“Rolling Stone” has put out a list of the 100 Best Sitcoms of All Time.
For starters, they had to DEFINE a sitcom. They eliminated sketch shows like “SNL”, and hour-long comedy-dramas like “Freaks and Geeks”. And even some shorter shows like “The Wonder Years” was cut for being too dramatic.
They were looking for “a consistent group of characters and settings” . . . and considered both how funny they were, and also how much they influenced other shows.
Here’s the Top 20:7:00 a
1. “The Simpsons”, Fox, 1989-Present
2. “Cheers”, NBC, 1982-1993
3. “Seinfeld”, NBC, 1989-1998
4. “I Love Lucy”, CBS, 1951-1957
5. “All in the Family”, CBS, 1971-1979
6. “M*A*S*H”, CBS, 1972-1983
7. “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”, CBS, 1970-1977
8. “The Honeymooners”, CBS, 1955-1956
9. “Parks and Recreation”, NBC, 2009-2015
10. “The Larry Sanders Show”, HBO, 1992-1998
11. “The Dick Van Dyke Show”, CBS, 1961-1966
12. “Curb Your Enthusiasm”, HBO, 2000-Present
13. “Frasier”, NBC, 1993-2004
14. “The Andy Griffith Show”, CBS, 1960-1968
15. “Arrested Development”, Fox, 2003-2006 and Netflix, 2013-2019
16. “The Cosby Show”, NBC, 1984-1992
17. “Taxi”, ABC / NBC, 1978-1983
18. “30 Rock”, NBC, 2006-2013
19. “Roseanne”, ABC, 1988-1997
20. “BoJack Horseman”, Netflix, 2014-2020
(Hit up RollingStone.com to see the full Top 100.)