Great for a couple of seasons. Good for many years after. Really, really annoying and repetitive at the end. The show itself was only a small part of the annoyance, though. NBC's incessant promotion is what made it intolerable.

das

That is a solid point.

How many people tuned in to the final episode of AitF? Great show, but not the same amount of mass appeal the other shows on the list attained. Same with Rosanne. Had a huge following the first few seasons then dropped substantially each season thereafter. People didn't have send off parties where everyone came over to watch those finales like the other big shows on the list. Nor was there a media circus around the time of their ending. Cheers, Friends & Seinfeld were on EVERY magazine cover at their finale time, on every talk show even had special send off shows seperate from the finale. Hell, Dharma & Greg even had an episode about having sex in public during the night of the Seinfeld finale because everyone would be at home watching it. I just don't think Rosanne ever reached that iconic stage.

I'd love to give Arrested Development the coveted 00's title, but I was looking more at the mass appeal shows that defined the decade. I guess you could look at Frasier or Will & Grace, but I think they both still far short of the caliber of show and appeal the previous shows on my list attained. With the growth of cable and their own shows splitting the audience, it may be hard to attain such a following that captures the entire nation again. If push came to shove and you add reality shows(and I hate them), but if anything, I think American Idol is the frontrunner for the 00's. Survivor would be close, but it has lost steam where American Idol seems to have grown.

But those are my opinions of course...

I could never get into Friends, or even watch it for more than a few minutes at a time. I'll catch Cheers every now and then, and the writing is still great. I can't pass by M*A*S*H without watching some of it, and I usually have to finish the ep.

Friends is still one of my favorite all-time sitcoms. The last two seasons had a definite dropoff in quality though. It beat too many of the best gags into the ground. Like the prom video episode. That was a classic to see Rachel with her old nose and fat Monica. Then they revisited Fat Monica several more times in later seasons, making her into more of a cartoon each time. Or how they beat the Janice character over our heads so many times. Some of the last season episodes are virtually unwatchable unfortunately.

Regarding some other sitcoms mentioned in this thread, I also loved AitF, Seinfeld, M*A*S*H and Roseanne (pretending the last season doesn't exist). Never a big fan of Cheers. It was just okay. I like W&G for the most part, but absolutely loathe Frasier with all the venom my soul can muster.

M*A*S*H's finale was billed much more as an event than AITF's. It was what, an hour and a half long? While the finale's audience clearly dwarfs that of AITF's, AITF is the definitive sitcom of the 70s as it was the first sitcom to really deal with contemporary social and political issues in a humorous way, plus it directly and indirectly led to Maude, The Jeffersons, and Good Times, 3 more sitcoms that dealt with everything from abortion to interacial relationships to lower class struggles and even death (which of course M*A*S*H dealt with constantly, but not within the nuclear/extended family). M*A*S*H helped pave the way for successful "dramadies" like Scrubs, but AITF broke away from the escapist comedies of the 50s and 60s (Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The Munsters, My Mother the Car) and paved the way for the rise of sociopolitical and satirical sitcoms. Without AITF, there is no Roseanne, no Simpsons, no Seinfeld.

I'd also nominate The Mary Tyler Moore Show as a definitive 70s sitcom over M*A*S*H, but the title still belongs to AITF in my opinion.

Each of those sitcoms mentioned def. has their own demographics...I'm not sure the MASH crowd would be the same one watching F*R*I*E*N*D*S anyway. You have to relate to characters and situations to truly appreciate the humor.

This is how I feel. It just doesn't make me laugh at all. Maybe I'll try to watch a few more episodes before giving up on it completely.

As for the definitive comedy of the 00's, as long as it's not limited to network shows, I would nominate "South Park" (athough it started in the 90's). As much as I liked "Arrested Development," it just didn't last long enough to be considered.

Michael, "All in the Family" never had a "final" episode since it segued into "Archie Bunker's Place". And "Roseanne" was in the Top 10 consistently up until it's final year. It dropped way way down in the ratings during it's final season because of the ridiculous storyline. However, the last episode was number #1 for the week.

LOL! Yeah, any real "Roseanne" fan does not count that last year. It truly was like a different show. Even the film looked different. I didn't like the season before that either. I'll stop buying the boxsets there. I guarentee the last season will be the lowest selling season of all the boxsets. If it sells at all.

"Will & Grace" unfortunately suffered from piss poor writing during it's last two years. Once in a while there'd be a glimmer of greatness (maybe a line or two here and there). But overall, P.U. The episodes with Taye Diggs were among the worst writing and acting of any sitcom I've ever endured.

Originally Posted by Michael Corvin 00's - ? Still waiting.

That 70's Show - best comedy of the new millenium. It went on for an extra year or so, but captured the teenagers in boring small town perfectly.

i love friends. i have all 10 seasons on DVD.

i do have gripes though. i loved chandler in the first couple of seasons. he would crack me up in almost every episode. (the 5th dentist finally caved in?) but then when he started dating monica, the writers seemed to forget about giving him good lines.
and why did every episode seem to want you to sympathize with the girls? i hated monica. she was annoying in the beginning and EXTREMELY annoying after she got married and kept trying to have kids. and the obsessive compulsive behavior got old after a while.
same with rachel. i felt sorry for Ross. they would always play it to be his fault. like in the 2nd season when rachel found out ross loved her (after 15 years?) but he's dating julie because he's given up on rachel so now she wants him and she hates julie and she acts like it's ross's fault for not liking her anymore? I mean wtf. she could only get away with it b/c she was cute. arrrghhh.

i did say i loved friends right?

Friends along with Everybody Loves Raymond & Smallville are my top 3 favorite shows.

You need to get started on Buffy & then Angel then if Smallville is still in your top 3. They both blow Smallville out of the water (coming from someone who owns all of the Smallville seasons). Add Veronica Mars & Alias to the list and by the end of watching them all you will most likely be forced to drop all three below the third spot.

Friends was once one of my favorite shows. I was always forced to sit through it because my mom watched it and it grew on me. Definitely one of the best sitcoms ever. I'm not much of a sitcom fan myself, but like Seinfeld and Married with Children Friends was a gem that stood out from the pack of generic sitcoms. It's been forever since I've seen an episode though.

My Favorite Sitcom of all time..Just beating Three's Company and Cheers.

I can't tell you why it beats them. It's funny on so many levels. There is smart humor (Chandler), dumb humor (the antics that happen to Ross) really really really dumb humor (Joey), zany humor (Phoebe), bitchy humor (Monica and Rachel)

I love the show..still do. Thank God I have them on DVD

i watched friends off an on during its run. for a few seasons, it was can't miss tv. but then i just got tired of it, mainly due to the over-the-top promotion, and the stars in the news, griping about their paychecks. i barely saw any episodes in the last seasons.

but every now and again, i'll catch it in syndication, and the shows are definitely funny. they get me to crack up.

Watched every episode from the pilot to the finale. Love the show.

One thing I love is how every character had runs during the show where they were at the top of their games. Where they were the best character. First couple seasons were Ross and Rachel, then Chandler and Monica, Phoebe became good toward the end, and Joey ( my least favorite the first 6 seasons) became the best of the group the last 4 seasons.

No one was a weak link. Great show and great writing.

Any news on a reunion episode ? or was that nixed due to Joey getting canned ?

It's the best sitcom ever.

You know I was actually going to sell my Friends collection today, but at the store when I was handing them over, I just couldn't do it. It's my comfort show.

I agree completely with everything you have said so far in this thread except that I would probably put MTM above AITF only because I don't think MTM had a bad season whereas AITF did begin to falter quite a bit before becomie Archie's place.

As for Friends... I avoided it while it was on the air (primarily because most everyone who's opinions I disagreed with seemed to love it <--- stupid, I know). Having now caught up through season 6 on DVD I really enjoy it. The casting is great and the writing has been great since about season 3. Will likely be one of the classics.

Loved it from the first episode all the way to the last. Own all 10 seasons on DVD. Still watch it when I catch on syndication. Chandler is one of my favorite characters of all time.

Great show... I have all 10 Seasons too, I do think the first few seasons were the best.

There was just some really funny stuff going on, and I am looking forward to watching the series again someday.

I'm still not a fan of the last couple of season but everything before that was great.

Great post, with some great points but has either AitF or MTM aged as well as MASH though?