Top 10 Comedy Shows of All Time
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Allie @ Gone Hollywood | Thursday, May 1, 2008 |
Shows about nothing, shows with characters so outrageous they’re almost (and sometimes literally) cartoons, shows about families and shows about friends — they’re all in our countdown of the Top 10 Comedy Shows of All Time.
10. Friends
(1994 - 2004)
The fact that Monica and Rachel lived in a swanky New York apartment they could never have afforded in the real world didn’t diminish how much we loved the ‘Friends’-ship of the Central Perk gang, the Ross-Rachel romance and our favorite TV wiseacre, Chandler Bing.
9. I Love Lucy
(1951 - 1957)
A comedy so classic it still goes down as smoothly as a bottle of Vitameatavegamin, the first major TV ratings hit owed its success to Lucille Ball’s gift for physical comedy, whether re-enacting the Marx Brothers’ mirror scene with Harpo, wrapping candy with Ethel or selling that “health” tonic.
8. Roseanne
(1988 - 1997)
This picture of a working-class family was loving but not mushy, and didn’t gloss over mundane worries like paying the mortgage, working a dead-end job and dealing with sassy kids. In fact, Roseanne mined them for comedy gold, and did so without looking or sounding like the typical sitcom mom.
7. The Cosby Show
(1984 - 1992)
It was the family we all wanted to be a part of: the Huxtables, led by Cliff and Clair, two professional, in-love parents who ruled with a firm hand and lots of humor, whether buying Theo a Gordon Gartrell shirt, planning the classic anniversary performances for the grandparents or throwing a funeral for a pet fish.
6. M*A*S*H
(1972 - 1983)
From Hawkeye’s womanizing to Klinger’s obsession with getting a Section Eight, a constant barrage of wisecracks and juvenile pranks was just what the doctor ordered for these Korean War army surgeons, whose gallows humor was the only way they, and viewers, could deal with the traumas of war.
5. Cheers
(1982 - 1993)
The Boston gang gave us not only a seminal workplace sitcom, but also one of the best TV romances ever with baseball pro-turned-bar owner Sam and snooty “student of life” Diane, and one of the all-time greatest ensemble casts in know-it-all Cliff, beer-lovin’ Norm, gold-digging Rebecca and naive Woody.
4. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
(1970 - 1977)
She’d once played Dick Van Dyke’s perfect sitcom wife, but here, MTM was the quintessential single career gal intent on conquering Minneapolis. As for the stellar supporting cast, Mr. Grant, Rhoda and Phyllis got their own spin-offs.
3. All in the Family
(1971 - 1979)
At the center of this groundbreaking comedy was “lovable bigot” Archie Bunker, whose rants on race, sex, religion, his dingbat wife and meathead son-in-law (and his hilarious meeting with Sammy Davis Jr.) only served to highlight just how ridiculous his viewpoints were.
2. Seinfeld
(1990 - 1998)
A show about nothing? Nah, it was about everything in the lives of four self-involved New Yorkers. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, because no one but Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer — and show co-creator Larry David — could have turned minutiae into nine seasons of comedic brilliance.
1. The Simpsons
(1989 - Present)
The longest-running comedy on TV holds that record for a reason — it is, quite simply, the best sitcom in history. The animated classic has spent 19 seasons mocking and celebrating pop culture, and giving us TV’s most beloved family and most delightfully ornery 10-year-old, Bartholomew J. Simpson.
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