What sitcoms do you find the most enjoyable to watch?

[Hazel Anyday]

I was thinking of this last week as I watched the Thanksgiving My 3 Sons show. Thinking how pleasant & enjoyable it is to watch My 3 Sons. Just about everything about it I like. From the beginning b/w's to the very last color season. I really enjoy sitting and watching the whole series. From the décor in the house to the cars to the way people dress, it's all my time when I grew up and reminds me of my own childhood. The Bub years and the Uncle Charlie years, I like 'em all.

So I was thinking what other sitcoms do I really just find pleasant sitting thru and watching and feel almost sorry when the episode is over and I have to wait a week to see the next one. Another show I really enjoy and find very pleasant is My Favorite Martian, esp. the first season. But I like them all, such a great way to spend a 1/2 hour. Also enjoy Petticoat Junction find it very pleasant and amusing to watch. Another one in the pleasant category is Ozzie & Harriet, it's amazing how they can spend an entire 1/2 hour on the most inconsequential subject the whole time thru. Talk about a show about nothing that's Ozzie & Harriet BUT I like it. Also enjoy watching the Bob Newhart Show, it's funny and nice viewing too.

Also really enjoy the George Wilson years of Dennis The Menace. Once again all the surroundings, cars, house décor, teachers, everything reminds me of when I was a kid and this show to me is so pleasant and enjoyable to watch. I esp. like all the character actors in it, superb, every one.

There are shows I find a lot funnier than those above but they're not nearly as pleasant and enjoyable to me to watch. Example, Green Acres I like and find it very very funny but I can't say I find it pleasant viewing as all the idiots that surround Oliver I find kind of irritating as I put myself in Oliver's place.

[stevea]

Wow--VERY well stated! Wish I'd said that, but I don't write as well. I can grouse about edited episodes and later-episode quality, but every episode of M3S is a great watch.

I also enjoy all those other shows (all seasons of DTM, although by S4 he's too grown and isn't as funny)--I'd add two of my faves, Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best. Both shows also have excellent DVD sets (unlike M3S), with the exception of S1 of FKB.

The interesting thing about DTM is there are enough regular businesspeople and neighbors that you get a "feel" of the (unnamed) town, and kind of put yourself there--kind of feel at home. There's Mrs. Elkins, Miss Cathcart, Opie the handyman, Mr. Maryvale at the nursery, Mr. Finch at the drugstore, Mr. Quigley at the market, Sgt. Mooney the cop, varying teachers and snooty principals. It's the same with Ozzie and Harriet and its inconsequential happenings. Ricky becomes a milkman and there's a half hour, and it works.

Also agree with MA about the Brady Bunch.

[OH Nuts!]

Oh my gosh, there are so many sitcoms I like. Dozens really. But MY ABSOLUTE favorites are WINGS, The Adv. of Ozzie and Harriet, I Love Lucy, Eight Is Enough. The next tiers would include shows like Hazel, My Three Sons, Bewitched.

[1960'sTVfan]

I've always thought that the 1960's was the decade for sitcoms and most of my favorite ones are from that decade. I used to be pretty much strictly a classic sitcom watcher, but since the past year or so I've gotten into some classic drama shows and bought the DVD's. Shows like It Takes A Thief, Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, Daktari, Cannon, Streets Of San Francisco, Medical Center, Mannix, I enjoy all of these.

[someguy23475]

There’s not one show I could say I enjoy every episode of. My Three Sons for example had a terrible final season. I love Dobie Gillis, but the army and most of the last season are unwatchable.

Along with M3S, I would put Seinfeld, Andy Griffith (including most of color episodes), King of Queens, and Leave it to Beaver in that top list. There are plenty in the second tier.

[stevea]

I agree with most of that, but M3S had one particular stand-out episode in S12, The Enthusiast. This is an absolute LOL episode, one of the best in the series. Beverly Garland stole the show.

Also it's not many people who will say they like the color TAGS episodes, but I have no problem with them at all. A couple of them are in the unwatchable category for me, like when the Russians visit, and that horrible Mayberry RFD pilot.

[Hazel Anyday]

I can see most people prefer shows they grew up with watching. Those born 10 and 20 years after me prefer shows from the '70's and '80's. I even remember as a kid my Dad born in the 1920's liking and wanting us kids to watch Little Rascals and Shirley Temple movies as these were movies he remembered watching as a kid and liking so much. I never thought too much of Little Rascals or Shirley Temple and would only watch when my Dad was in control of the TV. I see folks here naming Seinfeld and Barney Miller etc. shows from more recent times that they probable grew up with. While I like Seinfeld, think it's very funny I can't say I find it pleasant and enjoyable. I don't even like B. Miller, 8's Enough, etc. I'm just too old to like those shows, I was already grown up and didn't even watch them when they were on originally.

So I guess this subject is a generational thing. Those younger like the later shows and old fogies like me like the oldies but goodies.

But I do want to remind everyone, I was not talking about shows I like best or shows I think as the funniest shows. I was talking about strictly shows that I find so pleasant and enjoyable to watch for the 1/2 hour they're on. I can name a lot of funny shows I like, but that's not the subject, subject is those we find pleasant and thoroughly enjoyable to watch.

I might add another completely pleasant and enjoyable show for me to watch is Lassie, the Timmy years, perfect show to watch on a late Sunday afternoon or early Sunday evening. What gives me the idea for Timmy & Lassie on Sunday? That's when it was originally on and when I originally watched. Sponsored by Campbell's Soups, no less. I also really enjoy watching My Favorite Martian on Sundays, that was also the day I think I remember originally watching this show, Sundays at 7:30 pm I believe was when it was on. Today I completely enjoy My Favorite Martian on Sunday.

Another totally pleasant show I like is Real McCoys, it's also very funny as a bonus. These pleasant shows are just enjoyable to watch for me. I find myself smiling in enjoyment as I watch. This is what I was talking about shows that you totally find pleasant viewing and so enjoyable you actually smile when watching. This is not even about what's your favorite show, that's another subject, but what's pleasant viewing for you?

[OH Nuts!]

Originally Posted by Hazel Anyday

But I do want to remind everyone, I was not talking about shows I like best or shows I think as the funniest shows. I was talking about strictly shows that I find so pleasant and enjoyable to watch for the 1/2 hour they're on. I can name a lot of funny shows I like, but that's not the subject, subject is those we find pleasant and thoroughly enjoyable to watch

This is not even about what's your favorite show, that's another subject, but what's pleasant viewing for you?

The four shows I mentioned fit these criteria—especially Eight Is Enough and WINGS.

[1960'sTVfan]

I don't think Hazel Anyday likes this show too much but one show/sitcom that I would put in the enjoyable/pleasant category is The Joey Bishop Show. Especially season 3, I think the 3rd season is especially enjoyable/pleasant with all the different guest stars that pop up in the episodes. Season 3 is a good time capsule from it's 1963-64 era. The episode with Jack Carter is good, the Vic Damone episode is good, the Jack Jones episode is good, the episode with Phil Foster and Leo Durocher is good too, that one is really funny . Also check out the episode "Joey The Comedian vs. Larry The Writer", that's a good one too, especially the first half of the episode when Joey starts doing a slow burn till he eventually blows his top and fires everyone.

I'm glad Joe Besser was in this show, I always smile when he shows up to do his shtick, that guy is zany . Corbett Monica is good too, I like him better in this show compared to Guy Marks. I think Joey Bishop and Corbett Monica worked better together and had good chemistry. Joey Bishop can be funny but his style takes a little getting used to, I understand he isn't everyone's cup of tea.

I could probably put a few other shows/sitcoms in the enjoyable/pleasant category but thought I'd mention Joey Bishop since it's the first one that came to mind. Rating the seasons starting with most favorite to least favorite: 3, 2, 4, 1 is how I rate 'em.

[Schmoopie]

Frasier, Leave it to Beaver

[someguy23475]

Without going too far off, I do enjoy most of the color TAGS episodes. Sure, Barney Fife is hilarious and I wish the character made more than a few appearances. Still, the supporting cast was still good for the most part. Emmett and Sam Jones, not so much. I’ve tried to get into Mayberry RFD but just can’t. Not the same kind of sparks.

[OH Nuts!]

Hazel is very enjoyable; whenever I have a day off from work I watch it on Antenna.

[Crusinforabrusin2.5]

I love watching most of Norman Lears sitcoms excluding Maude

80s/90s NBC shows such as Cheers, Seinfeld and Frasier are enjoyable too

[TSMIV]

I might add another completely pleasant and enjoyable show for me to watch is Lassie, the Timmy years, perfect show to watch on a late Sunday afternoon or early Sunday evening.

I totally agree about Lassie. It's just a pleasant and relaxing show to watch. Everybody's nice and you know it's always going to end well for Timmy and Lassie. Unfortunately CBS or whoever owns it, treats it like dirt. It's one of the longest running shows in TV history and one of the most iconic, but it doesn't have a real DVD release and the reruns that air on FeTV or other channels look like absolute crap.

[Hazel Anyday]

I really enjoyed seeing what everybody else finds a pleasurable experience watching. As they say, "there are no wrong answers". Someone here reminded me of a show I didn't even think of, I'm ashamed to admit, cause I named myself after it. That's Hazel. I used to really enjoy watching Hazel. It was one show I could never get enough of. I watched that show from when it was first on when I was a kid and then again starting in the 1980's when I video taped it. All these years I watched till about 4 years ago when I found it totally irritating everytime Hazel wouldn't listen to Mr. B. Have no idea why this facet of the show should suddenly really bother me, it never did before. So I'm just taking a break from the show for a while. I'll start up again in a year or 2.

But thanks for all the interesting opinions.