Sitcoms used to be a cornerstone of the American television diet — back when we were forced to pick between 4–12 different channels, all showing like-content.
Well the year is now 2024 and it’s a lot more difficult for a sitcom to become a cornerstone of watercooler conversation.
And so, what does this have to do with anything? Not much, honestly. So let’s get to listing!
And please note: I’m only including shows where I’ve seen most of the seasons/episodes. This unfortunately excludes a lot of stuff, but it’s my list!
Honorable Mentions
Malcolm in the Middle
I know what you’re thinking: Life is unfair! Growing up, I’d watch this show nearly every Sunday, and though I don’t think I understood the nuance, it was still funny seeing those little hellraisers… raise hell!
First scene off the top of my head: Hal building the robots for Malcolm and his friends with the bees.
30 Rock
I likely would have included this into the ‘main list’, but I haven’t seen enough of it for it to qualify in my made up rules. I can’t remember a bad or boring episode of what I’ve seen though!
First scene off the top of my head: Midnight train to Georgia!
Seinfeld
My b, I haven’t seen enough of this to crack the top 5. I’ve really enjoyed what I have seen though. It’s one of the most memed shows for a reason and it’s still mostly relevant.
First scene off the top of my head: the contest. We did this in highschool for some reason just based on our own honesty. Weird.
The Office
My hottest take is that this show isn’t as good as the culture would have you to believe. I think it’s clearly worse than the ones mentioned in my top 5 but also I haven’t seen all of it — notably I stopped watching towards the middle end of the series when we start getting lots of Ed Helms. yucky.
First scene off the top of my head: “Try my googi, googi”
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Honestly this show holds up big time. Obviously lots of the references and the quality are all dated as fuck (where are the film remasters???) but the humor is still on point and Will Smith as Will is as good as it gets for a wacky sitcom!
First scene off the top of my head: My favorite trope of any comedy show ever: the dueling stories about what happened at a particular event. In this case, it’s about a broken AC and rambunctious pool party!
“If I wanted your opinion I’d beat it outta you!”
RIP Uncle Phil
Boy Meets World
I’ve been listening to the Pod Meets World podcast and revisiting the episodes after they speak on it. It’s been fun, but yeesh there’s a lot of bad episodes in the mix. But still, it’s very funny and a show I absolutely cherished as a kid and can recite many of the episodes and lines.
First scene off the top of my head: The obvious one is the halloween episode where spoilers Shawn is killing everybody because Corey and Topanga aren’t together anymore. or something?
The Real List
5. Futurama
It’s like The Simpsons, but like, not, ya know? If you’ve never seen the show, I think it’d be pretty easy to dismiss as a one-trick pony, simply playing up laughs like: it’s the future and they have crazy tech: get it? And though it kind of is like that, it’s so much more.
It’s smart, funny, and surprisingly endearing. I wouldn’t say it quite lives up to it’s older brother The Simpsons, but there are many episodes which you can put up against of the best shows.
Best episodes I remember:
- Jurassic Bark
- The one where Fry’s brother leaves the clover
- The worms in Fry’s gut
- The first series finale with Leela and Fry
- The trash planet one
4. Parks and Rec
This one is also often compared to what came before it for a variety of reasons: SNL connection with Tina Fey on the 30 Rock side, Office comparison because of the work ensemble comedy with a zany boss and mock-docu style. Regardless though, of these, Parks and Rec is my favorite one.
When thinking about TV characters you’d like to actually hang out with in real life or work with in an office setting, I put the characters of Park and Rec up there with the best of ‘em. The characters are wholesome, funny, and genuinely care for one another. And when something goes wrong, you can generally expect them to help each other out.
Obviously the show itself is very funny too with lots of memorable scenes and catch phrases. I personally don’t like Ron Swanson as much as the Internet seems to, but that’s life, right folks?
Best episodes I remember:
- Snake Juice
- Lil Sebastian stuff
- Eagleton episodes
- Ron with Tammy episodes
- Jean Ralphio stuff
3. Curb Your Enthusiasm
I liken Curb to a more modern seinfeld that takes place in LA (where I currently reside!) rather than NYC. And though I know what you’re thinking — it has nothing to do with the fact that Larry David is the creative force behind both of these shows, It’s mostly due to the fact that Larry David created both and forces his creativity all over them!
I also find the situations (in Curb) much more relatable as it has much less to do with dating and more to do with Rich Old White problems. I think I appreciate the guest stars in this show more too.
The show being more modern and on HBO also gives it a much looser structure though it’s not too dissimilar. I also like Larry over Jerry! Also, is it possible for me to write one sentence in this short blurb where I don’t directly compared Curb with Seinfeld?
Best episodes I remember:
- Shit bow
- Wheelchair lady
- Beloved cunt
- Shaq and the bball court
- “Get up in that ass larry!”
- Meet the blacks
- MAGA Hat
2. Arrested Development
Probably the funniest show ever written with top notch performances from every single actor on the show. The jokes/minute metric is off the charts here with some gags going on for multiple seasons. I think anybody who’s watched this show understands the importance of watching the series more than once — and even now I can likely watch it again and catch new jokes that I’ve missed the previous 5 times.
Honestly, it’s kind of difficult to write about these shows in the top 3 because it’s so intimidating; it feels like I can’t do them proper justice so I’d rather not even try! I think I’ll close on this: Daddy horny, Michael.
Best episodes I remember:
- Motherboy XXX
- Mr. F
- Good Grief
- Martha Complex
- “Check your lease man, cuz you’re staying at f*** Mountain!”
- “What are you taking stupid pills?”
- “The mere fact that you call making love ‘pop-pop’ tells me you’re not ready”
1. The Simpsons
The greatest American Sitcom is of course one of an animated family that are colored in yellow. Not only is The Simpsons probably the funniest show ever (top 2!), it also has episodes with tons of heart that are seared into the American memory; Homer’s relationship with Marge, Homer’s relationship with his children, Homer’s relationships with the people of Springfield all make for classic TV moments. The way that Homer can royally screw something up, fall into hilarious hijinks, and then with the support of neighbor or family, pull things back together make for seriously endearing comedy.
I won’t even attempt to touch what makes this show so funny because I think it’s well studied and well known by all (hell, The Simpsons even covered it themselves in a famous Season 12 episodes “Behind the Laughter”), but I will say, The Simpsons is also responsible for coining lots of different terms and phrases which have become a part of the American lexicon: “embiggens”, “d’oh”, “cromulent”, “don’t have a cow, man”.
Technically, using my own criteria, The Simpsons shouldn’t qualify in my own list because I’ve stopped watching maybe 18 seasons ago. And no, that’s not because i’m a badass rule-breaker hellbent on devolving the world into complete chaos, it’s because — and there is always a debate about which Simpsons seasons are actually ‘good’, which are the ‘golden years’, etc — it’s because despite the show being over 30 years old at this point, the actual content that has stuck into American culture are roughly seasons 2-12, of which seasons 3-8 are the true ‘golden years’ IMO.
And though the best years of The Simpsons are nearly two decades old at this point, it has created endlessly quotable scenes, unforgettable situations, superb and wacky Halloween specials, and tons of episodes with actual, real heart. Mostly though, this show is just so damn funny. Honestly, I think I’m at the point where The Simpsons are so ingrained into my brain, that I almost forget just how funny it is and how much its done for American culture. It has spoofed almost every single famous movie so superbly that for many, those references are not references, they just are The Simpsons.
I still feel I can’t do this show justice so I’ll stop here.
Best episodes I remember:
- “Stark Raving Dad”
- “Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington”
- “When Flanders Failed”
- “Bart the Murderer”
- “Homer Defined”
- “Like Father, Like Clown”
- “Treehouse of Horror II”
- “Lisa’s Pony”
- “Saturdays of Thunder”
- “Flaming Moe’s”
- “Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk”
- “I Married Marge”
- “Radio Bart”
- “Lisa the Greek”
- “Homer Alone”
- “Bart the Lover”
- “Homer at the Bat”
- “Separate Vocations”
- “Dog of Death”
- “Colonel Homer”
- “Black Widower”
- “The Otto Show”
- “Bart’s Friend Falls in Love”
- “Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?”
- “Kamp Krusty”
- “A Streetcar Named Marge”
- “Homer the Heretic”
- “Lisa the Beauty Queen”
- “Treehouse of Horror III”
- “Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie”
- “Marge Gets a Job”
- “New Kid on the Block”
- “Mr. Plow”
- “Lisa’s First Word”
- “Homer’s Triple Bypass”
- “Marge vs. the Monorail”
- “Selma’s Choice”
- “Brother from the Same Planet”
- “I Love Lisa”
- “Duffless”
- “Last Exit to Springfield”
- “So It’s Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show”
- “The Front”
- “Whacking Day”
- “Marge in Chains”
- “Krusty Gets Kancelled”
- “Homer’s Barbershop Quartet”
- “Cape Feare”
- “Homer Goes to College”
- “Rosebud”
- “Treehouse of Horror IV”
- “Marge on the Lam”
- “Bart’s Inner Child”
- “Boy-Scoutz ‘n the Hood”
- “The Last Temptation of Homer”
- “$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)”
- “Homer the Vigilante”
- “Bart Gets Famous”
- “Homer and Apu”
- “Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy”
- “Deep Space Homer”
- “Homer Loves Flanders”
- “Bart Gets an Elephant”
- “Burns’ Heir”
- “Sweet Seymour Skinner’s Baadasssss Song”
- “The Boy Who Knew Too Much”
- “Lady Bouvier’s Lover”
- “Secrets of a Successful Marriage”
- “Bart of Darkness”
- “Lisa’s Rival”
- “Another Simpsons Clip Show”
- “Itchy & Scratchy Land”
- “Sideshow Bob Roberts”
- “Treehouse of Horror V”
- “Bart’s Girlfriend”
- “Lisa on Ice”
- “Homer Badman”
- “Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy”
- “Fear of Flying”
- “Homer the Great”
- “And Maggie Makes Three”
- “Bart’s Comet”
- “Homie the Clown”
- “Bart vs. Australia”
- “Homer vs. Patty and Selma”
- “A Star is Burns”
- “Lisa’s Wedding”
- “Two Dozen and One Greyhounds”
- “The PTA Disbands”
- “‘Round Springfield”
- “The Springfield Connection”
- “Lemon of Troy”
- “Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)”
- “Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)”
- “Radioactive Man”
- “Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily”
- “Bart Sells His Soul”
- “Lisa the Vegetarian”
- “Treehouse of Horror VI”
- “King-Size Homer”
- “Mother Simpson”
- “Sideshow Bob’s Last Gleaming”
- “The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular”
- “Marge Be Not Proud”
- “Team Homer”
- “Two Bad Neighbors”
- “Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield”
- “Bart the Fink”
- “Lisa the Iconoclast”
- “Homer the Smithers”
- “The Day the Violence Died”
- “A Fish Called Selma”
- “Bart on the Road”
- “22 Short Films About Springfield”
- “Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in…”
- “Much Apu About Nothing”
- “Homerpalooza”
- “Summer of 4 Ft. 2”
- “Treehouse of Horror VII”
- “You Only Move Twice”
- “The Homer They Fall”
- “Burns, Baby Burns”
- “Bart After Dark”
- “A Milhouse Divided”
- “Lisa’s Date with Density”
- “Hurricane Neddy”
- “El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)”
- “The Springfield Files”
- “The Twisted World of Marge Simpson”
- “Mountain of Madness”
- “Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious”
- “The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show”
- “Homer’s Phobia”
- “Brother from Another Series”
- “My Sister, My Sitter”
- “Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment”
- “Grade School Confidential”
- “The Canine Mutiny”
- “The Old Man and the Lisa”
- “In Marge We Trust”
- “Homer’s Enemy”
- “The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase”