May 26, 2015

The Office
Seinfeld
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
30 Rock
The Cosby Show
Arrested Development
Friends
All In The Family

I don't think any of these are bad.
A lot of them serve different purposes.

 

May 26, 2015

What was Friends purpose?

 

May 26, 2015

No Love for Full House? Lol.

 

May 26, 2015

Seinfeld is #1
Fraiser should be on this list tho

 

May 26, 2015

all in the family haven't seen, probably won't
friends #5
seinfeld #2
arrested development haven't seen but will watch when I have time
maude haven't heard of it
30 rock haven't seen, might watch
curb your enthusiasm #4
the office (us) #1
the fresh prince of bel-air #3
cosby show #6

King of Queens is my personal favorite though (meh Office 1b, KoQ 1a)

 

May 26, 2015

tough list. going to try to list them based on actual quality/influence, not nostalgia. why isn't cheers a factor?

1. seinfeld
2. all in the family
3. cosby show
4. arrested development
5. friends
6. the office (us)
7. maude
8. 30 rock
9. curb your enthusiasm
10. the fresh prince of bel-air

 

May 27, 2015

1. Arrested Development
2. Seinfeld
3. The Office (US)
4. Curb Your Enthusiasm
5. 30 Rock
6. Friends

 

May 27, 2015

for those suggesting other shows: these aren't the best sitcoms ever (although most of my top ten is here), i just threw out some titles i thought might be confusing.

@CharlieWork, i'm really surprised you have the office at 1, especially over a show like seinfeld. they have a comparable number of episodes, and while peak office was great, half (or, really, slightly more than half) of its run is nowhere near seinfeld in quality. do you just think the good is so far beyond any other show mentioned that it wins by default?

 

May 27, 2015

The Office has made me laugh harder than any other television show you listed. Steve Carrell's performance was just impeccable. By comparison, Jerry Seinfeld is an awful actor. I get that he's supposed to be grounded and be himself, but often times it takes me out of it when I see him breaking character or just over acting. Seinfeld is more of a "grin and exhale" type comedy for me. I can't even watch Curb Your Enthusiasm if that tells you anything.

If I was ranking things in terms of influence it would probably be first. That or The Simpsons or the UK Office.

 

May 27, 2015

hmm. i find this strange, because so much of s1-3 office (its prime, by a long shot) is hyper-awkward in the way curb is.

 

May 27, 2015

all in the family (3)
friends (8)
seinfeld (5)
arrested development (2)
maude (10)
30 rock (7)
curb your enthusiasm (1)
the office (us) (4)
the fresh prince of bel-air (6)
cosby show (9)

 

May 27, 2015

The problem with the Office is it was really just "the Office" for a few seasons (edit as paul said). 8 and 9 are obviously god awful, but even the last two with michael scott are a little more run of the mill. season one is also kind of a different beast too, so that gives you roughly 2-5. still a worthy run in OAT discussions, but the variety in quality should rly take it down a few notches imo

 

May 27, 2015

I don't think I've ever watched through and paid attention to ranking the seasons. I personally only start to lose interest when Robert California leaves, so I'm not the typical fan. The Office just resonates with me. Even so, I'll try to address at least the variety aspect.

Since Seinfeld is the holy grail, let's compare the two. The Office has far more core characters. The Office has far more character development and through lines. The Office has a romantic will-it-won't-it that you actually care about. There are genuine sad moments.

Some critics judge feature length comedies using the "3 laugh rule" and I would wager that a majority of Office episodes pass that test, at least with me. Like I said, in no way am I trying to be objective here, but I will justify my reasoning upon request. There is a distinction between liking something more and thinking it is superior. My favorite beer is Nattie Light, but I won't argue that it isn't watered down frat beer.

 

May 27, 2015

Ultimately, to each their own. However, if you allow me, I'd just like to offer a few comments. Namely, I don't think # of characters should be an inherent factor in anything? Unless you mean that makes the storytelling more sophisticated, which I don't think is particularly true, given Seinfeld's knack for innovation. (and I don't think it's literally true either -- Seinfeld had a large array of characters, they just weren't featured in every episode. Arguably Seinfeld's stock characters were more memorable than the Office's... besides Todd Packer and David Wallace, Seinfeld dwarfs Office in great recurring characters tbh)

Along the same lines, I don't agree Office had more thorough lines and Seinfeld's lack of romantic storylines/"character development" (again, questionable) is kind of the point. I love the character work that Seinfeld did with George, no?

Not knocking you, I'm just commenting. And yeah, superior vs. personal favorite is an important distinction -- I ranked Fresh Prince last although, for personal reasons, I love Carlton, etc. rly hard. I have more sentimental attachment to that show (and Full House) than I do, say, Maude.

 

May 27, 2015

out of what i've seen in it's entirety

1. seinfeld
2. all in the family
3. arrested development
4. the office (ok i lied, i stopped watching when michael left)
5. curb
6. 30 rock
7. fresh prince

i cant stand Friends

fresh prince is bottom of the list but it's one of the first sitcoms i was familiar with as a kid. love it out of nostalgia. they did some fourth wall stuff that was pretty funny too. plus they handled ashley's development well as she aged.

 

May 27, 2015

I was specifically referring to variety. You kind of took all of my points out of context.

 

May 27, 2015

I don't think so, I responded to each one of them directly. Not sure what you think I misconstrued.

 

May 27, 2015

Namely, I don't think # of characters should be an inherent factor in anything?

Except in variety, in which the amount of character types is inherently related.

Seinfeld had a large array of characters, they just weren't featured in every episode.

Variety and neither were The Office's.

Arguably Seinfeld's stock characters were more memorable than the Office's

Vanilla Ice is more memorable than Chuck D.

I don't agree Office had more thorough lines and Seinfeld's lack of romantic storylines/"character development" (again, questionable) is kind of the point.

Yeah, a point that hurts it's variety.

 

May 27, 2015

seinfeld had way more "variety" than the office, because it had more innovative stories. (also, the office's character development after the end of s3 is kind of abysmal--sure, michael grows more sentimental, dwight gets goofier, and andy is ret-con'd into a new age hippie.)

also, this:

is neither true nor analogous to seinfeld's side characters.