That was the premise of Mary Kate and Johnny, a 15-minute situation comedy (later bumped up to 30 minutes) that premiered on the DuMont Television Network in 1947. The real-life Stearnses, who played fictional versions of themselves, didn’t realize it at the time, but they were creating a new genre that would change the medium forever—and provide infinite joy to TV watchers all over the world. Indeed, after 75 years, it’s still a great feeling to sit back and be entertained by characters hilariously trying to get through life in their workplaces, at home and in the great beyond (shout out to The Good Place!). Unlike heavy serial dramas, “each sitcom episode is like a piece of chocolate in that you know what you’re getting, and it goes down easy,” says David Bianculli, the TV critic of NPR’s Fresh Air With Terry Gross and author of the 2016 book The Platinum Age of Television. And especially during such chaotic times, Bianculli adds, “It’s comforting to spend some time with these people [who make us] feel better and reassured.” To celebrate the big 75-year anniversary, we salute some of our favorite sitcoms. Cue the applause sign!
The 30 Best Sitcoms
1. I Love Lucy
CBS, 1951–57; watch on Hulu & MeTV Middle-class housewife Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball) dotes on her bandleader husband Ricky (Desi Arnaz) and gets into endless misadventures with her best friends, Ethel and Fred Mertz (Vivian Vance and William Frawley). Why It’s Golden: “At its core, it’s a show about unconditional love,” says Lucie Arnaz, 70, the daughter of Ball and Arnaz. “After you’ve laughed until you cried, you feel good watching someone who can screw up that bad and still get a hug. That kind of acceptance is what we all want out of life.” Did You Know? Little Ricky Ricardo, Lucy’s TV baby, and Desi Arnaz Jr., her real-life child, came into the world on the same day, Jan. 19, 1953. And while Lucy’s cesarean section was scheduled, the couple didn’t know the gender of their child until birth. (Arnaz confirms that her dad called the head writer to exclaim, “Lucy followed your script!”) A record-breaking 71.7 percent of American televisions were tuned in that Monday night to see the new Ricardo baby. Famous Quote: “Lucy, I’m home!” (Ricky Ricardo, who later took to saying “Honey, I’m home!”) Excellent Episode: In “Lucy’s Italian Movie,” everyone’s favorite redhead is overseas and set to star in a movie called Bitter Grapes. Thinking that winemaking will be involved, she heads to a vineyard and helps by stomping grapes in a vat—and getting into a messy spat. “She was game for it because she saw the comedy in the situation,” Arnaz says.
2. The Honeymooners
CBS, 1955–56; watch on Prime Video Poor Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) is a perpetually frustrated New York City bus driver living with his wife, Alice (Audrey Meadows), in a small Brooklyn apartment. Why It’s Golden: Despite a lack of glamour and the irony of its title, “there’s an awful lot of love in that show,” Bianculli says. “We’re also talking about television comedy that was impeccably performed [in front of a live audience].” Did You Know? Gleason originally declared Meadows was too young and pretty to play his blue-collar wife. She went home, removed her makeup and put on a house dress, then messengered the photos of her new look to the star. He reportedly declared, “That’s Alice!” without realizing the two had already met. Famous Quote: “You’re a riot, Alice. You’re a regular riot. I hope they like those jokes on the moon, ’cause that’s where you’re goin’!” (Ralph Kramden) Excellent Episode: “The Man from Space,” in which Ralph, hoping to win the costume contest at the Raccoon Lodge, takes matters into his own hands and builds a suit out of household items to look like a spaceman.
3. The Dick Van Dyke Show
CBS, 1961–66; watch on Decades, Peacock and Prime Video Affable Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke) struggles to juggle suburban home life with wife Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) and his job as a writer for a TV variety show. Why It’s Golden: As Van Dyke told Parade in 2018, “Everybody’s trying to do entertainment that tells it like it is; I liked to do entertainment that tells how it ought to be.” He added that he refused to do other sitcoms without the participation of the show’s creator and co-star, Carl Reiner. Did You Know? CBS planned to cancel the show after its first season because of low ratings, prompting producer Danny Thomas to personally plead with network executives for a change of heart. They reconsidered and it soon picked up a fan base via summer reruns. Famous Quote: “At least I’ll prove one thing tonight: Television writers marry the prettiest girls.” (Rob Petrie) Excellent Episode: For the flashback “That’s My Boy?” Rob recalls the time he became convinced that he and Laura were given the wrong baby to take home from the hospital following Ritchie’s birth. His neuroses culminate in a twist ending that still tickles today.
4. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
CBS, 1970–77; watch on Hulu & Decades On the heels of a broken engagement, spunky Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) moves to Minneapolis and takes a job as an associate producer at a local TV news station. She quickly becomes the voice of reason among the wacky staff. Why It’s Golden: For a sea change in TV land, “Mary was proud of her independence as a single woman and of her job,” says Bianculli. And the ensemble, which included Ed Asner, Ted Knight, Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman and Betty White, “was brilliant.” Did You Know? The show’s creative team envisioned Mary as a woman newly dumped by her husband. But CBS network researchers warned series co-creator Allan Burns that mainstream audiences would never accept a divorced woman as a TV heroine in their living rooms. Famous Quote: “I’m an experienced woman. I’ve been around. Well, all right, I might not have been around, but I’ve been…nearby." (Mary Richards) Excellent Episode: Long live “Chuckles Bites the Dust”! Mary is outraged by all the jokes surrounding the death of Chuckles the Clown during a circus parade. That is, until she attends his funeral.
5. All in the Family
CBS, 1971–79; watch on Hulu and Prime Video In Queens, New York, bigoted working-class Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor) was constantly up in arms over his “dingbat” wife, Edith (Jean Stapleton), rebellious daughter, Gloria (Sally Struthers), and her husband, Mike (Rob Reiner), whom he nicknamed “Meathead.” Why It’s Golden: “All the subjects we explored and parsed on the show are still relevant today,” says Struthers, 74, noting that the show addressed such controversial topics as race relations, politics, capital punishment, ethnic stereotypes, women’s rights and even rape. “Unfortunately, regarding the issues of the 1970s, the needle hasn’t moved very much.” Did You Know? Despite a disclaimer posted prior to the first episode, CBS hired extra operators at the network’s switchboard in anticipation of a barrage of outraged callers. Much to their surprise, executives and the show’s executive producer Norman Lear were shocked that Americans embraced the character of Archie Bunker. “Archie was both a flawed and loveable character,” says Struthers, “and we all have someone like that in our family.” Famous Quote: “Let me tell you something, Mr. Stivic. You are a meathead. As in, meathead, dead from the neck up.” (Archie Bunker) Excellent Episode: In the iconic “Sammy’s Visit,” while moonlighting as a cab driver, Archie discovers that entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. left a briefcase in the back seat. The star comes to the Bunker house to pick it up and poses for a photo—then plants a big kiss on Archie’s cheek just as the camera shutter goes off, capturing a groundbreaking TV image of a Black man kissing a surprised white “bigot.” “That moment became the longest laugh in the history of the sitcom!” says Struthers. P.S. The smooch was O’Connor’s idea!
6. Cheers
NBC, 1982–93; watch on Hulu, Peacock and Paramount+ At a Boston watering hole where everybody knows your name, the staff—including a Red Sox pitcher turned bartender (Ted Danson) and his barmaid love (Shelley Long)—and regular customers bond. Why It’s Golden: “It showed that anybody can come into this bar and be your family,” Bianculli says. And Danson’s Sam Malone character “is this perfect everyman. There’s nobody who can’t relate to him.” Did You Know? Though the bar on the Hollywood set was functional, the cast didn’t consume real alcohol. Instead, they drank “near beer,” a weakened strain of ale mixed with a bit of salt to keep a sudsy head on the glass. Famous Quote: “It’s a dog-eat-dog world, Sammy, and I’m wearing Milk Bone underwear.” (Bar patron Norm, played by George Wendt) Excellent Episode: What happens when the rowdy gang are invited to spend Turkey Day together? An epic food fight at the dinner table, as seen in “Thanksgiving Orphans.”
7. The Simpsons
Fox, 1989– ; watch on Disney+ The groundbreaking, historically long-running animated series, which started as a reoccurring short on Tracey Ullman’s sketch show, is a satirical depiction of suburban America life as epitomized by the eponymous (and never-aging) family—Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. Why It’s Golden: With more than 725 episodes on the air and counting, the show continues to roll in the “d’oh!” because of its “singularly brilliant and outrageous writing,” Bianculli says. Did You Know? An episode during the fourth season featured guest-star Elizabeth Taylor voicing baby Maggie’s first and only spoken word to date: “Daddy.” Famous Quote: “Don’t have a cow, man!” (Bart Simpson) Excellent Episode: In 1993, a young Conan O’Brien scripted “Marge vs. the Monorail,” which depicts the rise and fall of a monorail system in the family’s hometown of Springfield. The story and music were loosely based on The Music Man.
8. Seinfeld
NBC, 1989–98; watch on Netflix In a word, the show was about “nothing.” But Seinfeld was indeed something as it chronicled the anxieties, absurdities and “meaningless” minutiae of the 1990s through the intersecting lives of four single and self-absorbed friends in New York City. Why It’s Golden: Co-creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David conceived episodes as simple in concept yet intricate in execution, with hilariously interconnected subplots in each episode. “We just shut the door and wrote,” Seinfeld told Parade in 2020. “I think if you asked me why the show was successful, it’s because each episode was so tight.” Did You Know? As seen in the pilot, the main female character was supposed to be a waitress at the coffee shop offering advice to Jerry and George (Jason Alexander). But Seinfeld and David didn’t like the concept and decided to instead give them a female friend: Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Famous Quote: “No soup for you!” (The “Soup Nazi,” played by Larry Thomas) Excellent Episode: Seinfeld says he’s still most proud of “The Contest,” in which the pals make a wager to see who can go the longest without pleasuring themselves—and the show flies under the radar of network censors by avoiding any mention of the word “masturbation.” “I remember Larry suggesting it and I said, ‘Yeah, fine,’” he recalls. “I didn’t think it was risqué.”
9. The Office
NBC, 2005–13; watch on Peacock An adaptation of a BBC series, the mockumentary-style comedy chronicles the staff at the Dunder Mifflin paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Their boss? The ever-beleaguered Michael Scott (Steve Carell). Why It’s Golden: “It’s a workplace comedy where everybody recognizes these exaggerated characters that were humanized over time,” Bianculli says. Plus, the show’s parody documentary format has been copied many times. Did You Know? When it came to the show’s opening theme music, series creator Greg Daniels played four versions of the song to the cast and let them vote. The winner came from a demo by composer Jay Ferguson and was then re-recorded by musician Bob Thiele Jr. and a group later dubbed the Scrantones. Famous Quote: “That’s what she said!” (Michael Scott). Excellent Episode: “The Dinner Party” is set out of the office, as Michael invites a few staffers to his condo for a couples-only evening. Excruciating hilarity ensues, including toxic bickering between the host and his girlfriend, Jan (Melora Hardin).
10. Schitt’s Creek
Pop TV, 2015–20; watch on Netflix After losing their fortune, the wealthy Roses—played by Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara—and their two spoiled adult kids are forced to move to their only remaining asset: a nowhere town called Schitt’s Creek. Why It’s Golden: Though the characters were cartoonish at the start, “by the time the series was over, everybody was tenderized and nobody got left behind,” says Bianculli. The Canadian-produced show also popped significantly during the height of the pandemic, sweeping the Emmys’ comedy categories in the fall of 2020. Did You Know? Because the Roses lost their money (and the show was on a tight budget), writer, co-producer and co-star Dan Levy (David) has said that most of the Roses’ wardrobe was purchased from eBay and various thrift shops. The most he would pay for an item: $200. Famous Quote: “I don’t skate through life, David. I walk through life in really nice shoes.” (Alexis Rose, played by Annie Murphy) Excellent Episode: The best for last! In the series finale “Happy Ending,” David stresses to the max on his wedding day to Patrick (Noah Reid).
11. The Bob Newhart Show
CBS, 1972–78; watch on Decades Chicago psychiatrist Bob Hartley (Bob Newhart) is the “straight man” in a comedic swirl with his sarcastic wife, Emily (Suzanne Pleshette), the office-place secretary (Marcia Wallace) he shares with a dentist (Peter Bonerz) and a group of colorful recurring characters. Why It’s Golden: The sitcom facilitated Newhart’s transition from stand-up comedy to TV and spawned numerous spinoff appearances for its characters in other shows—including Murphy Brown, Saturday Night Live and St. Elsewhere. Newhart went on to launch another successful sitcom, starring as Vermont innkeeper Dick Louden in Newhart (1982–90). Did You Know? Suzanne Pleshette was cast as Newhart’s co-star after producers saw them seated side-by-side on The Tonight Show and felt their chemistry. Famous Quote: “I won’t say I hate it; it’s just alien to anything I’ve ever liked before.” (Bob Hartley) Excellent Episode: In “Over the River and Through the Woods,” Emily is out of town for Thanksgiving, so Bob invites his buds over to watch football, hang out, get drunk and drown their misery.
12. Leave It to Beaver
CBS and ABC, 1957–63; watch on Peacock & MeTV A quintessential wholesome comedy, Leave It to Beaver revolved around the Cleaver family as seen through the eyes of its inquisitive youngest member, Theodore (Jerry Mathers), nicknamed “the Beaver.” Mathers charmed producers when he wore his cub scout uniform to his audition.
13. The Andy Griffith Show
CBS, 1960–68; watch on Philo & MeTV On The Andy Griffith Show, sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) spent most of his time calming down his deputy (Don Knotts) in the sleepy North Carolina town of Mayberry. Among the guest stars on the show were Jack Nicholson (twice) and Barbara Eden.
14. The Odd Couple
ABC, 1970–75; watch on Hulu The Odd Couple, adapted from Neil Simon’s hit Broadway play and film, starred Tony Randall (Felix) and Jack Klugman (Oscar) as divorced friends who learn to live together despite their differences. Mickey Rooney as Oscar the slob? That’s who Randall wanted, but producer Gary Marshall opted for Klugman.
15. MAS*H
CBS, 1972–83; watch on Hulu & MeTV In the small-screen version of MAS*H, the staff at an Army hospital—led by Alan Alda’s wisecracking surgeon Hawkeye Pierce—learns during the Korean War that laughter is the best medicine.
16. The Jeffersons
CBS, 1975–85; watch on Prime Video George Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley) and wife Louise (Isabel Sanford), whom George called Weezy, moved on up to the East Side in The Jeffersons. It was one of the first TV series to feature an interracial couple, neighbors Tom (Franklin Cover) and Helen (Roxie Roker). When Hemsley and Sanford reprised their characters on a 1995 episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, we found out that Weezy was sensitive about her nickname because of her asthma.
17. Three’s Company
ABC, 1976–84; watch on DirecTV John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt and Suzanne Somers were platonic roommates that romped around their apartment, much to their landlord’s chagrin, in the slapsticky Three’s Company.
18. The Golden Girls
NBC, 1985–92; watch on Hulu Thank you to Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty for providing biting jokes galore as Miami roommates of a certain age in The Golden Girls. The show had tons of guests who were big stars, including Leslie Nielsen (as Lucas Hollingsworth) who married Dorothy (Arthur) in the finale.
19. Friends
NBC, 1994–2004; watch on HBO Max Jennifer Aniston. Courteney Cox. Lisa Kudrow. Matt LeBlanc. Matthew Perry. David Schwimmer. Central Perk. The Monkey. “How you doin’?” Yes, we’ll always love our Friends. Best laugh: the season five episode where Ross yells “Pivot!” while trying to get a too-large couch up the apartment steps.
20. Black-ish
ABC, 2014–22; watch on Hulu Anthony Anderson as Dre and Tracee Ellis Ross as Rainbow examined their cultural identities while raising five kids in a predominantly white upper-middle-class neighborhood on Black-ish. Who on the show has famous parents in real life? That would be both Ross (Diana Ross) and Rashida Jones (Quincy Jones and Peggy Lipton), who plays her sister.
21. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
FX, 2005– ; watch on FX It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, about pals running a pub in you-know-where. Starring Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney and Danny DeVito, the show recently topped The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet as the longest-running live-action sitcom.
22. New Girl
Fox, 2011-18; watch on Netflix Quirky characters are on full display in this heartwarming comedy starring Zooey Deschanel, Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield and more. All seven seasons/146 episodes truly live up to the promotional tagline “simply adorkable.”
23. Modern Family
ABC, 2009-20; watch on Peacock Starring Sofía Vergara, Ed O’Neill, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Sarah Hyland and more, this sitcom follows three family set-ups in a mockumentary style with an emphasis on hilarious family dynamics/situations. Modern Family won a total of 22 out of 75 Emmy award nominations!
24. Everybody Loves Raymond
CBS, 1996-2005; watch on Peacock Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton, Brad Garrett, Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts brought the world of Raymond Barone to life with their characters’ hilarious rivalries, snark and sometimes-forced conversations. They filmed most of the popular show in front of a studio audience
25. 30 Rock
NBC, 2006-13; watch on Peacock Largely a parody on the corporate structure of media companies like NBC, 30 Rock is filled with outrageous characters while anchored by perfectly-cast leads Tina Fey (Liz Lemon) and Alec Baldwin (Jack Donaghy).
26. Parks and Recreation
NBC, 2009-15; watch on Peacock Amy Poehler completely shines as the organized, driven and wacky Leslie Knope in this political satire mockumentary-style sitcome. The cast that makes up a local Parks and Recreation Department (and their friends) includes Rashida Jones, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Nick Offerman, Adam Scott and more—so it’s no surprise that this ensemble comedy continues to be popular years after its final episode aired.
27. Freaks and Geeks
NBC, 1999-2000; watch on PlutoTV Although it only aired 12 episodes, this sitcom (set in a suburban high school setting in Detroit the early 1980s) gained a cult following and helped launch the careers of Seth Rogen, James Franco, Busy Philipps, Jason Segel and more.
28. The Good Place
NBC, 2016-20; watch on AppleTV Another winner from Michael Schur (along with The Office and Parks and Recreation), The Good Place stars Kristen Bell, William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil and more, with the premise of Eleanor Shellstrop (Bell) arriving in the afterlife and realizing things may not be what they seem.
29. Community
NBC, 2009-15; watch on Netflix Taking place at a community college in a fictional town, Joel McHale, Yvette Nicole Brown, Donald Glover, Alison Brie and more star in this sitcom. It has a cult-following largely due to its pop culture references and “meta-humor.”
30. Arrested Development
Fox, 2003-06 and Netflix, 2013-19; watch on Netflix This sitcom that follows the truly-dysfunctional Bluth family rewards its audience with running gags throughout the series. With a cast including Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett, Michael Cera and more, it’s no wonder Arrested Development is known as one of the greatest sitcoms of all time. Answers: Next, Sitcom Theme Songs: Some of the Greats
