malichai

I want to take this opportunity to say goodbye to all of the sitcoms that are:
1) Still on the air
2) Used to make me laugh
3) No longer elicit more than a smile or the occasional chuckle

So goodbye Big Bang Theory, The Office, How I Met Your Mother. Thanks for the laughter.

What comedies have died for you these past couple years?

Boondock Saint

The Office and Big Bang for sure.

Modern Family is still good but not as good as the first couple seasons.

Charlie Goose

HIMYM definitely. Just watching at this point to see the end.

30 Rock too.

Meathead

Definitely agree with the Office... Strongly disagree with BBT. I was laughing so hard at the past week's episode I kept having to rewind to see what I missed.

sven

I gave up on How I Met Your Mother a couple of episodes into season 5. They ruined Robin and Barney both by putting them together.

whoopdido

Has any sitcom actually succeeded in putting 2 single main characters together? The Office's downfall can be traced directly back to the season 3 finale/season 4 premier when Jim and Pam became a couple. Friends got stupid when they all started dating each other too.

Just think how stupid Seinfeld would have become if suddenly Elaine started dating Jerry or George. It's lazy writing when sitcoms do that. Instead of having to come up with 2 separate ideas for 2 single people, they just have to come up with 1 idea for a couple. That was the beauty of Seinfeld. Usually every week there were 4 separate story lines going. It sucks when story lines get combined because 2 characters are a couple.

TGM

the Office, 30 Rock, and Sunny.

TimeandTide

Gave up on 30 Rock a couple seasons ago.

Modern Family might be next to be jettisoned from my DVR.

sven

These are 2 more I've lost a ton of interest in this season. I'm still watching but very sporadically.

conscience

Modern Family is teetering on the edge, but I still have to watch because I watch it with a friend. I'm trying to implant in their brain how unfunny it is becoming. I did that with the office two seasons ago.

DJariya

So your quitting on The Office with only 13 more episodes to go before it's all over? Is it really that much torture to finish out the season?

Draven

It's lazy writing to put two single friends/co-workers in their 20s/30s together? That happens all the time in real life. How is it lazy?

It's like people getting upset when a TV couple has a baby. Guess what, couples have babies all the time. Especially in that age bracket.

hahn

Agree with the Office and HIMYM assessments. I still laugh a lot at BBT, esp this last episode. I think they're aware of the coupling issue which is why they downplay Penny and Leonard. Part of why it usually works better when main characters are not couples is that it's more interesting to see the drama of building up tension. This is why all fairy tales end when the prince finally ends up with the princess. Nobody cares anymore after that. How many good movies or TV shows start with a stable solid couple? I can't think of any.

There are occasions when it can be pulled off at least partially successfully. I think it worked on Friends with Chandler and Monica. If Rachel and Ross were as stable, the series would've gotten boring real fast. But they wisely made their relationship a roller coaster of drama.

I think this explains the behavior of many women in their early 20's. The stereotype is partly true - they're addicted to the drama. And yes, some guys are drawn to it too.

mwbmis

Honestly, that's the only reason I'm sticking it out. I used to be fully in favor of Steve Carell returning for the finale, and thought he was wrong for not wanting to do it. I've done a 180. I think he's right; his exit was perfect, and I have NO confidence that this crew would get a Michael Scott return correct.

PhantomStranger

That is the exact point when The Office morphed from a funny show to a meandering sitcom.

Married couples are the death-knell for comedy because it kills so many potential sitcom setups. There are some places in the storylines that network television are unwilling to venture into with married/stable couples. The backdrop to all potential storylines is that the couples "love" each other, which stifles a lot of the best material.

30 Rock is a good call in this thread. For two or three seasons that was an incredibly funny show and it went off the deep end somewhere.

Timber

I didn't make a declaration to quit The Office but I found myself watching less and less last season and then didn't watch at all this season. No point in forcing myself to stick around for the finale if I'm simply not enjoying the show.

islandclaws

Family Guy

Loved it when I discovered it on DVD all those years ago, hate the new episodes.

dfmaverick2

I don't believe it's a coincidence that I own the first few seasons of any given show but rarely beyond. TO me, it usually seems that the first 2-3 seasons are the best of any show before the quality starts to drop.

RoyalTea

I was very close to give up on Always Sunny, but this season has been terrific.

sven

Yeah it has been really good.

The people who gave up on it may want to check this season out. Then again I've never been even remotely close to dropping it.

whoopdido

There are some shows that don't follow this model, but for the most part I completely agree with you. I think dramas have a much better track record of either getting better with age or at least staying the same but most sitcoms shit the bed after the first few seasons. I mentioned it in a different thread, but as much as the quality of the Simpsons has dropped over the last decade plus, you gotta give it credit for having a solid 8-10 years of being very good. Not many shows can make that claim.

dekker

Maybe the British are onto something. They produce fewer episodes of a series and generally go out on a high before the show gets stale. Examples-

Fawlty Towers
Black Adder
The Office (UK)
Extras
Spaced

Double_Oh_7

Same here. Plus I have zero expectations they will come up with a satisfying finale at this point.

OldBoy

yup.

Obi-Wanma

Why is it an AA wake? Do these sitcoms have an alcohol problem?