OK, I'm trying to really make this into a legit list. (Did you now it would be the first TV list on the main site, other than Bruce's TV Themes list?) I'm up to 80, so there's room to add a bunch. I'm thinking of making Beulah #100 just as a shoutout/rib for Bones.

At the moment, I'm including animated sitcoms, but Lew isn't fond of the idea, so that may change.

What needs to be changed?

CRITERIA: “Sitcoms” are defined as half-hour programs (possibly with occasional special episodes of different length) where humor is a significant component. Programs are ranked on original popularity (meaning ratings during the show's original run), lasting popularity (for syndication and other later rebroadcasts, along with home video sales), acclaim, and influence.


1 I Love Lucy
2 All In the Family
3 M*A*S*H
4 The Honeymooners
5 Seinfeld
6 The Simpsons
7 Cheers
8 The Mary Tyler Moore Show
9 The Andy Griffith Show
10 The Beverly Hillbilies
11 The Cosby Show
12 Taxi
13 The Odd Couple
14 The Brady Bunch
15 Roseanne
16 The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet
17 Friends
18 Sanford & Son
19 Bewitched
20 The Office
21 Get Smart
22 Happy Days
23 Frasier
24 The Phil Silvers Show (aka You'll Never Get Rich, aka Sgt. Bilko)
25 Maude
26 The Big Bang Theory
27 The Dick Van Dyke Show
28 Murphy Brown
29 Modern Family
30 Gilligan's Island
31 The Wonder Years
32 Everybody Loves Raymond
33 Barney Miller
34 Make Room For Daddy/The Danny Thomas Show
35 Three's Company
36 Married...With Children
37 Newhart
38 Arrested Development
39 My Three Sons
40 The Flintstones
41 Leave It To Beaver
42 Two And A Half Men
43 The Life Of Riley
44 Home Improvement
45 Father Knows Best
46 30 Rock
47 The Golden Girls
48 The Monkees
49 South Park
50 Family Ties
51 The Jeffersons
52 Laverne & Shirley
53 Soap
54 The Bob Newhart Show
55 Family Matters
56 Rhoda
57 The Addams Family
58 Dennis The Menace
59 Sex & The City
60 Hogan's Heroes
61 The Munsters
62 I Dream Of Jeannie
63 Mad About You
64 Curb Your Enthusiasm
65 Hazel
66 WKRP In Cincinnati
67 Welcome Back, Kotter
68 Green Acres
69 Good Times
70 One Day At A Time
71 Will & Grace
72 Petticoat Junction
73 Chico & The Man
74 Sports Night
75 My Favorite Martian
76 The Patty Duke Show
77 How I Met Your Mother
78 The Partridge Family
79 The Donna Reed Show
80 Mr. Ed

Good job so far, Brett. If you do remove the animated entries, I'd at least consider relegating them to a sidebar list.

Also... Full House.

Well, Lew's point is that there's already a Greatest Cartoons list on the site that includes those. I'm thinking a sidebar list would be more duplicative, but we'll see.



Good call, that definitely beats some of the ones listed.

I think your top seven is impeccable. Not sure about the order, but those are all the right names.

Why? Initial popularity is, well, very good for basic cable, but nowhere near the big network shows, although it gets credit for lasting so long. Good acclaim, and some influence (but not a lot).



Original popularity is NOT high. It never did above #29 for a season in the ratings. Most of the shows on this list were in the top ten at some point. Yeah, it's probably more re-run now than any other show in the top ten besides the two you mention--but most of those shows are *decades* older. The fair comparision is to thirty years after they started, and most of these shows were still in good afternoon or evening slots on broadcast stations at that point, not early mornings on cable. So if you compare it, to, say, Three's Company above it, Three's Company kills it in original popularity--it was in the top ten for 6 years, including twice being number 2. MWC definitely wins influence, and probably acclaim (although MWC doesn't do all that well there), TC probably has a slight edge in lasting popularity, but the original popularity is the big difference.

Others have argued with me about MWC before, but I haven't seen anything that convinces me it does all that well.



I'll take a look at it. It'll probably make it.

this thread is the great disappointment of many a cinephile opening the oft-underrated general film section

Seriously, the most culturally impactful show of the last 15 years?

Well, cultural impact isn't really part of the critieria, but what do you mean? That is, in what ways do you think it has so much cultural impact? I'm not disagreeing, necessarily, just trying to evaluate what you mean by that.

South Park's initial popularity was considered enormous for its basic cable status. Its debut Neilsen ratings are artificially low because not as many providers carried the channel at the time. South Park changed that single-handedly. People who had access to the channel would throw huge parties and invite their friends to watch the show. It is the show that made Comedy Central what it is today.

Lots of cartoons were controversial before South Park, it just took it further then others. Good list btw, Brett, but I would say that Friends are bit too low and The Brady Bunch is bit too high.

Think of the flurry of acerbic, offensive, directly confrontational cartoons that have appeared all over the place since South Park debuted. Even Family Guy, which is ostensibly influenced by The Simpsons, owes something to South Park's innovation of M-rated and gross-out humor

"Controversial" is a very vague term that does not do the best job of describing what South Park was about. Mighty Mouse was extremely controversial, an I think the comparison between the two ends there.

is roseanne too high? would have thought friends would certainly be higher, and frasier - dominates in acclaim

Moved South Park up to #30 and added Family Guy at #77. Still have at least 17 slots left, so more suggestions welcome.

I'm planning to list the show's creator (or equivalent) and cast. Here's what it looks like for the top ten:

1 I Love Lucy CBS 1951-57 (EP: Desi Arnaz S: Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, William Frawley)
2 All In the Family CBS 1971-79 (C: Norman Lear S: Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Sally Struthers, Carl Reiner)
3 M*A*S*H CBS 1972-1983 (C: Larry Gelbart S: Alan Alda, MacLean Stevenson, Harry Morgan, Loretta Swit, Gary Burghoff)
4 The Honeymooners CBS 1955-56 (C: Jackie Gleason S: Jackie Gleason, Audrey Meadows, Art Carney, Joyce Randolph)
5 Seinfeld NBC 1989-98 (C: Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld S: Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards)
6 The Simpsons Fox 1989-present (C: Matt Groening V: Dan Castellanata, Julie Kavner, Lisa Cartwright, Yeardley Smith)
7 Cheers NBC 1982-1993 (C: James Burrows, Glen Charles, Les Charles S: Ted Danson, Shelley Long, Kristie Alley, Woody Harrelson)
8 The Mary Tyler Moore Show CBS 1970-77 (C: James L. Brooks, Allan Burns S: Mary Tyler Moore, Ed Asner, Gavin MacLeod, Ted Knight)
9 The Andy Griffith Show CBS 1960-68 (C: Aaron Ruben, Sheldon Leonard, Danny Thomas S: Andy Griffith, Don Knotts, Ron Howard, Frances Bavier)
10 The Beverly Hillbillies CBS 1962-71 (C: Paul Henning S: Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, Max Baer Jr.)

C being "creator" (or comparable credit such as "developed for television by"), EP for "Executive Producer" (should I just call Desi the creator?), S for "starring" and V for "voices" for animated shows.

Holy crap did CBS dominate old time TV. There are only two non-CBS shows, and those (and The Cosby Show, which is next) are later shows. For shows that launched by the early 70s, no one comes close to the "Tiffany Network".

Speaking of CBS, yes, the main characters of their biggest current hit are named in honor of the co-creator of The Andy Griffith Show (and a few other shows on the list).

Some noteworthy teen-oriented sitcoms: Saved by the Bell, Clarissa Explains It All, Kenan & Kel, and Blossom.

Oh, and if you are sticking with including animated sitcoms, then The Jetsons should probably be here, too.