Phantom was there any time in the 70's or 80's where there were 7 sitcoms that are can't miss funny airring 1st run episodes the same year as we have now with Party Down, Modern Family, The Boondocks,It's Always Sunny,The Big Bang Theory,Community and Parks And Recreation.

Besides Newhart, Taxi, WKRP,Barney Miller,Soap and The Mary Tyler Moore Show almost nothing from back then holds up well.

All in the Family and M*A*S*H come to mind.

For one thing there are more outlets. There are dozens of channels producing original content nowadays. But back in the day there was only the big 3 networks. And their batting average for producing stellar shows was much, much higher.

I don't really see it. I've only been into "adult" shows since the late 80s so I admit I have a limited perspective, but today's comedies strike me as being as fresh as ever. The Office practically invented a new kind of comedy not that long ago and the traditional sitcom is still going strong.

When I started getting into network TV, most of the sitcoms were TERRIBLE by today's standards. I mean compare Modern Family to Full House.

To those that disagree with my original post, I'd be curious to see what your favorite year for comedy (or tv in general if you prefer) was and list the shows that were in active production that year that you considered great.

Again, I admit I have a limited perspective compared to many of you, but I be surprised if any one year during the 80s or 90s had this many great comedies to choose from.

Think of it this way. What comedies on the air right now will be just as popular and relevant 20 years from now? I don't think we can consider a "classic age of television" without looking at the longevity of the series right now. For example "It's always Sunny," "The office," and "Modern Family" are hilarious right now but I don't really see them getting the same about of replay 30 years from now that "Mash," "I Love Lucy" and "Bewitch" continue to get to this day.

None, for the reason Thrush pointed out. Too many outlets for a single show to be a ginormous hit anymore. I think Friends was the last show that will have that appeal 20 years from now.

That's not to say shows like Arrested Development, Curb or Scrubs won't be looked back at with affection, but without that amazing level of success, that a Friends, Seinfeld or Cheers commanded, it's hard to imagine any comedy on the air right now having that lasting appeal.

I think this era of sitcoms looks really good when compared to the recent past, but begins to seem lackluster when compared to other, older, eras. The 80s were great with it's family friendly fare, but also had some sitcoms aimed squarely at adults. The 70s were just ridiculous with the amount of quality that was put on the air. I have immense respect for the sitcoms of the 50s and 60s as well, for practically inventing the wheel. Not to mention how well a lot of them still hold up. I mean, I'm only 28, so I watched all of this stuff well after the fact, and stuff like I Love Lucy, Blondie, or Bewitched were still very enjoyable.

Still it's easy to pick the cream of the crop and say that was better than now, and I could see my grandchildren having this same conversation and saying Scrubs is really funny and still holds up. That is if the tv market managed to stay the same as it was when I was a child, and they are actually exposed to classic reruns, which I highly doubt will be the case.

I don't think it's possible to convincingly argue whether or not a show will be relevant 20-30 years from now. There is no way to predict what will be considered a classic and what will simply be a fad.

That goes double for shows like Modern Family and Community. Tons of classic shows didn't seem they'd be legendary by the end of their first season.

I also have to say that judging golden age by popularity is not a good measure if you ask me. I'd propose we would need to look at percentage of excellent comedies compared to all entertainment options to keep things scalable between the 1950s and today. By that measure, I think it's clear we are not in a golden age but that we are seriously on the rebound from the mid-late 00s period.