Norm de Plume

Canadian show "The Newsroom" for me, but humour is very subjective.

slop101

Mr. Show hasn't been mentioned yet, which I find to be mind-numbingly smart.

Timber

I was one of the people that just didn't "get" AD while it was on. I'd watch an episode here and there and have a few laughs but never remembered to tune in next week. I started catching episodes on HDNet and fell in love with it. Picked up all 3 seasons and I'm currently watch them for the second time through.

I do get why some people wouldn't like it though and I don't think it has anything to do with not "getting it". It's a strange type of humor that you either find funny or don't find funny.

Every time I watch I simply can't believe that Ellen has that on "lock down"

RichC2

I'm a huge Simpsons fan (seen every ep, most repeatedly, watch it twice daily), and have to disagree with this.

The Simpsons was a smart, funny series for sometime, but it was never as smart or laugh out loud funny (or quick witted) as AD. It's charming, enjoyable, and generally well written but I feel AD out did it during it's short lifespan.

Double_Oh_7

Isn't it more of an accomplishment to have three brilliant seasons rather than five brilliant seasons and 14 mediocre ones?

Jimmy James

I'd think that earning your keep is more of an accomplishment than not being invited back after just three seasons.

Listen, I'm a Newsradio fan. We're a bitter lot because it's just the type of show NBC could have really used if they had sense enough to stick it on Thursdays in a consistent time slot instead of wasting it on The Single Guy or Veronica's Closet. In the end, it's still about Newsradio and AD not pulling their weight for whatever reason. Do you think American Idol would die due to a few crappy scheduling ideas?

creekdipper

Andy Griffith (the Barney years). Deceptive in the seeming 'ease' of the comedy, which was actually the result of a collaborative approach between a highly talented team of writers & Griffith himself. The show proved that comedy could be multi-layered...combining warmth, satire, strong characterizations, naturalistic dialogue & situations, etc....and still make it palatable & highly accessible to the general public. Not an accident that the show (first five seasons) have held up so well over the years & produced so many iconic characters who are still quoted & impersonated to this day).

Also agree that the first season of The Beverly Hillbillies had some of the sharpest social satire ever. I feel confident that many of the 'sophisticated' types who laughed at the country bumpkins didn't even realize when the joke was on them (through the show's lampooning the absurdity of many social conventions & materialism).

Two vastly underrated shows...snubbed even in their heyday by urbanites (including network executives who were 'embarrassed' by the rural-based humor).

For those who like snarkier, modern humor, I'd vote for Grosse Point.

Michael Corvin

I'll toss out another one: Sports Night. Discuss.

Rockmjd23

When annoying hipsters start quoting it, it becomes smart.

StephenX

What TV comedy do you enjoy? Add some flavor to your threadcrap.

Rockmjd23

Not a threadcrap. Your first post is about your opinion. My post is about mine.

StephenX

Mine invites discussion about a TV show, or comparable shows. It contributes my views on the show, and subsequent posts invite discussion on other smart shows. Your post adds nothing substantial to the discussion in this thread, its merely a sarcastic remark that no one could really respond do, or base anymore discussion off of.

In addition, my remark isn't to piss you off (sorry if you got that idea), but I really wanted your example of a 'smart comedy.'

That's fine if you throw in an opinion, just add something relevant or substantial to the existing thread.

nateman

"Seinfeld" paved the way for comedies like AD, "30 Rock", "Scrubs" and "The Office", but "The Larry Sanders Show" was really the comedy that perfected the unconventional sitcom.

If we were going to do an AD vs. "The Simpsons" debate; "The Simpsons" would win every time. Yes, AD might be a "smart" comedy and beloved by a niche, but passionate audience, but "The Simpsons" will always be a superior show for 2 reasons:

a) "The Simpsons" has had so many memorable episodes, and even though some of them might not be as funny as a select episode of AD (I think any episode of "The Simpsons" is funnier than AD, except for the newer episodes); its "memorable" factor outweighs that, IMO.

b) It's a pop culture icon and if you went "Jaywalking", and asked people to name a very popular sitcom; It would most likely be "The Simpsons", "Seinfeld", "Cheers", "The Cosby Show" or "M*A*S*H". I doubt AD would come up once.

Fanboy

As much as I am a fan of The Simpsons, I don't see how being "very popular" equates to being superior. By that logic, the greatest shows of all time are American Idol and Wheel of Fortune. Although some people might name both of those shows as "greatest of all time", I think many would disagree.

I also just don't see a direct line between Seinfeld and AD, 30 Rock, The Office, etc. Seinfeld was a pretty pedestrian sitcom, though done in a smart way.

In fact, I think you could look at Parker Lewis Can't Lose (at least, the first two seasons) as progenitor of the no-laugh-track, cut-aways, strange-camera-movement, satirical, pop-culture-laden style of AD, Scrubs, etc.

Meglos

What a strange first reply to an AD appreciation thread. No wait. Let me rephrase that: "What a overreactive condescending threadcap generalizing AD fans for an AD apreciation thread..."

Meglos

Using "Jaywalking" as a barometer for a show's success = FAIL

Michael Corvin

It's seems pedestrian and easy to dismiss now but It's all about context. What was the sitcom landscape before Seinfeld? Home Improvement, Rosanne, Murphy Brown, Full House, Doogie Howser, Blossom, Family Matters, Cosby Show, Cheers, & Coach to name a handful. There are some good shows in there, but they ALL follow a basic sitcom formula. Seinfeld broke that mold having four main characters, all with questionable morals, tackling subjects that had never been touched upon before. Not that this is the greatest example but a quick one that comes to mind, how many shows would have turned the shooting of JFK into a comedy bit before Seinfeld? Masturbation?

In the sea of change following Seinfeld's success the genius and complete originality of that show gets lost. There wasn't a single show on the air at the time that was anything like it, although Larry Sanders would be a contender.

Lee Harvey Oswald

Then the thread title should have the words "Arrested Development is the smartest, funniest show ever. And only people who agree should be allowed to post."

When someone makes a thread about a show being smarter and funnier than any other show, debate will follow. What do you want? A bunch of "I agree" posts?

kenbuzz

Yes!

"What did you expect to see out of a Torquay hotel window? Sydney Opera House perhaps? The Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest roaming majestically across the plains?"

While we're naming smart shows .... Sports Night and It's Garry Shandling's Show immediately come to mind.

kenbuzz

Here's an episode from Shandling, Season 1: (Part 1/3)


(Part 2/3)


(Part 3/3)

creekdipper

While all of the above are excellent examples, I would hesitate to nominate FAWLTY TOWERS due to its extremely limited run...only 12 total episodes, I believe. While I love the show & own the set, I sort of think this falls under the same category as athletes competing for accolades such as lowest ERA, best field goal %, etc....there has to be a minimum number of appearances in order to establish the overall consistency of the work. It's one thing to come up with brilliant work for the short term; it's quite another to sustain it over the long haul. I earlier mentioned Andy Griffith (5 great seasons followed by 3 mediocre/abysmal ones) & Beverly Hillibillies (maybe 1 1/2 really good seasons). They couldn't sustain the superior writing for their respective runs (especially TBH), but they went far beyond FT. I think the little-seen show FRANK's PLACE was a gem, but it only lasted one season, so I disqualified it.

For sharpest, wittiest dialogue, has anyone nominated BLACK ADDER?

For sheer inventiveness, how about MONTY PYTHON?

I would also mention NORTHERN EXPOSURE...maybe not a comedy in the classic sense, but it offered at least 3 seasons of inspired whimsy.

I have to agree that SEINFELD meets the qualifications for its innovations. I thought the intermingling of the storylines, while it didn't always work perfectly, was a bold departure from the usual 'single-topic' themes of the comedies which preceded it. If one judges the 'smartness' of the comedy by the cultural influence in contributing to the popular lexicon, SEINFELD has to be a strong contender for first place.

Meglos

Not the point I was trying to make. Thanks for playing, though...

Fanboy

I think you can make the case that Married... with Children could be described the same way and it predated Seinfeld by 2 years.

It also, by way of creating the "slob-com", inspired a lot more shows than Seinfeld. One of those shows, Rosanne (which also pre-dated Seinfeld) "tackled subjects that most other popular shows at the time avoided, such as poverty, alcoholism, drug use, sex, menstruation, masturbation, obesity, feminism, domestic violence, and homosexuality." [from Wikipedia when I looked up the run-dates, I didn't feel like paraphrasing what seemed to underline my point so well]

I do think Seinfeld was a high-point on the television landscape, but it was clearly standing on the shoulders of many shows that came before it. And I just don't see the clear and direct influence it may have had on shows that followed.

The Bus

Top TV Series According to IMDB Voters:

1. "Wire, The" (2002)
   
2. "Planet Earth" (2006)
   
3. "World at War, The" (1974)
   
4. "Arrested Development" (2003)
   
5. "Top Gear" (1978)
   
6. "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" (2005)
   
7. "Cosmos" (1980)
   
8. "Band of Brothers" (2001)
   
9. "Freaks and Geeks" (1999)
   
10. "Twilight Zone, The" (1959)
    
11. "American Civil War, The" (1990) (UK)
    
12. "Chaser's War on Everything, The" (2006)
    
13. "Matador" (1978)
    
14. "Sopranos, The" (1999)
    
15. "Twin Peaks" (1990)
    
16. "Firefly" (2002)
    
17. "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (1988)
    
18. "Spaced" (1999)
    
19. "Venture Bros., The" (2003)
    
20. "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (1969)
    
21. "Office, The" (2001)
    
22. "Kaubôi bibappu" (1998)
    
23. "Fawlty Towers" (1975)
    
24. "Only Fools and Horses" (1981)
    
25. "Father Ted" (1995)
    
26. "War, The" (2007)
    
27. "John Adams" (2008)
    
28. "Office, The" (2005)
    
29. "Seinfeld" (1990)
    
30. "South Park" (1997)
    
31. "Peep Show" (2003)
    
32. "Blue Planet, The" (2001)
    
33. "Pride and Prejudice" (1995)
    
34. "Trailer Park Boys" (2001)
    
35. "I, Claudius" (1976)
    
36. "Man vs. Wild" (2006)
    
37. "Oz" (1997)
    
38. "Deadwood" (2004)
    
39. "Futurama" (1999)
    
40. "Long Way Round" (2004) (mini)
    
41. "Rome" (2005)
    
42. "Boot, Das" (1985) (mini)
    
43. "Scrubs" (2001)
    
44. "Garth Marenghi's Darkplace" (2004)
    
45. "Six Feet Under" (2001)
    
46. "Entourage" (2004)
    
47. "Korgoth of Barbaria" (2006)
    
48. "Blackadder Goes Forth" (1989)
    

Michael Corvin

Created the "slob-com?" What about All in the Family or prior to that Sanford & Son? You have a clear line of decendents right there up to Rosanne. Married with Children was definitely unique and helped change the tv landscape but I wouldn't consider it smart. It's still the your standard sitcom with your standard sitcom cliches and jokes, albiet a tad more off-putting than the norm. Same with Rosanne. They tackled some, then, taboo topics but it was still rote and filled with your typical cliched b.s.