Funniest TV Shows of all time (my top 10)

[Weirdos19]

1. Cheers- Terrific writing and acting. A classic.

2. Seinfeld- First few years were very fresh and different.

3. Saturday Night Live- No explanation needed except it would be #1 but the last five years have been horrible.

4. Tonight Show with Johnny Carson- And Johnny only.

5. Family Guy

6. Simpsons- see number 3 above

7. Arrested Development- Ended way too soon.

8. Hogan's Heroes- Thank you TV Land

9. Malcolm in the Middle- The first scene in the first episode hooked me.

10. That 70's Show

 

Honorable mention: Looney Tunes, Wings, The Bob Newhart Show, Dick van Dyke, The Office, Two and a Half Men, Murphy Brown, SCTV, MASH, Honeymooners, David Letterman, WKRP in Cincinnati, All In the Family, and Sanford and Son.

[DSFastball55]

1. Seinfeld

(large gap here)

2. David Letterman

3. That 70s Show

4. Fresh Prince

5. Becker- don't know why, but I loved this show

6. Roseanne

7. Night Court

8. How I Met Your Mother - my favorite current comedy

9. Two and a Half Men

10. The Office

[JoeHova]

My top 10 (but not in order):

 

The Simpsons

Father Ted

Squidbillies

In Living Color

Home Movies

Seinfeld

Futurama

Frasier

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

Mr. Bean

 

 

I tried to find room for Da Ali G Show, Fawlty Towers, and Lucky Louie, but I just can't see what I would remove. 3rd Rock From The Sun, NewsRadio, the British Office and Black Books are also shows I've enjoyed. Golden Girls and Martin were guilty pleasures. Shin Chan is crazy, but I've only seen it in the American dubs.

 

I could remove In Living Color, I guess, because it tanked badly its last couple years, but I loved it too much in its prime to do that. Saturday Night Live hasn't been funny in 15 years, too long of a period of suckitude for me to overlook. Monty Python was too uneven. Same with Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Cheers was ok, but Frasier was better. I never really enjoyed the old shows like Leave It To Beaver, The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy, or the Andy Griffith Show. Sanford & Son was better than those, but not top ten to me.

[Patrick425]

1. Seinfeld
(agree with slobberknocker - large gap)
2. Curb Your Enthusiasm
3. All in the Family
4. Simpsons
5. Taxi
6. The Office
7. SNL
8. Cheers
9. News Radio
10. Letterman (the first 10-15 years)

I have only caught a few episodes of "Arrested Development" and "It's Always Sunny in Philly", but I'm betting that if I rented some DVDs of these shows they would possibly crack my top 10 list.

My honorable mentions would have to go to: "SCTV", "Monty Python", and "The Bob Newhart Show"

Not really pure "comedies", but always had some pretty funny parts that I have to mention are "M*A*S*H" and "Northern Exposure"

[JumpinMacFlash]

1. NewsRadio - I think this is a very underrated show. I was really disappointed when it was taken off the air, but it did go downhill after Phil Hartman died

2. M*A*S*H - not necessarily a comedy, but it can be really funny

3. Scrubs - same here, one of my favorite shows, but not purely comedy

4. Barney Miller - Saw this on TV Land once, and I thought it was just great

5. Family Guy - I laugh constantly at this, but I find a lot of the older shows funnier

6. Night Court

7. WKRP in Cincinnati

8. Cheers

9. Everybody Loves Raymond

10. Becker

 

I don't know, maybe I'm missing something, but I just cannot find Jerry Seinfeld funny. I seem to be the only person that doesn't like that show.

[yoshii8]

This is my top 10 list, but not in any particular order.

 

Curb your Enthusiasm

Ali G show

The Office

Seinfeld

SNL

South Park

Arrested Development

Conan O'Brien

Scrubs

Tom Green Show

[Menotti80]

1. seinfeld

2. family guy

3. everybody loves raymond

4. frasier

5. the office

6. the big bang theory

7. family matters

8. that 70's show

9. the simpsons

10. american dad

[Giraldo8]

Just chiming in saying Gary Unmarried on CBS is easily my favorite comedy of the last 10 years.

[bjkrautk]

Cheers

Monty Python's Flying Circus

Seinfeld

Saturday Night Live

South Park

The Cosby Show

Night Court

Family Guy

Family Ties (although I haven't seen an episode in nearly 20 years, so I'm a bit scared as to whether it holds up)

Married with Children

 

 

Honorable Mentions: Clerks - The Animated Series (since ABC only aired 2 of the 6 episodes), Scrubs, In Living Color, The Kids in the Hall, Frasier, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Frisky Dingo.

 

 

3rd Rock From The Sun, NewsRadio, the British Office and Black Books are also shows I've enjoyed.

 

I'm amazed that NBC green-lit a show like Kath and Kim while Black Books remains unadapted. It has a Seinfeld-esque quality to the characters. Not every British show seems so easily adaptable (and by that, I mean "Spaced," which was great....but isn't the same show without Simon Pegg.)

 

 

I can't say that I fully understand the complaints about Saturday Night Live; I really like most of the current cast (Will Forte notwithstanding). I tend to think that the show has been on so long that people tend to focus on the sketches that clicked for them....and as a result, they forget about all the ill-conceived filler.

[Gobias Industries]

1) Arrested Development

2) Seinfeld

3) 30 Rock

4) The Office

5) It's Always Sunny in Philly

6) The Simpsons

7) Letterman (He's great one night, not so great the next)

8) Entourage

[giffted1]

1. Seinfeld

 

And the rest...

 

Family Guy

The Office

Arrested Development

The Simpsons

30 Rock

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Saturday Night Live

Mystery Science Theater 3000

Scrubs

[mothershipconnection]

1. The Office

2. The Simpsons

3. Mr Show

4. Married...With Children

5. South Park

6. SNL

7. Cosby Show

8. Beavis and Butthead

9. Aqua Teen Hunger Force

10. Roseanne

[TracyThom]

I'm glad that Night Court is getting a lot of love. That show is so funny, yet it rarely gets mentioned amongst the best comedies of all time.

[GAME05]

I think if Laverne and Shirley aired a decade later that it would be on a lot of lists. I'd probably also say that for Taxi and the Odd Couple, too.

 

My list would be pretty similar to what's been mentioned, though I think I'd have the Muppet Show on there.

[BrewCrewForever]

In no real order:

 

The Office

Seinfeld

Entourage

Family Guy

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

30 Rock

Flight Of The Conchords

SNL

Curb Your Enthusiasm

That 70's Show

 

Honorable Mention:

 

Yes Dear, Extras, Friends, The Simpsons, In Living Color, King Of Queens, Arrested Development and Chappelle Show

[hawing]

Regarding WKRP in Cincinnati, all I have to do to get the S.O. laughing is to say, "As God is my witness..." (especially as Thanksgiving nears) I just tried it now and it worked again.

 

Seriously, the rights-holders to the music should get over it once per year so that the WKRP Thanksgiving episode airs every Thanksgiving week.

Here is a summary for anyone who's unaware.

[ILuvDaBush]

I think it speaks volumes that I have four shows on DVD. I have one season of Family Guy (from before it came back on the air), every season of Curb (and if they ever continue, I'm buying it the day it comes out), and Arrested Development (Season 1&2). And maybe it's me, but I find Weeds to be pretty funny...(Seasons 1-3...waiting on 4, though obviously seen).

 

Seinfeld...was funny, but now, you can't help but turn on the tv and find it. Still...I can't help but watch the Soup Nazi. Big time fave.

 

Newsradio...a show like a fine wine, only gets better with age. Hartman and Foley are comedic dynamite.

 

Night Court...I liked it more in its later years, when they weren't switching up Bull's compadre every season and when Markie Post was flirting her way to laughs with little more than her "girl-next-door" charm.

 

Cheers....WOODY!

[BoneDaddyKool]

1. Entourage by far, because it's on HBO, it can be allowed to be edgy and vulger and cool.

2. Wings, Roy Biggins, and Brian Hackett, Gold, Tim Daly as the straight man.

3. The Larry Sanders Show, WAY ahead of it's time. Hank was great and Pivan was planting the seeds of Ari Gold.

4. Cheers, With Coach or Woody, still great stuff. I knew a guy that was so Cliff Clavin, it wasn't even funny. But it was funny...because this guy knew everything sometimes... Yet knew nothing.

5. Seinfeld, The middle seasons were the best IMO. Soup Nazi Epi, maybe the best epi of any sitcom ever.

6. Honeymooners - Say what you want, Gleason was awesome, and givin the time it was set in.... amazing some of the things they did. Have a show try getting away with with "One of these days, Alice!" Gleason could make pseudo wife abuse funny.

7. All in the Family, Archie Bunker made my Grandpa laugh like crazy, and he hardly laughed at anything. Maybe that's not a good thing... still a great show, that pushed as much as it could.

8. Three's Company, I think the first show with major sexual themes, and having Ritter play a gay man that was actually straight left alot of doors open for how long the series lasted even with all the cast member changes.

9. Degrassi Junior High (Original Series) Beyond bizarre still to this day. The original drama never intended to be a funny show, but it was so over the top, how could you not laugh??? Oh those funny Canadians...

10. South Park, When those guys are on, they are Gold. But that is only maybe 3 times a season now. Still great stuff. Cartman is an evil person you almost like, that's a hard character to create.

[JimH5]

Seinfeld. . .George Costanza is my favorite all-time tv character.

SCTV. . .Especially Joe Flaherty as Sammy Maudlin, Eugene Levy as Bobby Bittman, John Candy as Johnny LaRue. Just Awesome.

The Office--Ricky Gervais. . .I just haven't seen enough of the US one. I've heard it's great. The whole run of the original is wonderful.

The Gary Shandling Show. . .Gary's stepping in and out of character was really clever.

Dick Van Dyke Show. . .It doesn't induce tons of laughs, but it does induce lots of smiles. As a kid, I thought they would be the coolest neighbors to have.

MST3K. . .The Joel Hodgson ones. And the absurdity of making a robot out of a gumball machine (Tom Servo)--very funny.

South Park. . .For some reason, I can laugh at Mr. Hankey, but it turned too mean to me when Timmy and Jimmy duked it out.

Arrested Development. . .I haven't seen many, but each one has me liking it.

Newsradio. . .I loved Phil Hartman.

The Simpsons. . .The Cy Young of tv comedies. The vast body of work is staggering, though I don't like the Halloween stuff.

[razzzorsharp]

1) Arrested Development

2) The Venture Brothers

3) Freaks and Geeks

4) Pete and Pete

5) Seinfeld

6) The Office (Both UK and US)

7) Scrubs

8) Sealab 2021/Robot Chicken

9) The Simpsons

10) Friends

[Barbs4339]

Not sure I would put this on my top 10 list, but currently The Big Bang Theory is my favorite sitcom on right now. I don't think that show gets the credit it deserves. And be sure to pause it at the end when the producer posts a hilarious rant. You need to pause it because it is usually long and only on for about 2 seconds.

[Gobias Industries]

Completely forgot about Freaks and Geeks. Good call razzzor.

[cwolf2012]

I can't believe not a single a person has said Chappelle's show yet. The 2 seasons of that were as funny as anything ever released.

[yoshii8]

Good call cwolf, I would definitely have to put that in my top 10.

[EdgarDiazRocks]

Regarding WKRP in Cincinnati, all I have to do to get the S.O. laughing is to say, "As God is my witness..." (especially as Thanksgiving nears) I just tried it now and it worked again.

With me and my friends, if there is a lull in the conversation, invariably one of will lean over and utter, "how's about you and me switching hats!"

 

WKRP is the best.

 

"Carlson's no fool man, he's gonna put it on his FEET!"