Seinfeld and The Simpsons are both great, and either one can be called the best comedy. As long as someone doesn't pick Friends.
Has there ever been anything like The Simpsons, where a recommendation to watch the show really means a recommendation to watch about 1/3 of it?
i feel like this happens with most sitcoms. no one is recommending people to watch season eight of how i met your mother.
Yeah but none of those live action sitcoms are on the air for 30 years. I have no idea when the Simpsons or Family Guy will end
Everybody loves Raymond is great. I also have a soft spot for king of queens but I know that’s not in the conversation. It just cracks me up.
The closest comparison I can think of is to musicians and bands. The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan might still write and perform but very few people are going to cite the music they have made for several decades as being their high point.
there’s no incentive for them to end. they can continue even when groening passes. it’s just an apparatus at this point
I've become such a huge fan of Curb in the last few years with multiple watch-throughs but I've never seen more than like 3 episodes of Seinfeld. I really need to do a full watch of that show at some point
i guess it is technically speaking a “sitcom,” just not in the same traditional sense as all the other shows mentioned here
If you like Curb I think you'd really enjoy a full watch of Seinfeld. I think I remember reading that during the production of Schindler's List Steven Spielberg watched Seinfeld religiously to get through the shoot. It's a show that has a consistent amount of good material. It doesn't really have a slump anywhere. This would probably be high on my list as well. Some of the episodes are both funny, emotional and send important messages without seeming preachy. It's very well done. I think the episodes where Carlton loses his virginity and when they get pulled over by the cops for their race are stand out episodes to me.
I really don't see the need to differentiate types of comedies, multi-camera or single-camera, and what is or isn't a sitcom. Comedies are fine to compare against each other, while dramas fall in their own category. The Larry Sanders show is great as well. All three shows had a level of cynicism that wasn't seen in television often. Hank and Artie are such terrific characters.