Do you remember the days when sitcoms were actually funny? Now everything's corny and it's so rare you actually laugh aloud. I loved in Living Color back in the early days, it was shocking but funny and creative and original.

In Living Color wasnt a sitcom though.

but yeah sitcoms suck now except for a few.

Hopefully this is just a slump. In the early 80s, sitcoms were considered to be dying. Yet The Cosby Show came along and "saved" the sitcom.

First up, the really funny sitcoms I've seen this decade have had very short runs (Andy Richter Controls the Universe, The Tick, Titus, Arrested Development, etc..). I can't blame FOX for that last one, because they did give it a chance, it just didn't get the ratings, despite being a very funny show.

I guess what it boils down to is... People Are Stupid. People who don't watch funny shows. People who watch the unfunny shows and make them the #1 (and so on) sitcom. People who write unfunny shows and think they're making a wonderful show. People in general are stupid. And I'm not an exception to that. I'm just as stupid as the next guy. Only, I'm aware of it. ;)

Modern "sitcoms" should be called something else. They are mildly amusing, light fluff that takes your mind to a place where you don't have to work very hard and you can tune out for a while. They are classified as sitcoms because they are not dramas. There is no category for bland, cookie-cutter writing that is recited by average people. That is what we are being fed.

The most recent shows that I have actually laughed out loud are "Everybody Loves Raymond," and sometimes "Roseanne." After that I would have to go back a ways to "The Golden Girls," "The Honeymooners," "I Love Lucy" and sometimes "Mary Tyler Moore."

Even "The Brady Bunch" which is one of my all-time favorites, is not really funny. It is amusing and fun. I can't really remember laughing, but maybe a smile or two.

The early "Saturday Night Live" years were truly funny. I know it wasn't a sitcom, but at least it was real comedy.

I think TV sitcom writers rely too heavily on crude humor and romantic plots these days. I'm sorry, but I'm not entertained by endless jokes about bodily functions, body parts, nasty language and conversation that is aimed at the lowest common denominator. I think Friends really ruined the sitcom. Right now, the only current sitcom I like is Scrubs, and even that show disgusts me at times with its filthy language.

Because all comedies now are sex jokes and insults. There is no more situation in situation comedy.

Because all comedies now are sex jokes and insults. There is no more situation in situation comedy.

You said exactly what I was thinking.

My feelings are just that everything is too obvious....there hasn't really been very many new and creative ideas lately, and those that have been clever, since they're so smart, typically are shunned by the standard viewer as they don't want to have to think about funny. Just my opinion, though

Sitcoms have become a bit stale. I mean, how many shows can you do about a family with a doofus husband, the weary wife, and the smart ass kids?

The future lies in the filmed comedies that are gaining popularity, Like "My Name Is Earl," and "The Office" on NBC.
Actually, With "Scrubs" returning and "30 Rock" moved over, NBC's new "must see" Thursday lineup is made up entirely of filmed comedies. Not a laugh track in the bunch. And that's a good thing, IMO.

Adamantium mentioned "Arrested Development" and "Andy Richter" which were miles beyond the tradtional line-line-joke format of tradtional sitcoms.

Half hour comedies are becoming an endangered species on TV. Reality programming and game shows are forcing a lot of sitcom people out of business. The sitcom genre has to evolve beyond the same old same old traditions (no more slob husband and hot wife shows please!) and embrace the new.

Finally a real sitcom is coming. There have been some good sitcoms the last few seasons, but nothing that makes you burst out laughing, that is going to change now...I saw the first two episodes of The Knights of Prosperity and they were laugh out loud material. You all should try it because I'm sure you will laugh hard. At last a real sitcom! Even though it is a single camera comedy (movie type), it is still laugh out loud stuff. I prefer traditional sitcoms but this one is very funny. It debuts Jan. 3 at 9PM ET/PT on ABC.

Sitcoms aren't funny because it's all about crude humor instead of just relying on good old fashioned jokes. It's all about insulting each other to garner a laugh. It worked for some shows ...

ABC has had some very good sitcoms the past few years but they ALWAYS cancel them in favor or worse sitcoms that are cancelled 13 episodes later ... frustrates me to no end.

I think TV sitcom writers rely too heavily on crude humor and romantic plots these days. I'm sorry, but I'm not entertained by endless jokes about bodily functions, body parts, nasty language and conversation that is aimed at the lowest common denominator. I think Friends really ruined the sitcom. Right now, the only current sitcom I like is Scrubs, and even that show disgusts me at times with its filthy language.

:clap

AMEN!!!

I totally agree; why do the powers that be at the networks take such risks and "push the envelope" by putting material on network television that angers the Parents Television Council, American Family Association, etc., instead of look to past successes that are considered classics? No wonder reality TV is so big. I may be stretching it, but when will we hear of "the next Make Room for Daddy"? Just for the record, the last time I watched a comedy show that wasn't a rerun was the series finale of Home Improvement in 1999.

I personally am no longer a fan of traditional three-camera studio audience comedies. I think the material just isn't there anymore. As long as a show is funny I really don't care if it has some sexuality or crudeness to it. I'm no fan of bathroom humor, but I don't really see endless bathroom jokes on shows. Friends was a great sitcom and was more than just sex jokes and toilet humor.

Arrested Development is my favorite show of all time. The show is hilarious and is not your traditional sitcom. I love how the show pushes the envelope and is genuinely funny after rewatching episodes. The Office is another one of my favorite current sitcoms. I love filmed comedies <3

I Think Sitcoms are Funny

personally, i think another reason sitcoms arent funny is because most sticoms are cancelled so quickly nowadays and the first seasons of sitcoms are never the greatest, anyway. it takes a while (at least a season usually) for a show to find itself and for the cast to work well together. if you look at classic sitcoms that ran a long time, the first seasons of them are usually among the weaker ones (in ratings, too). if networks would give them time they COULD turn out to be great.

now, if its the 2nd or 3rd season and the show still sucks, i could see why they would cancel it.

personally, the crude-ness doesn't really bother me...if a sitcom is funny, it's funny, i don't really care whether it's humor is crude and twisted or light-hearted and cheesy.

the first seasons of sitcoms are never the greatest

Except for Zoey 101, because it had Kristin Herrera in it. Until season 2, when that...that...that...skinny, replacing dumbell Victoria Justice joined and took her place and they pulled a Chuck Cunningham Syndrome on her. :angryfire

Everytime I watch A sitcom I am laughting.

I think one of the reasons sitcoms aren't as good as they used to be is that you don't care for the characters. I have to actually like the characters for me to spend a half hour with them a week. I like the traditional sitcom the best although I'll admit the only sitcom I currently watch is My Name Is Earl. I'll also agree that the sex jokes in sitcoms did get old. I think Friends had a lot to do with it. Just because you can say more on tv now doesn't mean you should. Try developing your characters first. That's the most important thing.

Well, remember that sitcoms are fast approaching sixty years old now. In those sixty years, you have hundreds upon hundreds of shows that produced thousands upon thousands of episodes. The reason sitcoms are "drying up" is there is no originality. Every plausible, comic situation has been repeated hundreds of times. Sitcoms today are written by inexperienced twenty-somethings who have their job because they are a friend-of-a-friend or a relative of some producer or such. Sitcoms are no longer creative & funny. It is amazing how certain shows even get on the air, but was is more amazing is how some shows have the large audiences they have.

When Charlie Sheen is the top-rated sitcom actor, you know sitcoms are in dire straits.

I totally agree. Most shows are formulaic and rely on a forced & contrived jokefest which is paraded as comedy. Additionally, sitcom comedy has become something to be achieved at the expense of someone's character/intelligence/etc. rather than from something that is actually funny on its own. Give me the British humor of 'Fawlty Towers' or 'Are You Being Served' any day. Domestic comedies need to look back to when comedy was creative and intelligent - even 'Dharma & Greg''s first season was fresh and funny and different, as were 'Mad About You' and others that eventually lost their edge. 'Scrubs' has put out some gems, but it seems to be heading the way of today's banal output. 'Big Day' has some fresh material and is enjoyable.

I can't add to anything several of you have expressed so articulately. You've got it right! Your observations are very insightful.

Sitcoms aren't funny anymore because they rely so heavily on the laugh track. I find that the single camera sitcoms are better these days because they tend to go above and beyond for the laughs instead of relying on old tricks.

well, i think its down to the fact that writers are not churning out that many new and good ideas anymore which is very sad. the jokes are unfunny and not witty at all and when it is funny, it has to be something on the lines of family guy which i dislike- that type of humour is not conventional sitcom humour but crude and at times offensive.

for me personally, my favourite type of show is and will always be the sitcom. unfortunately it seems that we have reached a somewhat dry spell where there are not that many good sitcoms out there and those that were on screen only lasted a few weeks-only to get cancelled. take stack with pamela anderson: that lasted for one season, and afterwards it was gone, never to see the light of day. though of course i for one haven't seen it so i cannot say whether i liked it or not. and its not sitcoms but US dramas that are dominating tv schedules. is the sitcom dead? well, not yet, though its going to be a long, long while for us to see a show on screen which will last as long as or have as good a run as cheers, frasier, will and grace to name.

Is the sitcom dead? #e!! yeah! Especially when ya got a whack-@$$ show like Big Day? Big Day? Wut da #e!! kinda $#!zzn!+ is dat? Big Day. Now dat's a sitcom killa for all of y'all.

Tune in tonight for The Knights of Prosperity and In Case of Emergency...laugh out loud and fun sitcoms premiering tonight at 9/8 central on ABC.

now this show will be Funnie

Yeah. As long as these two new shows ain't as whack as Big Day.