Friends was also kind of progressive in that Phoebe Rachel and Monica all weren't judged for their sexuality and then obviously very problematic in other areas
It also had a gay couple that got the upper hand in basically every exchange. Susan absolutely owns Ross over and over again.
I feel like in seinfeld they don't start out as completely terrible people. Sort of unreasonably particular and argumentative but I presume they'll get worse as it goes on. But so far where im at in the show George is just like a Larry David carbon copy and not necessarily a horrible person, so the things that don't age well seem more blatant. They still seen like real people more than like... it's always sunny where it feels more blatantly satirical from the beginning But yeah I think it depends more on who the brunt of the joke is focused on and in sitcoms where the laugh track is played, when it's played. For example Frasier is my favorite sitcom of all time and Bulldog is a blatantly misogynistic character not painted as someone good and the show points that out, however they also play the laugh track when he's making sexist and racist jokes and that makes it feel like I'm still supposed to laugh at his horrible remarks sometimes and I'm like but maybe that's just me
The Seinfeld characters definitely do get more amoral and selfish over time. That is partly because no one else had ever really done what they had done. There is no It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia without Seinfeld.
the only thing about Always Sunny that really hasn't aged well is the Carmen storyline, like that's just them being transphobic not poking fun at these sociopaths
Wasn't the main overarching joke in the Carmen storyline about Mac having a chance to be in a happy normal queer relationship but sabotaging himself because of how closeted he still is?
Ok the episode where Jerry and George are looking at the 15 year olds cleavage and said you don't think of age when there's cleavage is a bit much. And it wasnt rly portrayed as super wrong. I don't hate the show at all but in this sensitive Sally's opinion it def has its problems
I think that first episode with Carmen was the genesis of that idea, and by the later episodes having to do with Carmen I think the "Mac is on the closet" thing was already either a thing or heavily implied.
The vast majority of newer comedy series are at best amusing, charming, have compelling storylines, and are good comfort tv, but I will be honest not a lot are very funny in terms of making me laugh. Bring back snappy laugh inducing joke writing in scripted comedies again.
this brings up a good question: what are the best sitcoms that have debuted in the last 3 years? I haven’t seen Abbot Elementary but I’m sure it’s up there. I would put The Other Two on there even though it debuted 4 years ago lol.
I like Abbott for the reasons I listed. Good show, but I think I might have laughed at it maybe once or twice. I rewatched the first few seasons of The Office recently and I was literally crying laughing multiple times per episode. 30 Rock has the same effect.
The only "traditional" comedy that comes to mind is What We Do in the Shadows. There are some other newer shows like Dave, Mythic Quest, and Ted Lasso, but they're not quite the same.
There’s a horror movie called Shutter with Joshua Jackson and while I remember barely anything it about it and not a lot of people like, I have always felt that the ending of the movie was truly fucking spooky and terrifying and should/could be a top contender for most depressing / haunting ending but isn’t since the rest of the movie is bland/mid-200’s PG-13 horror
Southside, This Fool, and Reservation Dogs are all laugh out loud funny. Not sure if the last one counts as a sitcom, but they're all really good.