The Top 100 American Situation Comedies

An Objective Ranking

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About the Book

A number of books and articles have been written ranking the best situation comedies of all time.
These have all had something in common—subjective criteria based on the authors’ opinions. This book attempts an objective ranking of the best 100 American sitcoms, based on a mathematical formula taking into account four factors: ratings, longevity, peer acceptance and spawning of other programs (spin-offs).
The authors considered a field of 377 series which met at least one of four criteria: aired for at least three seasons; rated among top 30 series in at least one season; received at least one major Emmy nomination; or spawned at least one other series. A critical essay is provided for each series, along with air dates and cast listings.

About the Author(s)

Mitchell E. Shapiro, a professor in the School of Communication at the University of Miami (Florida), is currently the director of honors (and former academic associate dean). The author of six books, he has published numerous scholarly articles in various journals.
Tom Jicha has been writing about TV and radio for 35 years. He was formerly the TV/Radio editor of The Miami News and the TV/Radio writer for the Fort Lauderdale News and Sun Sentinel. He is a former president of the Television Critics Association. He lives in Miami, Florida.

Bibliographic Details

Mitchell E. Shapiro and Tom Jicha
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 292
Bibliographic Info: appendices, index
Copyright Date: 2016
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6404-0
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2340-5
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents

Table of Contents


Introduction  1

1. All in the Family  5

2. Cheers  7

3. Frasier  10

4. M*A*S*H  12

5. The Mary Tyler Moore Show  15

6. Friends  18

7. Everybody Loves Raymond  20

8. I Love Lucy  23

9. The Cosby Show  25

10. Seinfeld  27

11. Modern Family  30

12. Murphy Brown  32

13. The Golden Girls  34

14. The Danny Thomas Show  36

15. The Dick Van Dyke Show  38

16. 30 Rock  40

17. Will & Grace  43

18. The Andy Griffith Show  45

19. Taxi  47

20. Roseanne  49

21. Barney Miller  52

22. Mad About You  54

23. The Big Bang Theory  56

24. The Phil Silvers Show  59

25. Family Ties  61

26. Bewitched  63

27. Two and a Half Men  65

28. Happy Days  68

29. Home Improvement  71

30. Sex and the City  73

31. Get Smart  75

32. The Beverly Hillbillies  77

33. Father Knows Best  79

34. The Larry Sanders Show  82

35. The Lucy Show  84

36. Night Court  86

37. The Office  89

38. Three’s Company  92

39. The Wonder Years  94

40. The Jeffersons  96

41. Sanford and Son  99

42. Maude  101

43. Laverne & Shirley  103

44. Curb Your Enthusiasm  105

45. Newhart  108

46. Kate & Allie  111

47. Malcolm in the Middle  113

48. Coach  115

49. Entourage  118

50. Alice  120

51. Hogan’s Heroes  123

52. 3rd Rock from the Sun  125

53. One Day at a Time  128

54. Rhoda  131

55. The George Burns & Gracie Allen Show  133

56. Soap  136

57. Family Affair  139

58. Designing Women  141

59. The Bob Cummings Show (Love That Bob)  144

60. The Odd Couple  146

61. Room 222  149

62. December Bride  151

63. Hazel  153

64. Who’s the Boss?  155

65. My Three Sons  158

66. The Real McCoys  160

67. A Different World  163

68. The Life of Riley  165

69. Our Miss Brooks  167

70. Mama  170

71. Evening Shade  172

72. Here’s Lucy  174

73. Empty Nest  176

74. Petticoat Junction  178

75. Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.  181

76. Veep  183

77. Nurse Jackie  186

78. Dream On  188

79. Benson  190

80. Full House  193

81. Weeds  195

82. Growing Pains  198

83. Arrested Development  200

84. Ellen (These Friends of Mine)  203

85. The Donna Reed Show  205

86. The Adventures of Ozzie & ­Harriet  207

87. How I Met Your Mother  210

88. The Bob Newhart Show  212

89. Diff’rent Strokes  215

90. Scrubs  217

91. Green Acres  220

92. The Facts of Life  222

93. The Wizards of Waverly Place  225

94. iCarly  227

95. Wings  230

96. Married … with Children  232

97. Perfect Strangers  234

98. The King of Queens  237

99. McHale’s Navy  239

100. Family Matters  242

Appendices

A. Ranked List of All Qualifying Situation Comedies  245

B. Top 25 Situation Comedies by Decade  254

C. Top Situation Comedies by Network  259

D. Top 25 Situation Comedies That Aired for One Season or Less  263

Index  265