popular shows on Netflix and a favorite among millennials and Gen Z. While other sitcoms that were popular in their day have ended up forgotten.

Seinfeld will always be #1.

R53 No, MTM will be; she did it first and better.

I Love Lucy was not funny. At all. It was actually annoying.

Mary Hartman should be on the list.

On what planet is Everybody Loves Raymond and the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air placed higher than Will & Grace?

On the planet where the people who came up with this list who are probably somewhere between 25-35.

No Three’s Company, no The Nanny, and GG way too low.

They left off Peep Show, and also Alan Partridge.

Oh I see Peep Show now.

Are those sitcoms? What constitutes a sitcom?! Also I'm a Brit, but I haven't bothered to check the list for British shows because I figured it'd be American centred.

I would never have classed Peep Show as a sitcom, it's it's own weird, twisted thing!

The Simpsons IS NOT number one. Please, it's a cartoon. Where's the acting?

The Mary Tyler Moore Show is the all-time Number One show ever.

So glad Designing Women was on the list, but it should have been much higher than #63.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Will & Grace

Cheers,

The Dick Van Dyck Show

Seinfeld

I Love Lucy

Taxi

The Powers That Be...with Holland Taylor, 1992-93 was hysterical.

High Society...with Jean Smart and Mary McConnell, 1995, another very funny show.

For their cultural impact alone, the following shows should be on the list:

Leave It To Beaver

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis

Father Knows Best

The Donna Reed Show

The Patty Duke Show

R66 ew, didn’t even see that one (though I did see Murphy Brown, which is almost as bad). I did like seeing Taxi up that high, and also The Jeffersons - which generally never makes lists like this.

Seinfeld was great at the time but Hasn’t aged well - should not automatically be that high.

Let's hear it for Mary Tyler Moore, Designing Women and Will & Grace.

Fawlty Towers has to be Top 10 or this list is basically meaningless.

I know they are not sitcoms, but they should be on the list:

The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, 1971-74

The Carol Burnett Show, 1967-1978

One of the all-time great:

"Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman"

Laverne & Shirley should be on the list....if it isn't.

Not taking the time to look at the list.

NO to The Simpsons as #1. That's ridiculous. Maybe stick it at 100 or 99. But it's a friggin cartoon.

The Simpsons was always good, but definitely not #1. Maybe around 20.

The Golden Girls is #1

ok, I've figured it out, I think of sitcom as a show with an audience (live or otherwise) - and it's more of an American term.

King of the Hill is way too low on the list. Very smart, funny and underrated. I never liked Modern Family or Parks and Recreation. That documentary style of sitcom just seems stupid and lazy most of the time.

Where exactly did Soap rank?

I agree with the previous poster who said it should be Top 25.

Can't believe Leave It To Beaver isn't on this list....probably my biggest complaint.

Actually, except for that Garry Shandling-type crap that nobody remembers, the list wasn't too bad. I would've put Frasier at the top of the list, with Soap and Everybody Loves Raymond much higher.

MASH deserves to be up there but it was not the same show after Wayne Rodgers and McLean Stevenson left the show, Mike Farrell and Harry Morgan were not funny. It also became The Alan Alda program.

Dave Ogden Stiers was no Larry Linville either.

R82 I was actually pleasantly surprised to see Larry Sanders up there and so high. There were a couple nice surprises (also Taxi) but generally Rolling Stone lists suck and this was no exception.

I know Three’s Company was considered crap at the time but of that shows of that era it’s had an amazing shelf life and has been considered a classic for decades at this point. Should absolutely be on the list.

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Brockmire, Review and Black-ish above VEEP?

BULLSHIT!

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There are some very good episodes of Modern Family (early). But the awful character of Manny ruined it for me from the beginning to the very end. Lilly is a close second too.

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Three of the authors are curmudgeonly white guys over 45.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. But it is SUCH a cranky-white-guy-over-45 list.

Call it what it is. I mean, Logo or Out's list would reflect its authors too.

Haven’t looked at the list, but let me guess: every one is from an English-speaking country, except for one or two from Israel.

It’s like every “best of” entertainment list from the Times.

Did Louie or Baskets or Better Things get on the list? Those are far and away my favorite sitcoms since Arrested Development. Louie in particular.

(The damn list won't open for me, sorry)

Oh, R91, I know right!!??

RS must be right wing. I mean, how tragic for an American magazine to focus on sitcoms from the US or UK. I assume you can tell us all about the best Saudi, Nigerian, Chilean, and Singaporean sitcoms, right?

[quote]Did Louie or Baskets or Better Things get on the list?

All three are there, and none of them should be, R92.

R91 is a flyover.

“Best of all time” means more than “a selection of stuff every flyover has heard of.”

Excuse me—r92 is the flyover.

You don’t have be to be right-wing to be presumptuous and willfully blind to the rest of the world, R92.

The Andy Griffith Show deserves a spot on this list. It's never been off the air since its debut in 1960.

For R92:

Baskets - #95

Better Things - #33

Louie - #27

Baskets, Louie, and particularly Better Things, are all great.

I know they are hugely popular, but I can’t stand those CBS comedies like Big Bang and How I Met Your Mother.

[quote]The Mary Tyler Moore Show is the all-time Number One show ever.

I agree. MTM was the hands-down best in my opinion.

I think it's a shame "Bewitched" never makes these kinds of lists. I always thought the writing was smart (no show did sarcasm better in my opinion) with great characters performed by a first-rate cast. Like many shows, it outlived itself and probably stayed on about two seasons too long but to this day it holds up and I'd place it far and above a lot of the shows that made this list any day.

I agree with R49 that shows like Three's Company and Laverne & Shirley were not considered to be "sophisticated" enough to ever make lists like this, despite the fact that both, particularly in their early seasons, were much more laugh-out-loud funny than a show like "Friends" (which supposedly appealed to the "right demographic" advertisers were looking for) ever was during its entire 10-year run.

Happy Days at the beginning had a warm feeling like the Andy Griffith Show. But it went downhill fast and adding major Ass-Hole to the cast made it unwatchable. Tony Danza is Jack Benny compared to that no talent hack.

^ Shit the Ass Hole is Scott Baio ^.

Sorry

Happy Days was fine until they turned it into the Fonzie show, then it went downhill. I also thought it was ludicrous how they basically turned Fonzie into a supreme being with supernatural powers, which made it even worse.

Family Ties also went downhill after Back to the Future turned MJF into a superstar and FT was turned into the Alex Keaton Show as a result.

What?! No love for "The Charmings?! How dreadfully exclusive!

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If The Munsters aren't on the list, I will throw a HISSY FIT!

No love for "Extras"?

Bewitched...come on, Elizabeth Montgomery and Agnew Moorehead!!

Gilligan's Island

The Beverly Hillbillies

Thanks R93, R98 and R99!

R93, is there a reason you don't like those three shows?

And what sitcoms do pass muster for you?

R94: Nope. Born and raised in Los Angeles.

I'm all for sitcoms from other countries being included on any "best of" list. I assumed R91 would be able to regale us with glorious sitcoms from all over the world (UK, US, and Israeli not included) since he was the one who pointed out RS grievous omissions. He hasn't responded.

I assume you can, too, right?

The Lucy Show with Vivian Vance as "Viv," Gale Gordon as Mr. Mooney and Mary Jane Croft as Mary Jane Lewis.

R109 and R111 = SUCKED

Where the fuck is the Amazing cast of BEWITCHED??

One of the all-time greats:

MOTHERFUCKER! MOTHERFUCKER!

R97 Andy Griffith Show is #14. You can actually browse at the list you know.

Yeah, the omission of The Nanny is a disgrace. Breaks my little gay heart.

[quote]Moore invented a whole new TV archetype in the 1970s: an adult single woman in the big city

Excuse me, bitch?

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Three's Company was never funny. Oh look! Ritter is pretending to be gay! HILARIOUS! Oh look! Ritter just "tripped" over something! HILARIOUS! The entire show was a cringe-fest.

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It was funny to YOU, R120. So goodie. Maybe you can adopt some "gay" mannerisms and flit around for the amusement of all around you. Its not internalized homophobia for someone to find a character pretending to be gay for laughs supremely unfunny. I don't agree with you. It happens. Grow up and spare me your dimestore psychoanalysis. And I don't recall any character on Friends pretending to be gay, but whatever.

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[quote]That Girl doesn't hold up as well as Lucy and Mary.

That's not the point. Rolling Stone was incorrect in stating that MTM was the first show with a single woman moving to the big city for a career.

I'm not sure that That Girl was realistic even when it originally aired, but it made more sense for a 20 something just moving out of her parent's house to the big city to pursue her dreams versus Mary who was what, 40, doing that?

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R127 Mary only LOOKED 40.

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[quote] I know they are not sitcoms, but they should be on the list:

That makes NO sense, you realize.

[quote] I'm not sure that That Girl was realistic even when it originally aired, but it made more sense for a 20 something just moving out of her parent's house to the big city to pursue her dreams versus Mary who was what, 40, doing that?

Mary Richards was thirty in the first episode.

Missing:

That '70s Show

The Nanny

Sports Night

The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd

Pete & Gladys

[quote]Ann Marie wasn't single. She was seeing Donald.

She was single when she moved to NYC. She didn't meet Donald until after she moved.

[quote]Mary Richards was thirty in the first episode.

30 in 1970 was old for a woman. It would have been more realistic if she were divorced or coming to grips with her sexuality or something.

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I think That 70s Show mainly worked because of the dynamic of Topher Grace, Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp who were all seemed naturally funny and believable as a dysfunctional family. Lisa Robin Kelly was hilarious too and should have been given more material. Mila Kunis and Danny Masterson did prove themselves to be funny and got better as the show went on. However, the rest of the cast depended on the script and were amateurish especially Laura Prepon, Wilmer Valderama and Ashton Kutcher who all couldn't act.

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^ I agree Mila is hilarious on Family Guy. I think it has to do with the fact Meg is such a fucked-up character and has more depth than Jackie on That '70s Show. A lot of the characters on T7S were sort of one-note looking back.

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I feel That 70s Show was similar to Happy Days in that the longer the show ran the less and less it became a period piece. Apart from referencing 8-tracks, Jimmy Carter and roller rinks, you could forget it was set in the 1970s.

[quote]I think That 70s Show mainly worked because of the dynamic of Topher Grace, Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp who were all seemed naturally funny and believable as a dysfunctional family.

This. And sometimes adding Midge and/or Bob to a storyline made certain situations and moments even better, like when Red worked at Bob's store on Christmas Eve.

The Golden Girls should at least be in the T10. Maybe removed 'Parks and Recreation' - not in the same class as the other T10.

I see “Bluey” all the time as we have toddlers in the family. Funny cartoon.

I would have liked to see “The Mindy Project” and “Happy Endings” make the list and I echo all who say not including “The Nanny” is criminal.

Also, I like “Friends”, so sue me.

[quote]I would have liked to see “The Mindy Project” and “Happy Endings”

I loved Happy Endings even though (as I recall) it had no transgender, non-binary, Latino, Asian, Native American or differently abled representation, certainly not among the leads.

I believe that makes me a perpetrator of literal violence on multiple levels.

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Dearest R123, I never even brought up Friends. You’re the one fixated on that show and projecting something with your unhinged rants. Kindly seek help. Or just fuck off.

To be fair DL in general has an irrational hatred toward the show. I can understand criticisms that it’s overrated, too generic, they don’t get the “phenomenon,” whatever, but the obsessive take down of the show is a little much whether you like the show or not.

[quote]30 in 1970 was old for a woman. It would have been more realistic if she were divorced

The original concept was that Mary Richards was going to be a divorcee but CBS smacked that idea down fearing audiences would think that she had divorced Rob Petrie from "The Dick Van Dyke Show."

r146, you need help

Many of those and the position they placed on the list are sad. Just, plain, sad!!!

WKRP In Cincinnati should have been considerably higher on the list. Smart, funny, and it didn't pander to the audience, giving them credit for being smart enough to get the jokes.

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