[Craig Bezom]

A few of my friends were arguing over what is the best sitcom ever. It was a no-brainer for me, Seinfeld. He went with MASH which I always thought was a little overrated. Any thoughts out there? Remember, its best, not your favorite. Thanks.

[griswold]

As a pure sitcom, Seinfield has to be one of the best.

IMHO, I don't think you can compare MASH to Seinfield for the very reason that MASH really wasn't a sitcom.

WAY too much drama in that show. The laughs made it a great show to watch...but a sitcom, don't agree.

Just to throw out my favorite though...SOAP...sitcom from the 70's...absolutely hilarious in it's time!!!

Hey, just clicking my fingers so I disappear.

Griswold

[Catfishkid]

Seinfeld, hands down.

There are so many quotes used in everyday life that come from that show.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that."

"Yada, yada, yada." etc.

I think what made Seinfeld and for that matter, MASH so popular was they would go up to and sometimes over the line, of what had been done before. When MASH killed off Henry Blake, that was stunning, now everybody does it. Before then, they just switched husbands or children or something and pretended that nothing was different. Seinfeld did a show about masturbation, virginity, homosexuality, etc. Having a whole show done in the waiting room of a Chinese Restuarant, was brilliant. Ah, I guess I've gone on long enough.

[Moonlight J]

yea, Seinfeld was freaking awesome.

My current favorite is That 70's Show

[B-Fly]

I'd have to go with Seinfeld, too, although I was watching my complete boxed-set DVDs of Sports Night, and that was a really well-scripted show with some great performances. It's a shame it never caught on with a big enough audience. There's not a single sitcom on now that I watch.

[Bazkar44]

Definitely Seinfeld.

Baz

[friarfan]

I gotta go with Seinfeld as well. Too many classic episodes to mention. Here's my list:

1. Seinfeld
2. Cheers
3. Cosby Show (might be corny and the show ran longer than it should've, but still a classic)
4. Three's Company (Come and knock on our door...)
5. King of Queens

Probably leaving a few off, but these are the first ones that come to mind

[Pogues]

Best ever?? Seinfeld? Ah no. Way up there, but not best ever.

M*A*S*H is the top sitcom ever, but for those who say it's not...


Cheers
Cosby Show
then Seinfeld

Favorites were Night Court and Drew Carey Show, though Herman's Head on Fox was the best that didn't make it.

Best episode ever came out of WKRP in Cincinnati, which Fever and Venus were "proving" alcohol slows down reaction times while Les, Herb, and the other chick (not Jennifer) were busy getting arrested for fighting in the men's room with the pig from WPIG.

Anyhow, Seinfeld still glows so strong because of it is the most recent of the greats. I think the lustre will fade with the next great sitcom.

As for on TV now, the only one that could reach greatness is Everybody Loves Raymond.

[Igor]

No love for "All in the Family"?????????

[Funkley]

Seinfeld
Simpsons
All In The Family
Cheers
MASH

Honorable Mention:
Soap
The Dick Van Dyke Show (Loved Laura Petry)
WKRP
Bob Newhart Show (original)
Everybody Loves Ray
Andy Griffith Show

[BuckyBuckner]

Sitcom or no sitcom, MASH is the best TV show ever. Sienfeld is great though. But it's probably no 3 or 4. The Simpsons being no 2. Sienfeld was too one dimentional, it was only funny. Granted it was hysterically funny but MASH and even The Simpsons to a lesser extent made you feel different emmotions. Whenever something bad happened to a character on Sienfeld it was funny. We laughed at their pain, not that there's anything wrong with that.

[Pogues]

Wow...how could I miss the Simpsons!

All in the Family, though not anything close to a favorite of mine, should get some accolades.

As a postscript, I found a great way to annoy people. Repeatedly hum or whatever you can do the Sanford and Son theme song.

Another for a top 20 list would be Happy Days. Any show that can have *3* spinoff sitcoms has to be worth something!

[pjs24]

Is MASH even a sitcom? I would say no. I do rate Seinfeld #1 easily.

Simpsons gets heavy consideration but it's NASDAQ-like dropoff of the past 3-4 seasons really hurts it, IMO. It just went to pure **** and it was so sad to see.

[Craig Bezom]

What did Newman call broccoli?

[pjs24]

Wrong thread Craig, but he dubs it a vile weed.

Originally posted by B-Fly
I'd have to go with Seinfeld, too, although I was watching my complete boxed-set DVDs of Sports Night, and that was a really well-scripted show with some great performances. It's a shame it never caught on with a big enough audience. There's not a single sitcom on now that I watch.

I always thought Sports Night's writing was its downfall. The actors were plenty good and it was a good concept, but it was just never quite right. I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did.

[pjs24]

Two Guys and a Girl, along with Sports Night are two shows I'm surprised got cancelled.

[Funkley]

Originally posted by pjs24
Two Guys and a Girl

My wife loved that show. It grew on me but it's a lot better than many shows that made it somehow.

[The Dane]

I Love Lucy
All in the Family
Simpsons (if you consider it a sit-com)
MASH
The Honeymooners

In my opinion, Seinfeld is not even in the top five. I think it is the most overrated show in television history. It had its moments, but a lot of it was just television pablum. Seinfeld broke no barrriers, changed nothing. The five I listed above all changed the face of television.

[pjs24]

Originally posted by Funkley
My wife loved that show. It grew on me but it's a lot better than many shows that made it somehow.

Ryan Reynolds is hilarious. There's some complete garbage on the air these days, but a quality little show like that gets canned? I don't get it.