The 50 Greatest Sitcoms of All Time

JUMP TO: |  50 – 41  |  40 – 31  |  30 – 21  |  20 – 11  |  10 – 1  |

40. South Park

Debuting in 1997, South Park is currently Comedy Central’s longest running program. Known mostly for its crude and deliberately offensive humor, the show is often incredibly smart, sweet, and incisive. Poor Kenny, kid can seriously never catch a break.

39. Perfect Strangers
Still one of the best opening theme songs for a TV Show. Cousin Larry, the wise one. Cousin Balki, the naive one. Put them together and you get the Dance of Joy. While the show wasn’t a huge hit ratings wise, it did enjoy 8 seasons on our TVs.

Oh yeah… don’t forget to play the Nothing’s Gonna Stop Me Now game (based on the theme song).

38. Spin City

Spin City is a show that did not get its due. Four seasons of Mike Flaherty (played by Michael J. Fox) helping run NYC. Was this Alex P. Keaton as a grown up? Probably not, but I can pretend. This little show had it all:  excellent writing, superb acting and a great supporting cast.

*Charlie Sheen years not included.

37. Martin

The sitcom golden era was the 80s, and the 00s its renaissance- but Martin is one of the few 90s standouts. There are so many memorable episodes & quotes from the show. Martin and his interactions with Gina were unlike most shows whereas the man is clueless & bubbling and the woman is the smart one… they took turns being both.

Martin vs. Pam is reminiscent of Fred vs. Esther and George vs. Florence. There were tons of guest stars throughout the show’s run from Kareem Abdul Jabbar & Jodeci to Billy Dee Williams & Richard Pryor. The characters that Martin played (Jerome, Sheneneh, etc.) became recognizable and quotable even by people that didn’t watch the show. A great show that is still funny.

36. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Any show that devotes an entire episode to ‘who shit a bed?’ has got my vote of confidence. From Mac, Charlie, Dennis, Sweet Dee and Frank, these five assholes know how to turn episodes about dumpster babies and crack whores into acceptable storylines. Not only is it always sunny in Philadelphia but it’s apparently always funny there too (sorry).

35. Happy Days

Happy Days launched (OK, furthered) the career of one of Hollywood’s long time power players, Ron Howard. Running in the 70s and 80s, but based on life in the 50s and 60s, the show revolved around the Wisconsin-based Cunningham family. The show’s focus shifted a few times over its run, when Fonzie became the main character, and then when Scott Baio was brought in (to skew younger). Let’s face it, without Happy Days we wouldn’t have at least 20% of the jokes on Arrested Development (or one of the best cliches in American pop culture history).

34. Frasier

Intelligent writing and perfect casting to build around Frasier Crane made this one of the best television spinoffs of all time.

33. The League

Vinegar Strokes. Fear Boner. Hand Jibbers. Got your attention? The show centers around five high school friends who spend way too much time obsessing over a fantasy football league. In the end, they’ll do whatever they can to win the coveted “Shiva” trophy. Don’t let the fantasy football part scare you away- the life situations the show focuses on are great.

32. Soap

Soap, which ran from 1977-1981, was a parody of daytime soap operas, going so far as to include usual daytime tropes such as alien abduction, demonic possession, and kidnapping. The show is probably best known for launching (or at least enhancing) the careers of such actors as Katherine Helmond, Richard Mulligan, Robert Urich, Robert Guillaume, and Billy Crystal. Listed as one of Time Magazine’s “100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME”, it certainly deserves a place in our top 50.

31. Parks & Recreation

Now entering its 5th season, Parks and Recreation centers around a group of public servants in the small town of Pawnee, IN. Lead by the unstoppable optimist Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) her boss, the Libertarian man’s man Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), and a cast of future superstars (Chris Pratt, Adam Scott) this diverse bunch of coworkers has tackled problems as big as a giant pit and as small as the death of a beloved tiny horse (RIP Lil’ Sebastian). Just remember that clear liquors are for rich women on diets.

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