10 Best American Sitcoms Of All Time

While there are plenty of iconic sitcoms from all over the world, from Friends to MASH, the US has created some of the most iconic titles in the genre’s long history. As far back as 1949’s The Goldbergs, American TV audiences have loved sitcoms. Thanks to their inexpensive production process, situation comedies are still a network mainstay 80 years later.

That said, a contemporary sitcom fan who sits down to watch The Goldbergs, Father Knows Best, or Leave it to Beaver might be struck by just how much the genre has changed over the decades. Thanks to network TV’s most influential sitcoms, the genre has morphed and shifted to cover a diverse range of topics and themes.

There are sitcoms about war, sitcoms set in hospitals, sitcoms about vampires, and sitcoms set in space. However, one thing has always remained reliably true of the humble sitcom. America is one of the pre-eminent producers of sitcoms, alongside Mexico and the UK, and a rundown of the country’s most iconic contributions to the genre proves the US has created some true greats.

10

Arrested Development

Although the show never earned a massive mainstream audience when it first aired, Arrested Development’s outsized influence on TV comedy in the decades since its original series finale proves the series was immensely important. The story of a wealthy family that loses everything when their corrupt patriarch is imprisoned, Arrested Development doesn’t sound all that funny.

However, the show’s intricate layering of jokes upon jokes and its ingenious storytelling style that allowed the creators to call back to earlier episodes with each gag make the deadpan comedy uniquely hilarious. Arguably the most re-watchable sitcom of all time, Arrested Development also helped launch the careers of future comedy icons like Michael Cera and Will Arnett.

9

All in the Family

Creator Norman Lear’s All in the Family is often credited with introducing genuine family dysfunction to the American airwaves. Before this ‘70s hit, family sitcoms were often painfully saccharine, and their father figures were idealized characters with little depth or nuance. In contrast, All in the Family’s misanthropic Archie Bunker was a deeply flawed protagonist who still displayed moments of humanity.

All in the Family’s flawed but ultimately well-meaning protagonist went on to shape the lead characters of Married… With Children and Roseanne, but that’s not the only reason that All in the Family is an iconic US sitcom. The show also spawned the spinoffs Maude and The Jeffersons, both of which could have made this list themselves.

One need only watch Community’s multiverse episode, which introduced its ingenious “Darkest Timeline” gag, to appreciate how influential the series was. Ostensibly an NBC show about a study group at a community college, Community was really an excuse for its writers to experiment with the sitcom format.

The misadventures of Troy, Abed, Annie, Pierce, Britta, Shirley, and Jeff allowed Community to spoof everything from gangster movies to action films with each new episode, but the show didn’t stop there. Community also ambitiously parodied sitcoms themselves, mocking the genre’s classic clichéd conventions like Will they, won’t they romance subplots and cheap cliffhanger endings.

7

The Fresh Prince of Bel Air

With its focus on a happy, economically prosperous Black family, The Jeffersons was a pivotal part of sitcom history. The success of the series helped shape The Cosby Show, Good Times, Family Matters, and Diff’rent Strokes, but it is a later iconic Black sitcom that earned a spot here thanks to its superstar lead.

Airing from 1990 until 1996, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air starred Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself who, as the absurdly catchy theme song notes, is sent to live with his upper-class Bel-Air relatives after getting into some trouble at home. Recently re-imagined as the gritty drama Bel-Air, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air was a sunny, funny calling card for its iconic star.

6

Roseanne

If there was one major criticism that ‘80s sitcoms like Full House, The Cosby Show, and Family Matters faced, it was that they were divorced from the economic realities of life in America. In contrast, Roseanne and its spinoff, The Conners, had no qualms about tackling tough real-life social issues like addiction, unemployment, grief, poverty, unplanned pregnancy, unfair termination, and debt.

While this might sound unwatchable-y bleak, the central family’s bond and their lovable eponymous matriarch ensured that Roseanne’s original run managed to make all of these topics surprisingly funny. Thanks to Roseanne’s daringly honest, but still optimistic, look at working-class life, later hits like Malcolm in the Middle and Bob’s Burgers could revisit these same financial anxieties years later.

5

I Love Lucy

Although I Love Lucy only lasted six years between 1951 and 1957, the series was the most-watched TV show in America throughout those years. Starring the inimitable Lucille Ball as the titular homemaker Lucy, I Love Lucy followed her rocky relationship with her husband, Desi Arnaz’s Ricky Ricardo.

Arnaz and Ball’s real-life chemistry shines through in this classic sitcom, which remains re-watchable decades later thanks to the pair’s playful comedic timing. While I Love Lucy should by rights be chintzy and outdated by now, the show’s killer slapstick and its obvious influence on decades of later shows ensure that the classic is still as essential as ever.

4

MASH

Based on Dr. Richard Hornberger’s novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors, MASH was loosely adapted from director Robert Altman’s 1970 movie of the same name. While MASH’s antiwar satire was set in Uijeongbu, South Korea, during the Korean War, much of the show was a running commentary on the US’s then-ongoing invasion of Vietnam.

This may sound dark and heavy, but MASH was anything but. Thanks to legendary characters like Radar, Hot Lips, and Alan Alda’s sardonic, sharp-talking Hawkeye, MASH was a hilarious workplace sitcom that managed to humanize its heroes and find humor in the tragedy of war. In comparison, later shows influenced by MASH, from Cheers, to The Office, to Brooklyn Nine-Nine, to St Denis Medical, had a much easier task.

3

Modern Family

With a large ensemble cast that included Sarah Hyland, Ty Burrell, Sofía Vergara, Julie Bowen, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Ariel Winter, as well as Married… With Children alumnus Ed O’Neill, Modern Family was a major comeback for the traditional family sitcom. However, the show’s thoroughly modern twist on the format updated it for the 21st century.

Told through a mockumentary lens, Modern Family featured its characters addressing the camera directly between scenes. This style, borrowed from The Office, went on to shape Abbott Elementary and made Modern Family a unique, iconic addition to the sitcom genre.

2

The Simpsons

It is no exaggeration to say that The Simpsons is one of the most influential and acclaimed TV shows ever made. Famously, critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz summed up the appeal of the animated family comedy in TV: The Book as: “Ambitious, intimate, classical, experimental, hip, corny, and altogether free in its conviction that the imagination should go where it wants.”

However, none of this would matter if the show wasn’t funny. The Simpsons influenced shows like Family Guy, South Park, Bob’s Burgers, King of the Hill, and American Dad, among many others, but the series remains the best animated family sitcom of all time thanks to the sheer comedic ingenuity of classic outings like season 5, episode 2, “Cape Feare.”

1

Friends

The heartbreaking loss of Matthew Perry means that any future Friends reunion is unlikely to recapture the unique balance of the original show’s chemistry. However, for a few years in the ‘90s, this sitcom had the strongest ensemble cast on TV. Without it, there would be How I Met Your Mother, New Girl, The Big Bang Theory, or Happy Endings, which makes Friends one of the greatest US sitcoms of all time, alongside MASH.