Top 10 Sitcoms

I've been watching a lot of TV lately, so I decided to compose a list of my favorite sitcoms of all time. In my times of broke-assedness, nothing provides a good escape from reality like crackin' open a beer and watching these shows:

10. Friends:
Yes, I'm late on this bandwagon. Up until the last couple of months, I had only watched maybe three episodes of this classic sitcom. But now, 15 years after it started, I finally see what the fuss is about. Ross and Rachel drama, Joey's dumb ass remarks, Chandler being Chandler, Phoebe's obliviousness, and Monica's sensibility are all such classic characteristics. It's easy to get caught up in the show.

9. American Dad:
Hysterical. That's all I have to say. I mean, Stan Smith is just awesome, and Roger with his hijinx is comic gold. He is so damn gay, and his characters are dead on perfect stereotypes. The rest of the cast is...meh. Seth McFarlane does a good job keeping it fresh though, especially considering that this is one of three shows he has created.

8. King of the Hill:
Hank Hill is just a good ol' American. He likes the simple things: grilling; mowing; home repair; football. He is the embodiment of the American man. Dale, Boomhower, and Bill round out the group with their own sets of quirks. This is just a classic show, and the image that Mike Judge paints of Midwestern society is pretty dead on. Very funny show, especially watching it with guy who think they're 40 *cough, cough* former roommates.

7. How I Met Your Mother:
Like "Friends,” these characters mesh well, which provides for a great storyline. I especially like how the components of their group coincide with anybody’s group of friends. Who doesn’t have a Barney in their group? The guy who thinks he’s the life of the party and who is always trying to start an adventure. And then everybody knows a couple like Marshall and Lilly that are just obsessed with each other. Ted is the normal guy and Robin is the normal girl (who happens to have a hot body). This show is very easy to relate to, which is why it’s one of my favorites. Plus my girlfriend always makes me watch it.

6. Seinfeld:
This is about as sitcom as it gets. The observational humor is very funny, and every episode had its own unique flavor. Whether it was “The Soup Nazi,” the “man hands,” a sneeze controversy, or any one of the other hundreds of comical inventions of Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, they were always fresh and very funny. “Newman!”

5. 30 Rock:
Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey. Hilarity ensues. Tracy Morgan is annoying… actually most of the other characters bother me… but Fey and Baldwin are so perfect that they make up the rest. Baldwin, the quintessential angry liberal, plays a right-wing corporatist who worships Reagan as a god. The irony in this character alone is enough to make me love this show.

4. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia:
What can be more funny that a group of assholes from Philly that just get drunk and come up with terrible ideas all day, every day? I laugh my ass off at this show every time I watch. Every episode is a trainwreck. Frank and Charlie are particularly depraved, and there is never a dull moment when you watch their scenes. “I mean…illiteracy? What does that word even mean?”

3. South Park:
This show is incredibly irreverent and is constantly keeping up with the times. It is always doing a parody of this hot show or that breaking news event. It’s amazing how quick they are to make fun of the shake weight or Billy Mays. While this show is hilarious now, in 20 years nobody is going to have any idea what they were talking about. “’Dog the Bounty Hunter?’ What the fuck is that?” Still though, they put out a lot of really funny shit. South Park is just one of those shows that never gets old.

2. Family Guy:
This is probably the funniest show on TV today. If comedy has an equivalent to “shock-and-awe,” this is it. The jokes just come out of nowhere and surprise you into laughter. You never know what to expect from these characters, and nothing is sacred. Plus, it is just one of those shows that everyone likes.

1. The Simpsons:
I must say, I haven’t seen a new episode of the Simpsons in about ten years. I don’t think anybody has. But when this show was in its hey-day in the mid-to-late 90’s it was as good as it gets. Homer, Bart, Lisa, Marge, and Maggie are like American icons. They were as big a part of my formative years as anything else. Who among us doesn’t have a place in our heart for this show? Will it ever end? No. It has definitely passed its prime, but nobody wants to see it go because it’s just too big of a part of us. Twenty-two years on the air and counting.