The Slow Death of The Sitcom

[@captainmidnight]

Do you have a favorite sitcom on right now? Try Tab for Democracy and increase young voter engagement and turnout: tabfordemocracy.org/captainmidnight

[@fm5280]

Maybe stay out of this one. What people call voter suppression is making people prove the voter rolls are true.

[@jleigh329]

If it counts the "Russian Full House"; kzbin.info/aero/PLqw3mNOU8YcVJXTCTsBtmgwpYwe6pbjvA&si=9MHWU2DPHCnbRiT3

[@idklol117]

I like Barry :)

[@theodoreburgess5044]

You should try out Extraordinary. There's 2 seasons that are way too short but its creative and fun.

[@LuisSierra42]

@@idklol117 Barry is not a standard sitcom, it's more like a dramedy

[@bort6459]

I think a huge reason why the sitcom is dying is because a good sitcom builds relationships over time, but we increasingly consume media at arms length. Any good sitcom has jokes that a first time viewer can enjoy, but every "legendary" episode of a sitcom is built on multiple seasons of audiences learning characters to the point where some of the best jokes are inside jokes. We may watch sitcoms to be "light" entertainment, but to really enjoy one we, the audience, need to be present. You can't really appreciate a sitcom as a "second screen" show.

[@beefy45]

Exactly, the first 2 seasons of parks and rec and the office are really rough

[@GLC48]

Also the fact that seasons are shorter now and take too long to come out. Back in the day, you could expect around 20 episodes per season and a new season every year. That’s a good amount of episodes to build a relationship with the audience. With that kind of release schedule, a show was able to become a constant in the viewer’s life and not just something that pops up every few years and then goes back into hibernation. Compare that to today where many comedies get like 10, maybe even 8, new episodes per season, and a new season every 2ish years. It’s a lot harder to build a relationship with that kind of release schedule.

[@fortynights1513]

Could another reason be because sitcoms are typically an episodic format, and in some cases, it takes a season or two to really find out what works. In particular in streaming where people talk about shows that get canceled quickly if they don’t take off immediately, it feels like sitcoms need to really know what they are doing to have a chance.

[@trorisk]

There were plenty of sitcoms, which we have since forgotten, in the 70s to 2010 which ended after a few episodes or the first season. In any case, there needs to be a hook to keep the spectators going for the first season and going further. They need something that sets the sitcom apart from other sitcoms you've seen before. Why would I watch this Nth sitcom about an American family in their living room?

[@thefallenfaith1986]

The real decline of sitcoms is because of the bad writing.

[@samy7174]

What's paradoxal is that old sitcoms are always on top of the charts. The problem is they're cancelling new sitcoms way too early. Sitcoms like The Office and Parks and Rec weren't well recieved on their first seasons. If they aired today they wouldn't live past 1 season. Shows like space force or how i met your father were very promising but they were cancelled.

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

How I met your father was a little too safe. I kind of liked the version they did in How I met Your Mother better.

[@jw9565]

HIYMF was just plain shit and you cannot tell me that it didn't have a leg up cause it was part of an established brand, that brand WAS the chance, the thing that pushed it past its first season and we all saw how that turned out.

[@stringer2295]

Seinfeld’s first two season were horrendous and that’s my favorite show of all time

[@lisahoshowsky4251]

I definitely think the lack of breathing room a show is given before being cancelled is a huge reason why sitcoms don’t catch on or work in the current content consumption era. Also, people might give it a chance but so many people have been burned by an early cancellation of a new favourite they are even less likely to watch something new and not having the numbers right off the bat makes executives even more likely to pull the plug. The executives have created a catch-22 problem by being stingy and not giving creatives the time and episodes to catch their footing and really take off after they’ve figured out the beats of a new show.

[@MardukGodSlayer]

I think Space Force was the best new comedy show of the past decade, and it was damn near criminal that Netflix did a classic Netflix and cancelled it after two seasons.

[@GetSmartish]

Modern sitcoms have become basically Nickelodeon and Disney Channel kid shows that are instead cast with adults, making kid jokes with adult themes. It's weird.

[@datguyyo]

Sounds like The Big the Bang Theory.

[@Attmay]

They've been normalizing manchild behavior this way ever since the 1970s when boomers, an entire generation of manchildren, became old enough to write and produce sitcoms themselves. Count the number of shows since all in the family that have adult children living at home with their parents. It even retroactively affected older shows in a way because *Still the Beaver* had Wally and the Beaver still living with their now-widowed mother by buying the house next door. Gus the fireman was unavailable for comment.

[@ShonnMorris]

@@Attmay I didn't even think of this but you're right. Adult children living at home was a common theme in almost all Norman Leer sitcoms anyway whether it be All in the Family, Good Times, The Jefferson's, One Day At A Time, even many of the other 80s sitcoms like Family Ties, Growing Pains, Mr. Belvedere, Cosby Show, all had adult children living at home.

[@Attmay]

@@ShonnMorris Disney followed suit with *The Golden Girls* and *Empty Nest* once they made a deal with Witt/Thomas/Harris.

[@ccricers]

@@ShonnMorris I find this ironic because living with your parents as an adult is generally more stigmatized in US households. And I mean especially in the times when these sitcoms aired. People don't realize how this much it will change when the boomers die off.

[@xcosmiccrunchx]

Sitcoms today look like Disney TV shows in the 90s and 2000s.

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

And even then, those shows had way better humor and acting

[@StevenForditude]

YES! And they’re using the same writers 😅

[@eatatjoes6751]

And even then their sets looked lived in.

[@Attmay]

TDC sitcoms have no business being as bad as they are when Disney/Touchstone had made much better ones through deals with producers such as Witt/Thomas (with or without Susan Harris) and Michael Jacobs. Even *Home Improvement* held up better than this TDC schlock.

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

@@Attmay Home Improvement is a classic

[@Hugh_Mungus2478]

When you talk about set design in sitcoms, especially in regards to places that feel lived in, the first thing that came to mind is Malcom in the Middle. That house was as messy and chaotic as the rest of the family. Even as a child watching it off the back of other sitcoms, this element is what stuck out to me the most.

[@eatatjoes6751]

I binged both Malcolm and Everybody Loves Raymond once and I’m still in love with both because their environments felt lived on.

[@Attmay]

@@eatatjoes6751 I could never stand either of these shows. The characters were so repellent, the sets didn't matter. And I'm so over TV's attempt to normalize dysfunctional families (boomer projection at its worst), it's astonishing this was allowed to continue as long as it did.

[@SheoGotSomeCheese]

@@Attmay .....Meanwhile, Malcom in the Middle being largely based off some guy's actual life. (Yes, even than scene with his mom opening the door naked.)

[@juicepouch1]

I felt this way about Roseanne also. The family felt real, the chaos felt truthful and earned

[@Bigmojojo]

Roseeanne is probably the most realistic show of all time, not to mention one of the best ever.

[@LeonardoKlotz]

The problem with the streaming involves two paradoxes: * The more something is available, the less you'll want it * The more options you have, the less satisfied you'll be with each one Sitcoms would never be able to survive this streaming era

[@mightisright]

Sitcoms were technically "free" since they just required a television and an antenna, but they actually required you to be at a time and place and you ended up watching the commercials even if you didn't want to. The time and effort and the fact that if you missed an episode you may never see it again gave them worth. When these shows were collected on VHS tapes and DVDs, people bought them even though they had probably seen every episode of I Love Lucy. Streaming shows seem like they're worthless even you you might be spending $20 a month for only one service.

[@the_door_opener2622]

Another problem with sitcoms is that, by the time they became popular in their 2nd or 3rd season, channels already had a huge backlog of episodes for reruns, and could cherry-pick the best episodes to show more often, making the series feel much better in quality than it really was. A newcomer to a series 20 years ago would most likely be seeing a good episode, compared to the modern streaming viewer who will more than likely be watching the crummy first season

[@albertthepeacock8020]

I like The Big Bang Theory

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

@@the_door_opener2622 My season 3 or 4 most of the best writers for the show have already been poached by other shows. That's a large part of why it can be hard to have a series that maintains quality for 5+ years. The US isn't like the UK where the creator does most of the writing of the episodes. That leads to fewer episodes per series, but less issues from other shows poaching writers.

[@DonWeaselYeehawEdition]

This. Not sitcom related, but I used to LOVE to watch movies. I lived in the middle of no where and had no internet connection, so all I had was a tiny CRT tv and a DVD Player. Driving 1-2 hours to Walmart to buy a DVD was an event, and I would watch ANY movie, good or bad, 10-20 times. Nowadays I have Netflix and I spend more time doom scrolling than watching anything.

[@treborschafer3945]

I am very glad you pointed out the HD thing. Most shows have looked odd ever since they started using it. Everything is so sharp, bold and in your face.

[@Attmay]

@@treborschafer3945 it's one of the reasons the *Punky Brewster* reboot failed. It looked too slick and shiny compared to the original, which actually looked like a middle-class urban apartment right before the decimation of the middle class.

[@yeet-lj3dr]

you're VERY right about new sitcoms (not just sitcoms either, a lot of shows and movies) looking way too clean.. it was something I couldn't put my finger on for a long time but once it clicked I can't stop noticing it in a lot of new media. it sucks the soul out of it and makes every character feel like... a stock photo? that's how it feels, like I'm watching a stock tv show

[@claytonrios1]

Well any attempt to bring back sitcoms usually comes from total hacks who fail to recognize why certain classics were funny or charming in the past. Just look at The New Norm!

[@captainmidnight]

I have it on good authority that the new norm ain't the same as the old norm

[@claytonrios1]

​@@captainmidnightAnd sometimes the Old Norm wasn't that great. Especially for a show that spends half of its AI generated theme song dick riding Elon Musk!

[@phill8223]

You know ther'll be jokes!

[@claytonrios1]

@@phill8223 Could they write any jokes at all?

[@disjustice]

@@captainmidnight Norm!

[@mathesonstep]

Watching the original Frasier makes me wish we had more sitcoms in the modern era, I honestly couldn't contain my laughter it was awesome

[@TheLowBrassDude]

The original Frasier feels like a great comedic stageplay

[@kmechwarrior1684]

The original Frasier is one of those shows we watch regularly. Sure, a lot of the time it is more in the background, but even after all these years and multiple re-watches, it gets us laughing every time....

[@dimirockeropoulos6104]

It had what made a great sitcom. An outstanding support cast with good writing.

[@TheLowBrassDude]

@@dimirockeropoulos6104 And the greatest dog actor and unseen character in the history of motion picture.

[@Legendofzellybelly]

I love sitcoms so much, past and present. It makes me sad they are less popular right now. We have gotten some of the best sitcoms in recent history. Abbot Elementary, Ghosts, The Good Place, What we do in the Shadows, Superstore.... Just to name a few.... I hate when people treat sitcoms like a monolith, oh its a funny sitcom so its just boring, trash tv. Nooo, sitcoms can be everything from brilliant, well written and amazing TV to fun, fluff tv. You can have an amazing shows like Superstore that has foreshadowing, tackles important issues and is hilarious or you can have fun, silly, fluff shows like Friends. Sitcoms need more respect, they are just as important and valuable as dramas!

[@firehaps]

I think part of this is that the younger generation doesn't take comedy seriously, as ironic as that sounds. With all of newer standups I've seen, it's a lot of admittedly funny crowd work but no actual tight sets. People don't appreciate that comedic writing is a genuine craft that takes years to hone no different than drama.

[@quinnholleman1547]

This might be a stretch, but I think part of it might also be that good comedy is based on observing the world around you and making insightful witty commentary around that but you can find witty banter everywhere now so there's not much reason to watch something that's just that unless it's REALLY good

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

@@quinnholleman1547 I think it has more to do with the types of comedies being very different. There was a fairly long period where somehow being funny wasn't a requirement to be a sitcom. And, there's been far too much emphasis on multi-episode arcs that make the shows harder to watch and harder to incorporate jokes into. I think it would be far too easy to blame this on younger people not understanding humor when those aren't the execs that are greenlighting things.

[@someshwarrao42]

There is a decided change in the tone of comedy today. Instead of sharp commentary, everyone is trying to be an edgelord and a shock jock. Just look at Kill Tony, quiet possibly the biggest amplifier of comedy’s worst impulses.

[@NickTurncoat]

You probably think white people saying the N word is funny. Edgy does not equal funny.

[@KairuHakubi]

also, not to generalize or anything, but the rates of.. well without giving a medical diagnosis, let's say, _being unable to understand humor..._ are skyrocketing.

[@just_delightful]

I'm looking forward to the next video "the rise of the soap opera"- most streaming TV is just soap opera with a bigger budget- people like to think this content is somehow elevated but it isn't.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

To an extent, but unlike Soap Operas, streaming services can't figure out how to make shows that predictably last more than 3 seasons.

[@TheManFromWaco]

I had an experience like that about 10 years ago, when I was university student. I was watching "Mad Men" on one of the computers in the campus library (WiFi in the dorms was terrible) when one of my professors walked by and we struck up a brief conversation. When he saw what I was watching, he said "You know that's just a glorified soap opera, right?" I was never able to unsee it after that. I finished the season to reach a good stopping point, but never picked the show back up again.

[@just_delightful]

​@@TheManFromWacoI have to agree- it's maybe one of the best soap operas ever but it's still a soap - it also shows just how terrible and arrogant shows have been since then-

[@Jose04537]

​@@TheManFromWacoI think the key diferrence between a serie and a soup opera is how dragged & overtly dramatic the acting is. For example, you can't compare your average serie with an Indian/Mexican/Korean soup opera.

[@dhenderson1810]

​@@SmallSpoonBrigade Also, every character isn't related somehow and no one comes back from the dead numerous times.

[@MLGProSwag69]

If you’re watching this and you haven’t given FX’s The English Teacher a shot yet, you should definitely do so. One of the funniest first seasons of a sitcom I’ve personally seen IMO.

[@cmccorquodale2003]

Amazing tv show

[@BlankPageEmperor1334]

Brian Jordan Alvarez Gang 😎

[@SavannahKo-j1c]

Goddamnit now I just watched the pilot episode. My homework isn’t gonna get done I guess

[@Homer-OJ-Simpson]

I’ve never liked a sitcom with a 7.1 IMdb score or lower. Is there something about the show that is polarizing where people who like it LOVE it and the rest just don’t get it?

[@Homer-OJ-Simpson]

Wow, I just looked up the IMDB breakdown and it is 7.1 but a disproportionately high number of 10 scores and 1 scores. Seems something is polarizing about it

[@georgeprchal3924]

It's like that episode where Bojack wins a Golden Globe for his book in the Best Comedy/Musical category and he himself points out, "My book was neither a comedy nor a musical it was also infact a book. Do you people even know what you're nominating or voting for?"

[@musicalnotextr]

Old sitcoms feel like short stage plays compared to now and it makes me wonder if that was because many of the people who wrote them were trained in stage writing as opposed to today in which many TV writers studied TV writing as its own discipline which generally incorporates more from cinema than stage.

[@welcometokookville]

Actually, a lot of sitcom creators today started as playwrights. The reason the old sitcoms looked like plays is that they were multi-camera shows, meaning they had live audiences watching the show, so everything had to be in one place

[@ivnxxmartinez6151]

I like Abbott Elementary a lot one of the best out that’s like the office but this eras of sitcom

[@owenflibbert8019]

Abbott is a genuinely funny show with a warm, fun cast of characters. Definitely the best on TV right now in terms of sitcoms

[@olaf3140]

It's not bad, but the one guy doing an overt Jim impression by looking at the camera when someone says something weird does not sit right with me

[@Sugarman96]

It's a show I wanted to like, because I think the premise is genuinely fantastic, I just didn't feel like it had much humor that landed.

[@christ14n68]

⁠@@olaf3140I’m bias cause I love Everybody Hates Chris but it feels so right for Tyler James Williams to be the one doing it

[@gonkdroid8279]

@@Sugarman96 Agreed. I really want to like it, but it's mid in my opinion

[@Bravid_2.0]

I feel part of the reason sitcoms don't get watched as much is because of the nature of streaming. We're no longer just turning on the TV and letting whatever happens to be on just play. We have to navigate selecting an app. Navigate that apps menu design. And hitting the play button. There's so much more intention to what we watch. And we want to be rewarded for our effort with something impressive or surprising. Not just a few jokes that might make me chuckle a little. I miss sitcoms but I'm not sure I would waste a lot of time looking for them buried in a streaming app menu.

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

Honestly, streaming to me has gotten boring. Most of the shows I watch are older ones, maybe up until 2015. None of the modern shows interest me.

[@SuperHappyNotMerry]

i honestly don't think this is true for most people. before they were removed from netflix, older sitcoms like friends or the office were constantly in the top 10. community had a LARGE resurgence in popularity when it was added onto the site

[@cattysplat]

@@SuperHappyNotMerry In the UK we still have Friends and US office on Netflix. They are consistently in top 10 watched for years now.

[@GabrielKnightz]

The prime example for that is Frasier the original (one of all time favourite sitcoms) and it's predecessor Cheers and it's remake. Where once it felt like a living space where you couldn't wait to see the lives of more or less real people you came to adore, now it feels like caricatures of people wheeled out to deliver setups and punchlines in a dollhouse. That magic is lost to some sterile formulaic practice. Shame, but we'll always have the originals.

[@Homer-OJ-Simpson]

Friends might be my favorite multi camera show ever but Cheers is number two and Frazier was number 3. The team behind Cheers and the Frazier spinoff really understood the audience.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

A large part of the problem in recent decades is just how horrible and unrelatable the characters are.

[@tcaudiobooks737]

@@SmallSpoonBrigade The Eve character in the new Frasier is a nasty piece of work.

[@falgalhutkinsmarzcal3962]

Frasier had a lot going for it, but one of the best things was that the show writers and showrunners let the actresses have input into their characters. Roz and Daphne, for example, were created as much by Gilpin and Leeves as by the writers. In fact, more so. In interviews they talk about how much they made the characters (background story, accents, etc.).

[@VicenteTorresAliasVits]

What remake?

[@benray8676]

The absolute peak of television was when NBC Thursday was 30 Rock, Parks and Rec, The Office, and Community. That's how good we used to have it.

[@fortynights1513]

Comedy Night Done Right was a good block

[@lpnp9477]

God NBC was just hit after hit. The polar opposite of CBS, which while popular, was popular trash.

[@JennaLeigh]

I include Scrubs in that list. Also, if you haven't seen it, I urge you to watch Superstore. Excellent ensemble comedy that would have SHINED in the "appointment TV" era.

[@notsocrates9529]

I cannot stand 30 Rock despite liking the writing and humor. I get it, it is just not funny to me. Tracy Morgan should be working at Walmart and Tina Fey is a one act pony with her glasses wearing nerdy girl shtick.

[@maggierioux6501]

NBC's outstanding Thursday night comedy block goes back to the early '70s.

[@lovelydumpling]

It feels like its virtually impossible to get sitcoms on the quality of Malcolm in the Middle or Scrubs these days.

[@Descriptor413]

Regarding CM's question on sitcom filming format at the end of the video, I could definitely see something like MitM's format come back strong.

[@owenflibbert8019]

Definitely not impossible but there seems to be little investment in it since streaming wants to be prestoge

[@MrGrimlocke]

You should watch American Vandal if you haven’t seen it. I think it was one of the funniest sitcoms of the past decade

[@Attmay]

@@lovelydumpling Which one's the funny one?

[@thejuiceking2219]

@@MrGrimlocke this comment is funnier than anything in american vandal

[@weregretohio7728]

The Mockumentary format is more tired than anything due to how much it has been run into the ground since The Office. Something done well will always defeat the notion that something is out of date. I also agree that modern sitcoms look like Disney TV shows... glossy and shallow, kind of leave you with that feeling that they aren't for you and the things you might like will die off before they get anywhere.

[@Attmay]

And that's why the Australian reboot looks so bad. It's literally the arse end of this particular IP that even has non-English-language versions.

[@codyw1]

It's the comedy of cringe, which stops being funny superquick.

[@Bykxng]

I’m 21 and love sitcoms, especially the ones without laugh tracks. But lately, it’s been tough to find a good one-most feel formulaic or just aren’t that great. I don’t think sitcoms are completely dead, though. When The Office was on Netflix a few years ago, it was the most-watched show, even more than Stranger Things at times. The Office and Parks and Rec probably keep Peacock afloat too-most of my friends have Peacock just to watch those shows, or Modern Family. Laugh track sitcoms definitely feel outdated and are often seen as “lame” now. I really hope sitcoms make a mainstream comeback, though, because they’re perfect comfort TV-something we could all use after a long day

[@noleftturnunstoned]

schitt's creek was pretty decent

[@davidhochstetler4068]

Community. You’re welcome

[@Bykxng]

Seen both of them! They are great

[@Sl1mch1ckens]

See im 27 and feel the complete opposite way i really like laugh track sitcoms and really dont like that the genre has shifted for the most part into mockumentary sitcoms. Im not saying ones better than the other incase it comes of that way. Im happy for all the mockumentary sitcom enjoyiers because they are eating well, im just over here like can i have a nice meal too its been a while lol

[@LeahB31]

The Good Place is a great one.

[@kathrynstemler6331]

Those tik toks with the one person doing all the characters are more like a modern version of news paper comic strips.

[@realchezboi]

started watching house md, and community is so special to me, we need SITCOMS!!!!

[@davidhochstetler4068]

I found House to be very formulaic quickly. Although it’s a sitcom so. But yes, community is goated

[@realchezboi]

@@davidhochstetler4068 I agree, House can have quite a few formulaic episodes in a row, but god damn some few episodes are fucking amazing, the ones that break that formula of course lol

[@Jerm408502]

Ted Lasso was funny for one season then it got depressing. I'm fine with sticking to my stable of sitcoms (veep, IASIP, B99, the office, Curb, Psych, Parks), but it does suck that there don't seem to be as many straight up comedies without ultra serious storylines.

[@olaf3140]

Word, season 1 was truly great, second was still good. The third one, I don't think I can even say I liked it, outside of a few scenes/jokes.

[@Sugarman96]

That's how Bill Lawrence does them though. Is Scrubs not a classic show even though it has a good amount of devastating moments?

[@olaf3140]

@@Sugarman96 I feel like Scrubs didn't decrease the amount of silly jokes though. It was always funny and sensitive, whereas Ted Lasso leaned way more towards sensitive as it went along.

[@catesullivan5626]

I finished New Girl and it’s so good. They built the story and let the “side” characters have a way to shine and become as integral as the main focus.

[@actualnotanewbie]

I feel like too many sitcoms are going for something like Big Bang Theory or How I Met Your Mother vibes instead of a Normal Lear type program that covers the types of heavier topics that cynical younger viewers often think about. The sitcom isn't dying because it's a bad format (although I admit I do think most sitcoms are HORRIBLE), it's dying because almost all of them are trying to do the same thing, and it's like chefs competing with each other to make the best ribeye for a vegan family.

[@Fribee83]

That's a great way to put it! My complaint with modern sitcoms is that every character is given a single personality and tells the same single joke. Mike and Molly is nothing but jokes about fat people, Two Broke Girls is nothing but jokes about sex positive women, and so many others "bumbling husband with hot domineering wife". When I can watch a two episodes of a series and be able to predict every single joke before the punchline, it gets boring.

[@Attmay]

"N0rm@n £3@r is a racist, a liar, a thief, and a hypocrite." -Eric Monte, co-creator of *Good Times*

[@Attmay]

@@Fribee83"sex positive" is just a communist euphemism for "promiscuous."

[@severeerror52]

It really feels like a lot of shows that would've been sitcoms in the past ended up becoming animated comedies, which is why a lot of them end up feeling like their art style is an after thought more than anything. Think I first noticed this with F is for Family but you can point to a lot of shows here.

[@KairuHakubi]

yeah the main advantage to an animated family sitcom is the kids never have to get older (Though they still should, slowly) and can be voiced by adults with decades of acting skill. But given that they've started firing anyone white for voicing a character of some other race, I'm sure soon it'll be unthinkable to have an adult voice a kid too. Probably call it perverted for some reason, and if you question it they'll just start casting aspersions on you.

[@Attmay]

@@KairuHakubi what a kappy thing to do.

[@thejuiceking2219]

@@KairuHakubi only problem is, when you make it animated, you have to add it a ton of sex and swearing and blood in order to convince people that it's not just for babies

[@KairuHakubi]

@@thejuiceking2219 only if your target audience is morons Or you know, we could include sex and violence because all stories since the beginning of time have been about those kinda important things.

[@BrendanCescon]

The new fresh clothes drives me crazy. Everything looks so clean and fake. Everything.

[@scottmeyer6166]

And the inevitable Halloween episode: every single person has an amazing costume off of a movie set complete with professional makeup, instead of the normal mediocre costumes most people have, if any.

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

​@@scottmeyer6166fr

[@KairuHakubi]

that's one thing Malcolm in the Middle nailed. Everything looked real and used. And their house wasn't a set, it was a house.

[@MattReibs]

@@KairuHakubiIt was absolutely a stage set. The exterior shots were real, of course. This was and is still normal.

[@KairuHakubi]

@@MattReibs Nope, it was a real home, and they rented it at up to 3000 dollars a day to film there. You can tell because of how the camera angles are all over the place, instead of the fixed angle of a stage set with no 'fourth wall'

[@potatodadave]

Good to know I'm not the only one that believes that Young Sheldon is one of the few cases were "sequel"(prequel you know what I mean) is an upgrade from the first one

[@Fribee83]

It's such a shame that they're doing a sequel with the first marriage and they're turning to the traditional multicam, one joke repeated studio laughter of Big Bang Theory.

[@billm1866]

The Young Sheldon sequel won't last long. Boring premise and dull actors

[@HeroicAge616]

I really just don’t think I would find a modern wave of sitcoms funny. I can enjoy old sitcoms for their time and place, but a new sitcom isn’t going to be funny to a generation whose humor is memes. For better or for worse, humor has gone populist, and watching corporate writers try to be relatable is never not going to be cringe.

[@noleftturnunstoned]

schitt's creek was decent

[@KairuHakubi]

I feel the same way.. about how I IMAGINE I wouldn't like modern sitcoms. I've felt that way for 20 years. I never once gave them a shot. How good could it be? I tell myself.

[@mustang8206]

And yet Gen Z love watching old sitcoms....

[@Attmay]

@@mustang8206TV was better off before all in the family ruined it.

[@ChocolateEffigy]

It all started after Living Single was canceled.

[@Attmay]

@@ChocolateEffigy I can't name one live-action sitcom on Fox I have liked since that show went off the air.

[@f1champ551]

​​@@AttmayI do like Living Single with Martin... Both together at the time was my favorite!

[@Attmay]

@@f1champ551 I liked the early years of *Martin* up until Garrett Morris was shot and they reformatted the station Martin worked at from rap to country and he lost his job.

[@Suarez05]

​@@Attmay U should at least give Malcolm in the Middle A chance, It was A pretty good show for that network.

[@f1champ551]

@@Suarez05 watched it as well... Fav episode was I believe the one when they're vacation was going to the pool or country club or something like that, that was a dope episode.

[@katieg.9235]

What's interesting to me, is how much my kids , ages 16, 19, 20, &23, love watching the old sitcom. They love the original Frasier. As young kids They watched Full House and Family Matters. They've enjoyed Cheers, Wings, the original Night Court. But they don't like many new shows.

[@kimstryitchannel3903]

I wish I knew how old you are bc I’m 31 and I have to say the callout of Frasier season 2 tells me you have amazing taste! Frasier was an amazing show!

[@SuperMarioBrosIII]

@kimstryitchannel3903 Some say that Kevin James sitcom Kevin Can Wait litterly killed the sitcom format LOL! Producers killing off his wife on the show only to bring back Leah Remini who he starred with in the previous sitcom King Of Queens LOL! A few years ago A&E and there reworking of a sitcom/drama Kevin Can F*** Himself LOL! The whole attactive house wife with the not so smart overweight husband LOL! Then in one of the final episodes bringing in Molly yes Molly who was on the show Kevin Can Wait LOL! The show would switch from back and forth to bright lights and multi camera's and a laugh track when only Kevin was present and then switching the lighting and fliter setting to a darker more dramatic look and feel until the finale and I won't tell you if you haven't seen it LOL! 📺📼🤔🔥

[@kimstryitchannel3903]

@@SuperMarioBrosIII I’ve seen it! It was a great show!

[@GrandisArcanum]

how come i never get cute women responding to MY comments

[@Weewoo12]

Honestly Always Sunny was the biggest breath of fresh air in the sitcom genre. The issue is that no other show really took influence from it. Also being on the air going on 20 years the show itself has become incredibly stale, so the time to take influence from Always Sunny has long since passed. I wish I could say the mockumentary trend has died but with shows like Abbot Elementary being really popular we aren't quire over that hill yet.

[@David-qi2ck]

Because it took influence from Seinfeld. That would be a copy of a copy at that point

[@Bigmojojo]

Always Sunny stopped being funny after season 4. Every now and then they get one or two good episodes a season but that's it

[@FallingLeaves-o7e]

Blah. It’s just low brow trash tbh. Same with what something like Family Guy did to animation.

[@KingOfMadCows]

The thing is that most creative sitcoms have done badly in the ratings. Community, Arrested Development, 30 Rock, Better off Ted, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, etc. all had bad ratings. 30 Rock only survived because it won tons of Emmys. Community got saved by Yahoo. Even some of those sitcoms that are considered popular like Parks & Rec, Brooklyn 99, and The Good Place only had OK ratings.

[@fortynights1513]

If you go by demographic splits (specifically the advertiser prized 18-49 demographic), then 30 Rock and The Office may have done better. But older audiences typically preferred CBS’ lineup in the later 2000’s and early 2010’s, and that showed with total viewers. I’d have to double check though, but I’m sure peak 30 Rock wasn’t even a top 50 show in the primetime ratings.

[@KairuHakubi]

Man so many great ones got canceled so early. Sons of Tucson was excellently written and had loads of potential!

[@LordSluggo]

They may have done poorly *overall*, but in my age demo (20's-30's) quite literally everyone I know talks about almost all of those shows.

[@forestgrump4723]

Wait the good place is a sit com? I love the good place! Would like…. Bones be considered a sit com? Seems more like a drama… I don’t know what to call shows lol

[@RockoEstalon]

Even Seinfeld which was huge as hell in the 90's lived on the verge of cancelattion the first 3 or 4 seasons.

[@fortynights1513]

Great video Captain Midnight. It could be said that our tendencies have changed in the last few years to the point where most sitcoms people could come up with could be found unrelatable or irrelevant outside of their specific niches. You give the example of TikTok comedy clips, well what those specific clips TikTok’s algorithms would recommend would be different for different users.

[@KairuHakubi]

thing is, I enjoyed Seinfeld as a kid. I didn't understand any of the adult stuff (I was wondering how the hell Elaine's diaphragm 'came out' like last time I checked that's a muscle in your thorax) but clever wordplay and repartee are always welcome, and I think if you do it right, it appeals to everyone. A show doesn't have to just repeat things you've already heard to you, it can give you context of something you've never heard of and make you look it up. I'm loving Krapopolis (for now) and I would love to see more kinda high-concept sitcoms that nevertheless just stay in their lane as sitcoms, not trying to build lore or whatever. Not like... those crappy disney preteen shows in the 00s, but something with a similar deviation from reality. Third Rock and Futurama were never about aliens and future junk, they were just about people and jokes.

[@fortynights1513]

@@KairuHakubiNo doubt. A show doesn’t have to repeat itself repeatedly. It can get tiresome, in particular in the later seasons of a long running series. What I was more so implying is that TikToks and media like that that is delivered by algorithms is media that is recommended based on a user’s preferences or tastes rather. He talked about sitcoms not being relatable to people. Issues with their quality and execution aside, could it be possible that the tendencies of the viewing public have fractured to the point where most sitcoms that were going for broad, mass appeal could be ironically appealing to few people because they may not fit as many people’s tastes as they used to? A weird question to ask, but that’s what I may be thinking?

[@KairuHakubi]

@@fortynights1513 No no I absolutely get that, I say the same thing a lot. there IS no more majority. There are just different-sized minorities, and you can try to pick a big one, but you'll never get cultural touchstones like we used to have. We don't have one culture, we don't even have fewer than ten.

[@semioldguy]

I think the focus on serialization harms the development of sitcoms, which seems to be better suited to episodic shows. You shouldn't be ending a comedy on some cliffhanger each episode or overly connecting the episodes together.

[@Attmay]

It's ironic that the shows that started sitcoms in that direction, N0rm@n £3@r's *Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman* and Susan Harris's *Soap,* didn't last very long. The shows they spoofed ran decades and were still on long after these came and went.

[@DirtyDan77]

If the generation that thinks tik toks are funny don't like sitcoms then I take that as a plus for sitcoms. In a time when the funniest joke in a movie is the Marvel thing where they say something dramatic and then it gets undercut by awkward silence, it's no wonder people are depressed.

[@spencerdokes6056]

The bear= not a comedy

[@mantisbog]

It is.

[@thealexeitube]

​@@mantisbog how

[@GreggNowhere]

100% agree. People who argue that The Bear is a comedy come off like they think "Comedy" means "30 minutes" rather than meaning "has jokes".

[@Bykxng]

the bear is a dramaedy for sure

[@LimeyLassen]

I've heard people argue that Waiting for Godot is a comedy

[@txmothy2025]

This is a great video and all the points are pretty dead on, but the thing is I’ve heard these points before but I’m yet to see a video which has any ideas of what a successful sitcom in today’s landscape would look/feel like…

[@chrisakaschulbus4903]

The modern comedy of my generation just doesn't do it for me. I am 25 and just watched naked gun, airplane and ruthless people for the first time. I felt like my lung was collapsing because of laughter... IASIP is my favorite sitcom, rewatched countless times, but it doesn't give that literal LOL.

[@TheVideomaster64Reborn]

I am 19 And I absolutely love sitcoms from 50s-2024

[@JosephDutra]

Brooklyn Nine Nine and Superstore were both really good.

[@K37-h1z]

Couldnt get into superstore. Last 2 seasons of Brooklyn 99 are awful

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

​@K37-h1z yeah, same for both

[@StevenForditude]

Yes!

[@owenflibbert8019]

@@K37-h1zboth had 4+ consecutive seasons of solid television, which is great by sitcom standards

[@korvo3427]

Brooklyn Nine-Nine started out fine but became more political with each season.

[@timothycastaneda9363]

Sitcoms aren't dying, there just realizing you need more then 8 episodes a season to have success. Young Sheldon winning. Abbott Elementary winning.

[@rexcatston8412]

In england throughout the entire 2000's we had 30 sitcoms and every single one had 1 single premise for every joke ever told beginning to end, and once someone pointed it out I couldn't unsee it and quickly stopped watching forever Second hand embarrassment : Def: Second-hand embarrassment is when you feel embarrassed for someone else after witnessing them experience or doing something embarrassing Literally. Every. Joke. On. Every. UK. Sitcom. for. 12. years.

[@Muzer0]

Yeah cringe comedy was really not my thing and I agree, way too much used in that era in Britain. But I think you're maybe overstating the point a little. In terms of 2000s sitcoms I did enjoy, I enjoyed Graham Linehan's work (IT Crowd/Black Books) before it turned out he was a horrible bigot, as that usually lent more on the surreal (admittedly he's Irish so maybe that's why his work doesn't fit into the standard British pattern...). I also enjoyed Outnumbered which was much more observational humour coming from immensely talented child actors being allowed to show off their improvisational skills. And of course The Thick of It which just allows you to revel in the omnishambles that is the British government; you could definitely argue that one fits your definition but I think it's more funny because of the satire element than because of the cringe element imho.

[@robbieracer3294]

Mrs. Browns Boys...good example. I binged a ton of those episodes and as I was winding down, I noticed it got pretty stale towards the end. And for fuc** sake, why oh why was that blonde(married to Agnes son) in there who couldn't act to save her life lol

[@primarybufferpanel9939]

​@@Muzer0 Linehan's a bigot? What did he do?

[@username.exenotfound2943]

meh just watch the inbetweeners(could be bias for this one) and the older sitcoms far better than most of the newer crap

[@username.exenotfound2943]

@@primarybufferpanel9939 google says anti trans gender activist but you would have to google what he said specifically to see if he warrents that lable

[@MusicalJourneysThruCinema]

Thankfully, I've been watching the sitcoms I have on DVD I never got around to watching. I don't have all of the seasons of each series. I just watch what I have. I recently watched the first four seasons of Two and A Half Men, the first season of King of Queens, all of the original Our Gang shorts and the first couple seasons of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. I refuse to buy Peacock just to finish these sitcoms.

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

That's what I've been doing. Got all my favorites and still adding more to that collection.

[@KittySnicker]

Millennial here. I guess I’ll just keep rewatching How I Met Your Mother and Parks and Rec. I wish there were more comedy movies coming out! I love to laugh. I guess Gen Z’s music and TV are both depressing.

[@winterfreshification]

Man if we can get more shows with Ted lasso season 1 vibes that would be awesome.

[@username.exenotfound2943]

sitcoms will inevitably just evolve into a form of dramedys like bojack horseman was

[@Attmay]

@@username.exenotfound2943 they were already headed that way in the 1980s with *The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd* and arguably with *The Wonder Years* and even the regrettably short-lived *Parker Lewis Can't Lose,* and even the last one was less a dramedy than a sitcom without a laugh track.

[@marissam9884]

Good timing, I just finished a rewatch of Frasier!

[@robertdelossantos5844]

Recommend Ted the series on Peacock. It’s got the old school sitcom vibes down. Definitely worth a watch.

[@Wifiscouch]

Coming here to second this statement

[@owenflibbert8019]

Very good show and super underrated

[@blairmcauley2497]

I’m 22 years old and I love sitcoms still even the classics such as three’s company Laverne and Shirley, Andy griffin show etc. i appreciate those sitcoms because they were actually funny and had great comedic timing

[@Attmay]

Andy Griffin? Is that one of Peter's relatives?

[@JAFC49]

Season 2 and 3 of The Office remain undefeated for me. Such good television and a level above the sludge pumped out today

[@gagem646]

How dare you not include season 4! Haha, jk. Fantastic TV, some of the best of all time!

[@HeelBJC]

@@gagem646 Eh, I would say season 4 had a lot of the same cracks in writing that later seasons also showed. There's just something special about seasons 2 and 3 in how the characters interact. It's always felt way more natural and 'slice of life' than season 4 onward, where everything starts feeling more.... Well, I guess... Sitcom-y? Just pick a random scene in season 2 and then one in season 4 and there's a good chance the former one is paced waaaaaayyyyyy slower and tries to pack fewer jokes in.

[@mepollack]

If I had to pick a favorite sitcom on right now, it'd be What We Do in the Shadows, which is unfortunately ending soon. Also, just want to agree with you on two points. First, that Ted Lasso absolutely should have been better than it was after S1, and leaned perhaps a bit too hard into its dramatic side. I think it worked alright for S2, but not nearly so well in S3. Second, I love that you mentioned how more comedic shows are taking a backseat to dramedies, and yes, I'd take 30 Rock over many of the shows you mentioned any day (currently going through a rewatch and loving it).

[@smcdonough1427]

Basically everyone under the age of 30 has dogshit taste and zero attention span so of course they're going to prefer cheap tiktok videos to full length sitcom episodes

[@rogerd777]

I am so glad you mentioned The Dick Van Dyke Show. It was one of my childhood favorites, and I still love to watch it today.

[@JohnS-ki2zf]

Young people like sitcoms, the office Seinfeld are all very popular.

[@maxordman4100]

I’m very thankful for How I met your mother. It’s a great show to lose myself in. That’s probably the closest thing I have to a “modern favorite sitcom” . Haha 😆. Good work on this retrospective.

[@FanGirl9463]

The Ted show, really hope it gets more seasons.

[@Attmay]

Is it at least better than the sequel to the movie?

[@FanGirl9463]

@@Attmay way better

[@neilbrownell4532]

What you said at 7:30 about network sitcoms in the HD era looking so fake, with brand-new clothes, pounds of makeup, and overly clean sets ... That rings so true for me!

[@liamrosewarne403]

I know recently Australia has gotten a bit of flack for the bad AUS Office trailer, but we’ve actually got a sitcom which has a similar feel to the office. It’s called Fisk and it’s about a wills and probate law firm. I believe it might even be on the US Netflix, and has done relatively well there considering it’s an Australian sitcom.

[@liamrosewarne403]

Also it’s very good. I forgot to mention that.

[@filmcrit]

I LOVE Fisk. Watched it twice, and I'm ready for a third viewing 🤣

[@matthewJay88]

Hey man, I wanna give you credit for making that point about Ted Lasso. I finished the series recently and all I could find were puff pieces about how great it was. I thought the first season was fantastic and then, like with many apple shows, it completely fell apart. I would love someone to break down the fall of Ted Lasso, if they have the guts to call it out for its terrible forced heart and pretending to take on real issues.

[@lalaace937]

I could watch captainmidnight rant about reality tv all day

[@SilasKade]

Finally, someone else who respects laugh tracks! I think most of their bad reputation comes from the amount of shows that use canned laughter instead of genuinely filming in front of a live audience. Once you can pick out two or three of the same laughs being used over and over again, it feels more manipulative.

[@GamingAnimator1]

Abbot Elementary, English Teacher, Ghosts, and Animal Control would like to have a word with you.

[@AS12190]

Who watches that crap lol

[@AdornamentDesigns]

Just re-watched Better Off Ted. Sooo hilarious. Super sad there's only two seasons. I love that the corporation is its own character and they incorporated commercials for it

[@FilmFox24]

Bro…30 rock is criminally under rated. Absolutely excellent. Watching it at this moment.

[@bltvd]

Yes, because it was criminally unfunny!

[@K37-h1z]

​@@bltvdyr not that bright

[@bltvd]

@@K37-h1z 😂 because 30 Rock was such a show for intellectuals!

[@Darm0k]

30 Rock is incredibly popular. Not underrated in the slightest.

[@Attmay]

It will age like milk because of Alec Baldwin.

[@Shaddowkhan]

Abbot Elementary is really good. Also 1 season per year without a dip in quality is definitely welcome.

[@zacharymccoy7091]

I'm just personally sick of laugh tracks. They always make the jokes feel less genuine, and I'm glad very few sitcoms today are using them.

[@fortynights1513]

How about sitcoms with laughter in them that came from a studio audience?

[@Fribee83]

Sitcoms are still using them, they're just not making any attention. They're the series Fox, ABC, whatever puts on as filler and cheap to make like Call Me Kat. I'll try any comedy series but the moment I hear a laugh track, I instantly lose interest.

[@RealogOnlyBrodie]

@@fortynights1513the laughs on those shows are always amplified by laugh tracks. You can hear the same 10 laughs being recycled and as someone who grew up watching a lot of sitcoms it’s painfully obvious now…

[@RAINBOWNIGTHMAREPRODUCTIONS]

@@fortynights1513 I find that annoying as well.

[@dhenderson1810]

​@@RealogOnlyBrodieIt never bothered anyone until social media told you that canned laughter was bad, and so called non-comedies started calling themselves comedies. A lie repeated often enough becomes the truth. Maybe some comedies don't have laugh tracks because there is nowhere to insert the laugh because they just aren't funny.

[@TheMinskyTerrorist]

People are too cynical for laugh tracks and too dumb/inattentive to get jokes without them

[@luis99tv]

It's already dead. Old audience is tired of old sitcoms. And the new ones are either boring or can't get enough public.

[@Fribee83]

Yea, I grew up in the 80s and 90s, and watched a LOT of sitcoms but after a point, I just grew tired of them. I can't enjoy anything with a laughtrack anymore because it all feels so fake; like watching Jimmy Fallon laugh at a guest (with the exception of Seinfeld). Old or new, once I hear that studio laugh, it just lets me know it's the same old tired jokes reformated for the past eighty years.

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

Personally, I still enjoy older sitcoms

[@GreggNowhere]

I think the UK sitcome Ghosts makes a really good case for being able to do something new and interesting with the simple sitcom format. I'd also argue the US remake almost singlehandedly redeems the concept of remaking shows for different markets simply based on all of the interesting dynamic and character changes they made to fit it into US history and culture. I'd still argue it's not as good as the original but it's so good I don't really care.

[@Homer-OJ-Simpson]

4:07 Master of None and Flea Bag are actual Dramedy. THE BEAR IS ONLY A DRAMA - NO COMEDY

[@nachokz]

Add Atlanta to the list. Brilliant show. Barry is another example. I think sitcoms have been transforming as a consequence of the golden age of television. They have included elements of drama as a core feature (traditional sitcoms had them too but they were more rare) and have been playing with the format. I don't see them dying.

[@Attmay]

The real golden age of television is five. For me, that would be the late 1980s when sitcoms were on an upswing in popularity after half a decade of being overshadowed by the likes of *Magnum PI, Dallas, Dynasty,* and *The A-Team.* Cartoons also came back in a big way thanks to the Disney/Don Bluth rivalry that ended up putting Disney back on the map along with their classics coming out on home video along with the vintage animation of WB, MGM, H-B, and Universal. And when the twain met, that's how animated sitcoms replaced live-action one as the primary source of actually funny jokes. The only way live action can compete is to try and merge the two worlds Roger Rabbit-style. Animation is the future of everything.

[@kazinadbiralamadit6905]

With the decline of sitcoms, teen dramas & just adult dramas I now firmly believe that tv writers & producers have actually forgotten that an audience isn't automatically there it takes time to build. Alongside if your show has mediocre or just a terrible 1st season then you need at least 15 episodes for you to figure out what you want to do.

[@murderman8578]

Everybody hates Chris solos most sitcoms

[@Ashestoashesjc]

fleabag was an interesting mention, since i consider that primarily a comedy. there are dramatic elements, sure, but they don't take up much screentime and its joke per minute ratio is very high

[@ZMorris93]

We just going to act like curb your enthusiasm doesn’t exist?

[@melasnexperience]

You hit the nail on the head with why I never gelled with Ted Lasso. Thank you.

[@8-bitnicolai5]

Its a decline in comedy in general, and it's really sad. I try to see a genuine comedy at the movies whenever I can, but it's really hard to find movies with laugh-out-loud jokes. It's usually either dramedies, or comedies with a political slant, with shock-value straw-manning in order to make a serious point. Movies you'reonly supposed to laugh out loud at a couple of times, rather than being non-stop nonsense. At best I might get an animated family movie with some comedy. I miss the Mel Brooks movies, I'd grow up with movies like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Elf, Napoleon Dynamite, Austin Powers... not all of them were great but you at least could expect a good laugh. It' sad that I can't go to the theater to laugh anymore.

[@Attmay]

Mel Brooks managed to outlive all his collaborators.

[@ccricers]

I think Cpt. Midnight's video on Red One corroborates with this conclusion very well. Comedy being produced now doesn't feel compelled to just be comedy it has to have some kind of other element to it like high profile action.

[@maguirebentz797]

I think another reason is that many great sitcoms had less well received, often awkward first seasons. And in the age of streaming, shows aren’t given the opportunity for the actors to figure out the characters and relationship dynamics. As such, they get canceled right away, before they can flourish

[@RAINBOWNIGTHMAREPRODUCTIONS]

Why can't they figure it out early on?

[@AlbertoFolres]

For me, sitcoms are only shot in a studio with s live audience. The rest are comedies

[@MeetTheCynic]

Can’t believe you showed a clip from Still Game!! Would love to see a full video on it.

[@davidhusari2739]

young people don't think sitcoms are stupid, they think lame sitcoms are stupid. Tons of people still love and rewatch sitcoms over and over again (friends, the office, parks and rec, that 70's show). The types of sitcoms young people don't like are the ones that were clearly written by much, much older people trying to appeal to the younger generation

[@owenflibbert8019]

Exactly! NBC/ABC/FOX have all been on a huge cold streak with sitcoms in recent years and have pivoted away. The only sitcoms coming out rn besides Abbott are CBS slop made for dying pensioners

[@JRbro100]

It’s just hard for a new sitcom to break out these days and I don’t know if it is possible for a sitcom to become a true classic anymore.

[@Attmay]

*f(r)iends* and *That 70s Show* are problematic garbage. *The Office* died without Michael Scott.

[@davidhusari2739]

@@Attmay no matter what your opinion on these shows, they’re super popular

[@Attmay]

WBD is falsifying viewership statistics while gatekeeping non-problematic content from streaming. No, *f(r)iends* is not popular. It is pushed in our face by the media industrial complex to justify yt plagiarism of black media. Even so, popularity is not quality and critics of this vile show will not be silenced or dismissed until it becomes lost media. *Living Single* needs to replace it on all platforms permanently. Anyone who will only watch the demelanized ripoff and not the OG is a racist in addition to being a homophobe.

[@HonestWatchReviewsHWR]

There are great sitcoms that bring something new to the genre, such as one of my favourites, 'Peep Show'. I've never really been a fan of US sitcoms, they have always felt so artificial... Whereas a lot of the ones I love feel more grounded in reality. Another prime example is 'The Inbetweeners'. The UK just has a knack for producing these types of shows... It's also why I prefer The Office (UK).

[@losfogo7149]

That's why animated comedies go so hard. For many people it seems the only way to have a "only fun" experience in 20 minute without having to start a 10 hour dramedy with a complex plot

[@karenwang313]

Too bad american animation goes out of its way to look bad.

[@weregretohio7728]

It's too bad that so many people look down on animation and animated comedies got too mired in aping Family Guy. It's a super valuable form.

[@abednadir5997]

I love more grounded mockumentary like Trailer Park boys than anything on streaming these days

[@nickgates4259]

Ted Lasso season 3 was a trainwreck

[@olaf3140]

It kinda broke my heart. Only thing I remember liking was the return of the guy with the gotcha handshake thing.

[@freakazoid4691]

Season 2 was too. That episode mimicking Love Actually was painfully bad.

[@baristabran]

Canned laughter has always been a pet peeve of mine in modern sitcoms. We should be above telling people when the funny is.

[@skinneybob4984]

After Brooklyn 99 It really became d3ad

[@ST-tf4sq]

Even b99 last season was trash:/ and the show was one of the best shows ever

[@K37-h1z]

I'd say last 2 seasons were junk imo

[@skinneybob4984]

@@K37-h1z kinda I love that show but I see it

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

That last season was awful.

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

​@K37-h1z yeah, definitely started with the 2nd to last season

[@phoebexxlouise]

The two funniest sitcoms I've seen recently are Heartbreak High and The English Teacher

[@wbfwbl8434]

Traditional sitcoms are seen as a song of the past by streaming services and tv. People write stupid comments against those shows but... those old sitcoms still are very popular. People who love sitcoms are not very vocal about their opinions. Those people who see everything as offensive, not pc, people who are against everything from the past are very very vocal and press the media to get ridd of them. Sitcoms will be popular and won't die because a bunch of idiots who hate everything because of bs reasons

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

I still love catching watching old sitcoms. They feel so free and are perfect to just sit and relax.

[@Connief1990]

My 3 favourites ever… Father Ted. Fawlty Towers. Seinfeld. In that order. My girlfriend has Friends on, most evenings….

[@valysheev]

I remember loving that 70s show when i was younger, probably one of the last sitcoms I've watched.

[@Attmay]

Everything from Carsey-Werner is problematic except the original *Roseanne.*

[@scantron47]

You forget that Netflix just refuses to pay for rewatchable old sitcoms. So leaning on their data that cripples you. Hulu still has Cougar Town, How I Met Your Mother, New Girl, Reba.

[@kerricaine]

as you mentioned one of the key elements of sitcoms is their relatability and i think thats what kinda kills the genre. we're so culturally divided, between generations and classes, there's not really one universal, relatable experience, and no one group would be financially worth targetting. not to mention how much backlash there is if your media is even perceived as being "woke" for things that sitcoms have done for decades.

[@KairuHakubi]

You almost had a point til the end there. Pay more attention to what actually gets backlash.

[@treysonmcgrady4750]

Define woke

[@timsopinion]

I think the fact is, in many cases, sitcoms can't build relationships with viewers because viewers have a million options for what to watch. I honestly believe that the idea of sitting down and "watching what's on" was a huge aspect in how we used to find and, eventually, grow to love sitcoms. Once you stopped and started watching something that captured your attention, you'd then begin to look forward to next week's episode, and then it would become a ritual on whatever night of the week the show aired. There's something about that ongoing relationship to the characters on the show that just isn't the same when we have a million options for entertainment at our fingertips. The idea of looking forward to the next episode has intrinsically changed and it's now incredibly difficult for a show to build that kind of connection and loyalty with audiences.

[@RAINBOWNIGTHMAREPRODUCTIONS]

So you hate progress?

[@therealseanw.stewart2071]

I stopped watching TV decades ago. Who the hell is Sheldon? But no, the fact that sitcoms are "dying" just shows that this is just a different time now, sad as it is. We've been observing the world of popular entertainment slowly shifting towards different mediums over time. Guess there are also people like me who don't care for regular television (or streaming?) anymore. Some prefer to just stick to bite-sized media. Like KZbin. It's a little saddening, I can't help but feel partially responsible for the change.

[@davidhochstetler4068]

A mediocre at best sitcom that’s an offshoot of a terrible sitcom that’s being spun off into likely another mediocre at best sitcom