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Tbh I feel the same way about 90% of older sitcoms i’ve seen. I think it’s the same deal as clowns, they so overdo the comforting inoffensiveness that it becomes eerie.
I like Friends, but that's 90% the nostalgia talking. It hasn't aged well and it's super corny. Just like Seinfeld or whatever.
However, they capture their era very well and were the shows *we had available*.
frankly I’ve had enough of this Seinfeld disrespect, the fact that it’s even in the same sentence as the Big Bang theory is a level of malfeasance that I will not tolerate
Yeah, Friends is awful. The acting is okay, but the jokes and script are second rate, corny, flat, and unfunny.
I saw someone comment that it's cool to hate Friends online. I was under the impression that I was the only person who didn't like the show, since all the women I've known have loved watching it. I'm a 28M for reference.
Being a contrarian on social media grants you popularity/engagement. This subreddit used to be a broken record of “Friends and/or The Office is terrible” topics and they’d get upvoted like crazy.
Goofy irresponsible husband, hot wife, dumb friend who is over constantly. Kids, the smart but socially awkward one, the edgy one, the baby. Put them in awkward situations. There that's every sitcom. Big Bang Theory changed the husband/wife roles but its the same thing.
M*A*S*H, Cheers, Golden Girls, Frasier, Seinfeld, Friends, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Community, Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, Scrubs, Brooklyn 99, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and as you mentioned Big Bang Theory. Not a lot of husband + wife + kids on that list.
Even modern sitcoms though. I watch jeopardy all the time, and that show the nieghborhood right after it is painfully unfunny. Jokes are bad and stereotypical, the dialogue is really rough, the timing is even more noticeably terrible because you can tell they’re waiting on the laugh track. Not that older shows didn’t suffer from this too- but it hasn’t stopped, it’s not like they’ve updated the formula or anything
Thats really all it is. Its not just the shows themselves that have aged out. The format has, too somewhat. So things evolve or die.
Or do we think comedy will just go away because nothing is funny anymore? No, its just that programming would have to evolve to, and it really is.
Comparing Maya and Ken hosting is the perfect example of sitcom "talent" vs. real talent. She was downright painful to watch host while Ken is genuinely charismatic and funny off-the-cuff.
Comedy has one of the shortest shelf-lifes of any art form.
Sit-coms strongly reflect the culture and time-period they came from, so the issues they discuss were often hot button issues in their day but seem blasé now.
I love Home Improvement, Scrubs, HIMYM, and Parks & Rec, but I don't hold it against anyone who's unimpressed by them now. They had their time. Being irrelevant now doesnt take away anything from what they were at their best.
Malcolm in the Middle. It holds up insanely well. Aside from some tech references, you wouldn't be able to tell its as old as it is. It's still just as hilarious and relevant as it was back then.
MitM always makes me so melancholic, they’re so free, no phones, always playing outside, going on dumb adventures, reminds me of my youth and makes me sappy.
Probably the only sitcom I still watch occasionally. I don't think it's completely timeless. But depiction of a family slightly over poverty line, struggling with a ton of things is pretty unique. They have a house though....
Scrubs is somewhat timeless as its environment is kind of isolated, it does not go into that much detail about politics to know what decade we are in. Also since it's in a hospital, 99% of people do not recognize the technical advancements we have today compared to the ones in the show. And the healthcare/insurance system has not changed a bit so....
I’m on season 8 of a scrubs rewatch. It holds up pretty well. A few jokes wouldn’t get approved these days because of changing sensibilities, but the writing was solid and the cast had great chemistry.
Ah, the 8th and final season. Happy it ended on a great note while resolving the whole series well. I'm glad they didn't ever try to bring it back with worse characters, comedy, and setting like many other shows do... right?
So glad they didnt try and make a season 9 and have some of the main characters in for a few episodes at the start to transition to a completely new cast.
Maybe this should be it's own unpopular opinion, but I wish more people would give season 9 a chance. Maybe it should have been given a new name and billed as a spin off, but it really found its footing in the 2nd half of the season. It deserved a season 10.
Don't forget the golden girls, who had pretty liberal points for the 80's and still today (mixed marriages, homosexuality, racism, antisemitism, able-ism... And yet it's so freaking funny)
Huge difference is the characters in sunny are supposed to be assholes so when they say awful things we as the audience laugh at the character for being ignorant. In scrubs there are things said by characters who are good but flawed people that definitely push way past modern sensibilities. It’s not just about what’s said it’s the context in which it’s being said. The off color jokes in those shows have very different tones.
Have you listened to the podcast, Fake Doctors, Real Friends?
I'm only a season or so into it but it's a pretty interesting way to relive the series.
And sometimes they do mention jokes that've aged poorly and go into why.
Shows like Parks & Rec or All in the Family are not the problem. They're still funny today especially if you're even somewhat aware of the social climate at the time. I'm sure most people understand racism and such was still an issue when All in the Family aired.
It's the absolute trash heap below those. The 90% no one even remembers was infinitely worse and irrelevant even when they came out.
I don’t know, I just finished a full rewatch of Home Improvement and honestly I felt like it held up really well. Tim can be sexist like a lot of 90s shows but the great part was that Jill (and Al and Wilson) was always right there to prove him wrong
Jill was my feminist icon. I watched her when I was young. I liked that she ambitious and she laught about Tims jokes. And she loved him for who he was.
He had some sexist believes, but he was proved wrong so many times.
Sometimes I feel like I married my own more power guy and I am his Jill.
I tried getting my girlfriend into Scrubs and it just didnt click with her,The removal of the original music takes away a lot of the heart of that show though
I thought people were over hyping this show until I started watching it myself. Holy shit its great. Only on season 2. My name is Earl is another one that was really great.
It’s worth watching all the way through just to get to season 7. Almost a perfect season. Jersey Shore, Frank Reynold’s Little Beauties, Storm of the Century, CHARDEE MACDENNIS, High School Reunion, all all-timers
I never watched Sunny because I thought it was just gonna be your typical Office / Superstore / Big Bang type humour. Then when I heard it was offensive I thought ‘oh, so Family Guy’…still not enthused.
The show couldn’t have proved me more wrong and I hadn’t even got to the title card of episode one yet. Curb Your Enthusiasm and Trailer Park Boys are in the same vein for me as well
Sitcom = situational comedy. You can have a dark sitcom. It has nothing to do with the traditional family of friend group setup you have in most sitcoms.
As someone watching modern family for the first time it has really surprised me. So many jokes are set up really well and often rooted in irony or characters misunderstanding eachother it seems like it will hold up a long time. Just seems to me like its theme isn’t anything crazy or special but its well written imo.
who ever writes the jokes for phil needs to make a masterclass in “dumb” humour because they nail it so hard. like 90% of the reason i’ve ever watched the show haha
I wouldn't classify The Good Place as a sitcom so much as a comedic essay on the human condition and the nature of fulfillment. Watching it through that lens might help, but if the humor doesn't land for you, it doesn't land.
It's a little weird that people are lumping these kinds of shows in with traditional sitcoms. I would never compare Friends with Community or The Good Place. They're a little more either hybrid mockumentary or just comedy series. Same with other shows like The Office and Parks.
Not Op but AD, first three seasons of weeds, curb, always sunny, 30 rock.
I specifically don’t like the ones that are based mostly of romantic relationship comedy: Big Bang, how I met your mother , friends, dharma and Greg
Friends: okay, not everyone likes it
Seinfeld: definitely an acquired taste
Big Bang: that's okay, not everyone likes it
Golden Girls: Get out of here, you piece of moldy cheesecake
I feel the same way about each of these! 🤣
Golden Girls may not be "haha" funny but it talked about real issues. It brought light and sometimes an uncommon viewpoint for the time to serious issues in the world, some of them we still have nowadays. Those ladies were and still are icons, amazing actresses who brought their characters to life. My opinion might be clouded by nostalgia but I'll gladly watch (and sometimes giggle to) Golden Girls every so often because it's just that good to me. Are there better shows nowadays? Totally. But that doesn't diminish the art that was and is The Golden Girls.
Hell, it'd be groundbreaking to do that in the modern day. We've definitely got representation of older women, but I cannot recall any recent show that starred FOUR OF THEM and was ABOUT them.
Golden Girls was way ahead of its time. It dealt with some seriously heavy topics. AIDS, sexual harassment, abusive relationships, suicide, chronic illness (and women who have doctors that won't believe them)...
This is an interesting opportunity to self reflection in regards to relating to characters and how that influences your enjoyment of a show
Those a both pretty "lewd" and you just don't even mention some of the classics
I strongly agree, but I hope you have seen or are willing to give a chance to Fawlty Towers, Blackadder seasons 2, 3, and 4, Black books, and The IT crowd
I'm sure Father Ted is great, I haven't watched it yet. Mr. Linehan is truly a master of his craft! Yeah I think Peep Show is a different category, a feelbad comedy. I both love it and can't watch it at the same time! Mitchell and Webb are fantastic, I think their sketch series is top notch, Peep Show is great but I wouldn't recommend it as a normal sitcom as it isn't for everyone.
Father Ted is so funny. The characters are all priests and it's insanity. Alcoholic priests, dancing priests, gay priests, racist priests, it's hilarious!!
All of those are hot fire. I don't even know if I could pick a favorite, maybe Blackadder season 4.
Other than a handful of exceptions most of American sitcoms suck and can't compete with British comedy.
Seinfeld seems like the odd one out there, I wouldn't judge you for not liking it but Larry David and (younger) Jerry Seinfeld were really strong writers. The show has plenty of weak and corny jokes, but most of the episodes were written really well.
The concept of Seinfeld is 4 friends who aren’t good people and who each have separate stories that collide in the end and never has a happy ending for them. It’s also based on true stories.
The audience is not a soundtrack but was real audience with people laughing at what was taking place.
I feel like shows where half of the audience gets that they're supposed to be shitty and the other half doesn't realize they're supposed to be shitty but just thinks they're funny people they relate to, are shows that tend to do well. You'll notice there are a ton of office fans who un-ironically quote Michael Scott, and don't always get when he's meant to be ignorant.
Yeah, that's the only one that I was like ehhhh. I like all those shows but Seinfeld is considered one of the greatest shows ever. And Curb Your Enthusiasm is also amazing. Maybe I just like that type of comedy.
Yeah my Dad was crapping on about Charlie Chaplin the other day. Apparently one of the TV stations is showing Chaplin films and my Dad was sneering at the movies for not being any good and how he doesn't understand why Chaplin was so popular. Some of his movies are over 100 years old and are from before movies even had sound and Dad is judging them today. SMH.
Or it's just another form of entertainment. And comments like this are like when older people don't get videogames. Or when rock music was the devil.
Shit changes.
They're about low effort comfort viewing. I think some fail at that (I really don't like Big Bang Theory) but I think they have a value. The era of the sitcom is basically over at this point anyway, so we naturally just aren't going to find them as funny.
Still, I think there are endearing elements to some. I actually think Friends has some banger jokes underneath a lot of mediocrity. There is an episode where Joey is doing a stage play and the climax of that joke is genuinely a brilliant piece of absurdist humor imo.
There a product of their time for sure. I largely think low effort comfort viewing has been replaced with youtube at this point, where people can laugh at more authentic jokes.
Hard to debate over a subjective opinion, but at the end of the day those shows are watched and loved by hundreds of millions of people so it's whatever man.
Curious why you stopped at 90%? Do you admit 10% of sitcoms are funny? Bit redundant to hate on something people get enjoyment out of, maybe those same people don't agree with your 10%.
I just watched Frasier and it’s up there with Curb and Seinfeld for me now
I cried during Frasier’s second to last episode, then again at the finale. That show got me good.
the start of the office was hard to watch on purpose because it was emulating the british version (which sets up the type of humour better)
after the first season or 2 it gets better imo
The first few episodes of the Office can be tough to get through for people who don't like that sort of comedy. It gets better and less cringey after that.
Seems too many people mistake taste for opinion.
If someone watches a sitcom and laughs, you can't tell them that "actually, that's not funny and your laugh is invalid☝️🤓" and expect them to stop watching lol.
It’s funny when Seinfeld gets hit for relying on the tropes that it created. Seinfeld only feels dated and “copy-paste” because every sitcom after tried to emulate it and people don’t have any sense of cultural progression unless they lived it.
I've tried to go back and rewatch comedies I really liked in the 70's... and they're pretty much unwatchable. Welcome Back Kotter used to be one of my favorites... but watching as an adult, the jokes are dumb and the laugh track is obnoxious.
Seinfeld's, great! If you can relate. Like Kramer's fucking comical genius with impeccable timing, George snaps for no reason. Elaine is a badass, And Seinfeld's like the little narrator that glues everybody together.
Lol 😂 The Christmas nipple. That whole scenario is fucking genius.
"Sitcoms are not funny because they all tell the same overused jokes. The Office is funny because they tell the same overused jokes in a way I like"
Ok.
That's why when you get something refreshing, it really stands out even if the quality isn't quite there in other areas. Of the shows you mentioned, I do think the Golden Girls was a product of its time and, for that period, it was quite good and reasonably unique. Seinfeld stood out for a number of reasons and I think it still holds up today. But I agree that Friends and Big Bang Theory are pretty overrated. I understand why Friends had broad appeal (I watched on and off during original airing) but it really was very 'safe' and predictable. The Big Bang theory at least had more interesting personalities. Phoebe was the only interesting character in Friends.
They are comfort shows with developed characters that make people feel good/laugh watching them. This goes back to the whole "comedy is subjective" thing that has been discussed thousands of times before.
Tastes vary, not every show is meant for everybody, jokes may get beat to death with variations over several shows, but they’re probably not concerned with other shows, and they’re not assuming people watch them all, so it’s not their fault if you wind up watching two shows that have a wacky love triangle or hijinks at a funeral.
Counter argument, the style of your humour is not what 90% of sitcoms are trying to work with
Not everything is bad if you don't end up liking it personally, the world does not revolve around you, you are just an insignificant being on this mud ball like the rest of us
I watch seinfeld and friends and kinda like both of them (I adore friends, seinfeld is an okay show for me that I watch once in a while). It's not about the funny aspect for me though, it's having a comfort show where you know that everything will be alright and they won't put in distressing content that may be triggering
Well, you yourself are the reason why they are not funny. Because as you said, you watch TV all the time. Which is probably the reason why the jokes seem overused to you. It's like saying most comedians aren't funny because they always make jokes about the same things like work or relationships. Of course it's going to feel like that if you try to watch every single one of them
It was funny aF for their respective eras. There was also shows like Martin, Fresh Prince of Bel Aire, Family Matters, Cosby Show, Sanford & Son, etc, etc. There wasn't a variety of bullshit going on in the world. You know stuff like inflation, covid, war, offending people, Trump, Maga, Blm, etc. Simple jokes, cultural experiences and topics, simple stuff but told in a variety of creative humorous ways. It was wholesome laughter and memorable moments. Some shows didn't appeal to everyone. Some were ahead of their time, some were old & outdated. But there was always a show that catered to either: grand parents, parents, kids, couples, young adults, teens, everyone. Some shows are shit, some win golden globe awards and Emmys. The past stuff is 1000% funnier than anything current.
I used to think the same thing. But then it is about who you're watching with sometimes. What you might not find funny in a certain setting and with certain people, you will find funny in another setting with different people. Similarly, the things I enjoy watching by myself are not always the same things I enjoy watching with others.
Your post from unpopularopinion was removed because of: 'Rule 1: Your post must be an unpopular opinion'. * Your post must be an opinion. Not a question. Not a showerthought. Not a rant. Not a proposal. Not a fact. An opinion. One opinion. A subjective statement about your position on some topic. Please have a clear, self contained opinion as your post title, and use the text field to elaborate and expand on why you think/feel this way. * Your opinion must be unpopular. The mods reserve the right to remove opinions * Elaborate on your topic and opinion give context to its unpopularity.
Products of their time. Nostalgia. It's not like you get new laugh track sitcoms these days.
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Tbh I feel the same way about 90% of older sitcoms i’ve seen. I think it’s the same deal as clowns, they so overdo the comforting inoffensiveness that it becomes eerie.
Yeah I disagree. Pre-2000s sitcoms are comfy even if they aren't the funniest shit ever.
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Would it be better on plasma or OLED?
Nah, CRTs feel more appropriate here lol
Critical Race Theory isn't appropriate anywhere buddy
You set that up didn't you? Angry upvote lol
I don't even plan what I'm saying before I start talking
Plenty of sitcoms still have laugh tracks, unfortunately.
Its also creepy that all laugh tracks were recorded a hundred years ago. Literally everyone who is laughing is dead.
I really wish I had watched Friends while it was huge. I tried it afterwards and it was actually terrible.
I was a teenager when it was peaking and Jennifer Aniston’s boobs were amazing on that show.
Amen
Friends is sooo bad
That’s because it is
I like Friends, but that's 90% the nostalgia talking. It hasn't aged well and it's super corny. Just like Seinfeld or whatever. However, they capture their era very well and were the shows *we had available*.
You take any disparaging comments about Seinfeld right out of this sub sir
He should take his disparaging comments and stuff them in a sack
I still don't know what that means
frankly I’ve had enough of this Seinfeld disrespect, the fact that it’s even in the same sentence as the Big Bang theory is a level of malfeasance that I will not tolerate
It was terrible back then, too.
Yeah, Friends is awful. The acting is okay, but the jokes and script are second rate, corny, flat, and unfunny. I saw someone comment that it's cool to hate Friends online. I was under the impression that I was the only person who didn't like the show, since all the women I've known have loved watching it. I'm a 28M for reference.
What felt terrible? I watched it for the first time recently and loved it. Specifically the joke writing really hit for me.
People on social media really hate Friends. If you ask around in real life, it's pretty well liked.
Being a contrarian on social media grants you popularity/engagement. This subreddit used to be a broken record of “Friends and/or The Office is terrible” topics and they’d get upvoted like crazy.
Goofy irresponsible husband, hot wife, dumb friend who is over constantly. Kids, the smart but socially awkward one, the edgy one, the baby. Put them in awkward situations. There that's every sitcom. Big Bang Theory changed the husband/wife roles but its the same thing.
M*A*S*H, Cheers, Golden Girls, Frasier, Seinfeld, Friends, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Community, Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, Scrubs, Brooklyn 99, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and as you mentioned Big Bang Theory. Not a lot of husband + wife + kids on that list.
Even modern sitcoms though. I watch jeopardy all the time, and that show the nieghborhood right after it is painfully unfunny. Jokes are bad and stereotypical, the dialogue is really rough, the timing is even more noticeably terrible because you can tell they’re waiting on the laugh track. Not that older shows didn’t suffer from this too- but it hasn’t stopped, it’s not like they’ve updated the formula or anything
Thats really all it is. Its not just the shows themselves that have aged out. The format has, too somewhat. So things evolve or die. Or do we think comedy will just go away because nothing is funny anymore? No, its just that programming would have to evolve to, and it really is.
Comparing Maya and Ken hosting is the perfect example of sitcom "talent" vs. real talent. She was downright painful to watch host while Ken is genuinely charismatic and funny off-the-cuff.
Yes of course, if you like anything that is older than 1 minute, its because of nostalgia.
Comedy has one of the shortest shelf-lifes of any art form. Sit-coms strongly reflect the culture and time-period they came from, so the issues they discuss were often hot button issues in their day but seem blasé now. I love Home Improvement, Scrubs, HIMYM, and Parks & Rec, but I don't hold it against anyone who's unimpressed by them now. They had their time. Being irrelevant now doesnt take away anything from what they were at their best.
Malcolm in the Middle. It holds up insanely well. Aside from some tech references, you wouldn't be able to tell its as old as it is. It's still just as hilarious and relevant as it was back then.
MitM always makes me so melancholic, they’re so free, no phones, always playing outside, going on dumb adventures, reminds me of my youth and makes me sappy.
Probably the only sitcom I still watch occasionally. I don't think it's completely timeless. But depiction of a family slightly over poverty line, struggling with a ton of things is pretty unique. They have a house though....
Scrubs is somewhat timeless as its environment is kind of isolated, it does not go into that much detail about politics to know what decade we are in. Also since it's in a hospital, 99% of people do not recognize the technical advancements we have today compared to the ones in the show. And the healthcare/insurance system has not changed a bit so....
I’m on season 8 of a scrubs rewatch. It holds up pretty well. A few jokes wouldn’t get approved these days because of changing sensibilities, but the writing was solid and the cast had great chemistry.
Ah, the 8th and final season. Happy it ended on a great note while resolving the whole series well. I'm glad they didn't ever try to bring it back with worse characters, comedy, and setting like many other shows do... right?
So glad they didnt try and make a season 9 and have some of the main characters in for a few episodes at the start to transition to a completely new cast.
A season 9 would have been laughable and ruined the whole premise after the perfect ending in season 8, the final season.
Maybe this should be it's own unpopular opinion, but I wish more people would give season 9 a chance. Maybe it should have been given a new name and billed as a spin off, but it really found its footing in the 2nd half of the season. It deserved a season 10.
Scrubs is timeless like MASH
Don't forget the golden girls, who had pretty liberal points for the 80's and still today (mixed marriages, homosexuality, racism, antisemitism, able-ism... And yet it's so freaking funny)
It's been on my list to watch for the longest time. This is a good reminder. Thank you!
Did you see the last season of Sunny?
Huge difference is the characters in sunny are supposed to be assholes so when they say awful things we as the audience laugh at the character for being ignorant. In scrubs there are things said by characters who are good but flawed people that definitely push way past modern sensibilities. It’s not just about what’s said it’s the context in which it’s being said. The off color jokes in those shows have very different tones.
Have you listened to the podcast, Fake Doctors, Real Friends? I'm only a season or so into it but it's a pretty interesting way to relive the series. And sometimes they do mention jokes that've aged poorly and go into why.
Shows like Parks & Rec or All in the Family are not the problem. They're still funny today especially if you're even somewhat aware of the social climate at the time. I'm sure most people understand racism and such was still an issue when All in the Family aired. It's the absolute trash heap below those. The 90% no one even remembers was infinitely worse and irrelevant even when they came out.
I don’t know, I just finished a full rewatch of Home Improvement and honestly I felt like it held up really well. Tim can be sexist like a lot of 90s shows but the great part was that Jill (and Al and Wilson) was always right there to prove him wrong
God bless you. I remember hating the show when I watched it 25 years ago. But it's good to know someone likes it.
Jill was my feminist icon. I watched her when I was young. I liked that she ambitious and she laught about Tims jokes. And she loved him for who he was. He had some sexist believes, but he was proved wrong so many times. Sometimes I feel like I married my own more power guy and I am his Jill.
I liked it when it was on in the ‘90s and it’s still pretty good today. Some episodes still hit hard now.
What? Scrubs is timeless!
Monthy Python is relevant after 50 years, though
I tried getting my girlfriend into Scrubs and it just didnt click with her,The removal of the original music takes away a lot of the heart of that show though
They removed music?
What’s in the 10% you find funny?
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is amazing.
I thought people were over hyping this show until I started watching it myself. Holy shit its great. Only on season 2. My name is Earl is another one that was really great.
Man you're in for a ride if You're only on season 2.
It’s worth watching all the way through just to get to season 7. Almost a perfect season. Jersey Shore, Frank Reynold’s Little Beauties, Storm of the Century, CHARDEE MACDENNIS, High School Reunion, all all-timers
I never watched Sunny because I thought it was just gonna be your typical Office / Superstore / Big Bang type humour. Then when I heard it was offensive I thought ‘oh, so Family Guy’…still not enthused. The show couldn’t have proved me more wrong and I hadn’t even got to the title card of episode one yet. Curb Your Enthusiasm and Trailer Park Boys are in the same vein for me as well
Have you seen Trailer Park Boys? You might like it
Does the tin man have a sheet metal cock?
I spit more rhymes than a lazy Susan and I'm innocent until my guilt is proven.
"People always scream at me whenever I talk, But I don't jerk off coz I'm not the J-Roc" led to a damaged keyboard.
Cory, Trevor. Smokes, chips. Let's go. Put your hands down boys.
Not even a sitcom really as much as it's just a straight up dark comedy
Sitcom = situational comedy. You can have a dark sitcom. It has nothing to do with the traditional family of friend group setup you have in most sitcoms.
Community is fucking great
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Shut up Leonard, you like posts about frozen pizza
Pop pop!
Always sunny, modern family, schitts creek, community
Modern Family? what do you like about it
As someone watching modern family for the first time it has really surprised me. So many jokes are set up really well and often rooted in irony or characters misunderstanding eachother it seems like it will hold up a long time. Just seems to me like its theme isn’t anything crazy or special but its well written imo.
Phil Dunphy is my spirit animal.
who ever writes the jokes for phil needs to make a masterclass in “dumb” humour because they nail it so hard. like 90% of the reason i’ve ever watched the show haha
What's not to like? Other than, of course, mannys creepy obsetion with hailey
I would put Community and The Good Place at the top of my list of good sitcoms
Man I tried the good place and didn't crack a smile in the first two episodes. Maybe it's worth a retry idk
I wouldn't classify The Good Place as a sitcom so much as a comedic essay on the human condition and the nature of fulfillment. Watching it through that lens might help, but if the humor doesn't land for you, it doesn't land.
Its a philosophical thesis wearing a comedy outercoat to me. I loved The Good Place. But I dont mind a comedy that makes you think and cry.
The show changes quite a bit so might be worth the second shot.
It gets better and better. That show really fucks with you
It's a little weird that people are lumping these kinds of shows in with traditional sitcoms. I would never compare Friends with Community or The Good Place. They're a little more either hybrid mockumentary or just comedy series. Same with other shows like The Office and Parks.
They are literally not in any way mockumentaries?
Not Op but AD, first three seasons of weeds, curb, always sunny, 30 rock. I specifically don’t like the ones that are based mostly of romantic relationship comedy: Big Bang, how I met your mother , friends, dharma and Greg
Always sunny is goated
Not op but Still Game is great imo. It’s a Scottish show so be prepared to read the subtitles if you’re not familiar with the accent lol
Honestly i would say 95%+ aren’t funny
Whoa calm down a whole 5 percentage points more?!
Friends: okay, not everyone likes it Seinfeld: definitely an acquired taste Big Bang: that's okay, not everyone likes it Golden Girls: Get out of here, you piece of moldy cheesecake
I feel the same way about each of these! 🤣 Golden Girls may not be "haha" funny but it talked about real issues. It brought light and sometimes an uncommon viewpoint for the time to serious issues in the world, some of them we still have nowadays. Those ladies were and still are icons, amazing actresses who brought their characters to life. My opinion might be clouded by nostalgia but I'll gladly watch (and sometimes giggle to) Golden Girls every so often because it's just that good to me. Are there better shows nowadays? Totally. But that doesn't diminish the art that was and is The Golden Girls.
It's also missing the fact that having a show with four female leads in their fifties/sixties was genuinely groundbreaking at the time!
Hell, it'd be groundbreaking to do that in the modern day. We've definitely got representation of older women, but I cannot recall any recent show that starred FOUR OF THEM and was ABOUT them.
The Golden Girls was and still is everything
Facts. Also seeing Jean Smart again in Hacks is giving me life.
💯
Never watched an episode beyond passing thr TV as my mum rewatched it. Not my cup of tea but full respect to the icon ans amazing show it is
Golden Girls was way ahead of its time. It dealt with some seriously heavy topics. AIDS, sexual harassment, abusive relationships, suicide, chronic illness (and women who have doctors that won't believe them)...
If we include the number of cancelled TV shows and pitched shows, that percentage may not be exaggerated.
Maybe you weren’t the audience they were looking for.
No one wants to give a shout out to this champion of the people? 
4 touchdowns in one game. Legendary.
Al Bundy is never gonna be not funny, its the best sitcom ever.
my people
Community and Its Always Sunny are the 10% guys
Peep Show is also 10%
I tried Community a number of times. Not for me, but glad you liked it.
Arrested Development and Superstore are good contenders as well
Superstore feels too artifical and corporate but not in a good way, like it feels sterile
Superstore does not belong with the others imo
I liked Superstore but it is definitely a few tiers below my top sitcoms
Superstore was not funny
I thought it was pretty funny and enjoyed it. Comedy is subjective and we're lucky there is lots to choose from these days
This is an interesting opportunity to self reflection in regards to relating to characters and how that influences your enjoyment of a show Those a both pretty "lewd" and you just don't even mention some of the classics
I just cannot get myself to watch Community past season 1
I strongly agree, but I hope you have seen or are willing to give a chance to Fawlty Towers, Blackadder seasons 2, 3, and 4, Black books, and The IT crowd
Fawlty Towers.. my brother was watching this.. I was like what’s this old show. Was dying after 10 mins. Wow it’s awesome
Dont forget Father Ted as well. I would include Peep Show but not sure what to categorize it as.
I'm sure Father Ted is great, I haven't watched it yet. Mr. Linehan is truly a master of his craft! Yeah I think Peep Show is a different category, a feelbad comedy. I both love it and can't watch it at the same time! Mitchell and Webb are fantastic, I think their sketch series is top notch, Peep Show is great but I wouldn't recommend it as a normal sitcom as it isn't for everyone.
Father Ted is so funny. The characters are all priests and it's insanity. Alcoholic priests, dancing priests, gay priests, racist priests, it's hilarious!!
Fawlty Towers and IT Crowd, 💯 Haven't actually seen the others, have Fawlty Towers on DVD lol
If you like Fawlty Towers you definitely should watch Blackadder!
Maybe skip the first season though, it’s ok but not as good as the rest and a bad introduction to the series.
Yeah it's definitely the weakest season, I still like it tho.
I like it too but if I was new it might not hold up vs the other seasons.
All of those are hot fire. I don't even know if I could pick a favorite, maybe Blackadder season 4. Other than a handful of exceptions most of American sitcoms suck and can't compete with British comedy.
I've watched the IT Crowd for the first time when our IT teacher in Germany put it on and it was a blast. The British have a fantastic sense of humor
The Inbetweeners (UK) was great too.
Seinfeld seems like the odd one out there, I wouldn't judge you for not liking it but Larry David and (younger) Jerry Seinfeld were really strong writers. The show has plenty of weak and corny jokes, but most of the episodes were written really well.
The concept of Seinfeld is 4 friends who aren’t good people and who each have separate stories that collide in the end and never has a happy ending for them. It’s also based on true stories. The audience is not a soundtrack but was real audience with people laughing at what was taking place.
I feel like shows where half of the audience gets that they're supposed to be shitty and the other half doesn't realize they're supposed to be shitty but just thinks they're funny people they relate to, are shows that tend to do well. You'll notice there are a ton of office fans who un-ironically quote Michael Scott, and don't always get when he's meant to be ignorant.
Yeah, that's the only one that I was like ehhhh. I like all those shows but Seinfeld is considered one of the greatest shows ever. And Curb Your Enthusiasm is also amazing. Maybe I just like that type of comedy.
I don't think I've laughed more at a tv show than curb. It has some cringe sure, but man does it pay off again and again
You have to keep in mind they were funny back in a 1980s or 1990s social context, it's something people today in 2024 usually fail to grasp.
Yeah my Dad was crapping on about Charlie Chaplin the other day. Apparently one of the TV stations is showing Chaplin films and my Dad was sneering at the movies for not being any good and how he doesn't understand why Chaplin was so popular. Some of his movies are over 100 years old and are from before movies even had sound and Dad is judging them today. SMH.
Future generations will look back and question why people bothered watching tik tok.
Or they view it like we look at 60s and the enthusiasm over psychedelics.
Or it's just another form of entertainment. And comments like this are like when older people don't get videogames. Or when rock music was the devil. Shit changes.
They're about low effort comfort viewing. I think some fail at that (I really don't like Big Bang Theory) but I think they have a value. The era of the sitcom is basically over at this point anyway, so we naturally just aren't going to find them as funny. Still, I think there are endearing elements to some. I actually think Friends has some banger jokes underneath a lot of mediocrity. There is an episode where Joey is doing a stage play and the climax of that joke is genuinely a brilliant piece of absurdist humor imo. There a product of their time for sure. I largely think low effort comfort viewing has been replaced with youtube at this point, where people can laugh at more authentic jokes.
Do you like modern family?
Just finished this, definitely way better than I was expecting.
It's a moo point.
I heard it in his voice 😂😂😂
Hard to debate over a subjective opinion, but at the end of the day those shows are watched and loved by hundreds of millions of people so it's whatever man. Curious why you stopped at 90%? Do you admit 10% of sitcoms are funny? Bit redundant to hate on something people get enjoyment out of, maybe those same people don't agree with your 10%.
Community is pretty damn good
You're god dean right it is!
Reba is hilarious
I know it has its audience who loves it, but overall I think it is so overlooked. I love it, one of my comfort shows.
Old sitcoms are actually filmed in front of live audiences so there would at least be some genuine laughs, even if forced.
Sanford and son still hits for me.
ITT: Children learning about 'context'
Frasier holds up well and is great TV.
I just watched Frasier and it’s up there with Curb and Seinfeld for me now I cried during Frasier’s second to last episode, then again at the finale. That show got me good.
Yeah I'm watching Fraiser and the writing is very sharp and clever. It's one of the great sitcoms.
Brilliantly written and acted for like 200 episodes
The Office had some very funny moments but overall I just found it cringy and hard to watch.
Cringing is kind of the point. It’s a specific kind of humor.
the start of the office was hard to watch on purpose because it was emulating the british version (which sets up the type of humour better) after the first season or 2 it gets better imo
Steve Carrell Office was great. Post-Carrell was a train wreck.
The first few episodes of the Office can be tough to get through for people who don't like that sort of comedy. It gets better and less cringey after that.
hilarious seeing someone shit on sitcoms as a whole and think the office is the best of all of them lol
It's almost like different people enjoy different things in different ways.
Seems too many people mistake taste for opinion. If someone watches a sitcom and laughs, you can't tell them that "actually, that's not funny and your laugh is invalid☝️🤓" and expect them to stop watching lol.
It’s funny when Seinfeld gets hit for relying on the tropes that it created. Seinfeld only feels dated and “copy-paste” because every sitcom after tried to emulate it and people don’t have any sense of cultural progression unless they lived it.
If you dont like seinfeld then fuck you
Amen
I've tried to go back and rewatch comedies I really liked in the 70's... and they're pretty much unwatchable. Welcome Back Kotter used to be one of my favorites... but watching as an adult, the jokes are dumb and the laugh track is obnoxious.
Al Bundy is the GOAT.
I literally enjoy every sitcom. It’s the only type of tv I actively seek out to watch. I’m happy to watch any sitcom anyone is willing to make
Eye of the beholder and all that. I still find plenty of them funny
Seinfeld's, great! If you can relate. Like Kramer's fucking comical genius with impeccable timing, George snaps for no reason. Elaine is a badass, And Seinfeld's like the little narrator that glues everybody together. Lol 😂 The Christmas nipple. That whole scenario is fucking genius.
"Sitcoms are not funny because they all tell the same overused jokes. The Office is funny because they tell the same overused jokes in a way I like" Ok.
it's almost like humor is subjective
I agree for the most part. I avoid shows with laugh tracks because I think they are cheesy
That is an unpopular opinion. Congrats. I think Seinfeld is one of the greatest comedies of all time.
I’ve only seen a few episodes but it’s never failed to make me laugh. I love Newman lol King of Queens goes hard as fuck as well
That's why when you get something refreshing, it really stands out even if the quality isn't quite there in other areas. Of the shows you mentioned, I do think the Golden Girls was a product of its time and, for that period, it was quite good and reasonably unique. Seinfeld stood out for a number of reasons and I think it still holds up today. But I agree that Friends and Big Bang Theory are pretty overrated. I understand why Friends had broad appeal (I watched on and off during original airing) but it really was very 'safe' and predictable. The Big Bang theory at least had more interesting personalities. Phoebe was the only interesting character in Friends.
EXCUSE YOU. You were doing good right up until you said Golden Girls. That shit is funny! It was way, way ahead of it's time, and still holds up.
I would like to know how you get that math...
They are comfort shows with developed characters that make people feel good/laugh watching them. This goes back to the whole "comedy is subjective" thing that has been discussed thousands of times before.
What compelled you to watch 100% of the sitcoms when you weren’t enjoying them at all rate of 9/10???
And the other 10% ? Not funny either. It's just the other 10%
This is the most reddit thread ever
You must not be a pal and a confidant
Tastes vary, not every show is meant for everybody, jokes may get beat to death with variations over several shows, but they’re probably not concerned with other shows, and they’re not assuming people watch them all, so it’s not their fault if you wind up watching two shows that have a wacky love triangle or hijinks at a funeral.
Yep, unpopular. We're not all born with a sense of humour, alas
Counter argument, the style of your humour is not what 90% of sitcoms are trying to work with Not everything is bad if you don't end up liking it personally, the world does not revolve around you, you are just an insignificant being on this mud ball like the rest of us
I watch seinfeld and friends and kinda like both of them (I adore friends, seinfeld is an okay show for me that I watch once in a while). It's not about the funny aspect for me though, it's having a comfort show where you know that everything will be alright and they won't put in distressing content that may be triggering
Well, you yourself are the reason why they are not funny. Because as you said, you watch TV all the time. Which is probably the reason why the jokes seem overused to you. It's like saying most comedians aren't funny because they always make jokes about the same things like work or relationships. Of course it's going to feel like that if you try to watch every single one of them
It was funny aF for their respective eras. There was also shows like Martin, Fresh Prince of Bel Aire, Family Matters, Cosby Show, Sanford & Son, etc, etc. There wasn't a variety of bullshit going on in the world. You know stuff like inflation, covid, war, offending people, Trump, Maga, Blm, etc. Simple jokes, cultural experiences and topics, simple stuff but told in a variety of creative humorous ways. It was wholesome laughter and memorable moments. Some shows didn't appeal to everyone. Some were ahead of their time, some were old & outdated. But there was always a show that catered to either: grand parents, parents, kids, couples, young adults, teens, everyone. Some shows are shit, some win golden globe awards and Emmys. The past stuff is 1000% funnier than anything current.
I used to think the same thing. But then it is about who you're watching with sometimes. What you might not find funny in a certain setting and with certain people, you will find funny in another setting with different people. Similarly, the things I enjoy watching by myself are not always the same things I enjoy watching with others.
I don't like sitcoms myself, but scrubs was an absolute cracker until like season 6.
Peep show and trailer park boys will be timeless