My favorite sitcom of all time is Cheers. When I rewatched it a few years ago, I was impressed by how well it held up – the misogyny was obnoxious, but it felt more … benign, somehow? than, say, the stuff in Married … With Children, and overall, the jokes were still great, and it was impressive how well they slowly transitioned into more slapstick, which happens to most sitcoms when they’re on the air for so long that the characters become caricatures. Cheers managed to do it very well, unlike so many other comedies.
Cheers went off the air in 1993, however, and my second favorite sitcom is probably Seinfeld, which also went off the air in the 1990s. In the new millennium, we’ve gotten more and more “single camera” comedies, without a studio audience and therefore no canned laughter, and the world is better for it. Sitcoms continue, and I still watch a good amount of them, although not quite as many as I used to (which is more a function of watching less television overall, perhaps). So the Question this Week is: What’s your favorite 21st-century sitcom?
I have a few contenders. Arrested Development was an early proponent of the “single camera” set-up, and I love the first two seasons, but I haven’t kept up with the other iterations of it, so I can’t say it’s my favorite. My candidates, therefore, are: Better Off Ted, which lasted only 26 glorious episodes but which was so very, very funny; Community, which I began to watch, stopped watching for some reason (it just wasn’t clicking with me), then caught up after a few seasons and thought, “Holy shit, this is really, really great!” (I even didn’t hate the “gas leak” season, although it’s certainly not a great one); Happy Endings, the “anti-Friends” show that ABC never loved and yanked around the schedule so it never found an audience; Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which actually made me like Andy Samberg (not that I hated him before, but he seemed too juvenile); and The Good Place, with that killer cast of people trying to figure out the afterlife. It is perhaps not a coincidence that Michael Schur is the writer/producer of both Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Good Place, as Schur used to write for one of the funniest blogs out there (back in the Golden Age of Blogs), Fire Joe Morgan, whence I get the phrase “fuck the heck” that I use occasionally. Those are the candidates!
And the winner is … dang, this is hard. I think Better Off Ted is the absolute funniest one in terms of jokes-per-minute, and its absurdity fits so well with the faceless evil corporation that Ted works for. But it’s also the least good in character development, and you know I likes me some character development! Community loses some points for the “gas leak” season and for Chevy Chase, who wasn’t bad but never really fit, it seems, and for the romantic triangle that never seemed to go anywhere. Brooklyn Nine-Nine had to address police brutality, I know, but it felt a bit too rushed about it, and I kind of wish they had just left it alone. Happy Endings was amazing, but I think my answer has to be The Good Place. Not only was it hilarious, it told a terrific story, too (and the ending to the first season was tremendous). I know some people criticized it for dragging a bit, but I thought it was about the perfect length, and I didn’t feel like it ever ran in place (unless it was deliberate, with all the “resets” and such). The cast is brilliant – Kristen Bell, Ted Danson, D’Arcy Carden, William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, and Manny Jacinto are all excellent, and the guest stars are superb. It’s a thoughtful, heartfelt, and hilarious show, with an almost perfect ending. So I have to say it’s my favorite sitcom of the 21st century. What’s yours?
BURGAS: SEX EDUCATION. The 21st century version of PORKY movies in the ’80’s, and then, later on, AMERICAN PIE films.
Sex education is all about the madcap insanity of sex escapes of horny high schoolers. Gillian Anderson is awesome as the sex therapist mother of her teenage son who is Asa Butterfield who also sets up a black market sex therapy clinic for his classmates.
Of course, there’s some serious subject matter, but the rest, you can’t help but find it funny.
Just watching the third season, with a fourth season on the way.
I know of Sex Education, but I’ve never watched it. I’ll have to check it out!
Malcolm in the Middle.
A perfect cast, situations that start sensible but smoothly slide into the absurd, my first experience of seeing a family credibly struggling with money. To me, it’s television at its best. The last couple seasons are a tad less good, but it’s still miles above any other sitcom I’ve watched.
Curiously, I found the first season of The Good Pless was already dragging a little. What was told in 13 episodes could have been done in 5.
I really liked Malcolm in the Middle, but I did think the last few seasons dragged it down a bit. Whenever you have kids in a sitcom, the danger is that the writers won’t know how to handle the aging process, and I don’t think it escaped that. But I agree that it was a very funny show and often very realistic, which is nice.
I love Cheers!
We now know the formula to a Burgas favourite-comedy: Ted Danson!
I don’t know how many 21st Century sitcoms I’ve even seen; but Community wins it easily for me.
Like you, I don’t hate the ‘gas leak’ season.
That’s a good point, because I liked Bored to Death, his short-lived HBO comedy, and I enjoy Mr. Mayor, his newest comedy, although I don’t know if it’s coming back.
Not after the Mayor got turned into a snake, attacked with hummus, and blown up.
Um, what? I didn’t get a chance to watch much of the second season, so, um, what?
🙂 That actually happened in Buffy, to the Mayor. (They didn’t actually attack him with humus; but the idea got tossed around.)
Oh, ok. I never watched Buffy, so I was very puzzled! 🙂
You should see about getting that fixed. 🙂
It’s not coming back. But it was fun while it lasted.
Community is probably it for me. Not the most consistent show, but when it was brilliant, it was really brilliant, and I fell for it pretty hard. And I own all the DVDs, so I feel like that says it right there.
I would say Spaced, but only one of two short seasons came out this century.
I also love The Good Place, though it did drag a bit toward the end. Still– a lot of genius-level work in there. I am Chidi, and he is me.
I’ll give a shout-out to Parks and Recreation, though I jumped on with season 3 and never caught up with the early years. I’d tried a couple times and bounced off. But every show gets better when you add Adam Scott.
Also: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. It’s had ups and downs, but it’s still chugging away and doing it well.
Also Philly-related: As an 80s-obsessed nerd originally from Philly, I loved The Goldbergs, until I didn’t. It simply went on too long.
Obscure pick: Andy Richter Controls the Universe. I still quote the line about sporks, spnives, and knifoons.
I never watched Parks and Rec, or The Office (either iteration). I don’t know why.
I watched the first few episodes (maybe the whole first season?) of It’s Always Sunny, but it just didn’t grab me. I know it got better with DeVito, but by then, I was out.
I never watched The Goldbergs, but I kind of want to because of the time period and the place.
I’m a purist who secretly preferred the pre-Devito season of Sunny.
But if you like Seinfeld, Sunny is like that, but all the characters are even worse people.
Don’t think I’ve watched enough to make a definitive pick here, as I’ve only seen a little of, say, Community, Brooklyn 99, It’s Always Sunny and Arrested Development (liked them well enough) and none of Good Place, Parks & Rec and a few other shows that seemed to be all the rage over the past 10-15 years.
Veep is another one that comes to mind, but I only starting watching it after a certain combed-over Mussolini wannabe became US president for a while. For some reason that made watching political satire, well made as it is, really hard to watch. I was only able to make it through the first and part of the second season.
Better Off Ted, though, is indeed quite brilliant. I’d say for me it’s a three-way toss-up between that and Flight of the Conchords and What We Do in the Shadows.
Otherwise, though, I have to say that for me neither Cheers or Seinfeld have aged well – I can hardly sit through even a few minutes of those now.
Good call on Veep. I very much enjoyed that, but I forgot to list it! I don’t think it would displace The Good Place, though.
Extras, which id the only thing Ricky Gervais has ever done that I found funny. It found a sweet spot between caricature and reality, had just enough bathos without going overboard, managed to be the same every episode yet always in a different location.
Then there was the vast list of guest stars (see here https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445114/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm), albeit many of them mean a lot more here in the UK, although there are plenty of Americans in there too. Best of all, the peak of the series, David Bowie composing a brand new song to serenade Gervais’ character with.
Oh yes, and unlike most 21st Century sitcoms, I actually found it funny (I’ve gone one way, comedy has very much gone another.)
I never watched Extras, although I’ve heard good things. Gervais is someone I like, but in very small doses.
I love Cheers as well, it got a re-run and I watched the entire series from start to finish just recently. Kirstie Allie is still annoying though unfortunately.
Although I would have to go with Frasier as my all time favourite, but it’s a close one.
I liked Frasier, but not as much as Cheers!
P.S. ‘Laugh, Clown, Laugh’?
Have you been listening to Abbey Lincoln again?
I agree with the shortlist here – Community remains streets ahead, Arrested Development is great for its original run, and the Schur comedies all balance sheer laughter with loveable characters better than most post-Seinfeld comedies.
Two others that deserve a mention are 30 Rock and Scrubs – both acclaimed in their time but perhaps a little less beloved today. Both really funny, though.
My ultimate pick might be Curb Your Enthusiasm, though – the scenarios are just so funny and relatable (albeit taken to an extreme that a normal person would never venture towards). I love that show, even when it’s not 100% on all cylinders.
I never watched 30 Rock or Scrubs. I don’t know why. Other things to occupy my attention, I guess.
I don’t like Curb Your Enthusiasm, although I’ve only seen a little of it. I don’t like cringey comedies, and that felt too cringey to me.
30 Rock is awesome!
Scrubs was good, I even bought the DVDs – but they’re in a bag waiting the time when I give them to a friend. They don’t have much rewatch value for me, and by the end I kept thinking ‘I want something a bit less sex-obsessed; I wonder what’s on the Playboy channel?’.
You’d probably appreciate it more than me.
I seem to be watching fewer sitcoms than I used to (and most of my favourites were from the 20th Century) … so not many to choose between
For American sitcoms – either My Name is Earl or the Good Place
For UK sitcoms – Coupling (While I consider the first season to be 20th Century, some would disagree with me and seasons 2-4 were definitely 21st so it should count)
runner-up – Outnumbered
My Name Is Earl is a good one. It did meander a bit as it went longer, but it never got bad.
I have long held the opinion that sitcoms devolve as they drag on, with a few exceptions. I think that’s why I was such a fan of the British version of the Office when I first saw it (only seen a little of the American adaptatio). I liked that it told it’s story and got out. Which is probably why I like other Britsh shows as well. But if I had to choose a favorite, I would say Everybody Hates Chris is the best sitcom of the last 20 years (insert proverbial grain of salt here). I enjoy all the characters, and how they develop as the show progresses. I only had a passing knowledge of Terry Crews, but this show is, in my opinion, his zenith. And Tichina Arnold (who I only knew of as one of the doo-wop singers in Frank Oz’s adaptation of Little Shop of Horrors) as Chris’ tough, but loving mother, reminded of my own mom in many ways. And at only 4 seasons, it was over before it grew stale. Honorable mention to Black Books. In my 20’s I used to think Bernard Black’s sarcastic/down right rude interactions with his shops patrons would be a dream job. You know, back when cigarettes and wine could be considered sustenance.
I hadn’t realized Black Books was 21st Century. I love it, but Community is still my favorite.
I think it may have started in 1999, but if you don’t tell anyone neither will I.
It was three years. At least one of them was 21st century! 🙂
according to the Internet it was 2000, 2002 and 2004
so 2 years out of 3 in the 21st Century
(and one only just outside)
I remembered another one: The Carmichael Show was brilliant. The spiritual successor to Norman Lear’s socially conscious shows.
The Good Place, hands down. It hit the sweet spot where smart, warm, and funny intersect. Community & Arrested Development are tied for second.
More recently, I love What We Do in the Shadows. Vampire comedy has a limited well to draw from,but the show continues to be hilarious. Throwing Colin Robinson: Energy Vampire into the mix kept it fresh. All 5 of the leads are great, as are other recurring characters and most guest stars.
I really like the show Never Have I Ever on Netflix. It’s a high school sitcom, about an Indiana American girl trying to shed her dorky image, deal with a quirky family as well as past trauma, and land a boyfriend. It veers into “dramedy” territory at times, but the jokes land and the sentiment feels earned.
I haven’t seen the series for What We Do In The Shadows (I’ve seen the original mini-series, though), but if you like it you’ll probably like Wellington Paranormal, which spins off of the original min-series. (And I have seen, and love.)