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That is pure bull****. Everyone thinks that just because Friends and all the other overhyped shows ended, now there's nothing funny left. What about CBS Mondays? Those are funny! ABC Fridays? Some good stuff there. King of Queens has been doing great lately. Those people need to open their damn eyes and look at the rest of the channels.

Originally posted by dawsongirl
That is pure bull****. Everyone thinks that just because Friends and all the other overhyped shows ended, now there's nothing funny left. What about CBS Mondays? Those are funny! ABC Fridays? Some good stuff there. King of Queens has been doing great lately. Those people need to open their damn eyes and look at the rest of the channels.
Exactly. Must see tv is overrated. ABC and CBS still have funny sitcoms. All it takes is one hit to turn the entire genre around.

Nah, just NBC sitcoms are extint.

Like was said in the interview, there are no marquee sitcoms left, which is the problem. Back in the early to mid 90s, you had Roseanne, Grace Under Fire, Home Improvement, Seinfeld, Friends, Murphy Brown, Frasier ect. Now it's just Friends, ELR & Frasier and two of those are about to go off the air.

Sitcoms need ot be less decided by committee and more by winging it. After all, Roseanne first starred a bunch of nobodies with unproven writers and a slant that nobody else was trying- and it become one the biggest hits of the last 15 years.

Instead of coming up with novelty setups for a sitcom, like Hope & Faith, Whoppi, ect, you need to come up with interesting characters w/o the setup and let the stories tell themselves. Then you aren't pigeonholing yourself in what stories you can tell.
This si why the aforementioned marquee shows hit it so big. ""Seinfeld" was about 4 selfish friends livnig in NewY York. Friends" was about 6 friends who hung out together. Roseanne was about a blue collar family; it wasn't about a blue collar family who moves into a rich neighbourhood and has to endure. Start with the simplest ideas and get the best results.

Sitcoms will never be extinct unless the PTB out in Hollywood decide not to make them anymore, in favor of stupid "reality" programming.
I hope that never happens, because while I've never been a fan of Friends, at least it wasn't a "reality" show. I'm sure there's producers, directors, writers and actors who are hoping that the sitcom genre isn't dead.

Well, I personally don't see any sitcoms of the quality that used to be cranked out in the 1970s and 1980s and even early 1990s. Most new shows don't impress me and the ones that I do watch do not compare with the ones from the 70s and 80s. Everybody Loves Raymond does come pretty close though.

Originally posted by mr roper

Exactly. Must see tv is overrated. ABC and CBS still have funny sitcoms. All it takes is one hit to turn the entire genre around.

:nod:

Let's not forget 8 Simple Rules...That's a sitcom hit. Let's hope it lasts for many more seasons. :)

Originally posted by Miss Vicki
:nod:

Let's not forget 8 Simple Rules...That's a sitcom hit. Let's hope it lasts for many more seasons. :)

I've never developed an interest in that show. I don't really know why either because John Ritter was really good at everything he did and I really like Kate Segal from when she was Peg Bundy on Married with Children. I think I watch Whoopi at that time slot. I should have gave it a chance. I've never even seen what complete episode!

Originally posted by ABC1
I hope that never happens, because while I've never been a fan of Friends, at least it wasn't a "reality" show.

very true, it's very fashionable to hate Friends in here, but please. It was NOT a reality show, which gives it a plus right there

Yes, CBS, ABC and Fox all have some good comedies, but with the exception of Raymond (which may be ending anyways), NONE of those shows have ever been able to challenge the reality garbage atop the ratings heap the way Friends has. Reality tv has RUINED tv, and with Friends dropping out of the race, there's no other sitcom with the possible exception of Raymond (which I have never liked), none of them come relatively close to crap like The Apprentice, American Idol, Survivor and company.

Friends is hands down the greatest sitcom of the past 10 years (IMO that is) and I'm willing to bet everyone who bashes Friends now will be on a Friends nostalgia kick come 2014 when the show turns twenty. I remember so much Roseanne hating in here when the show had only been off the air about 2-3 years, but now that it's been 7 years and it's on N@N, the same people who used to bash it finally came around and admitted it was a good show in it's heyday.

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
very true, it's very fashionable to hate Friends in here, but please. It was NOT a reality show, which gives it a plus right there

Yes, CBS, ABC and Fox all have some good comedies, but with the exception of Raymond (which may be ending anyways), NONE of those shows have ever been able to challenge the reality garbage atop the ratings heap the way Friends has. Reality tv has RUINED tv, and with Friends dropping out of the race, there's no other sitcom with the possible exception of Raymond (which I have never liked), none of them come relatively close to crap like The Apprentice, American Idol, Survivor and company.

Friends is hands down the greatest sitcom of the past 10 years (IMO that is) and I'm willing to bet everyone who bashes Friends now will be on a Friends nostalgia kick come 2014 when the show turns twenty. I remember so much Roseanne hating in here when the show had only been off the air about 2-3 years, but now that it's been 7 years and it's on N@N, the same people who used to bash it finally came around and admitted it was a good show in it's heyday.


I agree that Id rather watch "Friends" than "Fear Factor" and "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance".... but I still dont like.

It may be cool to dislike Friends.
And apparently its cooler to like it.

But either way, I dont.
I just never really could get into it.
Sure some parts are funny.... but theres so many more better shows out there that Id rather watch.

Id also rather watch "Friends" than most, if not all of the UPN sitcoms.


I guarantee Ill never be a fan of Friends.
No matter how big and popular it gets.
And Im not one to go "anti-popular".... most of my favorite shows were ratings hits.
Friends always seemed to me to be a show about "whos with who" and it just doesnt appeal to me.
Maybe if none of them were "more than Friends".... Friends would be good.
But IMO.... its not.

Originally posted by db108108
Like was said in the interview, there are no marquee sitcoms left, which is the problem. Back in the early to mid 90s, you had Roseanne, Grace Under Fire, Home Improvement, Seinfeld, Friends, Murphy Brown, Frasier ect. Now it's just Friends, ELR & Frasier and two of those are about to go off the air.

Sitcoms need ot be less decided by committee and more by winging it. After all, Roseanne first starred a bunch of nobodies with unproven writers and a slant that nobody else was trying- and it become one the biggest hits of the last 15 years.

Instead of coming up with novelty setups for a sitcom, like Hope & Faith, Whoppi, ect, you need to come up with interesting characters w/o the setup and let the stories tell themselves. Then you aren't pigeonholing yourself in what stories you can tell.
This si why the aforementioned marquee shows hit it so big. ""Seinfeld" was about 4 selfish friends livnig in NewY York. Friends" was about 6 friends who hung out together. Roseanne was about a blue collar family; it wasn't about a blue collar family who moves into a rich neighbourhood and has to endure. Start with the simplest ideas and get the best results.

I agree completely.
Shows are just too complicating these days.
With one-shot storylines (for example -- I'm With Her).... that become entire series that will run thin very quickly.

And rehashed ideas.... specifically -- fat guy, skinny wife.

Today, there aren't many workplace comedies.
Come to think of it.... there aren't any besides Scrubs.


Another piece of TV that has always been a hit but is now missing is an ensemble cast. Where really no one character is more important than the rest....
For example.... Taxi, Cheers, Seinfeld, and as much as I dont like it -- Friends.

I agree 110%. Sitcoms nowadays seem so hard to cater to cliches, very very few shows out there are fresh. Scrubs is about the only one on NBC left, and NBC never gave it the treatment it deserves, especially by moving it back to freaking Tuesday night (Frasier went from being the #2 show on tv to out of the top 20 once it left Thursdays a few years ago) and replacing it with the stupid Donald Trump show. REALITY TV DOES NOT BELONG ON MUST-SEE TV!!!


Originally posted by db108108
Like was said in the interview, there are no marquee sitcoms left, which is the problem. Back in the early to mid 90s, you had Roseanne, Grace Under Fire, Home Improvement, Seinfeld, Friends, Murphy Brown, Frasier ect. Now it's just Friends, ELR & Frasier and two of those are about to go off the air.

Sitcoms need ot be less decided by committee and more by winging it. After all, Roseanne first starred a bunch of nobodies with unproven writers and a slant that nobody else was trying- and it become one the biggest hits of the last 15 years.

Instead of coming up with novelty setups for a sitcom, like Hope & Faith, Whoppi, ect, you need to come up with interesting characters w/o the setup and let the stories tell themselves. Then you aren't pigeonholing yourself in what stories you can tell.
This si why the aforementioned marquee shows hit it so big. ""Seinfeld" was about 4 selfish friends livnig in NewY York. Friends" was about 6 friends who hung out together. Roseanne was about a blue collar family; it wasn't about a blue collar family who moves into a rich neighbourhood and has to endure. Start with the simplest ideas and get the best results.

Sitcoms are not extint.

They said the same thing a decade ago when the original "Must See TV" lineup was breaking up.

Maybe if the networks had concentrated on producing more sitcoms instead of cheaper reality shows, they wouldn't be so worried about the state of TV.

Look elsewhere for programs folks. The cable nets have some great comedies and dramas.

;)

Originally posted by barwars88

And rehashed ideas.... specifically -- fat guy, skinny wife.


I was just thinking about that last night. There's at least three.

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
REALITY TV DOES NOT BELONG ON MUST-SEE TV!!!

Take out the words Must-See and you know how much I like reality.

Originally posted by FamilyTiesGOP
I've never developed an interest in that show. I don't really know why either because John Ritter was really good at everything he did and I really like Kate Segal from when she was Peg Bundy on Married with Children. I think I watch Whoopi at that time slot. I should have gave it a chance. I've never even seen what complete episode!

I watched it for a while when it started in the fall of 2002...but I wish I'd become a regular watcher then...:( It's actually pretty good. Seems to be more centered around drama now that John Ritter's gone...but, yeah. I was watching for a while this season, but college work makes it hard for me to be able to sit down and actually watch...and I usually forget to tape it anyway.

How come they don't give shows chances anymore ?

Like "Cheers" if that show ran today they would cancel it after 2 eps.

Sitcoms does existed. As you probably know back in the 1940's, radio was having some great comedy sitcoms like "The Life of Riley", "The Great Gildersleeve", "The Aldrich Family", "Life With Luigi", "Burns & Allen" and many others. In the 50's, television took over radio with "The Honeymooners", "Leave It to Beaver", "I Love Lucy", "Make Room for Daddy" and so many others. In the 60's, they had so many shows for example "Bewitched", "I Dream of Jeannie", "The Munsters" and others. The 70's brought laughter like "The Odd Couple", "Three's Company", "All In the Family", "The Brady Bunch" and others. The 80's are perfect decade in sitcoms like "Who's the Boss?", "Full House", "Family Ties", "The Cosby Show", "The Golden Girls" and so many other shows from the 80's. The 90's brought in the true greats in sitcoms like "Family Matters", "Friends", "Seinfeld" and more. Sitcoms rules and it might last a long, long time but in the new millennium, sitcoms are starting to toned down with some reality programming, just the way GSN displacing game shows to reality shows. I hope sitcoms would do a better thing until the networks make a good decision.:D

I do not think Sitcoms are going extinct , I think we are too acustomed to a new Sitcom coming along , and It being a huge sucess (Home Improvement , Frasier , Friends , 8 Simple Rules , Everybody Loves Raymond) That after a few eventually coming to an end , Suddenly the whole Genre is dead?There are funny sitcoms out there right now , but they were overthrown by Friends , Frasier , that you do not know they exist. Hollywood is a big place! We care too much about how famous the stars are or the writers , you forget about Humor.

well, the problem with sitcoms right now is that there are plenty of modestly successful sitcoms. But besides Raymond (which is ending), there are no shows in a league with something like Friends, Cheers, Cosby, Roseanne or All In The Family which was a huge marquee program. And I think that is the problem, Friends just ended, before Friends, there was Seinfeld, before Seinfeld, Roseanne, before Roseanne, The Cosby Show, before Cosby, there was Three's Company, before Three's Company, MASH, before MASH, All In The Family, and it continues to go backward from there all the way back to I Love Lucy... yet after Raymond goes off, there really isn't a huge marquee sitcom that really dominates.

Its first season was , especially for ABC.

And it was in its Specific Genre , It is a Family Sitcom , The recent hits have mostly not being Family Orientated.

It came #42 for its first season.

Originally posted by Raisingdad2004
It came #42 for its first season.

#42 isn't bad but it's certainly not blockbuster. NBC cancelled Diff'rent Strokes at the end of the 1984-1985 season, in which it came in #43. Even Roseanne's infamous last season ranked higher.

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
#42 isn't bad but it's certainly not blockbuster. NBC cancelled Diff'rent Strokes at the end of the 1984-1985 season, in which it came in #43. Even Roseanne's infamous last season ranked higher. And it would have ranked higher if it hadn't had to face American Idol.

Originally posted by mr roper
And it would have ranked higher if it hadn't had to face American Idol.

Survivor at it's peak attracted a bigger audience than AI did, yet Friends still remained a top 5 hit. Will And Grace has always been able to hold it's own up against CSI, which usually gets about the same numbers AI did, yet W&G has been able to remain a top 15 series.

I agree that it's mainly just NBC sitcoms that are dying. FOX is sitcom heaven for me. Arrested Development is one of the best shows to come out since Seinfeld.

They also have King of the Hill, The Simpsons, Quintuplets, That '70s Show, Family Guy (2005), Malcolm in the Middle, and Bernie Mac. Those are all very good sitcoms in my head. FOX is really doing well now. I think they will soon become the top network in the 4 main networks. NBC has lost it's spark, ABC sitcoms are all the same to me. CBS is doing good, but once Everybody loves Raymond leaves, I'm pretty sure it'll die.

FOX has some cool shows coming out and the ones in development excite me too. I have all my trust in them.

Originally posted by BuffySlayer79
Survivor at it's peak attracted a bigger audience than AI did, yet Friends still remained a top 5 hit. Will And Grace has always been able to hold it's own up against CSI, which usually gets about the same numbers AI did, yet W&G has been able to remain a top 15 series. That may be true but 8 Simple Rules was never as big a hit as Friends or Will and Grace. When you put a moderately successful show against a ratings powerhouse, its going to get burned.

:nod: sitcoms are def. on the verge of extinction list. What was the last breakout sitcom any network had? Was it in the 90's?


Yeah there's still some staple sitcoms out there(ELR, W&G, etc) but those will be gone.

As much of a chance as sitcoms are given to succeed anymore, they really are gonna be extinct, there's more and more dramas popping up that to me networks seem more interested in dramas than sitcoms these days, and with Reality shows.

Reality shows are the death of tv in general IMO

Originally posted by Angela Micelli
:nod: sitcoms are def. on the verge of extinction list. What was the last breakout sitcom any network had? Was it in the 90's?


Yeah there's still some staple sitcoms out there(ELR, W&G, etc) but those will be gone.

As much of a chance as sitcoms are given to succeed anymore, they really are gonna be extinct, there's more and more dramas popping up that to me networks seem more interested in dramas than sitcoms these days, and with Reality shows.

Reality shows are the death of tv in general IMO Not counting two and a half Men which might break out after ELR ends, the last blockbuster network sitcom I believe was Will and Grace.

i think sitcoms might seem dead for a little while but make BIG comeback.. Look at the year 2000 alot of the Teen shows on Broadcast tv were having hard times because Reality tv was hot and Disney Channel/Nickelodeon took their viewers
but five years later (now) some of the most popular teen programs are on broadcast channels again...

I hope that someday if sitcoms are going to age out if everything happens sooner or later. Stay tuned.:rolleyes:

This article is obviously written by a person who has not grasped the meaning of a sitcom. sitcoms don't have to be extinct, but the will if we don't steer them back to the original format. one reason they are failing is there is the idea that all sitcom character have to be single and 20 or 30 years old with no responsibilties. there are very few shows with married people and families and we need to get back to those. also there is the need to mondernize everything, so good plot lines are deemed obsolete and thrown out for plots that are not funny. we need 70s and 80s style shows that are updated, but use the same format. we also need characters who are mature. the networks are too busy appealing to 18 to 30 year olds instead of making decent shows that please all. and the sitcom will die if the reality craze continues. it is ridicoulous, all you see are shows about dating or marrying someone you don't even no or eating bugs and jumping off cliffs. if the sitcom is to survive we need people like us writing the shows and running the network.

Originally posted by barwars
what?!

Just kidding!:lol:

This is just a low period for the sitcom genre. I have no doubt another show wil come and renew the genre... eventually! Until then, we'll just have to watch reruns of the good shows! ;)

as do i, like i said look a teen shows back in 2000 and how much they dissolved but now their everywhere!

Originally posted by King Forrester
This article is obviously written by a person who has not grasped the meaning of a sitcom. sitcoms don't have to be extinct, but the will if we don't steer them back to the original format. one reason they are failing is there is the idea that all sitcom character have to be single and 20 or 30 years old with no responsibilties. there are very few shows with married people and families and we need to get back to those. also there is the need to mondernize everything, so good plot lines are deemed obsolete and thrown out for plots that are not funny. we need 70s and 80s style shows that are updated, but use the same format. we also need characters who are mature. the networks are too busy appealing to 18 to 30 year olds instead of making decent shows that please all. and the sitcom will die if the reality craze continues. it is ridicoulous, all you see are shows about dating or marrying someone you don't even no or eating bugs and jumping off cliffs. if the sitcom is to survive we need people like us writing the shows and running the network. I 100% agree.

Originally posted by DickVanDykeMan
This is just a low period for the sitcom genre. I have no doubt another show wil come and renew the genre... eventually! Until then, we'll just have to watch reruns of the good shows! ;)

Like Arrested Development. That show will become a classic. I know it.

We Expect too much , Because over the last 15-20 years , shows such as Cheers , Friends , Everybody loves Raymond have been on , and been hughe , Cheers ended Frasier came , Friends ended Joey comes , and just because most of the HIT's have gone , you think the genre is dead? What about those shows that have been in the back seat? Unless the network's all decide Drama's , Reality good , sitcoms bad , the genre will not die out , and that would not happen

As I was saying from the information above, "Sitcoms lives and I always will!":clap:

The television networks are always looking for the cheapest way to get good ratings. When the "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" type game shows reduced sitcoms a few years ago, it was because giving away a few hundred thousand dollars was much cheaper than paying actors' salaries along with the lower production and writing costs.

Now, reality shows are doing the same thing. Sitcoms will always come back when these cheaper shows start to get irritating to audiences.