Emmys' Most-Winningest Best Comedy Serieses

Cheers

don't hate any of these except Raymond, probly gonna vote for Taxi or Cheers

all of these except Raymond range from very good to incredible

well okay Will & Grace was not "very good" by the end (he says charitably)

shortlist: Frasier, Cheers, Taxi, 30 Rock
honorable mention: MTM

Didn't realize 30 Rock had actually won that many

Could almost be convinced to throw a vote W&G's way simply by virtue of it escaping the "nuclear family or workplace" template that Emmy has firmly established as the only acceptable backdrop for a comedy series.

I am kind of amazed that Friends and Seinfeld aren't on this list tbh
(less surprised at the lack of The Cosby Show)

GOOD
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Cheers
All in the Family
Taxi

MEH
Frasier
Murphy Brown
30 Rock
Will & Grace

NOT A FAN
Modern Family
Everybody Loves Raymond

virtual tie btwn AitF and MTM, followed by Cheers, Taxi, didn't watch

I haven't ever seen Modern Family, but the title is so bland that I have trouble registering it as an actual show.

Surprised you guys like Will & Grace so much, I always found it pretty unwatchable
That said Modern Family and Raymond had their moments

W&G was frequently embarrassing, but I yield it had "its place" getting us to better things like ... oh, right, Modern Family.

Never mind.

AITF and Taxi slightly higher than MTM and Cheers

network TV leading the way to replace queers with gays

I recognize All In The Family as an important, groundbreaking show but when I watch back old episodes, I really can't get behind lovably cantankerous racist Archie Bunker. Even though the show is ostensibly about the deflation of his prejudices, living in a world where his viewpoint is still alive and thriving makes the deflations feel hollow and the recognition of his humanity comes across sometimes as excusing his bigotry.

Obviously this is my baggage but it's why I'd never rank the show as one of the best comedies ever.

That tendency seemed to get aggravating mostly after the first three seasons (perhaps because if the guy didn't "mellow," or be PERCEIVED as mellowing or growing, they were worried about losing the audience).

By the time it turned into Archie Bunker's Place he was standing up to de facto klansmen, raising a Jewish girl, etc.

I think my grandfather _was_ Archie Bunker, DJP, so I can understand

I think you'd be pretty hard pressed to say the show excuses his bigotry, any more than you could hardly say it advances Meathead's ideology.

It's nice that you think that.

Also Morbs, I know his character changed over the course of the show but syndication shows them out of sequence (and NEVER shows "Archie Bunker's Place") so the modern effect on me is the equivalent of getting 30 minutes of "remember when racism was delightful?"

the UK original of AitF, Til Death Us Do Part was certainly not recognized as satire by a part of its audience

That said, more than a few episodes have had me wondering why Edith didn't just up and leave him.

(Also, lost count of how many episodes have him dropping the "fag" bomb. Whereas in the ep where George Jefferson drops the racial equivalent, he marvels "I stopped using that word a couple years ago.")

voted taxi

i have enough of a Megan Mullally crush to consider voting W&G tbh

why Edith didn't just up and leave him

There's one of those TV Academy interviews where Jean Stapleton is listing Edith's virtues but interjects, as an aside, "not bright."

any more than you could hardly say it advances Meathead's ideology.

This changed too. When the show is establishing its agenda early on, Meathead is often a mouthpiece for Norman Lear, esp in the Archie-Mike political donnybrooks. Then they started to mock his hippie leftism as well (his support for Eldridge Cleaver for president in a flashback episode).

I dunno, all the big laughs I remember from the show were directed AT A.B., so I didn't see it painting racism as delightful.

Even with Norman Lear's intentions, the show has the same effect that "edgy" racist comedy has today, it ends up being a lousy excuse to perpetuate hateful stereotypes in a shroud of self-awareness. I don't know what it felt like watching it when it was airing live but watching it today... pretty cringeworthy, just like all the gay stuff in Three's Company

I don't know that AB's bigotry was meant to be delightful, but it did come across as pretty harmless especially the longer the show went on. I would have to watch the show again but I think there may have been some false equivalence with regard to George Jefferson, Mike etc. And it always seemed like Edith was meant to be the best of people, despite not being bothered or even really taking note of her husband's prejudices.

I'll reiterate: I get why the show is good and I think it was very important to my parents. It's pretty emphatically not for me, particularly with how it's currently played in syndication.

This would be a fairly close raise between MTM, Cheers and Taxi for me. Probably Cheers.

Cheers

I think there may have been some false equivalence with regard to George Jefferson, Mike etc.

Right, which is half of why liberals tended to hate Meathead's character more than Archie's. (The other half is that they only saw one of them as a cartoon.)

pretty cringeworthy, just like all the gay stuff in Three's Company

Just like all the gay stuff in W&G tbh.

ha, I actually prefer Three's Company by a mile, just had to roll my eyes whenever the landlord came in to make a crack about fairies

what kind of person lets their father in law call them "meathead"?

pref to "you dumb Polack" perhaps

I think Norman Lear's father called him Meathead (and was a prime model for Archie).

m*a*s*h got one less than raymond

Easy vote for Cheers. 30 Rock is rad too. Haven't really seen much of Taxi or Murphy Brown. Have no interest at all in All in the Family, seems totally outdated. The rest are fine.

btw Nhex, I think people did cringe at some of the dialogue in 1971, and that was by design. Satire is sposed to be uncomfortable.

oh "dated" again

between the shows i've seen very little of and the shows i've seen little of in recent years, i can't bring myself to vote

probably been more than 15 years since i've seen a full episode of murphy brown, all in the family or taxi, i bought a bunch of seasons of mtm for my wife a few christmases ago but i've only seen like 5 episodes, probably only seen 5 episodes of frasier too

cheers was my gut pick but i've only revisited the first two seasons of late, dunno how the rebecca years hold up

These exchanges are pretty clearly meant to deflate/mock AB's attitudes, a long way from the 'gay stuff' in Three's Company iirch:
http://youtu.be/e9aR4b14tqA?t=9m41s
http://youtu.be/e9aR4b14tqA?t=18m30s

thank you for AllInTheFamilysplaining to me

Wasn't directed at you

I've been watching a bit of Modern Family at dinner lately. Is it just me or does this show really extend out the reconciliation/making-up scenes? They take up practically the whole third act, and there are invariably at least three separate conflicts that need to be resolved.

Oh, I guess the "deflation" comment was yours so maybe it was in part. Sorry if the tone came off wrong, I guess.
xpost

Was mostly responding to Nhex though

apparently, I can't watch those clips in the US anyway....
i never got the sense that the studio audience was "in" on the satire, but tbf I haven't seen the show in a very long time.
xp jmm - absolutely, the show revels in sentimentality (not a knock)

man "Archie Bunker's Place" has vanished, hasn't it? I remember it as the lead in to "The Jeffersons" on Sunday nights in '80 or '81 and thinking it was a snore.

ALF wuz robbed.

One thing I did like about ELR is that it turned the children into almost invisible characters unlike most family sitcoms. It was all about the adults, it was well written and everybody in the cast except for Ray Romano and Brad Garrett was actually pleasant to watch.

Modern Family goes OTT with the sentimentality because of how pointed the relationships become; the show wants to derive humor from conflict and misunderstanding (and goofy situations) but not to the point where the family seems like it's going to implode/break apart. The closest they've gotten has been the Jay/Mitchell relationship.

Also I may be alone here but the kids on Modern Family are hysterical.

I've only seen a handful of Modern Family episodes, but it just smells of taking things like Arrested Development, The Office, Parks & Rec, etc and rubbing all the pointy edges off so boomers won't cut themselves on it.

That's otm. Also, every single episode has one of the characters getting into a minor car accident, for some reason.

Eh, it's using the documentary style but it's not really going after the same wacky/satirical territory so much as refreshing the "big house" family sitcom, a mission accomplished. The cast is really good all around.

Out of this list, Murphy Brown seems the most like the highly acclaimed (and watched) sitcom that time completely forgot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Musical_Man

This was the episode of Modern Family that made me start watching the show; I don't think I'd agree with the idea that the big lols here have the pointedness rubbed off of them.

Most of the friends who still watch sitcoms love "Modern Family." None of them are gay.

I just watched the Fitzbo episode. Was quite good. What other episodes is worth checking out? The idea that Modern Family belongs in the same pantheon as... well, ok, Frasier. Huh. Emmys are stupid, huh?

i never got the sense that the studio audience was "in" on the satire

MIKE: So now you're going to tell me the black man has just as much chance as the white man to get a job?
ARCHIE: More, he has more... I didn't have no million people marchin' and protestin' to get me my job.
EDITH: No, his uncle got it for him.

[huge laugh]

Modern Family goes OTT with the sentimentality because of how pointed the relationships become; the show wants to derive humor from conflict and misunderstanding (and goofy situations) but not to the point where the family seems like it's going to implode/break apart. The closest they've gotten has been the Jay/Mitchell relationship.

This sounds EXACTLY like every episode of Everybody Loves Raymond (a terrible show) I've ever seen.

This reminds me that I finally found an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond that I thought was hilarious, where the conflict started because Ray was telling his friends that he could call Debra anything and get away with it if it was in a playful tone; the degree to which that crashed and burned was kind of amazing and hilarious.

ELR's primary takeaway for me was in feeling really, really sorry for straight people.

Cheers, I guess. I like MTM but haven't really seen enough of it.
Murphy Brown is the one I watched when it originally aired but don't think I've seen since. I am thinking now it would seem pretty dated and obvious?
I've tried to watch Modern Family a few times but didn't find it engaging.

i have a feeling the 'best' is prob MTM, but i haven't really watched it in two decades so i'll go with 30 rock.

AITF seems very very different from anything else here, and not just because the themes are different. the vibe is really unsettling. most beloved sitcoms tend to have a kind of placid, comfortable atmosphere to them, but here it feels like all of the characters are constantly either screaming at each other, storming off in disgust, or dissolving into hysterics. must have been all the more shocking coming at the end of a decade of sitcoms about wisecracking witches and talking horses (tho tbh if i have to watch a sitcom i'd rather watch one from that era than most of these).

what amazes me about ELR is how something can be so bleak and mean-spirited and still be so completely unfunny

it feels like all of the characters are constantly either screaming at each other, storming off in disgust, or dissolving into hysterics

It's set in Queens.

ZING!

I feel weird sticking up here for Everybody Loves Raymond, surely one of the most popular sitcoms ever, but within its bitterness there's something surprisingly real in it, and it was often funny. It IS a broad farce, but I'd be lying if I didn't see a lot of recognizable humanity. It does deserve to be above the pack of standard family sitcoms.

ELR's primary takeaway for me was in feeling really, really sorry for straight people.

For a couple years there my sister had syndicated ELR reruns on every time I visited, and it was fucking hell imho. Couldn't make it through 10 mins.

Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts were the glue of the show, and could've anchored it with any other surrounding cast.

Primo "Meathead as dolt" episode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clFl59-zArk

I haven't watched All in the Family for a long time--it probably hasn't been in network syndication here for at least 25 years. (I'd happily buy a box of the complete series if I found one cheap enough.) So even though that might be the right answer for me, I'll go with MTM, which I've watched recently.

Larry Sanders (3 Emmys) over all of them.

Despite AITF feeling like the only show here with "import" (for better and def worse), I'm pretty sure I'll end up voting Taxi.

Larry Sanders (3 Emmys) over all of them.

Without a doubt.

Larry Sanders (3 Emmys) over all of them.

Without a doubt.

― Coarse Apple Slaw (Old Lunch), Monday, September 8, 2014 10:44 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Thirded.

Hell, Dave Coulier's Out of Control over at least half of them.

Despite AITF feeling like the only show here with "import" (for better and def worse),

yes, we know you like totally meaningless art.

I don't like you, you meaningless fart.

damn, you've been stealing snappy patter from Hawks films!

also: stifle.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Hahahahaha.

No.